Westbrook hate: Do people actually watch games at ESPN?

LMAO! /thread

 

I think the criticism of Westbrook is valid, although I think it's a bit dramatic to say that the Thunder have to unload him immediately.

Jon Barry made an interesting point relating to Westbrook on the Scott Van Pelt Show today. He said that not getting the ball to Durant for that nine minute stretch was unacceptable, but he feels like that's who Westbrook is.

Specifically, he feels that Westbrook badly wants to be "the guy" for a team and he's never going to be that as long as Durant is in OKC. He also said that he feels like Westbrook isn't an "OKC guy" and that he likes the bright lights and big city.

You really have to love the slow pace of a place like OKC to spend the prime years of your career there. All you hear about Durant is that he loves the intimacy of OKC and wants to stay there. I guess the same can't be said for Westbrook.

 

Did small forward Larry Bird bring the ball up as well?

Westbrook does many things well. One of the few things he does very poorly is distribute to his big gun.


Dennis Johnson was a master,. Westbrook needs to be a bit more like Dennis Johnson, and less like Monta Ellis.

 

I don't know, but when your best scorer does not touch the ball for 9 minutes straight that is a huge problem. As for Westbrook's assists, most of them are due to him driving the lane, getting trapped, and then throwing a wild pass across the court.

I honestly think that last year Westbrook started pushing out Jeff Green to become the second option, and is now trying to become the #1. The guy just plays a selfish game.

 

westbrook hate is ridiculous and the criticism of his shot selection is way overblown IMO.

plus, this is a team up 3-2 and great chance to head to the conference finals, and all people are doing is trashing this KID.

ill tell you what, ill take him on the rockets ANYTIME

 

Westbrook and Durant need to work together in order to succced. It's not a contest about who's the better player or the alpha dog. But even as a scoring PG, Westbrook needs to find Durant a bit more often, because Durant is more than a capable scorer. It would lighten the offensive load on Westbrook too.

And yes, people are watching the game, and they see that Westbrook dominates the ball too much. Maybe that's why they write about it on forums and talk about it on television?

 

Westbrook for Dwight Howard

 

Well put.

 

If your best player doesn't touch the ball for 9 minutes straight some of that has to be on your best player.


So you think Westbrook pushed out Jeff Green so he could become the 2nd option? Lol you can't be serious with that.

 

Just because you don't agree with the rationale doesn't mean it doesn't exist, in fact, I would argue that your "go watch the game" argument is counter-intuitive to your viewpoint because the people that look at the box score tend to argue in favor of Westbrook because they don't see him dribble up the court and take a shot with 0 passes on the possession.

To a basketball mind, that is absolutely maddening. The fact that Scott Brooks didn't call a time out and chew out WB the first time he did that was confusing to me, much less the third or fourth time in a row he did it. There should never be a possession with 0 ball movement.

Basketball101: Move the ball around to find the easiest shot possible, if that fails, iso your best 1v1 player or run some pick and roll.

With that being said, KD does need to move without the ball. I blame Scott Brooks in the long run, he needs to hold his stars accountable. IF they both weren't such great kids this would have been a Lakers-esque collapse. Props to the GM.

 

I have a question for you people on Westbrook's case who haven't been watching the Thunder until the playoffs:

Who was the PG when KD won the last 2 scoring titles?

(I am borrowing someone else's point).

 

DJ Augustine???

 

The issue is, he's playing differently as of late - there's been a growing trend in his game where he's looking out for his shot and not looking to set up his teammates as much as he used to. No one's said he's been a trigger happy clown his whole career.

Yr1: 13 shots/5 assists
Yr2: 14 shots/8 assists
Yr3: 17 shots/8 assists
vs Den: 20 shots/6 assists
vs Mem: 24.5 shots/7 assists

See the shift? And those stats don't show you the zero-pass possessions where no one else got to touch the ball.

Not many guys in this league you want to see jacking up over 24 shots a game with a 41% shooting percentage.

Historically, PGs taking large volumes of shots doesn't play well into team chemistry or offense. No one likes playing without touches.

 

Memphis is playing great but it's only gonna get harder for the Thunder if they advance. Mavs might be being their best ball since their 06 run and the Heat just destroyed the aging Celtics.

Thunder cannot play like this and expect to win. Durant is their most efficient scorer so they need to get him the ball. Even if it does take a different game plan and time of the shot clock, its better than seeing Westbrook jack up that many shots. If he continues to play like this then they should consider moving Harden to the point when he is in. He is not a true point guard either but in this series he looks like the better pg.

That 9 minute stretch was absolutely ridiculous. Everyone was to blame for that. Durant was struggling to get open. There were many occasions where they(mainly Westbrook) didnt even look Durant's way. Then there is the coach who let this play out. If your best player doesnt even touch the ball in a 5-10 minute stretch you call a timeout and you force your team to find him. If the team was playing great then its understandable but they werent.

 

sometimes it seems durant doesn't work that hard to get open, at least to me.

 

Great numbers, skilled player, but DAMN he's missing something between the ears. You can't go off of PPG, APG, RPG all the time.

 

Absolutely. Long gone are the days of making the simple pass and being praised for it.

Give me a Dennis Johnson over a Monta Ellis/Recent Westbrook all day, everyday...

In defense of RW, it is tough when you only have one guy to go to in Durant. Thabo/Ibaka/Perkins are stud defenders, but pretty crappy offensively. Westbrook and Durant SHOULD both be getting a crazy amount of shots. When they get beat down by Dallas, they need to think about going into the offseason with Harden as the new starting SG. They need to get more ball movement in their offense, imo. My god Adelman would be perfect for them.

 

I agree, but I think it goes both ways. A part of the reason Durant doesn't always try hard to get open is because he knows Westbrook will likely try to create something for himself rather than look to pass. I guess the same could be said about Westbrook not looking to pass because people aren't getting open.

 

No doubt the shift since game 4 against Denver is troubling. My point is it's a temporary glitch that doesn't represent the normal way WB plays. He and KD are very complimentary to each other on the court but WB has been out-of-kilter since blowing the Denver game and he hasn't really snapped out of it. People are reading way too much into what's happened the last 6 games and are completely tossing out what happened during the season (mostly because they didn't watch OKC play during the season).

WB & KD (and hopefully Scott Brooks) are learning during this run and will be better off for it. This playoff pressure, bouncing back after tough losses, etc will teach these two guys what they need to improve going forward. Both WB & KD are offseason workhorses. WB has come back a new player in each of his first 3 seasons. I expect similar next year. KD didn't hit the ground running at the beginning because of the World Games. I expect him to take it up another notch.

The Thunder will be fine for a long time with KD & WB leading the way and both Hardin and Ibaka becoming better, more assertive players.

 

A championship team's best offensive player MUST be able to either receive the ball during certain stretches of the game (especially the end of the 4th quarters) or draw a double team.

Durant CAN NOT allow a defender to deny him the ball for multiple possessions if he intends on winning a championship. He doesn't have the handles to bring the ball up the court, that won't change. He needs to be able to hold his position in the high post ala Carmelo Anthony. I don't know if it's a lack of intensity and desire or just a lack of mass and strength (in which case it's probably still a lack of desire cause he's known for a long time strength is something he needs to work on) but it needs to change.

Westbrook definitely has some issues but the Thunder's best player needs to make things easier for his teammates not the other way around.