Man, I dunno how many times I defended RW this season from people on here claiming he would collapse in the playoffs. 27pts-7boards-9ast, 2stls on 10-15 shooting as of the 3rd quarter vs the lakers...
This will probably be downvoted but the proof is right there!
Posted May 15, 2012, 3:35 AM UTC
I kind of felt bad for Steve Blake when Russell posted him up two times in a row and clowned him both times.
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If there was ever a mismatch... this is it.
I wonder if Fisher is glad the Lakers traded him.
It all makes sense now...
Signing with the Thunder was the only way to ensure that he'd never have to guard Russell Westbrook
That stretch where D.Fish outdid Kobe like 4 times in a row was so amazing, had a wicked awesome brother v. brother feel to it. I would say little bro vs. big bro but I'm not totally sure who is which.
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lakers are helpless against him.
Especially Steve Blake
put kobe on him. blake shouldn't be guarding wbrook. or sessions. put sessions and blake on shafolosha and keep kobe on wbrook the entire game.
Kobe can't be guarding Westbrook too much since he also needs to use his energy on scoring.
Barkley touched on this in the postgame and said... If Kobe wants to be MJ, or greater than MJ, he guards RW the rest of the series and shuts him down.
Since when is the NBA a one-way game? I remember a certain player in the 90s being dominant on both ends.
There is a 10 year difference between the two players. Kobe is still pretty explosive after the magical knee procedure, but you just can't keep up with natural youth.
Not to mention that Kobe needs(?) to do a majority of the scoring for his team (or at least it seems like that, the twin towers have been kind of quiet), whereas Westbrook can always go "I'm tired, i'm just gonna hand this ball to THE LEAGUE SCORING LEADER"
Westbrook is faster and more explosive than Kobe is now, IMO, and that's very hard to defend. And then Kobe needing to score for the team? If the Lakers want to win this series, the other starters and role players better step up their game, not hanging onto Kobe to do it all.
they tried. it failed.
Kobe had a terrible time guarding him in the 3rd, but way better than Blake lolol
But then when Harden comes in, this will still be a problem
Kobe couldn't guard him last night either :[
Thunder has 2 Turnovers tonight. TWO. This from a team who led the league in TO's in the Reg season, a lot of them from RW. Cray. Edit: 4 TOs. Still Cray.
if this happens again, i'm convinced... but this HAS to be a freak occurrence.
Our TOs the last part of the season really weren't that bad. The beginning of the year it was horrific.
all i can say is that the thunder are sooo good that i wouldn't doubt it can happen again
That's the thing about the Thunder though, every game seems like it must be a freak occurrence. One night they put up an unbelievably efficient offensive performance and fucking dominate one of the best teams in the league, and the next night they turn the ball over 25 times and lose to a bottom feeder as KD and Westbrook shoot a combined 30%. Their potential is through the roof, they're just so up and down.
OKC Miami finals inc
RW is fucking sick but /r likes to hate on him for some reason.
OKC is gonna rape whoever they play. They care not about division/conference.
I still think San Antonio have to be the favorites at this point. They worked us in the regular season.
Plus they have much more exp, and a better coach. Should still be a great series.
Both the coaching staff and players on either team could be the best two in the league, if it happens, it'll be one wild and awesome series that I'll feel privileged to watch! As a Thunder fan it would be nice to play a team from Texas that I actually respect.
Whoever wins SAS-OKC will probably win the title as well. Assuming Miami even make it to the finals, which at the moment I'm not entirely convinced of, they are not going to be able to handle either team without Bosh.
I disagree...even as good as the Thunder are, the type of basketball the Spurs play just destroys our type of offense/defense.
It's all about matchups and the Spurs have a great matchup against us.
It hinges on what capacity Tim Duncan is able to play at, I think.
If the Lakers lose though, I'll definitely be cheering OKC on, Westbrook was one of my favorite UCLA players.
probly because he does that stupid fkn gun holster move
Gun holster move is swag dood
Too many Lakers fans
If anything, a lot of Laker fans (myself included) love Westbrook because he played at UCLA.
Personally, I think that Russell Westbrook is the most purely athletic guard in the league right now.
Even though I don't really care for him, I agree.
Derrick Rose?
I think you were downvoted for being a Bulls fan, but I agree. They are 1a and 1b in my opinion. Like, seriously?
