Paul did not carry the team, as I said, but lineups with him with Harden on the bench at least stayed alive. They didn’t actively kill the team like current Westbrook only lineups are. It’s not about how good Paul was. It’s about how bad Westbrook is.
I wouldn’t. Age makes no difference if the fit is the one thats actually questionable. Couple that with the obvious decline in athleticism and broken jump shot, I’ll take the fit and higher iq especially with a gs dynasty that’s no longer around. And with an extra year on his contract the rockets are back to square one with the repeater reset and LTS
I don’t miss him getting hurt every year and basically being a crap shoot whether he’ll be hurt or just ineffective during the playoffs. Nah, I don’t miss that. Peak/unhurt/focused CP3 is better than Rus, no doubt ...but he’s never been fully reliable and never will be again.
2017-2018 Paul was certainly better. 2018-2019 Paul....debatable. 2019-2020 Paul.....not even close. Westbrook isn’t perfect by a long shot but he’s the best we could get when we attempted to trade arguably the 2nd worst contract in the NBA (behind Wall).
I think he will be significantly worse in 2 years, if by then no ship is won then there is not much to discuss here.
Paul is straight up better this year. Defensively, offensively, shooting, passing, however you want to measure it. Neither are worth their contracts, but WB has such a low BB IQ. Instead of slowing things down, he bricks w 2-on-1 layup, doesn’t get back on defense for a transition Lou 3, and then tries to win it all instead of driving or passing when we needed only a 2. Plus 4 missed FTs and 6 TO. It is maddening to watch him work.
Age doesn't matter without context, agreed, you were the one that brought up aging first. Have you already forgotten how much CP aged over last season? He couldn't beat Andrew Bogut off the dribble, his isolation game completely disappeared. His freethrow rate dropped, his dreb% dropped, his turnover% increased, his 3pt% was the 2nd lowest of his career (largely due to that struggle off the dribble). These were all signs of decline, and it all matched up with the eye test. Now, he has been great so far this season, but when someone declines at 34, they don't tend to be better at 35, at least not for long. Most Rockets fans knew, and still do, that he can be great, the best guy on the court, but over 82 games? Over a gruelling playoff series? Nope. This has nothing to do with Westbrook, and everything to do with injuries, and Father Time. Now, on to Westbrook. You're talking about boxscore numbers as if PER is a boxscore number. It's an advanced catch all stat that is woefully outdated, nobody serious uses it. Yes Russ stat stuffed, but he was looking at his rebound numbers, not his PER. There are signs of decline that just aren't there, which is positive. His freethrow rate is up, his turnovers down despite higher usage. His shots within 3 feet are only ever so slightly down (0.08%) but he is converting a career high of them over the last two seasons. The only thing that is bad about Russ is his historically terrible shooting. But he's always been historically terrible. That's not decline. That's his average
Man this thread is all kinds of obonoxious, if you’re not crapping on Westbrook, you are crapping on Chris Paul. Either making trashy hamstring jokes or thinking “Westbrick” is clever. I think Westbrook can turn around, and Chris Paul is gone, get over it. Imagine thinking Beverly, Lou and Trez(as much as I love those theree) makes you championship contenders
BTW small sample size but Chris Paul has been much healthier since he fired his long-time trainer earlier this year.
But the problem is Russ going in the games more often isn't a good thing. At this point, I'd rather have CP3 racking up DNPs all year and still have our draft picks.
But CP3 being injured was more helpful to the team than Westbrook being healthy. Again, we're -17.9 with Westbrook on the floor and Harden off the floor. We would seriously be better off with a CP3 that never plays another game and our 4 future draft picks. Westbrook is garbage. And unfortunately the only other team that wanted him is doing surprisingly well with the surprise contributions of guys like Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro.
good point, but I ask you where that team is going with 34 y/o Cp? He isn't an all star on the thunder and you think he'll be one here with less time with the ball. OKC could not find a trade partner and they tried their hardest, which tells you his value around the league. Westbrook Gives us a higher ceiling but potentially lower floor at 31 years of age. Have to take that any day of the week with the last few years of Harden's prime. Results with Chris paul were given to you on a plate last playoffs, a second round exit with a pathetic performance till game 6. Cmon man wake up from this nonsense
He looks solid to start the year. I really couldn’t careless if people consider an all star or not. He fit next to harden. The results of running into a gs dynasty has been the only thing that has stood in the way. That’s no longer around as I posted. I’m not expecting this pairing to be any better. Wb brings certain aspects sure but the fit just isn’t something I was sold on. I disagree. The ceiling isn’t necessarily higher. It’s just different and could even be lower with his known weaknesses.
That's fair and i agree I do believe as of right now this pairing has been about the same as last year's but still its game 15 not 50 and its too early to tell but to me thus far its been no worse but not much better. That's perfectly fine though, rather have 11-5 w/ injuries and have time to work things out than be 5-11 or whatever we were last year and losing games by 20+ against contenders. The what we used to have argument always works if things look bad, but this trade was a good one
Missing U: Chris Paul during the season (48 games missed) Missing U: Chris Paul during G6/G7 WCF Missing U: Chris Paul games one-five WCSF
