I generally agree, except with the part I bolded. "Should get" and "what he'll actually accept"; how much will those diverge?
WB is also the best rebounding PG in the NBA, especially late in games when every rebound gets nasty. This is especially true for offensive rebounds. This silly "KD should be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd option" nonsense is exactly what Scott Brooks did a couple of times against Memphis in the playoffs and OKC's offense spectacularly crashed and burned. WB would dribble dribble dribble waiting for KD to get open. When the clock hit 8 seconds, he had to throw up a forced shot and everybody got on his case. The problem is two-fold: (1) Scott Brooks is VERY poor at drawing up half-court plays when defenses play tight and (2) KD couldn't get away from Tony Allen. But somehow it had to be WB's fault because people remembered he took 30 shots in game 4 against Denver. As can be seen so far, KD is much improved at handling physicality. Good for him. What we don't know is if Brooks will be more creative at drawing up plays. Either way, the whole KD all-the-time garbage people continue to bring up shows how many haven't watched OKC play very often. Hopefully that mythology gets dispelled as the season goes on. I say this as probably the biggest KD homer on the forum.
Do you guys think OKC will give Westbrook that huge extension he wants or will they make him a restricted free agent? If he does become a RFA, should we make a move for him as our primary SG in the offseason?
KD has become a better ball handler and passer. He's never been selfish as a player, but he is getting to his spots and getting shots, vs a play being drawn up for him. Thats the part he needs to continue to work on. Right now he reminds me of a young dirk isnt even funny. Back to westbrook, if they were foolish enough to offer him up, they could get a hell of alot more than rondo. Last night was an example of rondo not being able to set someone up in the final possessions vs a guy like westbrooks who rose up and made play in the defenders face.
That doesn't change the fact that Westbrook's two 3-pointers near the end of the game were both stupid shots.
Well that turned out to be a pretty sweet move. What has Gay done for Memphis other than get paid a max contract? I dunno how you judge score-first pgs but to me they're defined by their efficiency. Dude has a terrible TS%. Someone like Curry might be a worse player, but he'll contribute to more wins since he can make offensive plays not just for KD, but for the other guys who can't make plays on their own like Perkins and Ibaka.
Its not about score 1st vs pass 1st, its about making plays at critical times. A guy like rondo needs guys late in the game for his setup. Westbrook can execute that, but if that fails, he can make the play himself. Perkins played with rondo and its not like he was an offensive monster. Perkins is a offensively, limited player. Ibaka is solid, but he's struggled this year. Once he gets his groove back, but he's just a ok player offensivelytoo. Curry is a good player, but he can't hold a candle to westbrook. We're not even going to go to the defensive side of the ball. If they offered curry for westbrook, gsw would have to add players or picks to the deal.
Only two guys on OKC showed up to play. I'll let you guess which two. KD also took way too many 3s when he clearly didn't have it going from long range. OKC misses Eric Maynor. You can see that Reggie Jackson will be a very good player, better than Maynor. But right now he's a raw rookie who just started getting playing time.
and thats the problem with okc. they have two great scorers(kd&wb), a pretty good scorer off the bench(harden), but other than that, they have nothing. Ibaka isn't giving them any offense. I'd trade him for ryan anderson.
They have "nothing"? I guess you view everything in simple absolutes. This team you describe went to the Western Conference Finals last year.
They have a guy who goes for 27-30, a guy who puts up 20ish and another that gets 15-20 a game - and that's a lot more than most teams can count on from the top of their lineup.
last time i checked, this team is trying to WIN the finals, and their roster has got weaker with maynor out.
Yep, pretty much. That was a big loss for them. What do u think about a guy like shaun livingston as a backup pg? His salary is only guaranteed for 1m next yr. They need something better than the rookie reggie jackson backing up westbrook.
