₦airaland Forum

Toronto could have been in this but they are shooting badly despite having clean looks. Cleveland still don't defend really well.

End of first quarter:

30-18 in favor of Cavs.

A40:
Oshey Mike Breen abi na Hubie Brown you be? Shebi na Seacaucus you dey work? Anyway your verbose Ted Cruzesque speech don't excite me. Out of 5 games Anderson shot above his season average just ONCE. That means he shot less than that 80% of the time but sit there and be asking me Jamb question. Someone had 18 attempts in 3 games and then just 6 in the subsequent 2 games. A 3 shot per game drop! or did you expect him not to receive the ball at all? Anyway keep repeating your narrative till you are blue in the face. You that liken Nenê to McGee is not who I need to prove anything to, No offense. No be you see Götze dey miss chance for 6th minute for match wey e enter after 70+ minutes. Despite your pedantry you have still failed spectacularly I might add to disprove Anderson shot beneath his regular season average.

You openly claimed Houston woulda beaten OKC even without Beverley. This is with his impressive contributions on offense. You watched the series kwa? But you can't show who defended better. Yet Beverley was not a factor. This is Political Telemundo

The experts paid to gather this data took the time to separate Beverley's defense from that of his teammates but you are here telling Old Wives Tales. Show stats with the double and triple teams. Ariwo ko ni music.

Maybe in your NBA 2K16 game. Westbrook woulda averaged even 450ppg but in the real world. Westbrook shot 25% from the field with Beverley as his defender. FACT

You keep hollerin system. No be players go execute am? Which system is capable of making Pau Gasol good on defense?

Harden and Westbrook essentially have the same 3pt differential between their teammates. Normal FG a 4% difference. Which becomes less profound when you realize Westbrook took more shots. The point is with Westbrook being heavily defended like you claim. Why are his teammates not shooting at a higher clip? Why are they barely shooting better?

Why would Westbrook outscore the entire team? Even M.J didn't do that FFS. How do you even conjure this type of megedefegede?

I don't need to show you his +/- in the fourth. OKC outscore Houston by 16 with Westbrook on the floor they are -58 without him. That shows to any objective human being that he is at least doing his part and more than his fair share to help the team win.

LOOOL. I don't do name callings except when provoked - and I am not. If your facts are right they will speak for you. I believe I have made myself clear and any right thinking person who can see beyond the red mist will ascertain that.

One thing I need to point out again is how risible it is, that now you turn around and say the Normal FG and 3P% differentials between Harden/RW and teammates are basically the same oblivious of the fact that it justifies why RW should have depended on his team as much as "Harden did".

Another thing about the WestBrook and took more shots bla bla bla...is just poppycock (I would add a "no offence" here as well). RW took 152 shots on 39% accuracy while the rest of his team had 285 shots on 47% accuracy. The team's shot volume and accuracy are still waaay above his.

Look at it this way; if RW is A and his teammates represent another player called B, the Mr. B took 133 more shots than RW at a 47% FG compared to 39% of his, yet when push came to shove RW opted to take highly difficult shots rather than pass to Mr.B yet you turn around and blame Mr.B.

This does not surprise about RW though, he used to take more shots in games even when he had one of the most efficient scorers ever in KD and in some key occasions they would lose such games. He had his supporters then, like he does now, and everyone is entitled to an opinion even if some have to conjure theirs bereft of facts.

Some others have said it here: RW you are the best player on your team but you need to change your game a bit to benefit the team more in some instances. Billy D, you need to help your MVP help his teammates as they are not highschoolers lucky to be in the NBA. That is my take.

A40, you can feel free to have the last word.

Deuces.

Who did Stephen A Smith say will win it all this year? I pray not my Warriors. He gets all his predictions wrong including this Clippers vs Jazz game.

Jazz are a good team and I am looking forward to how they make my boys step up. If they can beat us 4 times, then they deserve to get to the WCF against Spurs/Rockets.

A40:
Anderson

Game 1 - 1/6
Game 2 - 1/8
Game 3 - 8/14
Game 4 - 1/6
Game 5 - 1/5

So what are you stil arguing please? You can see that in 5 games he only shot double figures ONCE! and way below his season average. So your Anderson example is rigor mortis. It is ludacris to keep pumping role players the ball when they are cold.

All this one you dey yarn na Tales by moonlight. You can't show another defender who did a better job on Westbrook individually and back it up with any stats. I no dey for your Telemundo analysis

Common sense dictates that a Westbrook attracting that much defensive scrutiny would shoot lower than his teammates. Even at that volume you can see the difference is minute. So what is your assurance that they do better with a higher workload?

