Progress? Lillard for sure. But that doesn't say much. He's the youngest and least talented, and frankly isn't on Westbrook's (much less Curry's) level.
Lillard has McCullough this year. Before he had Aldridge and batum. Ok then Kobe needed shaq. Remember when Kobe didn't have another star? 2004-2007? First round exits. Remember last year when Durant was hurt? Westbrook led them to lottery. Great teams usually have great players in great systems. Before this year many here thought the rockets had the deepest roster.
Progress for the next 5 years? Probably Westbrook, if we're only comparing them to their own selves in 5 years, amd not each other. I think Westbrook will learn how to take more efficient shots and finally learn how to dunk.
Agree on this for now, its like putting Parker beside prime Nash and CP3. However 3+ years from now I think WB will suffer the biggest dropoff because his shot is so streaky and he depends too much on his athleticism, he's gonna start breaking down soon and we see him go the way off Steve Francis, Iverson, Marbury etc. he's like this gen's version of those guys all brawn no brains lol
he'll lose his athletic ability before he becomes an efficient shooter, he's been in the league for 7+ years already if he hadn't learned to shoot by now he never will.
It's a joke to put those two in the same sentence with Curry. One guy is the league MVP, the best player on a team which will be the greatest regular season team in league history. The other two...?
Sounds like a bay area asian working in tech. They absolutely are comparable, relative to age, but you have to get basketball ... instead of media banter being generated for the sake of ratings.
I guess it's media banter that causes the Warriors to be 14 games ahead of the Thunder. Westbrook has Durant. Curry has Thompson. I guess Thompson is about to show the world he's on Durant's level. So yeah, the guys and the teams are comparable. Don't listen to the media.
Not really following the nerd talk, but I'll try. The teams are absolutely not comparable, nor the systems -or lack of one in OKC - they run. One uses the Westbrook/Durant mismatch to create buckets for themselves or others on every play, the other is a well oiled machine with great passing, best depth in the league, best spacing ever, maybe, and the animal that is Draymond Green creating an elite team vs a very good team. It's an insult to make it about Curry and Kay because that's what you see on the highlight reels.
Tonight, Curry has 10 points on 10 FG and the Warriors are up by 22 against the Jazz in the 4th. Westbrook had 25 pts, 20 ast, 11 reb and a reckless 7 TO in a 12 point victory against the Clippers, who have a nearly identical record. I guess... since he didn't hit any half court treys ... it has nothing to do with a system and he shouldn't have turned it over so much. xoxoxo
Am I the only one who thinks the racial slurs are getting out of hand? But yeah Honey Bear, the best season since Michael Jordan by a player without whom the team is .500 is a fluke of the system. Really.
That's what I keep telling people!! It's the Light skin treatment. Curry is Light skin, so the media voted him for MVP. But all the players knew Harden was the REAL MVP and the NBA players voted Harden for MVP. Draymond was +30 tonight while Curry was flat out horrible. Draymond, you da real MVP. Just because he's dark skinned, the media makes him out to be a role player, while the media make light skin Curry to be some god while he just flat out sucks. No Defense and Turnover machine. Curry is media hype
I didn't watch either game and I absolutely hate Curry (and the entire warriors team, I think they get away with moving screens, but that's another issue), but what he's doing is unbelievable. And he could even do it without the illegal screens, he can honestly jack up a 30 footer every time down the floor and likely win his team a bunch of games. IF you watched the game it may be different, but cherry picking stats esp for 1 game means very little. I'm not sure if you remembered this game: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=283302166 Curry was double teamed every time down the floor regardless of if he had the ball or not. If the Jazz focused (obviously not to this extreme), but focused their defense around stopping Curry, it's possible the rest of his team got better shots and had an overall easier time. Westbrook is great, his athletic ability is incredible, but I just don't see him aging gracefully into the next 5 years, nor do I think his stats lead directly to wins. I'm still under the impression if KD took 75% and westbrook took 25% of the shots instead of 50/50 the Thunder would be significantly better (Just like Curry taking more shots this year helped the Warriors). Curry if his ankles don't start messing up again will play however long he wants to with that shot (shooters age more gracefully, like Dirk, Ray Allen, etc). It's crazy when someone pulls up from 30 and your immediate thought isn't NO DON'T DO THAT (if you are a fan), but rather MONEY (even before he makes it).
Nobody can or should take away anything from Curry - he is a GREAT player. But as to your point about them looking close to ordinary without Curry. Same can be said for games Green or Thompson missed. They just work so well together as a team. My guess is that that's what the OP was saying. Not taking anything away from Curry. This year, so far anyway, he definitely deserves to win MVP. As for WB, I know he gets a lot of hate from some, but man that guy is just relentless. He has definitely turned into a legit #1 option. While KD was the undisputed #1 on OKC, that's just not the case anymore. Same goes for Lillard. He has really improved his game and still has room to grow and will definitely be one of the top PGs for years to come.
