Tag: Oklahoma City Thunder (Page 3 of 15)

Thunder vet: Westbrook “thinks he’s better than Kevin Durant.”

May 23, 2011 / John Paulsen

The NY Daily News has a quote from an unnamed Thunder vet that is bound to stir up some controversy.

As one Thunder veteran said, privately, “He thinks he’s better than Kevin Durant.”
Not only that, but Westbrook has the backing of Thunder GM Sam Presti, who made a name for himself with his drafting of Westbrook with the fourth pick in 2008. Presti’s micromanagement behind the scenes has caused some friction between the head of the front office and his coaches, but Brooks didn’t pay any attention to that when he saw that Maynor was his best option to even the series.

Who is this veteran? And why is he dropping nuggets like this while the Thunder are in the middle of a knock-down, drag-out playoff series with the Mavs? Perhaps it’s a former player, not someone currently on the roster.

The thing that interests me about this story is the take of CBS writer Royce Young, who had this to say about Westbrook’s belief in his ability.

But when you’re an All-Star, a second-team All-NBA player that’s as confident in yourself as Westbrook, would you really not think you’re better than Durant. Not us in the general public here. We all know Durant is better. In terms of Westbrook, is it really so bad to think that? In fact, isn’t it probably a good thing?

No, it’s not a good thing. The best teams usually have players that know their roles. Pau Gasol doesn’t think he’s better than Kobe, and Kevin Garnett doesn’t think he should be shooting the ball instead of Paul Pierce. The last really great team to have a pecking order issue was the Shaq/Kobe-era Lakers, and look what happened to them. When Kobe accepted his role, the duo was able to win three straight titles. As soon as he started to try to take over alpha dog status, they crashed and burned in the Finals against a much more cohesive Detroit Pistons team.

If Westbrook does in fact think he’s better than Durant, then there’s trouble brewing in OKC. This isn’t the case of a young upstart trying to take the mantle from an established vet. These are two young players that will be playing with each other for a while, and if Westbrook can’t accept his role as second fiddle, then there are going to be problems down the line.

Scratch that — there might be problems right now.

External Sports, NBA

2011 NBA Playoffs Kevin Durant Oklahoma City Thunder Russell Westbrook

Is the Russell Westbrook benching a big deal?

May 20, 2011 / John Paulsen

Last night, Thunder head coach Scott Brooks took Westbrook out of the game with 0:28 remaining in the third quarter. He had just turned the ball over and committed a foul, giving the Mavs two free throws. Brooks exchanged words with Westbrook as he came to the bench, and Westbrook even stopped and turned to say something extra to his coach. For the next couple of minutes, he could be seen talking to no one in particular on the bench and he looked none too happy about taking a seat.

Brooks stuck with Eric Maynor for the entire fourth quarter and the Thunder went on to win 106-100. In the final period, Maynor went 2-for-3 from the field (four points), with one assist and one rebound. He did contribute to one turnover, a shot clock violation, but otherwise took care of the ball and got OKC into its offense. It wasn’t so much about Maynor’s numbers as it was about how the unit (Maynor-Daequan Cook-James Harden-Kevin Durant-Nick Collison) was clicking.

Brooks has finished games with Maynor in the past, but it’s rare, and I don’t remember it happening in the playoffs. It’s not uncommon for coaches to go with a bench player over a starter if the bench player has it going, but it’s not common for a coach to bench an All-Star for the entire fourth quarter of a playoff game.

But that’s where Westbrook’s game is at this point. He has been up-and-down, especially in crunch time. Brooks never knows what he’s going to get from his “point guard.” (I put that in quotes because Westbrook really isn’t a point guard, he’s just the de facto point guard for the Thunder.) I’ve railed on his game throughout the postseason. The Thunder aren’t still playing because of him — they’re still playing despite him. For every one of his sublime games, like his 14-assist triple-double against the Grizzlies in Game 7, he has two or three clunkers where he turns the ball over repeatedly and jacks up sketchy shots in the clutch.

For his part, he did congratulate his teammates during the fourth quarter and seemed relatively involved in the game. From what I could tell, he was up and cheering and wasn’t sitting on the bench sulking about his predicament. That’s important, because Thursday’s benching is only a big deal if Westbrook makes it a big deal. If he becomes (more) moody or if he lets it impact his relationship with his head coach, then it will rear it’s ugly head in the future when the chips are down.

I didn’t see a lot of Westbrook in his rookie season, but the punditry has been saying that h has “come a long way” in becoming a point guard. If that’s the case, I shudder to think about his decision-making in his rookie season. His assist-to-turnover ratio was dreadful (1.61) in his first year, got a lot better in his second season (2.42), then dipped in his third season (2.10). In the playoffs, his A/TO ratio is 1.48 — so tell me, how far has he really come?

I may be dead wrong, but I don’t think the Thunder can win a title this year with Westbrook at the point.

