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For me, his team would have been much worse without him than any other team without their star player, but that's just me ...
Finally, since when you draw conclusions after just one game?

You misunderstand. Westbrook and his coach have made the Thunder miserable this season. Look at Adams, look at Oladipo. Every single player on that roster is having a bad year. They didn't care about getting ready for the playoffs or developing the right way of playing as a team and individually.

They let the stat chaser run wild and he got his record. Now they are in no position to compete because Adams is the dumbed down version of himself, Kanter hasn't learned anything, Roberson is still completely ineffective on one end and the rest cannot play help defense to save their lives (and that includes Westbrook).

They got schooled defensively by D'Antoni leading a Harden team...D'Antoni and Harden...let it sink.


Ultimately the problem I have with people voting Westbrook is that it was always evident that this kind of way of playing is not viable in a basketball game when it really matters and that his real stats while trying to win competitive games would not be even close to the ones his team earned him in the regular season. And while conceivably Harden will average 29-11 in the playoffs, Westbrook will not average 31-10-10 in normal conditions with his team trying to win a playoff series. It's that simple. And since he won like 47 games, he shouldn't win the MVP, just as MJ didn't win when he averaged 37 or when Kareem didn't get it in '73 despite being by far the best player in the league and much better than Cowens.

Finally, since when you draw conclusions after just one game?
Yeah, game 1 was horrible, but there are at least three opportunities to bounce back. We will see, if and how Westbrook can adjust his game.

My logic is: playoff Westbrook is the real Westbrook put in a normal team context. It's the same guy everyone knew was posting meaningless stats, but now desperate to win games. Problem is, because of his stat padding nobody else on that team can help him now, while Kawhi, LeBron and Harden have all put their teammates in a position to succeed. These 3 will only need to continue what they were doing.

I will also add that KD most definitely left because he had enough of this way of playing the game

Last edited by Lemonshine at 4/18/2017 11:55:06 AM

Westbrook is MVP...

Doesnt matter if he wont win playoffs, doesnt matter if he lose vs Harden. Guy set new record and averaged tripple double. Not to mention its individual reward. Best team will receive rings anyway.

Yeah, I've got it. You know it all. Next time when I misunderstand the mysterious life of basketball, I will definitely get back to you to help me out -.-
Or maybe you are just another Westbrook hater?
He is my MVP and lucky you, I don't have a vote.
So calm down and don't make me believe, he is one of the worst players a team can get.
I truly understood why KD left. It was just a matter of time. But don't tell, OKC would have won more games without Westbrook or the players would have been that much better by themselves. Westbrook wasn't on the floor 48mins/game and they were just terrible without him. But I guess, even that was Westbrooks fault. It's always easy to hide behind another guy, stepping up when you have the chance not so much ...
I can wait to see what happens and I can definitely live with every of the mentioned players, no matter if LBJ, Harden or Kawhi gets the award.

Westbrook wasn't on the floor 48mins/game and they were just terrible without him. But I guess, even that was Westbrooks fault.

a) Westbrook has no NBA level backup. Fact, unless somehow someone proves that Christon would earn money anywhere else in the NBA, including Brooklyn.
b) the team has been built badly by Presti in the offseason and Donovan is a bad coach so he did nothing to address an awful situation, he just allowed Westbrook to go ballistic. When Westbrook sits they have no PG on the floor, do you expect any team to play better with no playmaker or ballhandler? It's like you remove Beverley as a backup PG to Harden and put a below-average D-Leaguer in his place...seriously.
c) All his team mates have had a worse year than 2015-16, see any stat you like. Fact.
d) He won fewer games than other 9 teams, which included other MVP candidates. In random order Harden, Kawhi, LeBron, Curry, KD, Thomas, Chris Paul. All of them play the right way putting the team first. That is another fact.

So in short yes it was Westbrook's fault and also Donovan's and Presti's. Nobody else bears responsibility for the above. Not Adams who has been castrated all year and was the 4th best big on the floor when he would have wiped the floor with Capela a year ago. Not Oladipo who's not been developed properly. Not Sabonis who has been thrown out there and given shots every game and now is nowhere to be seen (thanks to Donovan).

stepping up when you have the chance not so much ...

