Russell Westbrook

[justin_uk_5]

curious how you guys/gals feel about Russell. He has been riding the ESPN PR machine all year. He's a great athlete and an amazing player, but I personally don't see him as a top 5 player in the league.. I think stats are incredibly deceiving at times. He essentially steals rebounds from his bigs, and shoots terrible shots (42% from the field, 34% three point line)... he doesn't seem to make anyone on his team better.. which I believe is the #1 job of a good point guard.

No doubt he has incredible talent, just curious if everyone else thinks he is a little overhyped.

 

[JerseyCat84_rivals57050]

Ummm he's def a top 5 player

 

[justin_uk_5]

Ummm he's def a top 5 player

Based solely on stats, of course. But I would take lebron, Durant, curry, harden, and Leonard over him.

 

[JerseyCat84_rivals57050]

Based solely on stats, of course. But I would take lebron, Durant, curry, harden, and Leonard over him.

I wouldn't take Curry or Harden over him. Jmo though.

 

[KA4Prez_rivals78700]

How does he not make players better?

The dude is carrying a team to the playoffs.

Not just the playoffs either, comfortably in the playoffs.

I'd love to hear about Oscar Robertson's post-season success...

 

[drew_ukfan_rivals]

He's a top 5 player and busts it every night, I'm a definite fan of his

 

[3rex]

went 6-25 from the field & 2-12 from 3 last night while his team lost by 21 to a bad team.

Yet all we hear about is him averaging a triple double. It's ridiculous & just a snapshot of how we view sports nowadays. All about getting "mine."

 

[AFKY_Blue_RedsBengals]

Wish they would get a legit scorer on the wing and a serviceable back up PG just to give him a break. I don't want to see him get burned out later on in his career, marred with injuries. Good for Kanter too the better the players are all around them so they can get back towards the top in the Western Conference. Westbrook is one of the most explosive athletes and as exciting as anyone I've ever seen.

 

[IndyCat1995]

Thunder don't even sniff a .500 record without Russ..

 

[throatpoker]

He's no lanzo ball

 

[KA4Prez_rivals78700]

went 6-25 from the field & 2-12 from 3 last night while his team lost by 21 to a bad team.

Yet all we hear about is him averaging a triple double. It's ridiculous & just a snapshot of how we view sports nowadays. All about getting "mine."

Did you ever think that they are basically locked into their seed? The last few games of the regular season here don't mean much. They are going to be 12 games over .500 and people say he doesn't make guys better? I mean, look at the other talents on his team?

 

[playmorezeppelin_rivals181042]

I agree that the stats are fools gold. Last night he was passing up wide open threes because he needed another assist for his triple-double . . . while they were losing. Averaging a triple double for him is more important than a win.

 

[mjj_2K]

Is my team good enough to make the playoffs without an elite PG? If so, then I don't want Westbrook. I would choose to try and build in a different way, with numerous guys I'd want ahead of him.

Does my team need to ride one guy to make the playoffs? If so, then there's no one other than LeBron that I want over Westbrook.

Westbrook is tremendous, but I do not like his concept of basketball, which I would fundamentally define as a thought process that goes "I'm the best player on the floor, all the time, so I'm going to try to do everything". Hard to build around, hard to play with, highly unlikely to win a title, ever. Really only worked with Jordan, in a different era, and worked best when Jordan toned it down.

 

[3rex]

Did you ever think that they are basically locked into their seed? The last few games of the regular season here don't mean much. They are going to be 12 games over .500 and people say he doesn't make guys better? I mean, look at the other talents on his team?

So are you saying he wasn't really trying? He shot the ball 25 times!!!

 

[KA4Prez_rivals78700]

So are you saying he wasn't really trying? He shot the ball 25 times!!!

Oh, I never said that.

I said that losing to a bad team isn't really something to hold against them. It's the NBA. The Hawks just were missing 2 starters and blew out the Cavs. Teams don't show up every night. You used 1 game to discredit his season...I threw it right back at you.

 

[3rex]

Oh, I never said that.

