People talk about Westbrook as a great passing point guard, but his averages are all over the place. 5.3 8.0 8.2 5.5 7.4 6.9 8.6 10.4 9.9 Solid, but hardly John Stockton or Jason Kidd.
Maybe a better question would have been if Lillard was averaging 32/13/7 would he be the best player in the league? Especially since some thought he was top 5 now
I'll make you a deal. If the great white hype ever averages 32 points and 13 rebounds per game I'll stop talking about 1 way players
Who actually thought he was top 5? I thought most, if not all, thought he was maybe top 10. Also, there's a VAST difference between starting out the first 7-8 games averaging 32/13/7 and putting up those kinds of numbers for a full season. I guess we shall see.
IF....he were averaging that he would certainly be a Top-5 player especially if his defense improved. However, his assist would have to go up over 150% to get near that level and his rebounds would have to go up significantly as well. There there is the other side of the ball where he is much more in Curry's class than someone like CP3, Conley or Westbrook. Dame is very good but right now, he is very much a scoring guard who doesn't distribute much and doesn't play very good defense. That doesn't mean I don't like him....it's just who he is right now.
...on small sample size. ISO players playing in an ISO-centric offense whole always have inflated assist numbers (Harden, Westbrook). If a team relies only on one player for all of their offense then that player must either get their own shot off or set up a shot for a teammate nearly every possession. That okayed is bound to get tons of assists just because of the way he's used and the position he's in. If Lillard was used the way Harden is, he'd average over 10 assists per game. But he plays in an offense that values ball movement, and he also doesn't have the shooters around him Harden does. So is Harden really that much better because he ISO's all the time and because he has better shooters?
Top 10 in assists last year. I don't think it's really fair to say he doesn't distribute much. The idea of a pass-first-point guard is kind of a dying breed. Also, as good of a defender as Westbrook is, I'd say that Dame has lit him up on more than one occasion.
Who are you? John Kerry? One minute, a player isn't great (or even good) because he's a one-way player. The next, a player might be despite being one of the lamest defenders in the league. And you're calling him a PG to boot.
If the "one way" of a one-way player is arguably the best in the league, then that is sufficient for that player to be great. Ben Wallace was an all-star as a one way player, because he was phenomenal. Dennis Rodman is in the hall-of-fame as a one-way player. Tony Allen was coveted by many in here for years despite being a one-way player. I don't think MM's position is at all unreasonable, or even inconsistent. Leonard is a one-way player who's not really all that great on that particular side of the court, so his negatives outweigh his positives. Harden is putting up numbers (so far) that we've never seen (30 & 12). Historic numbers from a one-way player are still historic numbers, and more than enough to outweigh the poor defense.
I'll say one thing about Harden....he's playing with the perfect coach for his game....Steve Nash was no stellar defender either...Harden is playing the best ball he's played as a Rocket so far....he's an incredible passer...something we don't really have bragging rights about in Portland
It doesn't really matter, he's probably the best guard in the NBA. Westbrook and Curry are the only ones that deserve to be in that discussion along with him. Anyone that's actually watched them play know he's far from being selfish and also that this is far from being an ISO offense. These assists are not greedy assist, there is an actual offense that they run here and he runs it. Sure sometimes he goes ISO but he's Harden, he can pull that off every now and then. Sometimes Kawhi goes ISO, doesn't mean the Spurs have an ISO offense. The main difference is that Harden has always been an excellent PNR player and with Dwight gone he finally gets to run the PNR now and he willingly slings the ball all over the court. He'll really only attack as the game nears the end. The hate on Harden is funny though, truth is he's a top 5 player in the NBA. Anyone that's watched that Spurs game would see he's far from a selfish player, he put on a passing display. Does it every night. Pocket passes, full court heaves, passing across the defense...as someone mentioned before it really doesn't matter. Curry is more of a SG and Westbrook is more of a...combination of the two I suppose. Also his defense has been well hid all year. You won't find a single rocket fan complain about his defensive effort. Last year you couldn't say the same. The reason is he's not being asked to guard the hardest opponent true, but he's had less moments where he spaces out and loses focus. Oh yeah to @Orion Bailey for calling me out some weeks ago about scaring me away. Nah, but I get it. I despise the Utah Jazz, their fans, and everything their fans stand for. That is an eternal rival that I will always have hate for, so I get why one would frustrate you so much to remember me
