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Did the Rockets make a mistake sitting Westbrook game 4?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by DaBeard, Aug 24, 2020.

  1. ksny15

    ksny15 Member

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    We need him if we want to win this series. The problem is I don’t think he is ready to play.
     
  2. TheFreak

    TheFreak Contributing Member

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    Why do they need rest between rounds? There’s no travel and they were just off for months.
     
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  3. mac_got_this

    mac_got_this Member

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    It’s whatever. If Russ comes back, I don’t trust them not to get sidelined again with the same injury. We need a third option. Trade Gordon for the third piece. It’s some terrible contracts out there that Ned to be moved. Philly is torching Tobias Harris. He’s overpaid sure but who isn’t anyway. We need to get him to Houston to play the 4.

    SF Covington
    PF Harris
    C Tucker
    SG Beard
    PG WB


    Green House Mclemore Rivers off the bench.


    Include Covington if you have to b to get him here. I want skilled players. We lack it against a bottom tier team like okc
     
  4. The Cat

    The Cat Contributing Member

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    Then maybe they shouldn't have played him less than a week after originally suffering the quad injury, all in a completely meaningless game? Moreover, they literally said after that game that he did not reaggravate it.

    If they had not played Russ in that game, he would now be on three full weeks of rest. If they "didn't know" before SA, then why didn't they know? Given the fact that quad injuries are understandably tricky, does it not seem like a massive mistake to let him play in a meaningless game without undergoing an MRI? And if he did undergo an MRI and it wasn't initially a serious issue, then don't tell us that he didn't reaggravate it.

    Separately, here's the timeline from last week:

    Monday: Shams says Rockets are hopeful Russ can return as soon as this weekend (i.e. Game 3, only weekend game):
    https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...0-lead-could-buy-russell-westbrook-more-time/

    Thursday, when asked about Russ, MDA says: "I mean if you’re down 0-2, that puts you in a different position than 2-0."
    https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...0-lead-could-buy-russell-westbrook-more-time/

    Friday, when asked about Russ, MDA says: "Winning gives us a chance to be a bit more conservative."
    https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...dvances-to-running-work-still-out-for-game-3/

    Sunday, video shows Russ going through pretty intense physical activities without restrictions:
    https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...westbrook-as-out-for-game-4-with-quad-injury/


    This isn't a situation where when Russ returns, he's going to be 100% healthy. Everybody is playing through stuff this time of year. The quad isn't going to be 100% until he rests for at least a month, in all likelihood. It's going to be when the Rockets deem the risk/reward equation to be acceptable. I think there are several clues suggesting that the Rockets thought they'd bring him back for Game 3 or Game 4 once the series began, but once they got a 2-0 lead, they decided to err on the side of caution because they thought they could win regardless. Now that it's 2-2, it's fair to wonder if that was the right decision.

    At a bare minimum, it'd be nice if they acknowledged that things were made worse by letting him play against the Spurs, along with an explanation of how and why that happened. It's crazy to me that this isn't a bigger storyline. The far-and-away best player on OKC's team in this series was given to them by the Rockets in exchange for Westbrook (arguably a Top 10 NBA player), who they believed to be more durable. Now CP is playing great for the Thunder, Russ has yet to play a game for Houston in the series, and we still don't even have a clear timetable or an explanation for why he played on the identical injury in a meaningless game two weeks ago.


    EDIT: And before anyone says some variation of "you're a media member, why don't you ask them?", we have. Every damn day throughout this process. It's always some variation of "getting closer, but I don't know what that means." It's pointless now, tbh, He'll come back when he comes back. Which, fair enough. But when they still haven't even acknowledged why he played in a meaningless game on the injury and can't play now in the playoffs — all while the other team's best player was traded from Houston for him — I think it's fair to be a little annoyed and frustrated by the situation. (And not at Russ.)
     
    #24 The Cat, Aug 24, 2020
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2020
  5. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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    We know the rockets are notorious for horrible injury updates. It’s basically left to us to put the clues and pieces together to make a general guess and what would ideally make sense.
     