I said that losing to a bad team isn't really something to hold against them. It's the NBA. The Hawks just were missing 2 starters and blew out the Cavs. Teams don't show up every night. You used 1 game to discredit his season...I threw it right back at you.

I really wasn't discrediting his season as much as discrediting what is viewed as important in sports today.

His team got blown out. Who cares what is stats were? Well, except for him that is.

 

[mjj_2K]

Oh, I never said that.

I said that losing to a bad team isn't really something to hold against them. It's the NBA. The Hawks just were missing 2 starters and blew out the Cavs. Teams don't show up every night. You used 1 game to discredit his season...I threw it right back at you.

42.4% from the field, which is 103rd out of the 117 guys who've taken enough shots to qualify for the FG% title (9 per game is the minimum). On 24 shots per game, a full 3 per game more than the guy who's taken the 2nd most. 5.5 TO's per game, which would be league record pace, except Harden is actually beating him to that.

If you're going to go gaga over Westbrook's numbers, you need to look at all of them, not just the big shiny ones.

 

[EliteBlue]

I wouldn't take Curry or Harden over him. Jmo though.

Curry-yes. Harden-no. IMO

 

[Hoskins91_rivals]

He deserves to be in the MVP conversation, but yeah, he's obviously stat chasing. The whole team is in on it with him. He needs a very particular situation to be used to his full potential and its legitimate to question if your ceiling is good enough to warrant that.

 

[WildMoon]

Top 3 players in the league:
1. Lebron
2. Kawhi
3. Kevin Durant

I don't think Westbrook is top 5 in the league. Way too inefficient. Guard getting a lot of rebound is..meh. Extremely high TO.

 

[3rex]

the team is engineering the triple doubles. Oscar didn't to it that way.

From teammates letting rebounds drop so Russ can get them to him passing up wide open fast break lay ups to pass backwards to a trailer so he can get the assist. Has happened over & over this season.

 

[AFKY_Blue_RedsBengals]

I might say Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns & DeMarcus Cousins are top 5, top 10 players in the league. I'm drafting them first before any other bigs in the NBA.

 

[Cardsstink]

They're like 40 and 10 when he gets a triple double and his teammates LOVE him. I used to think Westbrook was the bad guy, but Durant is looking like the Chump now with the way he left and just texted Westbrook. Kobe and Shaq had egos but worked through it. Durant just quit and left. I've watched a ton of their games and saying he's stealing rebounds from people is PURE nonsense. I can understand people not liking him, but he's carried them to the playoffs.

 

[kyups01]

cant stand him. also many players could do what hes doing if thats solely what they set out to do

 

[AFKY_Blue_RedsBengals]

It's absolutely amazing how James Harden came from being a traditional SG to out of the blue avg 11.2 APG while scoring his highest PPG this season. Both career-highs. 3rd overall in the Western Conference.

 

[WildMoon]

I might say Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns & DeMarcus Cousins are top 5, top 10 players in the league. I'm drafting them first before any other bigs in the NBA.

wouldn't put them in top 5. Top 10, i would agree.

I think Boogie will be interesting next year. I think you'll see some really high assists from Boogie. He's like the first ever Point-Center...

 

[AFKY_Blue_RedsBengals]

wouldn't put them in top 5. Top 10, i would agree.

I think Boogie will be interesting next year. I think you'll see some really high assists from Boogie. He's like the first ever Point-Center...

ESPN Player rater has Anthony Davis coming in at #5 and I agree with that given his versatility in his overall game. They're not all top 5, & I didn't say they all were but are on the fringe. DeMarcus Cousins is already averaging 4.6 APG and almost 2 3's made per game. Towns is 6th, Wall is 7th and Cousins actually falls to 11th. I feel like when there is the caliber of big men in the game today like those guys, one of them has to be top 5.

 

[Cardsstink]

wouldn't put them in top 5. Top 10, i would agree.

I think Boogie will be interesting next year. I think you'll see some really high assists from Boogie. He's like the first ever Point-Center...

