Source close to Westbrook believe he was made out to be a scapegoat for Houston's playoff meltdown

I agree, I'm just saying it doesn't work. You need size and length. I think the argument being posed was that the Rockets were always going to lose that series.

I tend to agree. I don't think having CP3 would have won that series either. Lebron and AD are a powerful duo and unless father time finally claims Lebron's old ass I see that team winning next season. They got even better. Replaced Rondo with Schroeder. Added Gasol, Trez, Mathews who can all contribute big time.

So for me, Westbrok, Wall, CP3, it's all irrelevant barring some truly Hakeem like run from Harden which I can't see happening. I'd love to be proven wrong.

 

There are more to deciding games than just rebounds, they were limiting are threes. We went small because we werent gong to be sucessful with Westbrook without going 5-out. People with more length than us got abused by the Lakers as well. Portland played two bigs and got abused.

It wasnt a crack post scheme, it was our best shot. You are too caught up in it being "small ball" when its really just skill ball. And our second best player.....well his skill wasnt there on either end.

 

well it does matter

having WB whoc can't shoot the Rockets had to trade Capela

with Wall, Capela would have stayed

my point is there is a huge difference between the team makeup and style of play with Wb vs Wall

 

Blew a 3-1 lead. Kawhi did not play as well as he could have. But you know what Kawhi DID get his team out of the first round with Paul George. With Westbrook he would not have gotten out of the first round, they lose and they lose handedly to Dallas. Meanwhile PG on our team....you know what, I like his fit WAY more than Westbrook, better offensive player, better defensive player for the playoffs.

Nope, just Cp3 for his first year. That's about it. He's just bad, relative to his standards that has been set, and even then he hasnt been that good. He was an outright liability for us in the playoffs and we were worse with him on the floor all year. That was a dumb contract to give Hayward, and you know what Hayward is still a better fit on this team than Westbrook. Westbrook is not a second option on a championship team, you have to understand this. He has gotten MUCH worse every single year since his MVP season. He has been in decline and you are not going to go far in the playoffs with him as your second best player, you just arent.

Durant was the best player and sometimes, the ugly truth is you need an actual number 2 to support you and do well when you arent. Durant was by and large the reason OKC had success. The fact is most of the time, Westbrook was not good enough to support Durant.

What's your point though? Russ the player that was better than PG isnt here anymore and hasn been here for 3 years. Like it doesnt matter what Westbrook was....it matters what he is now and he isnt that good. Or he isnt good enough to be a number 2 option on a championship team. Paul George, probably is.

Uhh I dont think Lebron has. He's one chips with multiple all stars on his team. Cmon man. Yea and that's literally like one example....maybe 2 with Dream.

No one else took down the Warrriors either.

Look, a lot of this is narrative stuff. Which is fine, Harden hasnt proven much to think he has that mental edge to get things done. I believe that if you give him help comparable to his competition he can win. He's never had that like his contemporaries. And whats the point anyways man, he'll soon be gone if this team isnt good.

 

I'm all for playing skilled players - just make sure u got 1 or 2 that are over 6'8... after all it is basketball...

Yeh, a team of MJs or Kobes is gonna beat a team of Shawn Bradleys.... I've never advocated playing some stiff just bc he's tall - I didnt want Thabeet when we got him - lol!

Thats the trick - to find a skilled big that isnt gonna ruin your spacing or be too great a detriment on switching d... thats why those type of players are often paid on potential hoping they develop... but to just disregard the necessity of size and length is just shortsighted.

If you wanna run your 'most skilled' guys - and theyre all 6'8 and under... then yer not really gonna be a contender in the end - period....

I'm am sorry we traded WB... just bc i wanted to see Silas make it work with WB, Harden, Wood and Boogie and dispel this whole notion that the cockamamie gameplan that we ran was really necessary... we just needed a real 'in game' coach to direct traffic. imo

 

cp3 really showed us. with a team with the same record as us, with no fans for homecourt advantage, with our second best player not playing, with eric gordon looking like trash, and the refs almost comically favoring okc, cp3 was able to....lose to us in the first round. you really showed us that you were right to not get along with harden and not try to win championships any more.

 

CP3 wanted to stay dude. He got traded. He wanted it to work. I so wish he stayed. I really do miss him.

 

This post needs to have its own thread

 

ask him to define scapegoat if that's the word he wants to use

 

Yes, Kawhi didn't play as well as he should have but i'm willing to give all stars blame in their failure to win. Difference is though Kawhi has championships so most of that blame is going to fall on PG13 when it comes down to it. Kawhi has already proven he can step up in big games and win championships, PG13 has proved the opposite. the fact that Kawhi didn't this time just means no one is perfect. Duncan didn't win em all either.

You should go back and watch that Warriors series when they were up 3-1. Durant deserves
PLENTY of blame here, I don't get this thing where Westbrook only gets blamed for losses but gets nothing when they win.

The point is giving Russ his respect? Paul George isn't though? How can we say he's a good #2 when he's been exposed as a #2 ever since becoming a #2? He's looking more and more like a #3 than anything else.

Lebron also won championships without multiple all-stars on his team and oh yeah, he beat the very team we failed to beat.

This isn't even close, Lebron is 5x what Harden is right now and that's saying a lot. This isn't narrative, this is just truth.

The point is just simple discussion. I think Harden has been presented challenges and he's failed at them.

The whole "Westbrook can't win" narrative is literally the same one for Harden so I do find it ironic that people use it to bash Westbrook with but get defensive when you do the same to Harden. Neither have proved that you can give the keys to them and win a ring.

That's fine, it's not an insult really, it's really few guys that are not only franchise players but championship franchise players, leaders of teams, players you know will most often deliver despite not everything being perfect and right.