Stepping up when being inefficient is fairly easy. Ask Kobe when he put up 35. As I said elsewhere, Westbrook MVP will pave the way for Devin Booker, another inefficient volume shooter, to take 35 shots per game so he can average 40 points, 'cause, you know, only Wilt did it, only one man before did it ever, it hasn't been done in 55 years and all that rubbish they said about a meaningless record owned by one of the biggest losers in the history of the association (Robertson) a guy who had to go to Kareem as a distant second banana in order to win a ring.

I can wait to see what happens and I can definitely live with every of the mentioned players, no matter if LBJ, Harden or Kawhi gets the award.

Westbrook will win the MVP and those who voted for him hopefully will be publicly shamed for being conned by him and Donovan.

I know more than one OKC supporter who actively hopes his team gets swept by the Rockets, so their front office will have an easy excuse to fire Donovan. That's how painful 2017 Thunder basketball is to watch for them. The Westbrook's show made it barely bearable, but ultimately fans want to win, not to see a circus. There's the Harlem Globetrotters for that. Crippling 14/15 of your team so that 1/15 can show off is not a good recipe to win.

Last edited by Lemonshine at 4/18/2017 4:53:42 PM

Love watching him play. His team really needs him on the floor though. You see the runs when he's out. And now in game 4 a triple double by half time after 2 triple doubles in previous games as well. Shows it's not just stat padding but just how we need him to play. He's distributing great and his rebounds lead to some good fast breaks.

Houston is still the better team but maybe the deserved MVP can push for an OKC upset.

Exciting game 4 right now!

Donovan is a bad coach so he did nothing to address an awful situation

lmao. Please stop posting. Facts and reality, clearly don't pertain to you. Coach of back to back, National Champions, coached 2 other teams to the Final Four. This is the very definition of a bad coach.

College uh? Same thing as the NBA...and we should take your advice based on no facts and no reality, because? It's kind of pointless to discuss someone displaying such ignorance, but I'll try to explain something elementary anyway.

There is plenty of evidence that coaching in the NCAA is not indicative of how good a coach can be in a different sport like the NBA: not everyone is Larry Brown, in fact nobody is Larry Brown, except Larry Brown.
Rick Pitino is a MUCH better as college coach than Donovan. Failed in the NBA.
John Calipari is a MUCH better college coach than Donovan. Failed in the NBA.

And best of all, let's not forget that Donovan did go to the Magic in the past and ran away after a few days because he himself thought he couldn't do it...

You just need to look at Donovan and how he played illogical lineups, how he played the entire bench (12 player lineup) in a must win game, a bench which has been outscored by 58 points in 46 minutes in the Houston series, how he did not have an offensive plan whatsoever which wasn't everyone get out of the way and let Westbrook do his thing. OKC has fewer staple offensive sets than pretty much any other team in the NBA. Even last year when he had KD, he kept tinkering with lineups because he had no clue. I have no doubt that Donovan being unable to utilise Ibaka and Waiters properly led Presti to trade them and was one of the reasons why KD decided to split (together with Donovan lack of ability at the NBA level and Westbrook playing me-me-me basketball vs GSW's team-team-team basketball).

NCAA basketball and NBA are 2 different sports which require a different kind of coaching. Saying that Donovan is a decent NBA coach because he was a good NCCA coach is laughable: it's like saying that a winning junior league coach would have success in a professional league, well because the sport he's coaching is nominally the same. The guy is quite clearly worse than Brooks and a growing number of Thunder fans want him fired...

Last edited by Lemonshine at 4/26/2017 10:34:47 AM

#whynot?

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8JDgANVoAAiAvP.jpg)

Not bad...but Harden was the first player in NBA history to post a 50-15-15 game this season!

If either Westbrook, harden or Kawhi get the MVP this season...I will be content.

I hope he will win.I am the fan of OKC,even my team here called after Chicago Bulls.I am fan of them too,but I became OKC fan while Durant and Harden were teammates with Westbrook.Ibaka there too.What a team was there ,amazing 8}

Yeah a great team. Im a Bulls man. Always will be. :)