₦airaland Forum

Donlittle:
Harden comes out of the game, nene comes in, and does damage on the offensive end. Westbrook goes to the bench, Kanter comes in, and banter gets bullied by Nene and co. A 6pt lead turns into a deficit like you said. How is that Russell Fault? Yes we can say Houston Management got better players to help out Harden, but why blame Russell for his franchise incompetences? That's unfair to him.

Is it not the same game we watched where Lou Will came right after Harden let the game while Houston was down and dropped about 10-12 points in 2 minutes? Russell left a game, Norris Cole came in, and missed three shot back to back to back, turned the ball over, got bullied on defense, didn't make a pass that led to an assist, but we are supposed to get on russ for coming back into the game and and try to pass the same ball around again? Hmm nice one.

Some people here are talking, as their team take good reach, they still went after Kevin Durant in the summer just because barnes missed 20 shots or how many did he missed? But want to tell me Russell Westbrook should be blamed for Andre Roberson make 2 out of how many free throws? Oladipo not being able to run the point, or Norris Cole playing like he suddenly can't play basketball? Or Enes Kanter and Adams letting Nene give them the footwork like he is Hakeem? Nice.

Nene, Gordon, Williams all bench players and able to create their own shot. Veterans who have been in this scenario and can carry the team for stretches offensively. Anyways when ninjas start comparing Nenê to McGee I shoulda known it was time to take a hike. Opelope Golden State laye McGee

I remember that Lou Williams example clearly I was so mad because I took a prop bet on him for u16.5 and my bet looked safe till the bast@rd rattled 10pts in 2mins. I was already dreaming of my Yeezy Belugas. Na him person dey tell us about system and Harden making everybody better as if they were nobodies before Houston

D'Antoni the one trick pony don turn to genius because 'system' Someone internationally maligned for his defense is suddenly an expert that conjured a defensive system able to stop Westbrook. Orisirisi.

Even elastic get him yield point.

aliondo:
I learnt so much from this our first round loss....To win the playoffs, even if you just have two superstars or at most three superstars, your bench is very critical.....Yes, the Rockets had a better team but i also believed we could match up with them better than losing in five games....
We should get more players that can shoot the ball so when all the attention is on Russ, they could be making shots....

If Golden State with Steph, Klay and Draymond could still go for K.D then what are we talking about? Lebron with Kyrie and Love was shamelessly crying for additions even disrespecting his employers but they want Westbrook to turn water into wine. An Oladipo a playoff rookie is 4/17 on the night with your team trailing but we should keep pumping Oladipo the ball because development. A player sits for 2 mins and a 6pt lead turns to almost double digit deficit but he should enter the game and keep passing

Eruditor:
RW was double and triple teamed alot all series long and just like Jordan in the mid 80's he kept trying to prove he could not be guarded which forced a couple of TOs of such plays. Beverley was part of the system of players Mike threw at RW. Period.

D'Antoni can do alot if he has his type of players at his disposal. He has proven that by failing with the Lakers and Knicks. Your excuse that those teams were destined to fail is neither here nor there because this same Rockets team were destined to fail.

I am hailing the system not because of what it has achieved thus far but because it has elevated the game of almost every team member on the roster. If they lose to Spurs or GSW, it will only amplify the importance of playing to a system (since both teams have been enmeshed in systems longer than the Rockets) and no t all these wanton heroics we saw in the playoffs.

There was a reason Roberson kept playing even when he was bricking FTs. I wager that if someone else and not him was marking Harden, there would have been no need for his missed FTs as Harden would have scored loads for fun and Houston would have blown out OKC.

Guy. Beverley forced Westbrook to 5 turnovers by himself and 7/27 shooting in Game 5. By HIMSELF not this double and triple teaming things you are saying. He was not part of any system. He took that challenge and marked out Westbrook like Raja Bell did Kobe back in Phoenix. Present your FACTS while arguing don't just drop musings and opinions

But you called D'Antoni a one trick pony. What did that imply? Who is the two trick pony in the NBA? The easiest pointer that both teams were doomed to fail are what has happened since his absence.

