Russell Westbrook, time to show him some love

[Kitaman]

To me he's the most overlooked All Star in the league. I'll admit, I'm guilty of ignoring his game. Kid is breaking records and gets only a day's mention. I know his personality can be a problem, but his game is not.

Not sure what Yarder's think of his game, but the more I watch him, the more I see a beast of a player. He's not a gunner, proven by his assists. He's not selfish (perhaps outside of stats) due to his all around team game.

Hard to compare him to any other guard, but I see few weaknesses in his game. Sure he could have padded a few stats, but it does not diminish his talent.

Sadly there seems to be a disconnect with him and fan appreciation. Even on the Yard he is never mentioned when talking NBA. While Harding, Curry, Irving and other guards garner all the attention, Russ is putting in work. Too bad he can't get to a real contender of a team, hopefully his situation improves before he ends his playing time. As far as I can see, the only player in the NBA that can stop him is himself.

Anyway he broke Oscar Robertson's triple double record this week of nearly 50 years, and I just wanted to give Mr. Triple Double some props. HOF awaits him.

 

[Huskyforlife]

He's great for what he is, but he'll rightfully never be in the all time PG discussion with Curry and Magic. His game just doesn't translate to winning at the highest level. But he's hard not to root for, man brings more energy to every game than probably anyone.

 

[Brochacho]

He's great for what he is, but he'll rightfully never be in the all time PG discussion with Curry and Magic. His game just doesn't translate to winning at the highest level. But he's hard not to root for, man brings more energy to every game than probably anyone.

I get what you're saying and don't disagree but Westbrook has been on 10 playoff teams. 5 times the team met the expected result of their seed, 3 times they exceeded it, and twice they underperformed their seed. I don't know if its fair to judge Westbrook based on winning. OKC got rid of Harden early on and Westbrook was lucky enough to play in the era of Kobe's Lakers, Duncan's Spurs, Golden State, and god mode LeBron.

 

[Rocktheworld]

He will be remembered for averaging a triple double 4 times. That’s “it”.

 

[Samoo]

I hated Westbrook's game in the past, but this year I picked him up on my fantasy team for a relative bargain and he was the 3rd best player in the league; so he's got that going for him...

 

[uconngb]

He's great for what he is, but he'll rightfully never be in the all time PG discussion with Curry and Magic. His game just doesn't translate to winning at the highest level. But he's hard not to root for, man brings more energy to every game than probably anyone.

Your all time PG discussion begins and ends w Curry and Magic?? How old are you?

 

[bballgrda]

To me he's the most overlooked All Star in the league. I'll admit, I'm guilty of ignoring his game. Kid is breaking records and gets only a day's mention. I know his personality can be a problem, but his game is not.

Not sure what Yarder's think of his game, but the more I watch him, the more I see a beast of a player. He's not a gunner, proven by his assists. He's not selfish (perhaps outside of stats) due to his all around team game.

Hard to compare him to any other guard, but I see few weaknesses in his game. Sure he could have padded a few stats, but it does not diminish his talent.

Sadly there seems to be a disconnect with him and fan appreciation. Even on the Yard he is never mentioned when talking NBA. While Harding, Curry, Irving and other guards garner all the attention, Russ is putting in work. Too bad he can't get to a real contender of a team, hopefully his situation improves before he ends his playing time. As far as I can see, the only player in the NBA that can stop him is himself.

Anyway he broke Oscar Robertson's triple double record this week of nearly 50 years, and I just wanted to give Mr. Triple Double some props. HOF awaits him.

He can't get on a real contender because he is on said team shooting at or near below league average with way above league average usage. Math doesn't add up.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Your all time PG discussion begins and ends w Curry and Magic?? How old are you?

Who did I miss? Anyone before Magics time played in a league that just isn't comparable in terms of skill and athleticism. That doesn't take away from what they accomplished, but imo those 2 are in a tier by themselves.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

You're telling me these cats wouldn't cook Westbrook?!

 

[Huskyforlife]

I get what you're saying and don't disagree but Westbrook has been on 10 playoff teams. 5 times the team met the expected result of their seed, 3 times they exceeded it, and twice they underperformed their seed. I don't know if its fair to judge Westbrook based on winning. OKC got rid of Harden early on and Westbrook was lucky enough to play in the era of Kobe's Lakers, Duncan's Spurs, Golden State, and god mode LeBron.

He's great, maybe top ten all time. But I think he's been properly rated by the community. There's PGs that can be the best player on a championship team, but unfortunately, imo, he isn't in that category.

Even this year, he has the second leading scorer in the NBA on his team, and they're only the 10 in the East. If you swapped him for Curry, they might be 4-6.

 

[Huskyforlife]

You're telling me these cats wouldn't cook Westbrook?!

Today's players couldn't handle the physicality.

 

[Hoophound]

Correct, it should begin with Magic and Stockton and end with Curry, Nash and Paul. No one before that belongs.

 

[Scoe]

A star monster but doesn’t make teams better, I put him notches below CP3 and Jason Kidd an all time pg list.

 

[Scoe]

Correct, it should begin with Magic and Stockton and end with Curry, Nash and Paul. No one before that belongs.

Jason Kidd, Isiah Thomas?