OKC are -58 when Westbrook sits but keep focusing on minimal and borderline negligible shooting percentage differentials

Hahaha. Another danger in using stats in games you did not watch. Are there no regular season games in which Anderson shot less than his 10.8 average? So what are you talking about?

Now since I watched those games let me tell you how those stats work:

Games 1, 2 & 3 Anderson had 18 3-pt attempts and made only 2 and 2 of them were in that game 3 that he had 14 FGAs. In that game, he was 2 of 7 from deep which means he was 2 of 18 from deep in 3 games. If you had actually watched those games you would have seen him receive and miss 16 of 18 uncontested 3s. So yes, he kept receiving the ball.

Games 4 & 5 he had 11 FGAs. In both games combined he got 6 3PA and made only 1. This brought his total 3PA in 5 games to 3 of 24. Now tell me, a player who was 2/18 going into games 4&5 what justifies his extra 6 3PAs if not that his teammates are still giving him the ball?

Even in his most prolific game (game 3) Anderson got as much 3PAs as 2PAs (7) even when it was clear he was faring better with his midrange shots than his 3-pt. In fact, he got the passes more beyond the arc in that game but he kept faking and stepping into the arc to knock 12ft shots. I believe he had only 1 dunk in that game his 5 other 2-pt shots made were by taking the ball from beyond the arc into it to knock midrange shots.

What is the essence of all these? If you had watched those games instead of reading stats from a box-score, you would have SEEN these things real time.

As per Beverley and Tales by moonlight, make I laugh small before I respond . 1) I did not argue any Rockets player did a better job than him 2) asking me to bring another name that did better is disingenuous.

I said 1A) Rockets used doubles and triples on RW more often than they used Beverley to mark him - FACT. 2A) I did that to prove to you that you were misunderstanding the stats ESPN mentioned and to show you that if you had watched those games you would have SEEN it for yourself.

If you recall, you claimed you SAW Beverley force 5TOs from RW and make 7/27 shots in game 5. You said that to argue that Beverley did more of a job on Russell than Roberson did on Harden (essentially saying Houston players were better and so on) but my argument has been that it is Houston's more effective system that did the job on Russell (seeing he refused to pass in the 4th Quarters) and not necessarily about Houston having better players.

If Beverley was left to man mark Russell all series long (without help as Roberson did on Harden), Russell would have averaged 45ppg.

Summarily, you are exaggerating how good Houston players are individually, to how their relatively compact D, system-designed ball movement, basketball IQ of star player and better coaching helped them beat OKC.

Commonsense dictates that if Russell is receiving that amount of defensive scrutiny, he should become more of a facilitator seeing that there would be wide open men who could go for easy layups or make that occasional 3.

Even at 39% FG compared to 47% FG of his team and 26% 3P compared to 31% of the rest of his team, this is what you call minute?

Let me use a poser to show how ridiculous your assertion is:

Please bring one game in this series where RW made more points than his other teammates combined.

Preposterous!!

OKC are -58 when RW sits, fine. Bring out his +/- in all the 4th Quarters that he played this series so we can justify the above or we can just conclude that anybody can throw numbers about without even understanding the context in which arguments are made.

A40:
You that saw the Rockets keep pumping the ball to Ryan Anderson despite taking fewer shots than his regular season average is claiming you proved I didn't watch the game. Wehdone sir

Lost in translation is your inability to prove Patrick Beverley was not the Rockets singular most important and impactful defender on Westbrook.

You are talking random highlights we are talking actual stats dedicated to each player's individual contributions. Smh

Why do you have this annoying habit of crediting me with statements I didn't make? Am I not the one who likened Oladipo's game to Wade's, Giannis? I don't need you to explain Oladipo's playing style to me. Show us how many catch and shoot shots Oladipo had to make, or how often he got the ball late in the clock. So we might at least see if you even have an argument.

I'm sure if we check Harden's shooting compared to his teammates it might be even worse than Westbrook's. Drawing less attention shouldn't Westbrook's teammates be shooting at a higher clip?

I no dey for your 'what if' assumption Telemundo. Last I checked you are not a Rockets coaching staff

Anderson had 10 shots per game in his first 3 games in the series compared to 11 per game in the regular season - big difference.

Beverley's impact is one reason why people who know stuff say stats don't always tell the whole story. If Harden and Bev are trying to box Russell out and Beverley strikes the ball off Russell's hand in the sequence he is credited the steal but someone actually watching the game would have seen Harden's handiwork in making that steal possible. If that was lost on you, it is one of those things, no sweat.