If the 'system' is to blame for OKC and to praise for Harden then that means all your bile for Westbrook is badly misplaced. Because it means it essentially works with or without Harden.

What was the system when Tyron Lue jumped into the Cavs team midseason and won a title? What was Billy Donovan deploying when they beat the Spurs? Kerr and the Warriors nko. Abeg bone that system yarns.

Roberson's defensive work was essentially useless. Because the Rockets had a Nenê who could enter the game and outscore and outrebound OKC's entire bench. Whereas the Roberson fouls messed up OKC'S offensive 'rhythm' for the quarter. Its like dashing your babe 100k then going to borrow 200k from her the next day and off course not paying her back

Eruditor:
Then the credit should go to better coaching and a better system not necessarily having better players.

For all Lou's capabilities he never averaged 18.8ppg in the playoffs until Houston. Again, this proves he is benefitting more from a system than being a vastly superior talent to what OKC possess.

A shot from Gordon richochets the rim and 6'11 Nenê puts it back- shot creation. Routine PnRs that lead to alley-hoops that Nenê dunks - shot creation. Pass to Nenê in the post, he dribbles the ball 1 or 2 times backing close to the rim, turns around for a routine lay-up - shot creation. All the things Javale cannot do.

No he didn't take all shots off rhythm any more than RW did when he shot 4/18 or 3/18 from 3 in game 4. Nobody is making an excuse for Oladipo alone, but the whole team - something everyone had noticed about Russell's game even while KD was there.

No team will make it far in a system where 1 player dribbles the ball all the time no matter how good said player is.

Oladipo has come under your tutelage and it is your duty to make him a better player for the team's sake. Pass the ball to him with 18 secs on the clock let him feel it and move. He is not a great catch and shoot player so giving him the ball with 2 secs to go is just rubbish basketball.

Tell yourself, "at the expense of my ppg I would keep feeding my teammates the ball so they can get into a rhythm. If we lose, we lose".

Do it long enough and before long those "scrubs" will get a feel of the game and repay your faith.

It is not rocket science that OKC won more games in which Oladipo and co had decent numbers at good percentages. But all that was overshadowed by TDs such that it became if you did not have them your team lost. Okay sir. You had them 4 times in 5 games and guess how many games your team lost?

Your guess is as good as mine.

If having better players didn't matter how does Erik Spoelstra go from 4 straight finals to not making playoffs at all?

That is down to a lot of factors including opposition strength. Not just the mythical 'system' you keep repeating ad nauseum. In the event his numbers drop against teams like the Spurs and Golden State I would like to see your explanation

By your logic we can call Tim Duncan, Shaq, heck even Kareem Abdul Jabbar American McGee's since bigs have to drive to the rim a la Iverson before you acknowledge their post game. Go and ask Adams who frequently got torched by sharp footwork whether Nenê is McGee 2.0

In that series which game was Oladipo in 'rhythm' you can't even present any stat to backup your claim that Oladipo always got the ball late in the shot clock. What is worse where is the sense in passing to someone who is 1/12 when you are chasing the game. That is as smart as giving a running back the ball after 3 fumbles when you are down 4 Touchdowns

Eruditor:
WB was guarded by a system and less by individuals. That is why Beverley could do his own on the offensive end.

WB was not playing any fantastic either. His considerably high ppgs are explained by his extremely high shot attempts.

Lou Will was benefiting from a system not his individual talent alone. 18.8ppg is a career high for him.

Nenê benefitted from the same system. His FG% playoffs wise jumped from 44% to 85%. Ditto Beverley (who played last season and did not influence anything offensively).

That is why it is unnecessary to list out the individual stats of the OKC players as they were undone by the system or lack thereof and that is where Russell was to come in.

I didn't omit Roberson's bad FT shooting. I simply showed that he marked the socks out of Harden and he made many big 3s for his team as well.

Beverley was Westbrook's primary defender. This does not mean he guarded him the entire series. But when he guarded he did enough damage. I recall a game Westbrook made 5 turnovers while being guarded by Beverley. Now when you talk about system I just laugh as if it is not these players that make the system click.

