I Thought You Westbrook D*cc Eaters Told Me Oladipo Was Worthless?
- Thread starter DonKnock
- Start date
Sabonis balling out so far too. 12 and 9 on 64% shooting for the Pacers.
Kanter just dropped a 16 and 19 game where he had NINE offensive boards. 14 and 9 on 60% shooting so far this season.
Adams, of course, still rolling with 13 and 8 on 62% shooting right now.
Taj looks to me like he lost a step and might be starting his decline this season, but still put up 11 and 10 on his old team the other night.
The idea that Westbrook drug some talentless squad to the playoffs was always a stupid one, and the further we get away from the moment the more ordinary it's going to look. Between Adams, Kanter, Taj, and Sabonis, Thunder had one of the strongest big men groups in the league. Add in Oladipo, Robertson, and McDermott on the wings and Westbrook on the point, and there was easily enough versatility on that team to be a lower-end playoff squad. (People talking shyt about Grant and Abrines while ignoring they talkin bout the 9th and 10th men.) The main thing they missed was a viable backup point guard. #7 in the West and an easy first-round exit is exactly where they belonged.
p.s. - on a squad with dominant rebounders like Adams, Kanter, Taj, and Sabonis, the fact that Westbrook was using that much energy each game chasing 10 boards has got to be one of the dumbest priorities by a player in recent history. YOUR TEAM IS LOADED WITH GREAT REBOUNDERS. Try at least half-assing it on defense instead.
Kanter just dropped a 16 and 19 game where he had NINE offensive boards. 14 and 9 on 60% shooting so far this season.
Adams, of course, still rolling with 13 and 8 on 62% shooting right now.
Taj looks to me like he lost a step and might be starting his decline this season, but still put up 11 and 10 on his old team the other night.
The idea that Westbrook drug some talentless squad to the playoffs was always a stupid one, and the further we get away from the moment the more ordinary it's going to look. Between Adams, Kanter, Taj, and Sabonis, Thunder had one of the strongest big men groups in the league. Add in Oladipo, Robertson, and McDermott on the wings and Westbrook on the point, and there was easily enough versatility on that team to be a lower-end playoff squad. (People talking shyt about Grant and Abrines while ignoring they talkin bout the 9th and 10th men.) The main thing they missed was a viable backup point guard. #7 in the West and an easy first-round exit is exactly where they belonged.
p.s. - on a squad with dominant rebounders like Adams, Kanter, Taj, and Sabonis, the fact that Westbrook was using that much energy each game chasing 10 boards has got to be one of the dumbest priorities by a player in recent history. YOUR TEAM IS LOADED WITH GREAT REBOUNDERS. Try at least half-assing it on defense instead.
Last edited:
Straw Hat Luffy
Veteran
The way coli makes threads about basketball players daily you'd think we were 50 games in not 4.
Gil Scott-Heroin
Veteran
It's more the fact they're getting more opportunities to put up box score #s (just as Oladipo is), rather than whatever Westbrook wasn't doing for them. Put role players outside of a system that doesn't revolve around 1-2 players and you'd typically get the same. Not to mention we're only 3-4 games into the season.
I agree with you that the system revolving around Westbrook was what hurt everyone. The entire season looked designed to force-feed Westbrook an MVP, not to give the Thunder the best chance of winning games and getting past the first round of the playoffs.
The narrative was that Westbrook was surrounded by players who couldn't even hold their own balls on the court, thus he was forced to do everything and it was all their fault if that wasn't enough for the win. That still looks like bullshyt to me.
Oladipo is a great two-way player and could have been a capable #2 if he had been used right and incorporated into the offense rather than standing around waiting for Westbrook. Robertson/McDermott gives you the versatility to choose defense or offense with the other wing. And Adams/Kanter/Sabonis/Taj were a great big man group - four impressive rebounders, two above-average inside scorers and two guys who spread the floor, and Adams/Taj play above-average defense at their position.
Just look at the fact that Oladipo/Sabonis was enough to get PG13 and Kanter/McDermott was enough to get Carmelo. Teams knew they had talent.
If Westbrook had been willing to share some duties with Oladipo more and spend a lot more time force-feeding his big men down low, while playing defense instead of chasing rebounds all game, it would have been a completely different team where the capabilities of those role players could shine. And he still could have managed some great looking numbers - 25-7-11 or something like that probably on better shooting %'s.
So close to negging you 
, sabonis first off was a rookie and is allowed to play totally different inside out rather than stretch 4 due to turner thinking he's dirk. For oladipo no one called him useless, was closed to a neg again
, sabonis first off was a rookie and is allowed to play totally different inside out rather than stretch 4 due to turner thinking he's dirk. For oladipo no one called him useless, was closed to a neg again Gil Scott-Heroin
Veteran
I definitely don't think the system hurt their offensive games, as even despite Westbrook playing for stats, he utilized all the players on offense as often as he could: post-up opportunities, spot-up opportunities, and PnR/PnP. Defensively, yes, I do think their scheme did hurt everyone. A more accurate assessment would be, the system hurt the narratives surrounding the players more than their games.
Yeah, this isn't true at all. Oladipo is definitely NOT a great two-way player (by any stretch of the imagination), and Westbrook did his best as did Donovan to get Oladipo involved in the offense - he was just terribly inconsistent (which he's known for) and had a # of injuries. He was absolutely hopeless in that Rockets series.
Yeah, but not both offense AND defense together, which you should know all about considering the Cavs role players were much of the same.
See now, it doesn't always work out like that. Teams don't get equal value in terms of talent in return. Both Melo and PG wanted off their respective teams, therefore opposition teams obviously weren't put in a position to buy high. Look at all the trades over recent times, and you'll see there aren't too many instances where teams are getting equal value back for the centerpiece of the trade.
As I said above, Westbrook did share duties with Oladipo - he was just inconsistent and dealt with injuries; Westbrook did force-feed his bigs all throughout the season (but not always in accordance to making the right play, but for stats - which we agree on). Defense, obviously there was a big issue with the way they'd let Westbrook do what he wanted - that we too agree on. He did let his role players shine, but not always in the way that was conducive to winning, which we're both on the same wavelength about.
In principle, we agree with the nature of Wesrbrook's triple-doubles and the [negative] effect they had on the team, but where you an I differ is, Westbrook still had ELITE impact and did "drag" his team to the playoffs even despite him playing for box score numbers.
DonKnock
KPJ Gonna Save Us
Westbrook stans told me this guy was gonna lead the Pacers to the number one pickWe back to propping up Oladipo.
SadimirPutin
Superstar
Oladipo stans y'all
The cypher is complete
The cypher is complete
DonKnock
KPJ Gonna Save Us
Yea yea you might have a point if some of us hadn't been saying WB was stunting his growth for 82 games last year
DonKnock
KPJ Gonna Save Us
So close to negging you
Breh, neg me? You should be happy that this useless guy is off your team since he was so bad and dragging the team down single handedly
Breh, neg me? You should be happy that this useless guy is off your team since he was so bad and dragging the team down single handedly
I know thay mvp hurts but you should worry about your own team it's 17-18 season now gotta move on
DonKnock
KPJ Gonna Save Us
I can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Gil Scott-Heroin
Veteran
@DonKnock is the coli's no.1 Harden stan. He's mad because Harden didn't get the MVP last season. He's having another cry.
SadimirPutin
Superstar
Harden had a very credible claim for MVP last year.....and even if people felt Russ deserved it certainly was not an obvious choice the way it is sometimes portrayed online
I havent had a chance to watch any Indy games this year but I remember this of Oladipo. Mediocre paint finisher and three point shooter. Definitely not getting full benefit of his athleticism