Raps with a cousins trade and he fits could match up to the cavs. other than that not really.
NBA 2016-17
- Thread starter ArmchairCritic
- Start date
Raps with a cousins trade and he fits could match up to the cavs. other than that not really.
Some brilliant clutch play by Warriors there, made it look a bit easy in the end but with around 6 to go in the 4th they were trailing by 7 I think and it looked like being a close run thing, then shows up Klay Thompson and absolutely turns it around in a flash and before you know they had a double digit lead. He was brilliant in the second half scoring 24 points.
~90 points between Curry, Thompson and Durant, possibly their best game so far as far as the performances of big three goes. All of them fired and how!
The craziest game of the night was the Magic vs Thunder. Westbrook with another beast of a triple double.
~90 points between Curry, Thompson and Durant, possibly their best game so far as far as the performances of big three goes. All of them fired and how!
The craziest game of the night was the Magic vs Thunder. Westbrook with another beast of a triple double.
Have Raptors been heavily linked with Cousins? I don't think there is any real need for him there, Valanciunas is a very good center. I'd imagine they would have to give up at least him, Powell and one more asset for Cousins.
As long as James is in Cleveland, the East won't be close. West has maybe 2 or 3 contenders - Warriors for sure, Clippers look like they will be thereabouts and maybe Spurs.
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They were playing Phoenix who were on back to back and blown out at home by Brooklyn the other night. It should have never been this close.
"Clutch" is extremely generous. But as I said earlier, it was a fun game to watch. Warriors need some defense - badly. The more I think about it, a trade for someone like Nerlens Noel would be ideal. Trouble is I'm not sure there's much the Sixers would want from the Warriors that they would be willing to give up. I also think the Dubs may be waiting to see what (if anything) Damian Jones brings to the table before really looking at making any moves.
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Not enough ball to share between Demar and Cousins.
They've been heralded as the ones for years now. Personally think they're too injury prone to make a splash in May/June. Plus DeAndre still can't make free throws.
Edit: We're still doing the draft, right?
You have nobody to give Sixers that would work. Your picks are pretty much worthless and you're better off keeping someone like McCaw - not that Sixers would take him for Noel, not a change. Noel's value is pretty low but not that low.
Noel for Crabbe is something I am really hoping for, unless we can go for Boogie (which will be first priority). Then around deadline try moving Aminu/Davis for Ibaka if we look more solid with Nerlens and we think we can make a splash in the playoffs. I already cannot wait for December 15th when our re-signed free agents become available for trades and we suddenly have tonnes of assets to play with. I don't doubt that Olshey will call Sacramento first and try to move 3-4 players for Boogie, if it does not work then Noel and Lopez will be next in line.
Woah woah woah. The guy asked who are the best bet on giving the two a fight based on this season, which the Clips clearly are. No one is saying they are gonna. I've said multiple times that the finals are going to be the same as last two seasons, anything else will be an upset.
25 points in one half in a back to back, playing at a different level than anyone else on the floor. Westbrook isn't human.
They badly need a small forward, the players they've been trying to get away with there are nowhere near good enough. They should try to take Gay from Sacramento, he will be dirt cheap.
Crabbe has a $75M, 4-year contract which Oklahoma won't be able to absorb without giving up on one of their important players. I suspect Portland would take Kanter, Olshey likes him a lot but for Crabbe we could probably get Noel from Philly which would sort out the biggest need i.e. interior defense, which Kanter offers nothing in. Add baby Sabonis to the deal and it would suddenly look better.
Or just give us Steven Adams.
Gay is just a cheap, temporary and a good scorer that could take some burden off Westbrook sometimes. Westbrook needs to start sharing the ball with somebody at some point.
Or just give us Steven Adams.
Gay is just a cheap, temporary and a good scorer that could take some burden off Westbrook sometimes. Westbrook needs to start sharing the ball with somebody at some point.
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Kanter is definitely the one asset OKC would be willing to move. Not sure a deal will be done in the immediate future though.
If he had any defense, he would be an attractive proposition across the league - also someone they would not be willing to move. I know for certain Olshey likes him, he offered him a good deal back in 2015 and Kanter signed it but Thunder did match that offer sheet. Trouble is the same situation concerns Greg Monroe, Portland offered him a very good deal a year ago but he went to Milwaukee and now they also seem to want to get rid, so realistically if we were to offer Crabbe to someone, both teams would be willing to take that - and Milwaukee seem to want Monroe out way more than Thunder want Kanter out, so they will probably sweeten the deal with a pick. Neither Monroe nor Kanter offer any defense really, and we would have to get Noel to compensate for that, and we cannot get Noel if we offer Crabbe to freaking Oklahoma or Milwaukee. Circle closed.