What is D'Antoni's system? The same D'Antoni you labeled a one trick pony even after I showed you his teams in LA and N.Y were simply doomed to fail? All of a sudden he is now an offensive and even defensive guru.

Anyway I would advise you wait till they face the Spurs and maybe the Warriors before you keep hailing this system. This one that you are juxtaposing a decade worth stretch of playoff games vs a 5 game one.

I'm still waiting for you to show me the system that turned Roberson to a 14% FT shooter, or the one that makes Enes Kanter unable to defend the PnR. I bet there is a system too that can magically make Oladipo not shoot worse than 30% from the floor

Eruditor:
If Harden opted to come back in would Mike have stopped him? Mba. Even in moments where Harden and Will played together was Harden jacking up shots? Mba. You keep bringing up Nenê and I asked you if he creates his own shots? He simply benefits from a system.

Oladipo shot badly sure. But zeroing in to raw numbers like 4/17 is a bit superficial. One player pounds the ball for 22secs and then releases it to you with 2 secs left, what else do you do but shoot? Good. It clangs off and the stats will show 0/1 but only someone watching the game would know you shot off rhythm.

Also, the regression is from the fact that after last year's all stars his numbers improved which is why he was rated 48 by ESPN when this season began. Pundits assumed his numbers will be better than his career average or atleast mirror his 18ppg peak season. It did not and it is not only because he is a scrub.

Why would Harden insist on coming in knowing very well he can sit on the bench and not watch his hardwork vanish within 2 minutes.

Lou Williams is a capable ball handler who is arguably more skilled at drawing fouls than Harden himself. OKC don't have a Lou Williams so I don't know if you are expecting that from Semaj Christon or Norris Cole.

Nenê can and creates his own shots unless your definition of shot creation by a big is him dribbling up the floor. He certainly isn't the Brazilian McGee like you claimed

How many shots did Oladipo take off rhythm? Do you have stats to show he took all 17 shots off rhythm?

What was Oladipo's shooting percentage? Even if you insist on picking a period where the season was largely lost and the uptick in points were not indicative of anything. At least try not to find a way of pinning this on Westbrook. This same Oladipo averaged 15pts in the regular season, playoffs came and this guy is shooting less than 30%, averaging 9pts despite not being guarded by the opposition's best player. If you had even pointed to 'lack of playoff experience' that one is still a reasonable excuse not this rhythm, reggae and blues line you keep dropping

Eruditor:
How many shots does Anderson get regularly? It may interest you to know he got just about the same number of shots (11 per game in the regular season and 8 per game in the playoffs). And he averaged 29mins per game in the series. So if he had 11 in games 4 & 5 it means he got 29 in games 1-3 which means he was still getting his shots (9.6per game) and we know his shots were almost always uncontested.

Harrison Barnes had 32 shots in his game 5,6,7 and not over the whole series. Which means he got 10 uncontested shots per game in those games. Not pass-it-off-to-Barnes-with-1-sec-to-go shots. I mean, totally ryhthmic shots.

I showed you that Anderson played less than 20mins and shot 11 times COMBINED in Games 4 and 5 to counter your claim that he kept getting shots when it was apparent he had gone cold. So I don't know why you are bringing up Games 1-3.

For the Barnes example. I just want to know how that approach worked for them. Since they lost every damn game. Roleplayers need to make buckets to get more shots. That's just how it works

Roland17:
Even with the all star assembly, and perimeter shooting Lebron finished 2nd in the eastern conference, yet people have a problem with Westbrook leading the Thunder to a 6th spot in the western conference, all because of his triple double. Aye ma ni ika oh!!!

I have maintained my indifference to who wins the MVP (if anything, i am leaning towards Harden), except he plays at the TD Garden, however, undermining WB's candidature because of his triple double is pathetic, and cheap.

This season, Steve Kerr became the fastest coach in NBA history to record 200 wins, would it be fair to undermine his input and argue any coach could have achieved the same record or even better that record coaching Curry, Klay, Durant, Green and a very potent bench in the NBA?

In my opinion it would be unfair to do that.

