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Series Thread: 3) Houston Rockets vs 6) OKC Thunder

BallsOfFurry

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How do you judge a 51 pt, 10 rebound 13 assist 3 steal game where Westbrook was awful from 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter on ?
The guy had 38 pts, 9 rebounds 12 assist and 3 steals with 5:30 left in the 3rd while shooting over 50%. He then started chucking the ball and not finding teammates. His box score from that 3rd quarter mark 5 of 17 shooting, 13 pts, 1 rebound and 1 assist.
 

BallsOfFurry

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Have you seen his roster? I have no issue with the # of shots. This roster sucks ass. Only issue I really have is all the jump shots he settled for. Needed to attack some more

He stopped passing the ball though. I've never seen anything quite like that before.
 

bksballer89

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He stopped passing the ball though. I've never seen anything quite like that before.

Can you blame him? This roster sucks and the supporting cast is trash.

Dougie McBuckets should have been out there though. He was pretty good. Deserved much more than the 12 or 13 minutes he played tonight
 

tlance

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This Is why I've always been critical of Westbrook. Just doesn't have the IQ in crunch time

The Thunder built their lead in the first quarter with excellent ball movement and Russ as facilitator. The further the game progressed, the more he turned to hero ball.

People are going to look at his stats and say he played a great game, but he lost the game in the 4th. He does not need to take 19 shots in a quarter. In fact, the offense looked pretty damn good early on when he was taking a back seat. It is amazing what can happen when the ball moves.
 

tlance

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He stopped passing the ball though. I've never seen anything quite like that before.

Honestly, he does this a lot. This is why I have been saying he is overrated.
 
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ChrisWebber

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Why did Donovan not play Abrins and McDermott more? They are knock down 3 pt shooters
 

Four4Four

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the thunder has the worst collection of players ever to play in the playoffs. jerami grant, along with several others on this team has no business being on a nba roster. Melo will fit perfectly on this team
 

msgkings322

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the thunder has the worst collection of players ever to play in the playoffs. jerami grant, along with several others on this team has no business being on a nba roster. Melo will fit perfectly on this team

Only if Melo can handle being 2nd banana and rarely having the ball in his hands.
 

tlance

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Actually LeBron should be MVP. He won't get it obviously but he should.

I was saying this at the beginning of the year, but he really isn't a viable candidate this year because the Cavs only won 51 games. Can't pick an MVP from a team that wildly underachieved, even if he is the best player.

My vote today would go to Kawhi Leonard. He is the silent assassin. He will probably never win an MVP because he is the anti Westbrook personality wise. Zero flash, all substance for Kawhi.
 

tlance

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So, after watching game 1 all the way through and most of game 2, I have to post my thoughts on why Westbrook as MVP is a total sham.

The difference between he and Harden is about 2.5 rebounds. One made history with the triple double average while the other merely had an MVP worthy campaign in any other season. If Westbrook only averaged 8 rebounds per game, his overall stat line would not carry the same historical significance and Harden would be the run away MVP winner because of his team's success.

Why is this relevant? Most assume that Russ' rebounds are needed by his team. They are not. One thing OKC does better than anyone in the league is rebound the ball. His supporters claim that when Russ grabs uncontested rebounds in the paint, it allows him to start the fast break quicker and get out running. This assertion is false.

When Russ gets these types of rebounds, 4 or 5 opposing players are in front of him. This makes it nearly impossible for him to attack the rim when looking at those types of numbers in what is usually a 3-5 type of "break".

If instead, Russ allowed his capable rebounding bigs to take those boards and he got in position to receive the outlet pass, he would be looking at more 2-3, 1-2, 2-2 type situations where Russ may be the greatest open court player I have ever seen.

Since OKC's roster is built with defense in mind and they often struggle mightily in half court offense, I would make the case that Russ' insistence in grabbing these rebounds not only isn't helping his team, but it is hurting them. Russ needs to be the human lightning bolt that he is in the open court instead of hunting unnecessary rebounds.

Lastly, if he can dial it back and let the offense flow like he did in the first half, this is a 7 game series. If Russ goes hero ball mode like he did in the second, it will be over in 4. OKC's success is entirely up to him. They won't win if he continues to try to do everything.
 

Wishbone

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So frustrating. Westbrook doing everything he can while the rest of the team shits the bed. Presti has got to get Russ some help. No way do they win 4 of the next 5. Not with this supporting cast.
 

The Derski

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Ouch. #MVP

17966434_1759430747409093_7654760001957994805_o.jpg
 
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ChrisWebber

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So frustrating. Westbrook doing everything he can while the rest of the team shits the bed. Presti has got to get Russ some help. No way do they win 4 of the next 5. Not with this supporting cast.

Westbrook didn't need to play hero ball. Why shoot the ball 18 times in the 4th? Why stop the ball? The supporting cast was not the issue. McDermott and Abrines are great 3 pt shooters and yet they barely played. Heck, McDermott was great and yet only played 14 minutes. Abrines shoots a high percentage from 3 and barely played.
 

Wishbone

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Those 2 guys play zero defense. When Westbrook went out for a breather the Thunder were up 13 points. In about 90 seconds it's down to a 3 point game due to a horrible bench. So Westbrook had to come back in with little rest. By the 4th qtr he had nothing left and knows he can't trust his team mates to make a shot. what's he supposed to do?
 

Mecca

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How do you judge a 51 pt, 10 rebound 13 assist 3 steal game where Westbrook was awful from 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter on ?
The guy had 38 pts, 9 rebounds 12 assist and 3 steals with 5:30 left in the 3rd while shooting over 50%. He then started chucking the ball and not finding teammates. His box score from that 3rd quarter mark 5 of 17 shooting, 13 pts, 1 rebound and 1 assist.
Which is exhibit A of why Durant decided to bounce.

I love Westbrook.

But, he was so selfish in the 4th quarter.
 

Mecca

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Those 2 guys play zero defense. When Westbrook went out for a breather the Thunder were up 13 points. In about 90 seconds it's down to a 3 point game due to a horrible bench. So Westbrook had to come back in with little rest. By the 4th qtr he had nothing left and knows he can't trust his team mates to make a shot. what's he supposed to do?
Olidipo got a 100m extension to be a spectator?
 
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