Crabbe has a good chance of being used as a trade bait, good shooter, can play two different positions. His contract is very high but it is what it is in this league - all of Thunder, Philadelphia and Milwaukee would gladly have him. I bet Olshey is just hoping that Sacramento will feel the same way, and will be willing to part with certain DeMarcus for it.
If I was an OKC fan, Russ would drive me crazy. The other starting four have an average age of 23. They look to Russ to lead. Leadership, however, should be a two way thing. If this team is going to grow, Russ has got to start trusting them during crunch time. At the moment he is second in the league in scoring, however, he also has the worst shooting percentage of anybody else within the top 20. It's one thing sharing the ball around for your triple double, but he needs to start sharing it with the game on the line. The Clippers game the other night epitomized Russ for me. He gets the ball on an inbound pass with 10 seconds to go down by two. What does he do? OKC are hot as hell from 3 point range having already hit 16 (a franchise record). Even just a two ties the game. But what does our hero do. An off balance 3 pt attempt with 5 seconds still left on the clock. If it goes in it's a sports center highlight, if it misses - damn, why can't Russ get any help from his team mates. It's the same every night and it's exactly the reason Kevin Durant left. Russ is a great, great player. IMHO, he is a sure fire hall of famer. However, also IMHO he will never win a Championship.
I am actually inclined to agree with you here. Sure he's been putting up great numbers but this is all it has been about so far, Russell Westbrook finally getting his shot at MVP. Oklahoma winning comes secondary this season, it's all about Westbrook having historic season.
They don't deserve that, the way they are playing.
Well maybe they could develop and get some coherent plays if Westbrook started sharing the ball with them.
That's kind of the point. The Thunder are going nowhere this year - relatively speaking anyway. This is Russ's opportunity to blood these guys, get them used to taking the pressure shot. Teach them how to grow.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
The only one who is getting true chance to develop is Adams because he gets to rebound all the shots Westbrook takes in search for glory 
He does quite a lot, let's not pretend he's another Allen Iverson who won't pass it to anyone. As written above in this thread, if any of the other knew how to shoot Russ would double his assists. In today's game itself they had a couple of periods where they missed like 7-8 shots in a row? Russ wasn't on the floor for one of them. He puts it on a plate for everyone and they respond with shots that don't touch the fecking rim and then people expect him to, with 5 seconds left and the match tied, being the second best scorer in the league and light years ahead of anyone else in this team, not to take a shot himself and give the ball to ... Victor fecking Oladipo? Now THAT would drive a Thunder fan crazy. Just because it didn't work in hindsight literally makes no difference.
Just as a matter of interest - OKC starting 5 - eFG%
Russell Westbrook - 0.483
Victor Oladipo - 0.468
Steven Adams - 0.512
Andre Roberson - 0.531
Domantas Sabonis - 0.542
Only Oladipo is lower than Westbrook.
If looking at FG% (without any adjustment for the 3), Russ moves up to 3rd from 4th.
Russ has actually missed more shots (by far) than anyone else in the League - 144. As a comparison Steph Curry has missed 88 and Klay for all his shooting woes 89.
The other night against the Clips everybody was hitting from 3 (including Russ). However, only Russ had everyone collapsing around him at the end. If ever there was an opportunity to give someone else a shot that was it. I've said it before but one of my greatest memories of MJ was in game 6 against the Jazz in '97 and that PASS to Steve Kerr. Everyone thought MJ was taking that last shot. Everyone was wrong. Bulls win!
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Westbrook has the tools but he's just not smart enough on the court and doesn't have enough patience. He should stop taking any threes unless he's wide open, same with his gambling on steals, completely overrating of his own abilities on his part. His midrange jumper is actually great, he needs to shoot that more often especially as he can always get it off because everyone's expecting a drive.
As for his last minutes play, he's done that overly hectic 3 point attempt all his career, I don't think he's ever hit it apart from the two ones against GSW and Orlando he was forced to take anyway.
As for his last minutes play, he's done that overly hectic 3 point attempt all his career, I don't think he's ever hit it apart from the two ones against GSW and Orlando he was forced to take anyway.