People are just being unreasonable with their expectations. The Cavs finished just 5 wins ahead of OKC in a weaker conference. This triple double people go on about won OKC games and got them into the playoffs. Rather than admitting Harden and Houston simply had better help I'm seeing Westbrook getting blamed for the incompetence of his teammates. It defies all logic. The legit issues were raised but the anti-Westbrook crowd are focusing on the abstract

Its good you brought up the Kerr example. Ninjas should give credit where its due

chic2pimp:
Your board need to come correct abeg. In the current transfer market, £60M is a bargain for a player of Sanchez's quality. Anyone better and younger would almost cost a World Record Transfer fee.

Bargain? For a player turning 30 next year? Kilagbe kilaju? I would rather break that record on a younger Mbappe. Paying £60m for a player that old with one year left to run on his deal. That's a bit excessive for any player not named Ronaldo or Messi.

Teammate not mother. No wonder ninjas called Westbrook a single mom

LeBron with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Frye, J.R Smith was still crying for help mid-season but una dey expect magic from Westbrook

He was outgunned and lost to a hopelessly overmatched team but still made the series competitive. Shikena

raumdeuter:
Na Robbery dey deceive us and they are like a mirage, you will always think you have them when you get close they disappear

At this point I am close to hopin Ribery gets a Zlatan type injury just to clear our FO doubts

It's a frustrating conundrum because they are out playing the younger guys. Ancelotti is not helping matters either by using them to the ground

Costa is at the age where wingers start showing their eliteness but I'm just not seeing it

I would be thrilled if we are decisive on him this summer because I want to see less of Ribery not because he is not a great player but because that ninja is just too old and the longer it takes to let go the harder it would be to rebuild

chic2pimp:
Worse case scenario, they'll sell Him to City. No way are they letting Him go for any less than £60M.

They can have him then. It's not that deep

chic2pimp:
You'll be lucky if you get him for £50M sef. Hidden is valued around £80M and Sanchez shouldn't be that far off.

Hazard has like 4 years to run on his deal and is younger. Sanchez would be 30 next year. If they won't take £35m na them sabi

chic2pimp:
£35M For Sanchez when Arsenal signed him for just over £30M? What planet are you on? If He signs for any less than £60-£65M, the Arsenal board needs to hand in their resignation letters.

He has 1 more year on his deal. Unless they would rather he goes for free. £65m? Se Jamiu Okola lo pe wa ni? Nobody paying that for a player with 1 year to run

raumdeuter:
I think Costa should go and join his paddy Texeira in China if they can pay us 50M

My ideal player will be one that can play on the wings and also deputize up top. 2 players come to my mind and thats Alexis and Griezmann

I remember that year I was crying for Griezmann. Before he exploded and now costs triple what we would have gotten him for then. This thing dey really vex me.

Sanchez would probably be the more feasible choice. A 3 year deal. Let's hope Arsenal don't make top 4. I bet we would be able to get him for less than €35m

raumdeuter:
Thiago extends to 2021

Bayern use the buy clause on Coman

I hope he works on his shooting next season. He has elite speed but what we need is goals from the flanks from players not named Robben. I would send Costa to China if he cannot outperform 35 year old Ribery at his age then he might not ever do so

Lewandowski playing like Brown Ideye. Smh

This was a freak result anyway. With a bit of luck we win that game 6-3 so I won't do a knee jerk over it

What I hope to see from Carlo next season is a bit more rotation. He just has to give Kimmich and Renato more playing time. They couldn't have done any worse than Alonso is doing.

Why is no one talking about David Alaba who has been playing like Ifeanyi Udeze for most of the season?

Bad as this month was I can't really point to any game we played badly bar the home game vs Madrid after the red card.

I want to see the moves made this summer before judging but overall I'm fairly satisfied with what Carlo has done. Our squad is an ageing one and we have to face that reality

Eruditor:
Russell had KD on his team and he kept shooting the ball more times than KD. That is typical Russell.

