Rohan Cruyff looks at the clutchness of players: “It’s interesting that Russell Westbrook shows up on the scorer list and not the creator one. His assist numbers drop drastically in clutch situations, but he’s been remarkably efficient at scoring the ball. In fact, he ranks a step above his heralded teammate, Kevin Durant. Derrick Rose also appears on this list, but his inefficiency relative to the league’s elite scorers begins to emerge a little more.”
Figuring out the Western All-Star point guards after Chris Paul: “All three of them stack up pretty evenly, so it’s difficult to make a choice. Parker has rejuvenated himself and sparked the Spurs to the league’s best record. Russell Westbrook kept his team flying high even after Kevin Durant’s slow start this year. And Deron Williams is just playing MVP ball and keeping his Jazz in contention. For my money’s worth, Westbrook is probably the most deserving player, but I’d be surprised if Williams doesn’t get the spot, if only because he’s been left out of the game for so many years. (Thunder fans, don’t worry. Westbrook will have his turn.)”
ESPN.com fantasy person says buy low on Westbrook: “My man-crush on Westbrook is well-documented, so I’m not going to drone on in detail about why I love his fantasy game. Besides, after the monster numbers he put up during the first two months of the season, it’s pretty obvious why he can be a prolific fantasy option. But, alas, it’s a long NBA campaign and almost all young players have a statistical swoon at some point. Westy is no exception. His production in the past few weeks has been subpar for his breakout season. He’s posted double-digit dimes only twice since Dec.12; luckily, one of those was his latest game. Mostly, though, we’re feeling the decline in his field goal percentage, which he’d boosted to around 44 percent during the first couple of months. In four January games, he’s shooting 38 percent and bottomed out with an eight-point (3-11 FG), two-dime, six-turnover performance on New Year’s Day. He’s far too good to let this statistical dip last for long. This may be your only chance to land his massive potential at a reasonable price.”
Fox Sports Southwest: “So far, neither KD nor his young, talented mates have wilted under any added pressure. In fact, this year’s Thunder is several games ahead in the win column compared to where they were at this point one year ago. But he definitely realizes his team can no longer fly under the NBA radar like they did for much of last season.”
Howard Beck of the NYT with some smart words about the Melo trade.
Power rankings from SI.com: “You pick your poison when Kevin Durant has the ball, but opponents are increasingly, and wisely, deterring penetration and letting him shoot from the perimeter. According to Hoopdata, Durant is shooting a significantly better percentage on shots at the rim this year but is getting fewer chances, indicating a preponderance of transition layups rather than dribble-drives in the half-court. Meanwhile, he’s shooting more often and at a much lower percentage from three-point territory. He also has slightly fewer free throws per game and much fewer offensive rebounds, both signs of less time in the paint. Add in his less tenacious defense — unlike last season, the Thunder don’t play better D when he is on the court — and you see why the preseason MVP talk has cooled.”
CBS Sports power rankings: “Buyout buyers or sellers? Sellers. A candidate to go: Mo Peterson. There are some who still believe he has something to offer. Clearly, the Thunder aren’t among them.”
ESPN Awards Watch still has Russ in the running for MVP: “Kevin Durant has the gaudier stats, but Westbrook, who posted a triple-double five games ago against the Hawks, has been consistently good all season.”
Eeek this is ugly. Now I'm a Thunder fan as well as a Bulls fan and certainly have my opinions, but this is getting ugly. You guys (the name-calling folk) realize that you're talking about basketball, right? I'm just asking for a little bit of perspective. There's tons of horrible stuff happening in the world and people are getting hostile over basketball. Save your outrage for something that you know...matters. There's no reason to get so upset about one player being better than the other.
As for me, I think Rose is better than Westbrook because he's been trying harder on defense, he's a bit better finishing around the rim, he's a better 3pt shooter, and he may finally be figuring out how to reliably get to the line. On top of this I think he carries the Bulls offense and is both the lead scorer and playmaker. These are just skillset observations, so I have no numbers to back any of it up, but I'd welcome a comparison of % of shots made at the rim. I do think he's a top 5 MVP candidate, but I'd give the nod to Dwight Howard at this point.
@Rich
yeah we have entertained that idea, minus maynor, however denver has ty lawson, maynor doesnt give them much.
@qrex
It appears in the last 3 year FTA per game during playoffs are actually slightly higher than regular season but it is a bit less than 25 per team per game in regular season and 25.5 to maybe 26.5 in the playoffs. Maybe they let them play more but also call more because there is more to call?
Only 3 teams have gotten more than 30 FTAs per game in the playoffs in th elast 3 years and last season's Thunder was one but not the highest.
They did however get about 5 more FTAs per game in the playoffs than they did in regular season. It might be more likely that it stays near the current 30.5 FTAs than goes up or down in the playoffs this time but part of it depends on the opponent and the strategies the teams decide to use.
