NBA Thread
- Thread starter zitothebrave
- Start date
Still don't believe that the three could have played together. But considering Durant left the best move would have been to trade Westbrook instead of Harden. I think KD would have stayed with Harden as the primary ball handler.
Love Westbrook and he will go down as surefire hall of famer. Truly one of the most unique players to ever play but it's not easy to play with him if you are another guy who needs the ball in your hands alot. He needs bigs that can roll to the basket and spot of up shooters.
They will just need guards that can shoot the three because Simmons is going to be the primary ball handler.
Embid is good. Like potentially best player in basketball good.
chop2chip
Well-known member
I can't make any sense of him at all.
His usage rate is impressive.. I mean that. It takes a special athlete to be able to use that many possession, especially considering the way that he's using them. But his inefficiency washes out much of the positive he does on that end.
It's the rebounding that makes no sense. I can't figure out how a guard can consistently grab 15+ rebounds a game.
Fun as heck to watch
He basically doesn't play defense so that helps when you can stand under teh basket. It seems like the bigs are really pushing for Westbrook to get them as well because they are boxing guys out and not aggressively pursuing the glass which goes to show what type of person RW is that the whole team is rooting for him to get these triple doubles.
One thing that I always pointed out many years ago was how many assists per game RW lost because of Perkins/Ibaka. THose guys had absolutely no clue how to catch the ball in traffic and what to do with it once they got it. Presti has done a great job surrounding RW with bigs that compliment his skills. Just need another shooter or two (Abrines) to step up and then OKC can get back to being the second best team in the West IMO. The Ibaka trade was tremendous.
chop2chip
Well-known member
OKC is pretty clearly behind the Warriors, Clippers, and Spurs (though the Spurs are uncharacteristically vulnerable). I see the Thunder in the next tier with the Rockets and Jazz. Not sure how much upside for OKC, since they're basically putting all of their fortunes on Russ and there's just no way he doesn't wear down.
I think the upside is their best quality. They run out the third young starting lineup in the game.
I was more talking next year because its just too hard to have this much turnover and still be one of the best in the game. However, the pieces are in place and they just need 2 more shooters IMO>
chop2chip
Well-known member
I think the upside is if they can get someone to balance Russ out, so he's not turning the ball over so much and taking so many poor shots. He's basically a high usage Derrick Rose (Knicks version) who can rebound.
I'm guessing the thunder are hoping that man is Cam Payne. He was pretty good in his rookie season when he played.
They have the pieces to be a mid tier West team though. They have young talent, but all of it is maybe a pretty decent player talent, not great player talent. They need an all star type player.
chop2chip
Well-known member
At the very least, they need a wing player that can play defense and score efficiently (not necessarily 3 and D). Of the players available this off season, Hayward, George Hill, Millsap and Jrue Holiday immediately come to mind.
Thats fair. I just don't see how they attract that player. I doubt some high usage stud wing player is going to run to play with Westbrook.
I think they have to focus on getting shooting and hope that Adams/Sabonis/Kanter continue to develop. Sabonis in particular is real interesting. I have no clue how to gauge what his ceiling is. All I know is that he is going to be really damn good.
His defense of the PnR absolutely needs a lot of work bUT he has decent footwork so i expect that to improve. I'd be careful to criticize his rebounding because he is surrounded by fantastic rebounder like Adams/westbrook/roberson. There just aren't many opportunities for him to grab misses.
Not sure if it's a sample size thing but he looks to be a fantastic shooter and any time he gets a chance on the block hes showing impressive post moves. He's already showing impressive vision and is not the ball stopper that ibaka was. It's an interesting skill set and I think the thunder are thrilled to have him.
chop2chip
Well-known member
Both Hood and Hayward left the game tonight for the Jazz who join George Hill, Favors, and Alec Burks on the injury list.
Luckily for the Jazz none of the injuries are that serious and they've been playing pretty well with the added depth, but it's incredibly frustrating to watch night after night.
How does this never happen to the Warriors, Cavs, or Spurs?
Luckily for the Jazz none of the injuries are that serious and they've been playing pretty well with the added depth, but it's incredibly frustrating to watch night after night.
How does this never happen to the Warriors, Cavs, or Spurs?
Jazz have just seemed to be snake bitter for a couple of years. If they get healthy though I think they could challenge anyone because of the talent and how well thy are coached. Snyder is the best coach nobody talks about. Great organization top to bottom. Well, aside from letting the greatest player ever leavin in Kanter.
Jazz are a team I was interested in with the sneaky level of talent. Does suck t have so many injuries (this is like the Wiz throughout my lifetime though). It also sucks that Exxum hasn't shown the ability to become a basketball player.
chop2chip
Well-known member
Exum is the Cameron Maybin of basketball players. He's had a tough year coming back off of... yet again... injury.
14-9 at the end of the day though. Not a bad position to be in.