I don't like Russell Westbrook. I don't like his face and I don't like that he takes more FGAs than Durant. But, I don't for one second believe that the Thunder are worse with him than without him. That's ridiculous. He's a top 10 player in the league, easily. Give him time to get back into game shape and his numbers will get there.
Telling people who to trade when you have no idea is that trade would have been accepted or not? One of those guys eh? As with all things in NBA basketball, it takes time to gel. There is no issue here.
Before the All-Star break without Westbrook the Thunder did barely beat the Lakers. That game came down to the last few minutes.
It's not about his numbers. It's about how he makes questionable decisions especially towards crunch time where he has a negative impact on his team. There is ABSOLUTELY no reason why he should take more FGA's than Durant. EVER. Westbrook thinks he's the alpha dog and I can see him leading a team like the Bucks, Philly or Magic to about .500 record while putting up incredible numbers but him paired with Durant has hurt OKC in the past and I'm not surprised it's hurting them again. Said it before and I'll say it again. Stephon Marbury Ver 2.0. Incredible talent and athlete with low basketball IQ and selfishness to match.
There is no metric that says that OKC is better without WB. Sorry. Other than, of course your short term analysis of recent games with WB still recovering game shape.
Durant was missing some shots down the stretch too. Bricked a few 3's when they should've just chipped at the 4-6 pt lead inside.
There may not be a metric but anyone who's seen WB play should know this. And if you mean my short term analysis meaning Westbrick's short career thus far then yes. This is certainly not the first time this issue has been discussed/debated.
I died laughing after reading this. Scott Brooks is a ****ing moron. How the hell do you let this happen when you have the best offensive player in the game on your team? How the hell does WB take more shots while playing less minutes? <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Durant: "If coach wants me 2 sit in corner & let Russ create, I’m willing 2 do that. I want 2, if it’s going 2 make everyone else better"</p>— Michael Wallace (@WallaceNBA_ESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/WallaceNBA_ESPN/statuses/436595846457868289">February 20, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Interestingly, OKC lost all three games (bad losses at home) after Westbrook's return. But before we pointed at that, the Thunder was 21-4 this season with Westbrook before his injury.