External Sports, NBA

2011 NBA Playoffs Oklahoma City Thunder Russell Westbrook

Just how good is James Harden?

May 19, 2011 / John Paulsen

When the Oklahoma City Thunder drafted James Harden #3 overall in the 2009 draft, it was a sign that the team had confidence in Russell Westbrook as their point guard of the future. After all, the 2009 draft was loaded with point guards (Ricky Rubio, Ty Lawson, Brandon Jennings, Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday and Darren Collison, to name a few), but the Thunder elected to go with a shooting guard instead.

After the 2009-10 season, while Tyreke Evans was winning Rookie of the Year, and while Jennings, Curry, Collison and Taj Gibson were joining Evans on the All-Rookie First Team, Harden was something of a disappointment. He was an important player in the Thunder rotation, but he came off the bench and could only muster an All-Rookie Second Team nod. It was a solid if unspectacular rookie season.

Now, with the Thunder in the Western Conference Playoffs, Harden is playing 31+ minutes off the OKC bench and is often closing out games. He’s like Manu Ginobili — he’s not a starter, but he’s a closer, and that’s what matters.

It got me wondering — how does Harden’s playoff performance (12-5-4 on 46% shooting) stack up with other guards his age (21)?

External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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Thunder win triple-overtime thriller

May 10, 2011 / John Paulsen

I’ve been hard on Russell Westbrook over the past several games (as has most of the national media), but let’s give the guy credit. His brand of shoot-first point guard play was good enough to get Oklahoma City a 133-123 triple-overtime, series-tying win on Monday night.

In the last five minutes of regulation and the three overtime periods, Westbrook went 6-for-11 from the field with two assists and one turnover, and went 3-for-3 from the free throw line. He wasn’t perfect, but no one is expecting him to be. This is solid production from a player who has struggled mightily down the stretch in this series. In addition to the 40 points, he had five rebounds, five assists, three steals, two blocks and three turnovers.

It doesn’t hurt that he has Kevin Durant on his team either. Durant posted 35 points, 13 rebounds and four steals in the win, and scored 13 points in the final 20 minutes of the game.

What’s worrisome for the Thunder is that they had a 10-point lead with 5:11 to play and went into overtime. Then they had a seven-point with 1:54 to play in the first overtime, and blew that too. It wasn’t until the third overtime (and after a series of blown bunnies by the Grizzlies), that OKC was finally able to close out the game.

Speaking of blown bunnies, what happened to Zach Randolph’s touch around the basket? He scored 34 points, but was only 9-of-25 from the field and missed a series of close shots down the stretch.

External Sports, NBA

2011 Playoffs Oklahoma City Thunder Russell Westbrook

Bill Simmons on Russell Westbrook’s struggles

May 3, 2011 / John Paulsen

I have been harping about Russell Westbrook’s play at the point for the last few games and it’s nice to hear that Bill Simmons is seeing the same things I am. Here is his take on the Westbrook/Durant dynamic as part of his salute to “The Wire.”

Sorry, I’m not done with Westbrook yet. Oklahoma City has enough talent to win the 2011 title — it’s sitting right there for them — but it’s going to hinge on how Westbrook runs the show. There’s a game beyond the f**king game and I don’t think he can totally see it yet. He’s learning on the fly. A crash course, if you will. I don’t trust him yet. Stephon Marbury never found that balance between scoring and creating; Allen Iverson only found it when they moved him off the ball. Can Westbrook find it on the fly? Either way, Durant’s unreal fourth quarter in Game 5 was the best reality check possible: He basically hired Brother Mouzone and Omar to shoot Stringer Westbrook. We’ll see if he comes back from the dead.
That reminds me, I thought Chuck and Kenny did a spectacular job of breaking down Westbrook’s struggles in Game 5 — he took some heat for the first time (for Game 4) and it clearly affected him, but as Kenny pointed out (I’m paraphrasing), if you want to be great, you need to learn how to handle being the hero and being the goat. That’s the final stage for a basketball player. Durant struggled earlier in the season, took some heat, questioned himself a little, and ultimately, it made him stronger. Now it’s Westbrook’s turn. To be continued.

The Thunder aren’t going to beat the Grizzlies (who are simply on a mission right now) if Westbrook doesn’t learn how to play point guard on the fly. He seemingly hasn’t learned how to exercise good shot selection or set his teammates up in three years, so it’s doubtful that he’s going to be able to learn it in three games.

External Sports, NBA

2011 NBA Playoffs Bill Simmons Oklahoma City Thunder Russell Westbrook

Tag: Oklahoma City Thunder (Page 3 of 15)

Thunder vet: Westbrook “thinks he’s better than Kevin Durant.”

Is the Russell Westbrook benching a big deal?

Just how good is James Harden?

Thunder win triple-overtime thriller

Bill Simmons on Russell Westbrook’s struggles

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