Didn't harden get the 2 seed sporting a squad with Nick Johnson Kostats Garcia Dmo Canaan How many of those guys are even in the NBA
I drove up to the game to see in person with couple cfnetters and about 4 Red Rowdies....that was awesome.
The question is do you think that Westbrook's teammates are the problem and that's why he has to do what he does, or if you think Westbrook is selfish and that's the problem. You can make a case either way. Regardless, the MVP is a media award, and we Rockets fan have to tip our cap to Westbrook as basketball fans. Whatever you feel about the MVP, Westbrook makes basketball more exciting. He is the story. He's the one inspiring people and getting kids excited. He's the one bringing new fans to the NBA this year. He's the King of the Basketball World. This isn't the media, it's the general public. And it is a compelling story - first guy to pull and Oscar in 55 years and break his record. Even Oscar is behind him. Cry about bias all you want, but for a second, take off the homer glasses and just realize that this was a special thing that we just saw - something we're going to talk about in 20 years as remembering what it was like to watch a triple double player. Westbrook is not just the media's darling, he's the NBA"s darling. He's the basketball fan's darling. And the masses don't want the Rockets to win, they want Russell to win. Everyone outside of Houston is hoping he advances and the magic continues - because it might not be good basketball, but it is exciting basketball. Just saying, think about the bigger picture, and let's appreciate Westbrook. In a week and change, he'll be gone, and we'll be talking about San Antonio. And we'll be the underdog, and people will be hoping the Rockets beat the Spurs. Ok, put the homer glasses back on now
OKC clearly wouldn't be anything without Westbrook. The bias is deserved. Stop hating and give the man his props. Damn.
Watching the end of game 3, I thought I saw a supernatural event. Westbrook has no help.. so.... That Westbrick in the final 2 minutes just magically tipped itself in. Holy crap! Supernatural! After all he has no help, so clearly no one helped tip that ball in. #TajGibsonforgame3MVP
You are right they depend on him so much. But the narrative is that he has no help. Clearly he does. Dipo is a great player. Gibson and Adams are inside forces the Rockets could only dream of having on the roster right now. Dougie McBuckets is a sharp shooter. Roberson is a premier lockdown defender. This team is very good! Without westbrook, they might not make the playoffs, but westbrook shouldn't be MVP because he makes everyone else look worse. Swap Harden and Westbrook, and I bet the Rockets are a 7th or 8th seed (weak interior defense and Rus wouldn't extract all the shooting talent out of Ego, Ryno, Ariza and Lou to make up for average team defense). OKC would be a 3rd or 4th seed (Harden would turn Doug into a 16ppg player, Roberson and Dipo would should better percentages and Dipo would have the lane opened up for him for him to average 20ppg. Adams, Roberson and Gibson would do a great job in hiding Harden's so so defense).
while the thunder wouldn't be anything without westbrook this series is showing the rockets wouldn't be anything without harden.
That's the truth right there. This series has proved these other guys can play if Westbrook isn't constantly hogging touches and spotlight. When they move the ball they seem to be a pretty decent supporting cast, far from being garbage. It looks like when Westbrook plays within the rhythm of the game his team is a lot more dangerous, when he takes over HE'S a lot more dangerous but his teammates then start to suck. He chucked up a few shots at the end and almost lost them the game again.
BTW, that last comment is why Barkley doesn't have a ring. We brought him here to be a defensive juggernaut, and he was awesome... Until he decided he wanted to play offense on the 97 rockets team. That ego is why Barkley doesn't have a ring today.
Um, Barkley was never considered a 'defensive juggernaut' and CD/Rudy certainly didn't bring him over to fill that role. He was brought to Houston to balance the floor so that Seattle defenders would stop overloading the strong side -- where Dream operated in the post. The Barkley experiment was success in that regard. Won't mention the Utah series because I'm in a good mood this morning.
You don't recall him in the beginning here. He said he was going to focus on defence & rebounding, and he killed it. He was grabbing 15+ a game. And then about 1/3 into the season, he went back to being the same ol' Chuck. And that works on some teams, but it became a "too many chefs in the kitchen" dilemma. Go see if you can find his 1997 game by game stats.
Check out today's Yahoo Sports. Several articles on Westbrook. He is the greatest thing since crushed ice. He wouldn't let his team go down 0-3, etc. etc.
Funny thing is if harden hit that three Westbricks epic choke job at the free throw line along with the two turnovers in the last minute would have been the talking point. He almost choked the game away.
This is all easy to say in theory, but we have real-life data. And the real-life data says that when Westbrook goes off the floor, OKC becomes a disaster, regardless of how good they theoretically should be.
There is no bias, Westbrook is far and away a more exciting player, and their job as Media is to drive traffic. I would take Harden 100 times out of 100 over Westbrook, but the effort Westbrook plays with his outstanding - and worthy of note..... He is deservedly this year's MVP. DD
Stopped reading at 'Dipo is a great player'. Uwotm8? I am by no means a fan of Westbrook, not even a little bit, but the Thunder couldn't beat the Rio Grande Vipers without him. Do you see what happens EVERY TIME he leaves the game to get a sip of water?
This might ruffle some feathers, but I think westbrook is deservedly the MVP of the league and has a number of traits harden cant match - quickness and athleticism being at the top of the list. That said, I am astonished at the pass the media has given westbrook for poor late game performance game after game. Tonight was his best 4th quarter of the series, and yet he literally could not hit his mid-range jumper/fade away he was knocking down all game (which is consistent with the first three games), and seemed to score on drives to the hoop and a few big threes late, but those were exceptions more than the norm as he missed the majority of his attempts badly. He has had chances late in games to either tie the game or make it a 1 point game many times and has failed to deliver. And to be honest, this is how it was in the season with him too - every game against GSW he disappeared and failed to play up to his normal standard. So is his supporting cast better than Hardens? Of course not. But that shouldnt excuse his objectively poor late game performances.