In Houston, Ryan Anderson had a bad series but he kept receiving the ball all series long. I remember when Korver came to Cavs and experienced some shooting slump and he asked Lebron how he could help the team, Bron told him "as long as you have the ball in your hands, shoot it". That is how to get your teammates involved.

Harrison Barnes was 5/32 against Cavs because he kept receiving the ball (regardless of GSWs ball movement). We didn't see Curry and Klay shooting 34 and 43 shots because Harrison Barnes and co were letting them down.

I'm not blind to Westbrook's faults. He takes a little too many shots and could manage the 4th quarters better but when Westbrook starts getting blame for other guys simply not doing their job then we have to call una to order. When old man Nenê is shooting 85% percent, Oladipo averaging 9.8ppg but Westbrook is still getting blamed. I no gree that one

Go and check Ryan's minutes in that series. On his bad nights he barely went past 20mins. He played for just 19 in one of them. In Games 4 and 5 he only had a combined 11 shots. Why would any team that is not mad keep feeding a cold shooter in the playoffs? So no they didn't keep feeding him the ball

32 shots in 7 games is still less than 5 per game. You are making my argument for me with the Barnes example. If your role player is shooting at 10percent then whether you take 20 or shoot 40. You would still LOSE.

Eruditor:
Oladipo was satan-awful in the series there is no denying that but his game could have been elevated if RW had willed it.

Last season after the all stars, Oladipo averaged near 20ppg and many thought this season would be his break out. After all, he was drafted only behind CJ McCollum who is looking the real deal now. But for some reason Oladipo appears to have regressed.

Russell is a great player- that has never been my argument. My argument is that he has "elevated" his game at the expense of his teammates and the L column in terms of games played is his reward.

You no like Will Smith. RW is a basketballer not a magician. Westbrook cannot be held responsible for Oladipo shooting 5pts below his regular season average. When would you guys hold Oladipo accountable for shooting under 25% from the field on the road. If una even talk say this was his debut post season and the magnitude of the occasion got to him that is even slightly more acceptable. On the flipside what did Harden will out of Nene or Lou Williams? Haba! Diarriz God oh

Oladipo's pts are the same from Orlando to OKC so I don't know which regression you mean. A guy makes only 4 shots out of the 17 he took but it is somehow Westbrook's fault. Unfassbar

I pray he leaves OKC. I want to see that player that would come and turn Oladipo, Roberson and Adams to World Champions

Eruditor:
Russell's FG was 38%. His other mates combined? 47%

Russell's 3pt% was 26.5%. His other teammates combined? 35%.

Andre Roberson was hammered for missing FTs but do you know he is the single reason Harden shot poorly all series? Defensively he did a number on Harden and offensively he shot the 3 ball way better than RW.

There are always 2 sides to this thing. Russell should have trusted his teammates more no matter what.

Hahahaha. So who was guarding Westbrook on the other end? Or you think he just shot 38% on his own. No! Patrick Beverley did a job on him and what's worse Patrick Beverley had 21pts in Game 1, was 6 of 10 in Game 5! Patrick Beverley y'all.

Harden didn't play better than Westbrook. The key difference is he had HELP.

Lou Williams 22ppg
Nenê 85 FG% in the series
Patrick Beverley 14.5ppg

Can you boldly tell us the stats of Westbrook's teammates individually? Maybe 3 of them at random and not the community analysis you are doing.

Good that you mentioned Roberson. My suprise is that you omitted his 2/21 FT shooting

birdman:
My point is this: oladipo is 9 of 43 because majority of those shots were not in rhythm. Having a one man show and everyone else running up and down the court with no shot attempts is a great way to ice your own team.

I will go even further and say the big men didnt put 100% into this series.Its psychological..you play to the level of your reward. If your pg wont feed you on the offensive end, even your defense suffers.

I hope wb repents after this season, but I doubt it. All the sportswriters who mistakenly voted him as mvp are busy trying to justify their error. And few reporters are saying the truth the not so young man needs to hear

You can't tell me all 17 shots Oladipo took were out of rhythm. There is no amount of rhythm that would turn Oladipo to even Lou Williams. How do you have rhythm when you keep clanging bricks? The important thing is there is tangible statistical evidence that shows Harden's teammates did their job with or without Harden's help.