Davis and Cousins on the floor together is the first time I can honestly say I get excited to watch an NBA game. I've watched just about every game since they started playing together and Cousins is honestly the most fun player I've seen in a long time. The other night, they were down 3 with one possession left and they called a time out, set up a play to get Boogie open for a 3 and he drained it. LOL!

 

[WildMoon]

ESPN Player rater has Anthony Davis coming in at #5 and I agree with that given his versatility in his overall game. They're not all top 5 but are on the fringe. DeMarcus Cousins is already averaging 4.6 APG and almost 2 3's made per game. Towns is 6th, Wall is 7th and Cousins actually falls to 11th. I feel like when there is the caliber of big men in the game today like those guys, one of them has to be top 5.

Sorry, that's what i meant to say. I should correct my statement. I agree that Davis is a top 5. I don't think all 3 of them are top 5.

I actually think Wall is underrated. I feel like if he can get that 3 point shooting higher, then he'll be arguably the best point guard.

 

[WildMoon]

Davis and Cousins on the floor together is the first time I can honestly say I get excited to watch an NBA game. I've watched just about every game since they started playing together and Cousins is honestly the most fun player I've seen in a long time. The other night, they were down 3 with one possession left and they called a time out, set up a play to get Boogie open for a 3 and he drained it. LOL!

I love NBA game in general. I get sick of watching college game. Only college game i can really watch is UKs.

 

[AFKY_Blue_RedsBengals]

Sorry, that's what i meant to say. I should correct my statement. I agree that Davis is a top 5. I don't think all 3 of them are top 5.

I actually think Wall is underrated. I feel like if he can get that 3 point shooting higher, then he'll be arguably the best point guard.

Wall really has shot himself up in the PG rankings. Agree that if he becomes a consistent 3 point shooter, doesn't have to be Curry/Harden level then, with his speed, easily stays a top top 10 efficient player. I just researched the Hollinger Player Efficiency ratings (different than their player rater) for this season on ESPN, Davis is actually up to 4th. Rest of our guys kind of slide after that but are all hovering around the top 10.

 

[Optimus Prime321]

I wouldn't take Curry or Harden over him. Jmo though.

I can see maybe Harden. Personally I would easily take Harden over Westbrook though. But when was the last time Curry shot 5-25? Last night Westbrook started the game 0-11 with a ton of bricks and turned it over 4 times on like his first 4 or 5 possessions. He plays like a bull in a China shop. Sometimes you wonder if he is even aware of what he's doing. I would take Curry 10 out of 10 times over Westbrook.

 

[JohnnyGentle]

westbrook would average 50/17/17 if there were as many possessions in a game today as there were when robertson averaged a triple double

if he cared about stats more than winning, he'd probably play more than 35 minutes a game

 

[JohnnyGentle]

Only college game i can really watch is UKs.

and the officiating makes that more and more difficult to enjoy

 

[Big John Stud]

Triple doubles are more important to him than winning. He chases them, fills up with bogus rebounds, he's not my MVP. Great player tho.

 

[bigblueinsanity_rivals250340]

Pretty incredible to see posters claiming someone is a selfish player when they averaged 10 assists per game.

I agree he shoots alot. He has to. But he's also distributing the ball.

 

[jwheat]

Take Westbrook off that team and they are maybe the worst team in the league

 

[Cats192]

I absolutely think he stat pads, but a lot of guys stat pad.

As far as saying his team got blown out recently--every team gets blown out at some point

 

[Bluemantoo]

I was not a huge Westbrook fan before this season.....he still wouldn't be my first choice to run the point if I was starting a team, but he has become 'must see' TV for me this season. He is an absolute athletic freak, and nobody plays harder or with the old school 'chip-on-his-shoulder' mentality quite like Westbrook does. He'd get my vote for MVP this season, hands-down. That OKC team w/o Westbrook would be lucky to win 10 games...he has single-handedly willed that team into the playoffs. Would love to have seen Westbrook, Durant & Harden stick together.....my goodness, what could have been!

 

[Bluemantoo]

IMO, he would be pushing 50+ triple-double games if his supporting cast was not so horrid....no telling how many assists have been 'left on the court' because his teammates can't consistently make open shots!