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  6. The Cat

    The Cat Contributing Member

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    Fair enough. I'll also add that as a media person, I'm probably more annoyed by it than most, because it's pretty clear that we don't have the full story. (And trust me, we've been asking.)
     
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  7. Cstyle42

    Cstyle42 Member

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    And really that is just a damn shame. Seriously it is.
     
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  8. HoustonWest

    HoustonWest Member

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    Honestly if he doesn't play this series and the Rockets lose, I do think Russ will get criticized, whether fair or not. Especially if he "looks" healthy pregame.

    Hell even if he does play and they lose then he'll get some blame. And that might be the most likely scenario here: he comes back and looks rusty, can't make shots and forces really bad turnovers. And you just know he's feeling pressure to try and do too much.

    His +/- will be heavily scrutinized.

    This is a pretty awful situation to be in, big picture. The team should win this series, but if they manage to lose in 6 then where the hell does this group go from here?

    Hopefully it won't come to that, but this has got to be a wake-up call to the entire organization. If they don't respond with a defiant performance in game 5...this experiment is done.
     
  9. Nook

    Nook Member

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    This, the more rest the better for Westbrook. His injury isn’t one to play around with. If they have any questions about it for game 5, then he needs to sit the game out as well.
     
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  10. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Westbrook should have sat out the meaningless game.

    Harden should have sat out as well.

    The Rockets are an extremely progressive organization but the minute distribution and handling of injuries and wear and tear has been poorly.

    Harden, Tucker and Covington should set out a set number of games each year... do what Westbrook sitting out back to backs.
     
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  11. Buck Turgidson

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    Huh?
     
  12. JD88

    JD88 Member

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    If HOU can't get past OKC without Brodie then we've got bigger issues.
     
  13. tycoonchip

    tycoonchip Member
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    No! Westbrook needs to be 100% to play. At 80% no lift and speed he is useless cause he can't shoot.
     
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  14. Magicsaint

    Magicsaint Member

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    Knuckleheaded plays and silly mistakes are why series is tied at 2-2. Yes, Westbrook will help immensely with inside scoring and speed especially when Rockets go ice cold and are over-reliant on 3s to win games.
     
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  15. The Cat

    The Cat Contributing Member

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    After four months off and minimal activity of any kind, they've been going hard since July 9. And unlike a typical end of season and early playoffs, where there are frequent stretches of several days off between games, it's basically every-other-day for games, and a hard practice on the one day in between those. There are a lot of soft tissue issues right now across the NBA (and MLB, too, for that matter).

    Most players have some sort of soft tissue injury that they could conceivably make worse, but the player and/or their teams view the risk/reward balance as worth it, in most cases. In this case, the Rockets didn't, and MDA made it clear that the 2-0 series lead was a part of their thinking. Now that it's 2-2, it's fair to question whether that was correct.
     
  16. Mr. Dominant

    Mr. Dominant Contributing Member

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    It’s so crazy how two players have James in their name in LeBron James and James Harden but they are both built extremely different for the postseason... Harden does not have the mamba mentality, he has the stripper mentality :(
     
    #36 Mr. Dominant, Aug 24, 2020
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2020
  17. Jturbofuel

    Jturbofuel Member

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    There has been talk that as long as the Rockets were up in the series he wouldn't play. We shall see if he plays now that its even.
     
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  18. TWS1986

    TWS1986 SPX '05, UH' 19

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    No ****ing ****. That was infuriating.
     
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  19. napalm06

    napalm06 Huge Flopping Fan

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    Hard to feel bad for him in the case that you're describing. People here could not stop b****ing about Paul getting injured. So we trade Paul and end up facing him with the same record.

    What if in 2019 someone told you that in 2020 we'd be watching games with no fans waiting for Russell Westbrook to save the roxkets. Lol
     
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  20. Mathloom

    Mathloom Contributing Member

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    IMO he should've come off the bench for 20 minutes this game.

    Still now have to wait for him to get in game shape.

    On the brighter side, MDA says Westbrook has been working on his shooting a lot. If he deleted mid range and only took 2-3 three point attempts, we would really crush everyone when he's back.
     

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