That dent

Tell me how Anthony Davis has been helping his team lately.

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Westbrook might be the best player in the Western Conference right now.

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If Curry, Harden and Anthony Davis all died, it is possible.

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Westbrook might be the best player in the Western Conference right now.

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If Curry, Harden and Anthony Davis all died, it is possible.

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Throughout February, Westbrook almost averaged a triple double, and averaged more points, more assists, and more rebounds than Curry and Harden.

And anyone who thought an injured, not playing, Anthony Davis is better than Russell Westbrook either doesn't watch basketball or fails to grasp the concept of "right now" as when the post was made. However, throughout February, Westbrook did average more points, rebounds, and assists than even the uni-brow.


I understand hating Westbrook, because I do, but if you can't appreciate what he did throughout the month of February and recognize how well he was playing, than you either aren't watching him play, or your still stuck on pre-All-Star break, because throughout February, he was the best in the West.

Westbrook is remarkably overrated and shows why stats are so overrated. Amazing athlete but no clue how to play the game.

Sure he is averaging huge numbers, but he is doing is with horrible inefficiency and giving up more defensively than he accomplishes offensively.

The other night against Phoenix was a perfect example. I am going off memory here so the numbers aren't exact but he scored 35 with 12-14 assists, 11 boards, couple of steals, etc, etc. Sounds amazing right?

Well, Bledsoe went for 30 with 12 assists and 9 boards.

Westbrook took 37 two point shots and one 3 pointer. Thirty freaking seven two point shots. He only made 13 of them. Bledsoe did it on 15 or so shots. So Westbrook had virtually the same production but used an extra TWENTY offensive possessions to get there.

I despise Westbrook's drives. He almost always stops his drive to a pull up for a 17 footer. No one shoots well on moving 17 footers and if he would take one extra step he would pull defenders for open 3s for Durant. Durant must pull his hair out watching Westbrook pull up on drives and shoot hard two point shots.

Kills offensive flow. Ball is moving around, hits Westbrooks hands, and stops every time for a second before he passes again. Every time he holds the ball and lets the defense catch up. Every single time.

He plays awful defense, he crushes offensive flow, he doesn't use the tools around him, poor player during crunch time but big stats. Sounds like I am describing Kobe Bryant.

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Ok, let's compare when Westbrook was injured to a healthy Canaan. Clearly Canaan is more valuable.

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Great deflection attempt.

Except you were the one that offered up an injured player to my 2/27 statement that Westbrook might be the best player right now. You offered a guy who had been injured for much of the month of February.

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Ok, let's compare when Westbrook was injured to a healthy Canaan. Clearly Canaan is more valuable.

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Great deflection attempt.

Except you were the one that offered up an injured player to my 2/27 statement that Westbrook might be the best player right now. You offered a guy who had been injured for much of the month of February.

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I would take Anthony Davis over Westbrook right now, even though he is questionable.

Westbrook is no doubt a dynamic player and one of the most athletic players and he knows how to fill up a stat sheet.

If you want to talk about how each has helped their team, Davis has played more games this season than Westbrook. If you want to talk about advanced metrics, Davis has the highest PER in the NBA and is the only player above 30. Anthony Davis' PER this year would rank as LeBron's 3th best PER, it would be Jordan's 3rd best PER, and would be better than any season best by Dwyane Wade, Dirk, McGrady, Shaq, Robinson, Malone, Durant and will rank 8th all time ever in the history of the NBA.

Westbrook's shooting numbers are .432/.277 and his TS% is just .535. Davis TS% is .603.

Westbrook's TS% would rank 10th on the Spurs. It would be 13th on the Warriors. It would be 8th on the Rockets. 10th on the Clippers. 13th on the Mavs. Hell, Jeremy Lin's TS% is .543. Westbrook's is just terribly inefficient and his TS% is about the league average for all players. If you look at all the MVP-type players, they are all significantly above him.

Westbrook does a lot of very amazing things, but he also does a lot of harmful things. Missing lots and lots of shots maybe something you can get away with during the regular season, but it kills you in the playoffs. And no one really cares if he gets hot and gets a 6th seed if he gets there to lose to Harden in the first round.

