Does Russ look like a “square peg in a round hole” to you?

Yeah I don't mind him shooting the occasional 3. It keeps the defense honest, and helps him get in rhythm and set up his drives. Even a 27% 3-point shot is like a 0.400 mid range jumper which is not bad at all. I don't even hate the occasional open 10-12 footer if he can get a nice fade away in the paint. But those pullup 15-20 footers, a lot of which are contested, are tilting AF and really hurting his and Rockets efficiency on offense.

 

Westbrook’s dramatic impact on our pace and his desperately needed rebounding are winning me over. It’s still early days, but so far, the record speaks for itself. Yes, James has played even better than last season, which is hard to believe, but Russ seems to have taken some of the attention, the load off of him, and I like what I’m seeing when he’s with the second unit and Harden’s getting a blow.

DD makes a good point, though (he does every once in a while). Assuming the team can hold itself together and is relatively healthy for the playoffs (fingers crossed!), will Westbrook’s shooting have improved enough that he can’t be ignored? Will the impact he’s having now, still learning to fit in with a new team that’s learning to fit in with him and other changes in personnel, translate to the playoffs? It’s a good question, one we’ll have to wait months to get the answer for. In the early going, I have to say that I’m very encouraged.

 

And yes I agree with others that now we at least have another option, who is entirely different than Harden, when things aren't going well. When Harden ISO dance moves weren't working, and/or our guys weren't knocking down the 3 point shots, the confidence drops. But Westbrook can single handedly change the momentum of the game with his one man fast breaks.

And his defensive rebounding really helps. I got so frustrated watching teams get 2nd chance points game after game as we had a bunch of short, relatively unathletic guys getting pwned on the glass. Russ plays like a SF or PF equivalent rebounding wise which is great for our defense.

 

Golden peg in a big hole. Russ is exactly what the Rockets needed.

Notice all the 'we really miss CP3' threads? No, you don't. What about all the 'This Westbrook thing is the disaster we all thought it would be'? Nope, none of those either. Even though its still early in the season, before anyone should have expected them to figure it out yet.

 

at least Westbrook will be on the court unlike Paul

 

I think the polling data might be unreliable
You polled "does Russ fit" but asked in the title:
Does Russ look like a “square peg in a round hole” to you?

 

This is a very smart post. Russ

Westbrook is really good at creating easy shots for others. They can't double team Harden all the time, and in the moments their defense is really pressuring him hard, Westbrook either will fly to the basket or someone will be wide open for a 3 or a cut to the basket.

 

Pet peeve: when the question in the title of the post is worded so that it has the opposite answer the question in the poll.

 

It's not a perfect fit, and sometimes he goes off script and plays his way, but you have to love what he brings to the table.

 

when defenses lock into the rockets in may/june, the fear of harden being "worn out" and the "others" will once again be a topic. westbrook will never be a good shooter. no matter what anyone says, despite being in this system. that's why he was never the ideal fit. he's going to get open shots but when the time comes, all anyone can ask is if he can hit them at the key moments.

westbrook tried to get toyota center fired up last night. the crowd basically said nah we're good lol.

 

They're still trying to push that narrative.

It was obviously a great move.

We're just getting started.

 

This. When he gets the ball and has just a sliver of space to operate, Russ takes it to the hole and gets buckets. We sorely needed/need that to be a change of pace on this team, especially when Harden sits. Westbrook, as seen last night, can make passes if need be as well.

 

To me there's only one issue with Westbrook, whether he can hit an open jumper. That's really it. In the playoffs, if he can shoot, then we can beat anyone. If he can't then he will be gameplaned to death. He is perfectly fine in everything else except that aspect of his game.

 

You are getting the OKC Westbrook.

He’s at .497 TS% with a stinky AST/TOV ratio.

Honestly the team is good and winning so it doesn’t matter right now to anyone but WB sucks. He no superstar, or even all-star. CP3 is clearly better. But again with winning who cares.

 

He may not be a perfect fit but he sure as hell tries to make himself fit.

 

When he’s playing with energy and going to the basket he’s tremendous.

We’ve lacked that so much with the walk it up, pound the rock, pnr, stepback 3 and pray offense. Which would get ground to a halt in the playoffs and inevitably Harden would look tired and disinterested.

Russ gets you second chance points from rebounds and easy buckets in transition.

We desperately needed that the last several years so while he doesn’t fit the scheme he adds so much that MDA and Harden do not.

 

He’s a great fit when he’s attacking the basket.

He’s a terrible fit when he’s shooting jumpers.

Simple as that