Hell of a game. Thunder in 6. But I really don't see them beating the Spurs, not yet. I am amazed by how much nobody seems to talk about that squad. But yeah, RW played a great all-around game tonight.
Nobody talks about it because it's incredibly sound, fundamental basketball, which means it's boring as fuck to watch.
I don't understand how people that say they love basketball find the Spurts boring. They play the game so beautifully.
Not enough ghetto wrecklessnes
I'm actually okay with that.
I agree with you, I'm a Lakers fan but I've been saying it since the beginning of the playoffs that the spurs are one scary team right now and they are the team to beat for the championship. If not putting my biased opinion of Lakers winning it all, I'd have to go for the spurs this year.
The Spurs have an odd problem in that they're almost too deep for a playoff team since rotations shorten in the playoffs. Honestly though the way Green and Leonard have played this year in addition to their big 3 makes the Spurs the team to beat in the West. I'm a little shocked hwo well Diaw has played since coming over too.
I think its because of the Tony Parker relationship there, when you play with some1 you comfortable with, it helps your game a lot.
thunder were working like a well oiled machine tonight, and the lakers were utterly powerless to stop it as it just steamrolled them, thunder in 4
This will probably be downvoted
I was with you until this point. Sorry champ.
Oh no, a downvote?!! It's not like this post already has 100+ votes... ooh wait.. sorry bud.
Props to RW, but the Lakers showed last series that they have absolutely NO ability to slow down speedy guards. Ty Lawson killed them and he's not nearly at the level that Westbrook is.
agreed. I like Harden more than RW in general but RW is the right guy to go to when you want to beat the Lakers and he had a hell of a game last night.
I agree, and go TWolves
He won't shoot as well as 10-15 again this series.
That's OK. Westbrook could have been 0-15 and the Thunder still win..
Yeah, he had a hell of a shooting night, but Russ is still a fucking beast.
It doesn't matter how RW plays, it about the Lakers playing better, less turnovers, and better shooting and Kobe for this series should forget about trusting his teammates and do it alone like the one time he did in the regular season against OKC and Lakers won.
no one outside your big three will ever shoot like that in their careers
lol
Sadly for Nugget fans, Steve Blake did
Westbrook just sizes people up and just elevates and pulls right in there face. It's so dirty to watch.
Westbrook was shitting on Kobe last night...they'll probably put World Peace on him in the future but that just adds mismatches elsewhere. OKC in 5.
I was thinking the same thing, RW's liability is his temper and if anyone can get to him, like Jason Terry did last year, it would have to be Artest. As for mismatches, it doesn't matter who they put on KD, honestly.
Lakers are really weak against Dribble penetration. Not surprised to see him and Harden dominate. Though what i didn't like about Russel, is that he was still doing his quick shots, you gotta let play develop Russel.
Yeah, they almost lost because he kept making shots too quickly.
Almost lost? I think maybe you were watching a different game...
Re reading your comment I detect sarcasm. Well played well played.
I too detect sarcasm. A high level.
Oh my god Russell's shirt post-game. Why poke the bear like that?
He's making them sorry they ever beat us in the first round.
No I won't downvote. Frankly OKC was my pick to the Finals when the Mavs let Chandler and DeShawn go.
BTW If they meet Miami. I would love it if they swept.
Nobody is helpless against him, I just don't understand why the Lakers play such weak picknroll defense on him. Half of his points are wide open jumpers around the key, most right at the free throw line. I like OKC but I don't like seeing Westbrook score dumb wide open shots. I thought Kobe would shut his ass down but even he was going under screens and the big men on the switch were giving him the J. It's really scary how good OKC can be though, I thought they would win the series but blowing out the Lakers by 30+ is crazy.
even he was going under screens and the big men on the switch were giving him the J.
Probably because if you try to chase him over the screen he will do this...or this. You've got to pick your poison with him and if you're a defender you would rather him attempt a jumpshot than a dunk. Westbrook is still a streaky shooter so it's the smart play go under the screen. If he's hitting his shots there's not much you can do about it.
He's kind of like LeBron in the sense that when he's hitting his jumpshots, you just have to throw your hands up in the air.
Exactly. LA will "let" him shoot jumpers all day and hope for a 3 for 22 game like he put up against them at the end of the season rather than having him drive down main street and make highlight reel plays like soonerfan237 showed. It's a pick your poison scenario. And if he's not hitting them, Durant will. Or Harden. Lakers are effed.