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Westbrook does a lot of very amazing things, but he also does a lot of harmful things. Missing lots and lots of shots maybe something you can get away with during the regular season, but it kills you in the playoffs. And no one really cares if he gets hot and gets a 6th seed if he gets there to lose to Harden in the first round.

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You trash Westbrook for being a volume shooter and then use Harden as a counterpoint? Seriously??

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Westbrook does a lot of very amazing things, but he also does a lot of harmful things. Missing lots and lots of shots maybe something you can get away with during the regular season, but it kills you in the playoffs. And no one really cares if he gets hot and gets a 6th seed if he gets there to lose to Harden in the first round.

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You trash Westbrook for being a volume shooter and then use Harden as a counterpoint? Seriously??

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.TS% .535 vs .609

FG% .432 vs .447

3FG% .277 vs .381

.609 TS is very good and Harden is hitting a very good 38% of his threes (well, very good considering Westbrook is hitting a pathetic 27.7% while still jacking up 3.5/game.

More importantly, Harden gets to the line. his FT Rate is .535 - so he gets to the .535 FTs per FG. Westbrook is at .428.

Harden is a much more efficient scorer than Westbrook.

You're certainly not the only Thunder fan. I'm a huge fan going back to the Seattle days.

Russ is clearly a top 5 player in the league based on the MVP discussions. He is in attack mode 100% of the time but I think a lot of that has to do with Brooks' system (or lack thereof) that forces Russ and Durant to bail the team out of a lot of possessions. However, he just had 3 triple doubles in a row. Someone tell me when the last time that happened in the Association. To the poster that said he never finishes his drives but pulls up for 17 foot jump shots.....have you even watched a Thunder game? He does have a beautiful foul line extended pull up but the overwhelming majority of the times when he drives he finished at the rim.

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I would take Anthony Davis over Westbrook right now, even though he is questionable.

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That isn't the discussion question, nor my point, nor my comment.

My point is that during late February, all of February, since All-Star break, or whatever is considered recent or "right now", Westbrook is in the discussion for playing as good of ball as anyone in the WC. It wasn't a comment on the future, nor the season. Davis & Durant are out of the discussion for best playing right now/recent because they weren't playing.

I wouldn't vote for him for MVP (missed too many games IMO, but others might not see it that way), nor would I put him on the 1st All NBA team (Harden & Curry), but his February was as good or better than anyones in the WC.


Comparatively, since Griffin went down, DeAndre Jordan might be playing center the best in the West right now, although I don't believe he's the best in the West (Cousins & Gasol)


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If you want to talk about how each has helped their team, Davis has played more games this season than Westbrook. If you want to talk about advanced metrics, Davis has the highest PER in the NBA and is the only player above 30. Anthony Davis' PER this year would rank as LeBron's 3th best PER, it would be Jordan's 3rd best PER, and would be better than any season best by Dwyane Wade, Dirk, McGrady, Shaq, Robinson, Malone, Durant and will rank 8th all time ever in the history of the NBA.

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That is fine, but if you are using PER, who is sitting #2? In fact Westbrook (2nd) is closer to Davis than Curry (3rd) is to Westbrook, and Harden is 6th, although Whiteside will slide back down. My guess is that Westbrook's PER is right there with Wade, Dirk et al that you mentioned.

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My point is that during late February, all of February, since All-Star break, or whatever is considered recent or "right now", Westbrook is in the discussion for playing as good of ball as anyone in the WC. It wasn't a comment on the future, nor the season. Davis & Durant are out of the discussion for best playing right now/recent because they weren't playing.

I wouldn't vote for him for MVP (missed too many games IMO, but others might not see it that way), nor would I put him on the 1st All NBA team (Harden & Curry), but his February was as good or better than anyones in the WC.

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So your only point was that he played better than anyone in the shortest month of the season before the Playoff rush really happens? Ok whatever.

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That is fine, but if you are using PER, who is sitting #2? In fact Westbrook (2nd) is closer to Davis than Curry (3rd) is to Westbrook, and Harden is 6th, although Whiteside will slide back down. My guess is that Westbrook's PER is right there with Wade, Dirk et al that you mentioned.

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Westbrook is #2, but I would rather have Curry or Harden because their true shooting % is so much better than Westbrooks, who is merely league average.

Do you think a team has ever won a championship with their best player having a true shooting % at league average? Yeah, me either.