Harden was 41% at FG, rest of his team? 45.6%
Harden was 24% at 3pt, rest of his team 28.4%

Compare that to Russell that was 39% at FG while his teammates were on 47% and 26.5% at 3pt while the rest of his team were 31%.

In every angle even the stats scream, "Russell use your teammates more!" But no..

Just about any RANDOM article on how the series went would have an excerpt just like this:

What didn’t go well for the Thunder?
Westbrook was looking to distribute early on and recorded a triple-double before the half as the Thunder jumped out to yet another early lead. Again, this looked to be the best possible version of the Thunder, and again things fell apart in the second half.
Westbrook looked for his shot more coming out of the break, recording only four assists for the remainder of the game. But it was another inefficient shooting performance for the MVP candidate.

This statement was made after game 4 but you can substitute it for all their losses and it would come out the same.

Here is another:

Westbrook looks to distribute in the first half, pushing the Thunder to an early lead. Then, as the game tightens up in the second half, he grows more aggressive with his shot, and his playmaking slows down — so then does the Thunder offense.

I mean damn near every article I have read has a paragraph or 2 mirroing exactly what is above. But Russell thinks he is MJ meets Curry meets Lebron so he tries to do it all alone and when his team loses, people turn around and blame them. That is just....ridiculous.

birdman:
Lol...warrior fans are yam heads...ur judgement is coming

TBH I am tired of the clips. I really do not want to play them. My only confidence stems from the fact that Blake is out and that they have no response for KD. I think playing against Utah would force my boys to step it up but whoever we get at this point is ok by me

A40:
Ol boy I should take your opinion over that of designated statisticians? I tire oh. There are stats that distinguish between Beverley and other teammates defensive efforts and you want me to accept your Telemundo. Beverley singlehandedly forced more turnovers than his teammates. Westbrook shot 15% lower while being guarded by him but keep talking about double and triple teams as if people compiling can't tell the difference.

And those leads were down to who? You mean D'Antoni sets his team to chase the game every time? Is he psychic to know Oladipo would shoot 4/17? Are you hearing yourself at all? D'Antoni knew Nene would shoot 100%? Coaches in typical game situations just go with the hot hand or hot rotation as the game rolls along. That is why Dwight Howard tonight did not play the entire 4th quarter of an elimination game. This is not football, the starter/bench concept is not the same. Certain players are just on the bench for show and vice versa. That is why Lue can sit Love and Kyrie the entire 4th quarter of a playoff game

Anyway I no dey for your unverifiable 'What if' Telemundo.

LOL. I proved you did not watch those games. You used uppercase to claim by himself in game 5 and I showed you it was over the whole series. The point was to show you that if you watched those games you would have seen it.

And I did not argue with the stats they presented I simply interpreted it better. Beverley did not force 5 TOs out of Russell in one game. Beverley did not make Russell shoot 7/27 in game 5. We can agree that that is a fact and the telemundo version would be the argument that Beverley did all that BY HIMSELF in game 5.

Again even routinely watching Ximo Pierto or NBA conference's highlight reels will show bodies on Russell almost each time he went for a layup or dunk. I cannot believe this is being argued.

Then as per Oladipo, you don't want to accept that he has never been a catch and shoot player. He is forced to play that way when Russell is on the court. Sure, Oladipo did not shoot well but neither did Russell in the 4th quarter. So why absolve him and blame the rest of his mates because he had 15/34 or 18/40?

How do coaches know Lebron can influence a game or that Ray Allen should shoot the last shot? How did Lue know Harrison Barnes will be 5/32? Is it not something they devise and if it fails it fails? So what is wrong in assuming that Mike did same? Or he could not because WB must be exonerated by all means?

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.

You are conflating things. RW is a great player with not so great teammates so nobody is expecting them to win a ring BUT he had a huge role in why they lost the way they did and if you choose to not see it that is equally fine. I have not said he does not need more help. My argument has been, even with the more help if he continues playing his game the same way, the story will not change much.

Speaking of GSW, I remember when Curry was not shooting too well and I told someone on here it is because he has been playing like a spot-up shooter and that it is affecting his rhythm. I remember telling said person that the need to initiate KD into the offence is responsible for Curry's form. The person was typing PER and what not. When KD got injured, first few games, Curry was still getting back in rhythm so he struggled. He makes his name from being and off the dribble shooter and he stopped doing it consistently for 60 games only to be asked to do it again. It took him a few games but as soon as he got his groove back he looked like his old self.

Bringing this back to Oladipo and co, that was my argument concerning Russell and OKC. If he made it his mission all season to do that for his teammates they would have been a lot better in the post season. He focused on TDs and they helped him play D so they qualified for the P/Os. Now push has come to shove and the rest of his team are streaky and playing poorly then we exonorate him and excoriate them? LOL.