Both those instances have D Fish guarding him. I know those little guys like Fish and Sessions can't guard him, he's too strong and athletic, but if Kobe did a better job off those screens then Westbrook really wouldn't be shit. Don't get me wrong, I really like OKC and I think they'll win it this year, but something about Westbrook shooting more than Durant, who is the best player in the league right now, and the scoring champ, makes me really hate him. His whole game is really basic anyway, either he pulls up for his little free throw line jumpers or he'll get an open lane and just fly in for the jam. He has no point guard IQ whatsoever and you're right I'd rather him shoot jumpers then posterize people but the jumpers he got in game 1 were ridiculous man, wide open free throw line jumpers around the key.
Those aren't the only two instances of him posterizing people. Believe me, he's capable of doing it against more than D Fish. Those were just the first two clips that came to mind. If all you had to do to stop him was through screens better, he wouldn't be 5th in the NBA in points/game while shooting 46% from the field. And while Kobe might be able to do a better job than some others, do you really want him running around screens, wasting his energy on the defensive end ALL game? Besides, if you move Kobe over to cover Westbrook, then Sessions just gets to guard Harden. I'm not sure that is any better.
Westbrook averages fewer shots than Durant per game. So I'm not sure why you're complaining about Westbrook shooting more than Durant. Are you saying that Durant should have more shots than Westbrook in every single game? Westbrook was the 5th leading scorer in the NBA this season. He averaged more points/game AND shot a higher percentage than C. Anthony, Nowitzki, D. Williams, Pierce, and more. He's an elite offensive player and rightfully has the greenlight to score the ball, just as D. Wade has the greenlight to score when LBJ is on the court. OKC are 23-3 when Westbrook shoots more than Durant. OKC are 23-13 when Durant shoots more than Westbrook. Durant and Coach Brooks have always encouraged Westbrook to be aggressive with his shots because it takes pressure off the rest of the team.
I always find it funny when people claim that Westbrook is hindering Durant's game. Yet Durant led the league in scoring for the third straight season. I find it funny when people claim that Westbrook is hindering the Thunder's offense. Yet the Thunder scored the 3rd most points in the league while having the 2nd most efficient offense in the league. I'm not sure what to say if you think there is something wrong with the way Westbrook is running this team. You say he has no basketball IQ but he has the same career assist/game average as Derrick Rose.
Not gonna lie, all valid points. To be honest, i don't know or care if those stats are true, but Derrick Rose's career stats are 21ppg and 6.1apg, while westbrooks are showing as 17.8 and 7.1. The main difference is Derrick Rose IS the offence for the bulls, he's the main scorer, and more often than not he initiates the offence. He's clutch, and he's an MVP, no amount of stats that you show me will convince me that you can compare Westbrook to Rose. Either way, i'm def not disagreeing with you, i'm just saying from what i've seen he really isn't much of a point guard, he's sorta what Monta Ellis would be if you threw him at the 1 spot. I'm just commenting on what i see when i watch OKC games, and he's the only player on the team that consistently makes me say "wtf are you doing that for? Why would you shoot that? Why so early in the shot clock?" etc. But like i said, i'm just speaking from a purely opinionated point of view and not factual whatsoever, you def hit me with some surprising stats lol. But yeah, OKC is damn impressive so far man 30 point blowout on the lakers and miami's punk ass team lost to indiana
I watched a lot of the thunder this year, and while I didn't think Westbrook was going to all out collapse/be a non-issue for opponents like Novak was bound to be, I did think there was going to be be problems. I totally admit that I thought Westbrook would take too many shots and hurt his team in the long run.
I won't speak just yet but it seems like he's ready to prove me wrong. god DAMN last night was crazy. It helps that Steve Blake vs Russell Westbrook might as well just be free points for the thunder...
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But.... But Skip Bayless says!!.....
Skip bayless can suck my shrivled up sticky and sweaty Dick.
I'm sorry I just can't get hard for him.
"shriveled up sticky and sweaty dick"
Pacers logo...
can't get hard...
onlyblackguyonreddit....
Are you Larry Bird?
I am Larry Bird.
I'm kurt rambis's sister's accountant's goldfish.
I am Larry Bird's Aunt Tilda.
Viagra can help with that.
Skip Bayless said the laker's weren't gonna get blown out too, but the reason the thunder will never win a championship proved him wrong.