I hate advanced metric nerds

I don't know why anyone argues with Soup, but at least he supports his argument. He can have his metrics, I will choose to believe that Russell is better than an average player (although I know that's not what you are saying).

And to the guy knocking his FT line pull-up? Yeah people probably used to think Dirk taking one legged fadeaways wasn't pretty either, until he started drilling them all. For Russ it's not just about making that shot, but it is the complementary piece to his attacking drives.

Good discussion though everyone.

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My point is that during late February, all of February, since All-Star break, or whatever is considered recent or "right now", Westbrook is in the discussion for playing as good of ball as anyone in the WC. It wasn't a comment on the future, nor the season. Davis & Durant are out of the discussion for best playing right now/recent because they weren't playing.

I wouldn't vote for him for MVP (missed too many games IMO, but others might not see it that way), nor would I put him on the 1st All NBA team (Harden & Curry), but his February was as good or better than anyones in the WC.

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So your only point was that he played better than anyone in the shortest month of the season before the Playoff rush really happens? Ok whatever.

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That is fine, but if you are using PER, who is sitting #2? In fact Westbrook (2nd) is closer to Davis than Curry (3rd) is to Westbrook, and Harden is 6th, although Whiteside will slide back down. My guess is that Westbrook's PER is right there with Wade, Dirk et al that you mentioned.

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Westbrook is #2, but I would rather have Curry or Harden because their true shooting % is so much better than Westbrooks, who is merely league average.

Do you think a team has ever won a championship with their best player having a true shooting % at league average? Yeah, me either.

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You wish.

Are we seriously going to consider shooting percentages an advanced stat? Westbrook, as talented as he is, is still a hero baller who neutralizes his own talent by taking too many bad shots. I don't have to rely on qualitative analysis of his play; a Westbrook possession literally provides his team no comparative advantage. Basically, he has an insane usage; currently it is the third highest season usage % in NBA history. His team would be better if he would play smarter, but he won't and I find it odd that OKC fans continue to applaud his blatantly obvious suboptimization.

To you him "playing smarter" totally negates his strengths. Yes it sometimes exaggerates his weaknesses as well, but asking him to play like you want would be like asking JJ Watt to be a two gap contain DT.

I'd love to see him coached by Carlisle or popovich. I think he is capable of being more efficient, it just might be too late to change habits.
Not to change the subject, but all the people hyping up golden state and curry need to slow it down. He needs to show up in postseason first.

Same could be said for Harden as a Rocket

I also realize this was probably just interview speak, but once Pop was asked about the style Westbrook plays and he responded with something along the lines of if he had a player like that he would probably take advantage of his traits just the same.

Again, I realize that was probably pandering

Despite the dent in his face Westbrook is playing pretty well tonight

30+ shots a night helps the scoring average

16 of 33 I can handle

9 of 33 is what is intolerable

49 pts on 33 shots is decentmy efficient.

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49 pts on 33 shots is decentmy efficient.

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16 came from the ft line

And he was one FGM from 50% shooting, what's your point? Just admit you are going to minimalize anything he does period.

4th straight triple double. Not only that his defense was very good. Made good decisions tonight. Only negative was his free throw shooting. Attribute that to the mask.

80% isn't terrible but can be better sure.

For those who will say Canaan went off on Russ, he wasn't guarding him most of the night. That and the Thunder's philosophy is protect the paint against all except GS and HOU, so if a team like Philly gets hot like they did tonight, you kinda just die by it.

Didn't watch the game. 33 attempts in an OT game isn't that bad for Westbrook, as crazy as that sounds.

However, playing hero ball and watching the worst team in the league take you to overtime in your own building has to help our point, right?

What about his game tonight was "hero" ball? (Oh wait you didn't watch, shocker). He is the PG and go to guy while KD is out, what do you expect, him deferring to Waiters Island all night? Ibaka was off tonight, and Philly hit 15 threes in the back of a rookie Guard shooting out of his mind.

Dp

Numbers are insane. Can be deceiving though. Empty stats. +/- of -12 against the 76ers is pretty telling.

Like I said, I didn't watch the game, so my opinion matters less than anyone who did.

Looking at the box score, he had 33 shots. More than twice as many as any other player on his team.