A40:
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

LOL, My guy said musings and opinions - no sir. I watched those games. Houston threw bodies at RW and although Beverley was usually part of the double team, he was rarely ever alone. Don't let the stat sheets hoodwink you.

I can prove you are pointing those misread statistics as facts. In game 5, Russell did not shoot 7/27 on Beverley (you misunderstood what ESPN meant). It was over the whole series. Also, 5 TOs in game 5 caused by Beverley? No my man, it was over the whole series again.

Like I said, to prove my point again, Russell had 47 points in that game and was 15/34. If ESPN meant Russell got 27 points on 7/27 in that game alone it means he was 8 of 7 with the remainder of his shots. This is a statistical impossibility.


http://www.espn.com/blog/houston-rockets/post/_/id/4076/rockets-win-series-as-beverley-battles-westbrook

I repeat: Houston used double and sometimes triple teams on him. Watch the games to fact-check what I am saying.


I don't want to make an unnecessarily long post but I would state what I meant by coaching and system.

So if OKC kept getting leads with their starters outplaying Rocket starters in virtually all the games, can we then conclude OKC had better starters than the Rockets?

What if I say it was D'Antoni's strategy to put his better players on the bench (one could argue that Gordon, Nenê and Lou are better than Ariza, Capela and Beverley) and then use the first unit to tire RW so that when he rested, the "bench" could do the damage? What if that was how he prep'd his team to play against OKC?

Russell's poor shooting usually occurred in the 4th quarters, which one could argue he was fatigued then. What if that was Mike's plan knowing Russell would opt to play hero ball?

You can say what you will about systems. Some coaches adapt depending on what they have at their disposal while others don't. Some have various offensive schemes to throw when they need buckets while some rely on their superstars to bail them out. If you do not see the intricate details the same way, that is perfectly fine. That goes for Lue, kerr, Pop and so on.

And BTW, without Beverley, Houston still wins the series neat.

A40:
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

Nobody said players don't matter. But good players in a bad system will amount to the same - failure. Instead of all the superficial analysis about how RWs teammates let him down, I am showing you how his own game play and Donovan's give-it-to-WestBrook system contributed more weightage.

By my logic the HOFers you mentioned are HOFers for a reason and Nenê, like Javale will never be. So the people telling us how great he is, may need to pipe down with the histrionics.

There is no sense in passing to someone who is free and shoots better than you because he is 1/12. Okay. You did it yourself and your team still lost but you revert, and say the fault belongs to the 1/12 guy. Now that is funny.

If your team loses because you passed to your teammates who let you down you can live with it (and we would accept that you needed better). But when your team loses because you decided to shoot 18 shots and make only 3 of them in the 4th quarter then you are responsible for your team losing especially when your 4th quarter percentages were as bad as those of your teammates who shot 4/17 and 2/21 from the field and FT respectively.

A40:
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

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 not 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.

A40:
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

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.

A40:
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

I also showed you that Anderson had 29 shots in games 1, 2 & 3 even though he went 3/24 from the arc in those games. In other words, he kept receiving the ball.

If Mike decided to give some other bench player a chance at Anderson's expense it should be credited as good coaching seeing that Anderson, a starter (who ought to be better was not doing any good). The fact remains, that his teammates trusted him and he would repay that trust some way when he rhythmically shoots himself out of a slump.

And yes, it is true GSW lost those games but Harrison Barnes would be better for it. RW did not trust his own teammates and preferred to jack up shots and guess what? He lost those games too. Only difference is, his teammates are worse for it.

Boateng is an elite defender. I don't chime in during debates concerning him because I know it is just pure banter. He has played well at the highest level of games and has experienced lows that every other elite defender has experienced in a bad patch. Sergio Ramos is not a better one on one defender than Boateng. Bonucci will only dream to have Boateng's passing ability and awareness. Piqué is not as quick as Boateng and Chiellini does not have Boateng's finesse. Umtiti is not as fleet-footed as Boateng - who can make long range passes with both legs/feet. People don't realize he was heavily sedated to play that game against RM and even at that, he made 3 great blocks and tackles that could have made that scoreline uglier than it was.

Mynd44:
Spurs won in 6. The series ended last night 4-2

He is saying it is a mystery Memphis ended up in 7th as they were better than OKC and the Jazz who were 6th and 5th respectively.

SmooshCHN1:
Nuff Said

Part 2 is here guys


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRv_NZxzYDQ

D'Antoni does not care about defense. Lol

A40:
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.

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.

