This is completely on Durant. He was a no show against the Griz last season as well. Not to mention he isn't even contributing in other ways. Not passing the ball well, or playing good defense. He is no Lebron thats for sure. He isn't doing anything well.
Right, yep, agreed. Anyone think Westbrook/Durant combo will ultimately work really well (one or more championships)? It might, but it just doesn't seem like the perfect pairing. I get the whole idea of a PG playing more like a PG - eg Chris Paul, etc. But I am not sold at all that a scoring PG who also assists can't lead a team to a chip. It's just that Westbrook seems to score in a way that is very similar to Durant, and as such you look at many of his offensive plays and say that should have gone to Durant... since Durant is clearly better. That's why at times it seems as if Reggie Jackson is the better fit with Durant. Whereas with a Dwight Howard, for example, I think Westbrook could be a great great great fit. Theoretically, Harden should be as well, but one year in it doesn't seem to be clicking 100%. The concern with Westbrook is clearly his knee. But otherwise, I just think if you replaced Westbrook with Harden the Rockets would have been as good or better. I believe that even more-so if Daniels can prove to be a consistent 10-14 PPG guy in the league with a 40% three point shot from the 2 spot. The Thunder don't have that guy either.
I think the pairing is fine. Durant is more of a finesse player, while WB is more of a power (for a guard) player. I think they both can improve their games to facilitate one another's game better. Durant posts up more to open up the perimeter for WB and his players. That would make them less perimeter oriented. He's still too perimeter oriented. Once the refs don't call those weaksauce calls and give him FTs, he struggles. WB can cut his 3pt attempts down to like 1-2 a game MAX. A player of his stature should not jack up 5+ 3s a game like he's been doing all year. He can take a page out of Lebron and just limit the 3s. Take them when you have it rolling, but otherwise, they're basically unforced turnovers. He can be a very good midrange jumpshooter, but his 3s are just terrible. Both are turning 26 I think. It didn't take Lebron until 27-28 until he realizes he needs to optimize his shot selection in order to maximize his efficiency. Maybe this is the series/year that will alter the way they both play. A smarter/better coach than Brooks will definitely help with that discipline. But it's obvious the 2 stars need to improve. They have enough to beat Memphis as of right now. But these 2 are letting the team down.
They need to improve, but I feel like the Griz are winning this series because they're playing better in the paint and because they have a more reliable bench
Heart and effort and will can only take you so far when you lack the maturity and the bball IQ to actually make the right play for the team. If heart made the ball go in then Allen Iverson should've been the most efficient player in the history of the NBA. The only reason WB is looking so good right now is because OKC has Kevin Durant and a bunch of no offense guys, Perkins, Ibaka and Thabo don't really score that much, hence WB can launch all of his shots with wild abandon. If he actually played on a team with multiple options like the Rox, he will start hurting the team because you have the 4rth option acting like the 1st option. Let's also not forget that WB relies on his athleticism to make plays, well guess what he's already starting to get injured. Harden's only 23, he still has a lot of time to mature and grow his defense.
Westbrook make plays even in a bad game. He put up a triple double and he played poorly. That's how you know you're good. He's a top 5 player. Right now, I think he feels he has to shoulder the load with Allen shutting Durant down. But he's not shooting well. He's partly to blame also. WB gotta start shooting better no doubt.
Top 5? Since when did WB become better than Lebron, Kevin Durant, CP3, Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan/LMA/Bosh/Marc Gasol/Melo/Dirk? Maybe you meant top 5 pg, he has a spot after CP3, Curry, Parker and Lilliard. And let's be honest with ourselves, West Brook is really an undersized shooting guard, Harden has way more point guard skills than him. If WB had to face the guys guarding SGs like Harden and Harden has to be defended by shorter guys at the pg position then Harden will have even better stats and WB will have even worse FG%.
Those of you praising Westbrook's defense: I agree with you an that's one of my points in the original post. Why not just have him run the offense, assist, rebound and play lock down defense on the other team's best guard? Why does he need to jack up 31 shots? Or even 20 shots? This is the whole point.
Yep, blame rw. The mvp has said a 6'5 sg is in his head. If lbj or carmelo had said that, stop the presses. The fact okc plays basically 2 on 5 offensively and the other superstar has continued to struggle vs this same team as last yr is no mystery. Brooks, who played lamb all season and perry jones,but now won't even look that direction is ridiculous. Sit thabo and perk down start lamb and collison and start pressure up the floor.
I would also take Harden. Just think Hardens game will age better. It would be a tough decision, but I would side with the superior offensive player in hopes that the defense comes around over the athletic defender who I have no faith in becoming much better of an offensive player.
The threat of him scoring is what makes the assists possible. He doesn't get assists by standing around managing the offense - he gets assists by driving and forcing the defense to collapse. If the defense doesn't collapse, the right play is to shoot. And he blows by people by getting them to come up and guard him. If people don't come up to guard him, he has to shoot the jumper. If he's not scoring, the rest of his game is less effective. Besides, there's no other legit second option on OKC. The last thing you want is Perkins, Ibaka, etc taking 20 more shots.
Without having watched too many OKC games, I am (maybe incorrectly) assuming that much of Ibaka's production is based on getting easy shots thanks to Westbrook and Durant. If you're trying to take Westbrook out of the equation and have him do less, the degree of difficulty would go up I assume.
