Boston Shopped Rondo, Green To Thunder For Westbrook, Perkins

[oldskool716]

I saw like 4 jumpers there, and most of the ones that weren't contested were on the fast break. The others were pick and rolls where the big men didn't step up (because if they did they would get blown by). But it takes more than a highlight vid to convince me when I have seen plenty of Rondo games with the defender stepping back 5 feet vs Westbrook where the defender plays up on to make sure they at least get a hand in his face.

If I wanted a highlight vid, I could post this:



(lmao @ 3:06)

But it doesn't show anything but highlights. Watching the game, I think its pretty clear that teams give Rondo a lot less credit than they give Westbrook. This is because Westbrook has a better shooting ability. Yes he's inconsistent, and yes his IQ hurts his percentage, but his ability is clearly better than Rondo.

Seems you aren't going to agree to this, so like you, I will bow out on the argument.

[oldskool716]

Ok one more thing, and I will leave with this:

Russell Westbrook’s jumper, then and now | Daily Thunder.com

Basically just says everything I've been saying.

So again, if you want to believe that a player who can't hit 65% from the free throw line, and 23% from deep vs a guy who shoots 85% from the line and 33% from deep has more shooting ability because he hits better from the worst area in NBA basketball to shoot from, that's fine. If you want to tell yourself that teams defend Westbrook the same way they do Rondo, fine. If you want to ignore that 20% more of Rondo's makes from 16-23 feet were assisted (only 11% of Westbrooks, which means he had to create the shot), okay. But I won't join with you.

[MrBallaBoy21]

They are defended the exact same way in those situations. The only difference is that Rondo maximizes his possessions to get even more open while Westbrook just takes the shot. The similarity is that even when a defender is close to them, they rarely ever contest the shot. All they do is put a hand up.

Of course they were trying to keep Westbrook out of the paint, that's what I've been saying the whole time. That's how these players are defended. They don't care if he makes a few jumpers.

On every possession in that Westbrook vid, not just the jumpshots, they were backing off him to protect the paint. Just because some happened in transition doesn't mean anything. The entire game they were sagging off of him.

The Rondo vid you posted only shows the similarities in how they are defended by other teams. The only difference is that Rondo isn't the type of player to only rely on his dribble drive.

He is such a smart player that he will use his teammates to set a mini screen to force the defender even deeper in the paint so he can take a better shot.



Also, I disagree with that article. Yes, Russell may have slightly changed his form. But he is still just as inconsistent from mid range. You wan't proof(aside from watching the games)? Just look at his game logs shot chart. Horribly inconsistent, looks just like Rondo's aside from Westbrook chucking up a lot of shots from there every now and again.

His new form seems to only be helping him from three slightly. He did only make 11 more from his 22% mark 2 years ago. But, I'm not even talking about the three, because noone is gonna play tight on Westbrook to prevent him from shooting a three.

I watch just as many games as you btw. The highlight vids are to show you how they are defended. And seeing as how they score alot in them there are many examples of how the defense plays them.

[MrBallaBoy21]

This is the difference of a player that shoots an average % from mid because he's being defended on all the shots.



Do teams defend Westbrook like this? No. Why? Because they rather let him take the jumper because he is so inconsistent.

[TREY]

Oldskool and Balla smh.........

[MrBallaBoy21]

Originally Posted by treyxxmac

Oldskool and Balla smh.........

I'm done now I promise. I hate long drawn out arguments. They make my stomach queesy -__-

[oldskool716]

Your argument is basically that they are defended the same way, and I disagree. Just from watching a lot of Thunder games (since I support the hometown Durant) I can say that Westbrook's shot definitely improved last season, and teams had to start defending his shot. Yes, he is inconsistent, I agree with that, there will games where his shot is off. But when it is on, he can drain it. Can't say the same for Rondo's ability to shoot the ball.

Also, you focus on the area of the court that is the lowest percentage shot in the league, and use this to say that Rondo's shooting ability = Westbrook's, even though Westbrook shoots better from any other part of the court (excluding at the rim). 3 point ability includes shooting ability. Ft shooting shows a lot of how good of a shooter you are. Shooting ability is a clear advantage for Westbrook over Rondo, I think it's pretty obvious. But I also think it's obvious that teams play Westbrook tighter than they do Rondo.

We are at a stalemate it seems because the only way for us to prove our points is to show millions of vids of game footage, which we probably don't have a lot of. So we can just wait till the season starts to see where this thing truly stands.

[BigWillie54]

lol i though this was a thread from last year then i realize Green and Perkins arent in the right spots.