A40:
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

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.

A40:
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

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.

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.

A40:
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.

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.

A40:
Games 1, 2 and 5 Oladipo was 9/43. I'm crying fam

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.

Your teammates help you play defence. You get a rebound, pound your best friend (the spalding) upcourt and launch what may have been a vacuous 3 from 4ft beyond the arc. You are in rhythm so it swooshes. You beat your chest and yell no one can guard you.

This system of play happens for the next 3 or 4 possessions which places your team 6-12 points ahead of the opposing team. Your coach notices fatigue might creep in so he rests you for the last 5mins of the quarter. Your teammates begin the same system again: play defence, sometimes force a TO and then head upcourt but they no longer have you to attempt your athletic and incredible plays. They move the ball laterally and vertically till they find what should be an open man. He is off rhythm (because he has barely shot all game) so he clangs the rim and the opposing team rush out on a fastbreak or something, and they may or may not make a play that results in a bucket. One thing that works for them, however, is that they are almost guaranteed your teammates will make nothing of their own possession and before you know it, the 6-12point lead you garnered for your team, fritters away.

Everyone blames your teammates for letting you down - it is the easiest analysis to make. Nobody realises how low-heat they have been all game, helping you play defense but not joining in the offence.

Some are recommending you go elsewhere. God forbid! Which team needs your delicious poison? The one where you are +15 when playing and your team becomes -44 when you are off (but people are oblivious to the fact that when you were +15 your team was still losing on the scoreboard).

You are an enigma, but your brand of heroics will leave the city decimated and in disrepair. You will give us water when we are thirsty and still drown us by overgiving us the same water. You will tell the media you believe in us, but you would play like you don't. Look at the last 4, 4th quarters of the games you played. Racked up assists from quarters 1 through 3 only to have almost none in other consecutive 4th quarters.

Your supporters say you are Mr clutch. I have to believe them now considering your career high 4/18, 2/11 and so on 4th quarters in this series. You were really clutching on, to prove that people will overlook your many flaws if you can pretend the only reason you have them, is because you were trying to help.

Donlittle:
Russell is not getting those calls, anyways, like i said, is the league going to review it. so You are basically saying since russell is getting it too we should let it slide?

I am basically saying they both get it.

I know the play you are referring to and I am saying both Harden and Russell get those calls. They feign attempting a 3-point shot and then flail, tossing the ball in the air and the refs oblige by awarding them 3 FTs.

In this game I am watching, OKC is benefiting largely from refereeing help that I suspect Silver wants a game 7. This second paragraph is unrelated to my first but just needed to state it. Some of the calls are ridiculous.

Donlittle:
Quick question here, is the league going to review this three point players try to draw?

I think it is unfair actually how the greatest three point shooter ever in steph curry does not even get this kind of calls. I mean if you call all of these for harden, why not curry? klay?

MVP calls. Him and RW enjoy the privilege.

Meanwhile, who else is noticing that the Rockets bunch don't shoot as well as it is often touted? I mean OKC has outshot them from 3 in this series. It is painful to watch.

Roland17:
I have a question/ analogy for everyone particularly critics of Russell Westbrook

With other dynamics remaining constant(Coaching, players, and style of play), remove and replace Russell Westbrook with any current NBA superstar not named Lebron James, and convince me the NBA super star would take this Thunder roster to a 6th position in the dreaded western conference.

I need a name replacement, not named Lebron James.

Kawhi, Harden, Curry.

And yes, Harden's defence has been better than RWs this season even though it is still subpar.

Edit: A properly coached and Healthy Anthony Davis.

A40:
Guy you don't know Nene so just bone. Go to any forum and liken Nene to McGee and watch all your credibility vanish in an instant. Nene is a more versatile scorer and better defender.

Go to any forum and repeat this and come and give feedback

Tip-ins/Putbacks, Dunks, Alley-hoops. That is essentially his offence for The Rockets and Javale does any less for GSW?

I am not arguing who the better player is. I insist that offensively, for their present teams, they are virtually cut from the same cloth. I may have been hyperbolic in saying he was close to Shaqtin a fool but that is about it.

Decale:
Nobody said Curry doesn't play well in playoffs. Some people just question his off and on games in finals only. You're overreacting

I can bring their posts but I don't want to be quoting them.

So lets just let it slide.

Donlittle:
bruh mcgee couldn't even find a team to stay on. Dude was out of the league for how long?

Maybe I went too far with Javale but my point was in terms of his (Nenê's) shot creations or offensive game in general especially in Houston.

And there I was thinking Curry only played well in regular season games and disappeared in the playoffs or better still, that Klay carried him.