Cavalier fan just checking in with a trade idea for you guys. After the news last night that teams were inquiring about Nene from the Nuggets, I was wondering if OKC fans would maybe do something like this: Nenad, Jeff Green, and Eric Maynor for Nene? Understand, Nene's contract is up after this year, with a player option for next season.
As far as the Nugs, both Nenad and Green have expiring contracts that the Nuggets don't have to keep (would have no choice if Nene re-ups with his player option) and Maynor is a young guy on a really cheap deal. Plus, Green is a restricted FA so if he impresses then the Nuggets could keep him around for the rebuild. YOung guys, cheap contracts that are expiring, should be exactly what the Nuggets are looking for.
I do like this quote off of ESPN regarding Griffin... "He is turning Clippers games into events and his threat to dunk on any play makes a run to the concession stand a risk."
Miami needs Bill Belichick
Lebron got hurt during the most important point in the season, supposedly. Wade is a jump away from being gone the rest of the season. Miami's bench is weak. With the CBA and teams making drug deals to compete. Lebron is in for a rude awakening.
@Andrew
only 7 of the wins since nov have been against teams with winning records. 13 have been against teams with losing records.
they still play in chicago twice, @ SA, @atl twice, @orl, @ den, @ okc, @bos, @ nY and have bos, orlando, SA, lakers, OKC, denver, chicago, nY at home too
I ll be tuning in. Latavious Will is who I most want to see play.
Game is at 415 on NBA TV
66ers?
@f5alcon. 58????? They have only lost one game since late November and Mike Miller hasn't really started playing yet..
DizzDai :Anyone planning on watching the 66ers on NBATV?
When?
@Keith
i agree but wade has already missed time, i was just saying lebron and bosy havnt yet and probably will. I still feel like the heat will end up with 58 wins, their schedule only gets tougher from here on, i hope blake wrecks them tonight.
@qrex
Not anything definitive, but last season the Thunder averaged 27 free throws per game. Against LA in the playoffs, the team averaged 33 free throws per game. In that series, the team only shot fewer than 31 once (22 in game one). It's a small sample, but we were drawing more fouls than average even in LA, so there is at least some evidence to suggest our reliance on FTA won't be an achilles heal so long as we continue being aggressive.
@f5alcon
I think Wade is much more of a health liability than Lebron or Bosh. Lebron misses a few games a year, but some of those are games where he is just getting extra rest after seeding is set. Bosh misses on average 9 games per year. Of course, it's more likely he stays healthy with a lower workload. Wade missed most of an entire season, and plays a pounding style of basketball. He's probably the crux for winning championships because the Heat have no depth.
@f5alcon
Negative on Lebron missing 3+ games every year. Hes played 80 and 81 games in two years. Also, were only halfway through the season, so, by his average, he should have missed 2 games so far. Not a big difference.
The Heat wont even get out of the East this year, let alone win a championship.
Anyone planning on watching the 66ers on NBATV?
@Dunkin’Durant
Yeah. Just like those Long Horn hand gestures that everyone keeps flashing.
it really depends on the cba and health of miami, they could win 7 like he predicted or they could win 0, bosh and lebron have both been much healthier then they ever have in their careers, they have always missed 3+ games a year, so it is possible they get hurt for an extended time and the team loses a whole bunch of games.
KingGondo :
Floppy Punch! :
It’ll be, “if you ever decide to leave the Clippers, please consider coming home” level.
I’m an OSU fan, but Amen.
I just don't know if I could handle the Boomer chants.
@Crow
Do the FTA per game drop during playoffs?
It seems like the officials take more of a "let them play" attitude in the playoffs. And if a team has conditioned its game on the ability to get to the free throw line, we might expect them to be less successful with that element reduced.
@Sammy
I did an earlier study that showed eFG% has been more elevated than free throws in regular season for recent champions.
In last playoffs the 4 conference finalists were all top 8 in the playoffs on eFG% (1st, 2nd, 6th and 8th) for an average of 4.25th place while only 2 were in top 8 on FT/FGA (5th, 6th, 9th and 10th) for an average of 7.5th place. so it seems like field shooting excellence is at least more common. More important? That might be going to far or maybe not.
If I was picking a team to come out of the east this year it would be the heat as of right now..
Are there people that still think lebron will never win a title
?? I would be absolutely shocked if the heat don't win multiple titles in coming years...
Lebron leaving Cleveland is about as good of a direct example of WAR for basketball players. With Lebron ~60 win team, without Lebron 15 win team. Remember, the team (besides Lebron) is practically unchanged so far this season.
Lebron was worth AT LEAST 30 WAR to the Cavs the way that team was constructed (Context is so important in basketball). Crazysauce.