Haha these excuses are getting out of hand. What is Steven Adams's calling card? Offense or defense? Is it not the same Adams we saw missing layups? Even if you insist Adams is the new and improved Olajuwon does that justify his being cooked by a 45 year old Nenê who shot 85% over the series? There is a baseline performance any self respecting Center should drop never mind one on an 8 figure salary. Adams didn't come close

That OKC team me I dey see even John Stockton couldn't assist them. If I were to select MVP based on this series alone, James Harden would never get it.

birdman:
Oladipo is a scorer. And he needs touches to get going. He just never looked comfortable all series. If theres a way to escape okc, i would. I now see Durants point of view. Westbrook will triple double for the next 3 seasons and never leave the first round

Oladipo is largely a slasher. I would liken him offensively to a poor man's D.Wade, however he has never really been a consistent scorer. He had a 50pt game but that was about it. He can't do what Giannis for example is doing with the Bucks. Oladipo is not your #2 guy on any team that wants to contend for a chip whether he leaves OKC or not it makes no difference. What sticks to me is that Oladipo had 43 shots in 3 road games and only made 9. That is ABYSMAL

Westbrook hustling for TD does not explain why a small forward is shooting 2/21 from the free throw line. Why your most skilled big can't defend the Pick n Roll and why Oladipo is shooting 4/17 in an elimination game. Even if they take out Westbrook and insert LeBron, vs same Houston or teams with similar depths and strengths they will not pass that first round. Quote me anywhere

SIRcumalot:
nobody can say crazy sheet about hoford in this game. I only watched the 2nd half and he played well.

He's on a $26m last time I checked. This is how he should play every night.

Absence of Rondo really swung this tie in the Celtics favor

Make una just give me that Asensio boy for Bayern abeg. Based on Kroos wey we give you

Shit was all good two weeks ago.

pelvicky:
one Pokal Abi na polar title is out of the multiple.

No allow me start with Fraudiola oh who is not even sure of top 4 as we speak

Hummels. 2-1

Lol. JAVI equalized

Javi off the bar!! This siege is on some WWII ish

This Javi guy has been on a one man riot squad to ruin Lahm's Final season these last few games. Shey him and Costa no go end up for China like this?

Games 1, 2 and 5 Oladipo was 9/43. I'm crying fam

You know your team is shyte when Victor Oladipo is your #2

Oladipo was 4/17 last night. That is less than 25%!!! Kanter who should be their front court savior can't even get on the court cos a new born impala can defend the PnR better than him. Lmaooo even Michael Jordan cannot survive that kind of incompetence.

Meanwhile James Harden can go 8/25 on the night of an elimination game knowing fully well that with 20 shots Nene and Lou Williams can generate 35-40pts. Even Patrick Beverley who looks more like a crackhead than an NBA player can shoot 60%.

Westbrook is literally like a single mom with 14 kids. He better leave OKC before it is too late. LeBron did it, K.D did it, Pierce, K.G and Allen combined and formed a team. Nobody questioned their street cred and heaven did not fall. It would be easier to blend his game to be a 2nd weapon on another contender. Than to shorten his career trying to carry these bums beyond their level

Clips are now 1-11 in Games 5 of a 2-2 series

Have to point out the emergence of a star in Gordon Hayward, he and Chris Paul are the stand up guys this series.

Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw are also showing their experience.

Lol Durant was over right to leave OKC abeg. What is the point with a GM that is paying $70m to a ninja that can't defend the pick and roll

Donlittle:
D'Antoni took donovan to school. Good game though, but if Rockets struggles to beat a one man team.. Almost all the game came down to the wire by the way, how will they fare against better teams?

Rockets bench won this series. Nobody can even tell me nothing. When you have the luxury of a bench that can give you 40-60pts on a good night half the battle is won.

OKC were outscored 27-9 in the 6 minutes Westbrook sat. Of course he plays like crap in the 4th but can you entirely blame him?

Roberson was 2 of 21 from the line in a few games. Don't think even Ben Wallace was ever that bad