 

[Hoophound]

I thought about Kidd but he couldn’t shoot until later in his career. Isaiah Thomas was great, but he was younger than Magic and Stockton so you can’t “start” with him.

 

[uconngb]

Who did I miss? Anyone before Magics time played in a league that just isn't comparable in terms of skill and athleticism. That doesn't take away from what they accomplished, but imo those 2 are in a tier by themselves.

For one thing the guy whose record he just broke. Just because the game isn’t the same doesn’t mean you should discount how superior he was amongst his peers. Plus Stockton, Nash as others have mentioned. Magic is far and away number one, but putting Curry at #2 has serious recency bias. I guess you would say Bird sucks too cuz he couldn’t play in today’s league.

 

[Lefty2one]

I loved Russ' game at UCLA (I wanted him to fall to the Knicks so badly) and loved him early on in his career but his warts became apparent as time went on. He plays the game as hard as anyone who has laced 'em up but he could be a very frustrating player to watch. He had some ugly moments in the playoffs; bad shot selection, forced stuff, played out of control, inefficient. Still, I will always support a guy who plays so damn hard, especially in this era of load management and uber player empowerment.

The 2016 WCF is one of the key moments of this era. Who knows what happens if OKC doesn't blow that 3-1 lead to GSW. They probably win the title, KD probably never leaves. Russ' legacy is quite different.

He's a very, very good player. I'm not overly impressed by triple-doubles, especially in today's league which is geared towards such inflated stats for primary playmakers. It will be difficult to put together a Top 10 PG list once this generation of players retires. CP3, Curry, Russ, etc.

Not to go off-topic, but if CP3 retires without a ring or an MVP (which seems likely) he'll be one of the most difficult players to rank.

 

[Huskyforlife]

For one thing the guy whose record he just broke. Just because the game isn’t the same doesn’t mean you should discount how superior he was amongst his peers. Plus Stockton, Nash as others have mentioned. Magic is far and away number one, but putting Curry at #2 has serious recency bias. I guess you would say Bird sucks too cuz he couldn’t play in today’s league.

Well sure, but by that definition you must think Wilt or Russell is the best player of all time, considering they dominated their era like nobody has since. Stockton and Nash are absolutely in the top 5 conversation, but I don't think there's any reasonable argument for Nash over Curry, but I'd love to hear it?

 

[Kembacity]

He’s also got a close cousin who played for UConn in Donnell Beverly. I expected this post to be him sporting a UConn jersey

 

[conn4>cuse1]

1. Magic
2. Curry
3. Stockton
4. Nash
5. Isiah

just my personal rankings.There are many things curry has on Stockton. Rings, MVPs, shooting. To say that it is recent bias doesn’t seem to be fair. Guys like Cousy and West are all time greats but let’s get real, they benefited from the era they played in more than anyone else in the point guard discussion

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

He plays 100% 100% of the time and you have to appreciate that especially in this day and age.

Will be interested to see how he adjusts as he moves into his mid30s.

obviously they were all just kids at the time but crazy to think OKC had Westbrook/Harden/Durant and couldn’t win anything.

 

[Kmart]

Most under appreciated PG of all time. Should win the MVP this year!

 

[HooperScooper]

Most under appreciated PG of all time. Should win the MVP this year!

 

[uconngb]

Well sure, but by that definition you must think Wilt or Russell is the best player of all time, considering they dominated their era like nobody has since. Stockton and Nash are absolutely in the top 5 conversation, but I don't think there's any reasonable argument for Nash over Curry, but I'd love to hear it?

Wilt is the same freak of nature of his generation that Lebron is to his. So who’s better? It’s a debate sure, but to say the argument stops at Magic and Curry is ridiculous in my opinion. One transcends generations, one doesn’t. He’s just someone you see doing incredible things today just like Oscar’s contemporaries saw him doing in his prime. And you see it ad nauseam in an age of social media.

 

[formerlurker]

To me he's the most overlooked All Star in the league. I'll admit, I'm guilty of ignoring his game. Kid is breaking records and gets only a day's mention. I know his personality can be a problem, but his game is not.

Not sure what Yarder's think of his game, but the more I watch him, the more I see a beast of a player. He's not a gunner, proven by his assists. He's not selfish (perhaps outside of stats) due to his all around team game.

Hard to compare him to any other guard, but I see few weaknesses in his game. Sure he could have padded a few stats, but it does not diminish his talent.

Sadly there seems to be a disconnect with him and fan appreciation. Even on the Yard he is never mentioned when talking NBA. While Harding, Curry, Irving and other guards garner all the attention, Russ is putting in work. Too bad he can't get to a real contender of a team, hopefully his situation improves before he ends his playing time. As far as I can see, the only player in the NBA that can stop him is himself.

Anyway he broke Oscar Robertson's triple double record this week of nearly 50 years, and I just wanted to give Mr. Triple Double some props. HOF awaits him.

Great thread, @Kitaman . I saw this article the other day and it made me realize that I need to sit back and enjoy this ageing era of the NBA because I'm not sure I've appreciated watching this generation enough.

How Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and Chris Paul are walking the path of giants

When I’m in the Hoops Lab, I break down the game using numbers. I’m the senior fantasy basketball writer at ESPN. I break down lines and make gambling picks in …

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