@TempBoy Brandon
Other than not re-signing with them, how exactly did he screw them over?
The irony in LeBron's comment is that he blamed it on both karma and God's vengeance. I think they are mutually exclusive, buddy. And neither is correct. It has more to do with the fact that you completely screwed over the team and left them scrambling to put together a team after it'd be structured around you.
I think Paul is to some degree trying to save himself from further injury, maybe for the playoffs but surely also for his next contract and probably his next team.
How often you go inside, how often you take shots period, how hard you play defense, how hard you practice all adds up to mileage and possible wear and tear. Some guys try to manage this in ways, acceptable and not. Others just go all out or mostly so (with the shortfall being more a mental choice than a physical decision) 'til they can't.
Westbrook has as good a body as any PG is going to get but very very few are completely indestructable. Westbrook is not playing as much defense or as physical defense all the time as he could. Perhaps in somewhat shorter minutes- unless the defense is good- you might get more of this? Will he keep going to the rim as much as he does now in a few years? If not, he better learn to shoot a lot better. Does he still practice hard? I assume so but I wonder if practice intensity on defense has gone down since Adams left along with what we see on defense in real games from him and others, except when they decide to pick it up to save a game though usually the saves are against lesser teams.
The irony in Lebrons comment. He ll never win a championship.
DizzDai :Back to LeBron’s comments about the Cav’s lost. I think he is a complete jerk to treat his former teammates that way.
I hate, loathe, despise, etc. this guy more and more each day.
Westbrook is not MVP status yet.
@DizzDai
Seriously! I posted about that this morning. Hopefully he's calling "Karma's" attention to himself
Back to LeBron's comments about the Cav's lost. I think he is a complete jerk to treat his former teammates that way.
@f5alcon
My buddy always brings up that little bit. How LBJ & Rose can both go to their hometown squads but OKC can't get it's Hometown Hero. I call sham. Especially when the percentages for both teams were super low of landing the top pick, ESPECIALLY Chicago.
But personally, I'm gonna be screaming for Griffin when he makes his first trip back. Dude is a beast, he's right in there among my top NBA players with KD, TD, Rose, Dwight, Amare & Ginobs.
@TempBoy Brandon
in the draft the ping pong balls first 2 were both clippers, and besides the nba couldnt rig this one after lebron and rose going to home towns
Haha yeah pretty much agreed with all that. It's gonna be hard to watch that game and not think of what couldn't been. A starting lineup of Russ, KD, Green, Griffin and Ibaka. Talk about an exciting, athletic, explosive lineup. Bla bla KD shouldn't play SG bla bla Serge isn't a true center bla bla.
Floppy Punch! :
It’ll be, “if you ever decide to leave the Clippers, please consider coming home” level.
I'm an OSU fan, but Amen.
Floppy Punch! :
It’ll be, “if you ever decide to leave the Clippers, please consider coming home” level.
Word
@TempBoy Brandon
It's going to be bonkers of course. I bought tickets for my entire family last season just to see Blake's 1st game in OKC. Then he got injured in the preseason.
It'll be, "if you ever decide to leave the Clippers, please consider coming home" level.
@TempBoy Brandon
probably at least what tony allen got.
completely random and off topic, but I was wondering as I watched some Blake Griffin highlights this morning: how loud will Blake's reception be when the Clippers' starting lineup is announced at the OKC Arena? will it be Chris Paul first time back level? will it be current Kevint Durant level? will it be the louder than Blake's normal reception in LA?
Floppy Punch! :Russ and Rose played on the same team this summer. Russ was clearly better. And certainly the more athletic. Some TV guy yesterday called Rose the “Lebron” of the guard position. Nope. That would be Russ.
I thought the same thing when I heard that statement.
@justin
i wish he would shoot more he is the backbone of my fantasy team.
Russ or Boozer in a screaming contest?
Dirk or Paul in a flopping match?
I think all other things being equal people will take the better shooter over the guy that gets to the FT more often, even if their TS% is the same. It's more aesthetic. It sticks in the brain better. It's easier to remember the guy who made a bunch of shots than the guy that missed a bunch of shots but made up for it by getting to the line a ton.
I wonder which scoring method translates better to playoffs. On the one hand, refs 'let em play' more in the playoffs and it's always a bit sketchy for one's success to rely on an external factor (getting whistles). On the other hand, a shooter that doesn't get to the line is in trouble if his shot isn't falling because he can't supplement his scoring with FTs.
Paul is shooting 11.6 FGA / 36 this season which is ridiculously low. It's not the low pace, since the Hornets played slow under Byron Scott as well. He's too good of a scorer to be shooting that little.
I don't want to say he's dogging it, but whenever I watch CP3 play this year he's turning away shots and sometimes not getting involved in the offense enough. Maybe this is a coaching thing, but it's bothered me every time I see him play.