Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

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Superbone
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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Superbone »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:Westbrook has been chasing empty assists and rebounds all year. I have seen chunks of a lot of his games this year (I try to turn them on with league pass if I see that they're on) and he just blatantly goes for empty rebounds, like on missed FTs, and he goes for questionable assists in the second half when he realizes he needs to get up to 10. It has been happening all year.
I'm glad to see others recognize it. Yep, I'm watching his game today to see if he gets the record. It starts an hour before the Suns game.
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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Split T »

I'm not sure there is such thing as an empty assist, and you don't hear too much that Westbrook is passing too much.

His teammates definitely let him get all the freebie rebounds but there is a basketball reason for that as well. Having your pg, and especially a transition terror like Westbrook, get the rebound saves time and allows Westbrook to attack on the break easier if he sees an opening.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by TOO »

Yeah, bagging on his assists is silly, he also leads the league in scoring. What is he supposed to do? Shoot more?
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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by The Bobster »

Ring_Wanted wrote:Westbrook was asked about looking for assists, and his answer made baketball sense as he pointed out to his 6-25 shooting. It's such a historic feat that I honestly don't have a problem with the player chasing it, but at the same time I want my guys try their best to screw it.
the 6 for 25 shooting and 8 turnovers is a good example of why a triple-double isn't necessarily a good game.
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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Superbone »

He's four assists away after the first half in Denver. Let's see if he forces them in the second half. He shouldn't have to being only 4 away.
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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Split T »

Well he got it, and had one of the better statistical performances of the season and finished it off with a buzzer beater. 50 points, 16 boards, 10 assists and only 2 turnovers. 17/32 from the field.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Indy »

Split T wrote:Just rewatched the final 6 minutes with the thunder announcers. Bobster was right, they got super butt hurt. Even had to throw a next week will be going to Houston and they'll be going home comment in there. They also seemed to think all 18,000 fans were there to see Westbrook only.

Gotta give some props to Westbrook, I don't think he was obviously hunting assists. There was 1 pretty suspect pass to Adams where Westbrook had an open 3 and Adams wasn't exactly open. Another time he passed up an open 3 for an open Adams in the 12-15 feet range. That's about it. I also think he took himself out of the game. Maybe it was because he thought the suns were just gonna foul him, but I think the competitor in him said getting the record, hunting assists when his team was down 20 was not the way to do it.
Stop just trying to argue. :)

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Indy »

Split T wrote:Well he got it, and had one of the better statistical performances of the season and finished it off with a buzzer beater. 50 points, 16 boards, 10 assists and only 2 turnovers. 17/32 from the field.
He is amazing.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Indy »

TheOriginalOriginal wrote:Yeah, bagging on his assists is silly, he also leads the league in scoring. What is he supposed to do? Shoot more?
:lol:

Mori clearly has a thing for Westbrook the exact opposite of his thing for Rubio.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Mori Chu »

I irrationally hate the guy. I'll admit it. I just dislike chuckers and ballhogs, and he's a big one.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by O_Gardino »

I'm with Marty. He's a great player, I just don't like the guy. That's OK, he likes himself enough for all of us.

I did take a quick look at the Thunder's wins and losses in his triple double games. They win a lot more when he has a big game. It's not like they are better when others are more involved.
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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by EDC »

I really dislike both KD and Westbrook. The way they handled the reporters just seemed so fucked up. They were super sensitive about anything written about them and threw little fits when they didn't like it. Then the Thunder bundled them up in little blankys and tried to shelter them from even normal questions.

If you watch some of those post game locker room interviews they are such assholes.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Mori Chu »

That OKC team has a pretty paranoid level of protection around its players to keep the media away from them. They have the local hoops media scared to write anything negative about the team or any of the players.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Indy »

Keep in mind that the team is fostering that. You don't become that way without enablers all around you.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Indy »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:I irrationally hate the guy. I'll admit it. I just dislike chuckers and ballhogs, and he's a big one.
There is not a person in the league that is top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, except Westbrook.

He is one of 3 people to have over 800 assists this year, and nobody else even has 700. And he plays on a team without any shooters. As a team they are below average in FG% and one of the worst in 3P%. I just can't see how he is a ball hog. Despite what you said earlier, there is no such thing as an empty assist.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Mori Chu »

I don't think we should have a big argument about it. Westbrook is undeniably extremely talented. I think he should be the MVP this season for his amazing play and his statistical achievement of averaging a 30-point triple-double for the season.

I just prefer pass-first PGs and guys who work more to get their teammates involved. Russ is many things, but he's not a pass-first PG or a pure PG. I acknowledge that this is just my personal preference.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Indy »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:I don't think we should have a big argument about it. Westbrook is undeniably extremely talented. I think he should be the MVP this season for his amazing play and his statistical achievement of averaging a 30-point triple-double for the season.

I just prefer pass-first PGs and guys who work more to get their teammates involved. Russ is many things, but he's not a pass-first PG or a pure PG. I acknowledge that this is just my personal preference.
I don't think it is a big argument either.

As for the pass first PG, who was it here that recently went through and showed very few pass-first PGs have ever led their team to a title?

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Split T »

I posted that Rondo is really the only one since Isaiah Thomas and Magic. I guess Kidd eventually won, but he was just a role player.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by O_Gardino »

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:That OKC team has a pretty paranoid level of protection around its players to keep the media away from them. They have the local hoops media scared to write anything negative about the team or any of the players.
Indy wrote:Keep in mind that the team is fostering that. You don't become that way without enablers all around you.
The situation in OKC reminds me of a ted talk on what makes successful teams. It's been a while since I listened to it, but here was my takeaway:

Basically, she and her team did a big study looking for stars in the business world, and they found that business teams that had a "star culture" for their best or specially talented people weren't very successful. Successful business teams took more of a flat culture approach, where everyone is just part of the group and people help each other out despite perceived talent differences. What's really interesting is that they thought there must be some need for star culture in businesses where there really are stars. So they studied Hollywood and found the same results. Despite one or two of the actors being actual stars, shows were more successful when everyone was treated as a person, and (at least internally) nobody was treated as a Star or a Scrub.

IMO, you can see the same thing with the Spurs and Patriots. And OKC seems to me to be the team that embraced star culture.

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Re: Game Day: Thunder (45-33) @ Suns (22-57), Fri 4/7/17

Post by Indy »

O_Gardino wrote:
Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:That OKC team has a pretty paranoid level of protection around its players to keep the media away from them. They have the local hoops media scared to write anything negative about the team or any of the players.
Indy wrote:Keep in mind that the team is fostering that. You don't become that way without enablers all around you.
The situation in OKC reminds me of a ted talk on what makes successful teams. It's been a while since I listened to it, but here was my takeaway:

Basically, she and her team did a big study looking for stars in the business world, and they found that business teams that had a "star culture" for their best or specially talented people weren't very successful. Successful business teams took more of a flat culture approach, where everyone is just part of the group and people help each other out despite perceived talent differences. What's really interesting is that they thought there must be some need for star culture in businesses where there really are stars. So they studied Hollywood and found the same results. Despite one or two of the actors being actual stars, shows were more successful when everyone was treated as a person, and (at least internally) nobody was treated as a Star or a Scrub.

IMO, you can see the same thing with the Spurs and Patriots. And OKC seems to me to be the team that embraced star culture.

It would be interesting to look at the best way to keep "stars" in mid-market teams, too. I know everyone points to San Antonio as the prime example of how it can be done, but really they started off the Duncan era (the last 18 years) with a championship his 2nd year, and that goes a long way to keeping people. And obviously the "star" treatment in OKC didn't keep Durant...

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