Yeah I remember that argument and seemed a really really random comparison to me with no basis whatsoever. If Jordan would have been playing in this OKC team he would have taken double the amount of shots Russ does and DEFINITELY wouldn't have passed the ball to Victor Oladipo or whoever the feck is on the floor if it was 5 seconds the go with the scores tied. He's not crazy, his coach isn't crazy and no fan would be crazy enough to ask him to do that. Russ isn't even in the MJ mould, he's far more of a Magic than a Jordan, I don't know what the reason is for you to compare apples to oranges and just pluck a random moment out of the history that involves the greatest player ever and bring it here. Not to mention the sole basis for it is hindsight. Had that shot gone in the whole world would have heralded Russ as a hero, he was far far more likely to make that shot than anyone else in that team (anyone who has watched them play would not dare arguing that, just look at what happens to them every single time he goes to the bench ffs).
You are basically saying OKC will not win the title because of Russell Westbrook. Sorry, you are a great poster in this thread and I like reading your posts but this is as mental as it can get.
And give it to who?
It's been discussed already, the team DESPERATELY needs a shooter.
Who said he has to give it to someone? I simply said he should stop taking threes, drive or settle for a midrange jumper instead.
As far as the comparison to MJ and Magic is concerned I actually think he's a hybrid of both. In the last 2-3 years though especially at the end of games he reminds me an awful lot of Jordan mid eighties. I've heard Doug Collins say on numerous occasions that it was an act of God back then to get Michael to give the ball up at the end of a game but until he started doing so and to be fair also got the players around him he was never going to win a Championship. As to the Steve Kerr moment, the reason why I bring it up is because of the same Doug Collins commentary. It was the finals, the game was on the line, you could not in fact get a more significant moment in the game and Jordan passed. Ten years earlier that would have never happened. It was my ultimate "come to Jesus" moment where I was finally convinced that what Collins said was no longer true.
As to the game the other night against the Clippers, the whole world wouldn't have heralded anything. It was a relatively unimportant regular season game where both teams were trying to win but it wasn't exactly huge for either of them if they lost. Russ, for the time being, is stuck with this team. It's in his best interests to make them better. Giving a team mate a chance to take the last shot in what could be considered a pressure situation for them seems to me to be the way to go. Since he was at least double teamed at least one of those team mates was open. If the guy missed, so OKC lost a close one but his team mates would be picking up valuable experience in that Russ is trusting them at the end of the game. To make them and the team better they need this.
Last, but not least, as to OKC not winning the title because of Russ that is not even close to what I said (or meant to say anyway). This Thunder team is currently nowhere near good enough to win a title with or without Russ. What I'm trying to say is that if Russ wants this current Thunder team to get better then ultimately he's going to have to trust them to do so. It might end up being a lost cause, but right now that's all he's got.
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Russ should do a Kobe and just pass the ball for 5 games, to demonstrate the ridiculousness of the notion that doing less will magically enable your otherwise shitty team to not be shitty.
Which honestly goes to show you haven't really watched them regularly.
If I could be arsed I'd create a compilation of every play where Russ drives inside, draws players towards him, creates space and passes the ball to wide open players and what happens next. Trust? feck trust, I'd be going fecking batshit crazy at the level of incompetence that is wasting the unbelievable hard work Russ is putting in every game. He's been let down by his teammates game after game.
And this just seems completely crazy to me. Why shouldn't he who's by and far the best player in the team take the most important shot in the game? :|
Of course he should. His shot selection in late game situations needs to improve though.
That really is part of the problem though. Since everybody and their brother knows he's taking the last shot it's much harder to get a good shot off. If he passed a little bit more at the end of games it would make him a little less predictable and thus give himself a much better chance of getting a decent shot off at the end when he did decide to take it.
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Because Westbrook scores the majority of his points efficiently from the paint and the line and those aren't the kind of shots you'll be getting in the last few seconds of a close game.
I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this, but wasn't that a fun discussion.
I can see why he doesn't pass at the end of games. I wouldn't have a problem with it at the end of games if his shot selection was better. The Clippers loss was just typical, I mean everyone knew he was going to jack up an out-of-control 3 with time left on the clock. But the guys around him are really, really not great offensively. If he is going to take stupid shots he should pass, but if he could improve even a little bit then I'd rather he didn't pass.
OKC's roster is really oddly balanced. It's full of one-way players who are useless at the other facet of the game. If you could combine Morrow/Roberson and Adams/Kanter then you'd have a really good roster
OKC's roster is really oddly balanced. It's full of one-way players who are useless at the other facet of the game. If you could combine Morrow/Roberson and Adams/Kanter then you'd have a really good roster
Mr. 4th quarter rising up to his name, again!
Randle with his second career the triple-double, still has a ways to go to catch Magic; and DLo with his third career 30 pt game! Tough stretch coming up, time to get as many wins at home.
Rockets vs Thunder 63-65 first half! And that with Harden scoring 5 points only, by far his worst game this season, still got 7 assists in that first half.