THE "OFFICIAL" AROUND THE NBA 2012-13 THREAD...........

Would rather have Durant than Westbrook. Would rather have Westbrook than Harden.

Westbrook is a recognized star in the league. His impact in the game is something that can't be measured by stats, IMO. Harden can score, no doubt. Can he lead a a team the way Westbrook has, we shall see.


So far round one of this debate goes to Harden. But they each have 83 more rounds to go.

 

Doh . . . yes 81*


(*not counting playoffs)

 

Eddy Curry being waived. GET UP ON IT!

 

Sure, you can. Back off him and dare him to shoot. Make him try to beat you with his shot.

Which is exactly what you want. You want Durant (and formerly Harden) to be a total non-factor in the 4th quarter of a close game. The defense doesn't even have to take Durant out of the game. Westbrook does it for them.

Which he will, more times than not.

Yeah, he's such an easy cover. That's why he's led the league in scoring three straight years. That's why he scored 5.4 ppg more than Westbrook during the playoffs in spite of taking fewer shots. I know you want to ignore the stats, because they completely destroy your argument, but the facts are undeniable. In the 2012 playoffs:

Durant:
PPG = 28.5
FGA/G = 19.2
TS% = .632
eFG% = .570
WS/48 = .231

Westbrook:
PPG = 23.1
FGA/G = 20.4
TS% = .506
eFG% = .457
WS/48 = .133

Harden:
PPG = 16.3
FGA/G = 10.7
TS% = .605
eFG% = .509
WS/48 = .184

If you find all those numbers confusing. Here it is all boiled down to a single number PTS/FGA:

Durant: 570 PTS/383 FGA = 1.49
Harden : 326 PTS / 214 FGA = 1.52
Westbrook = 461 PTS /407 FGA = 1.13

Yeah, those are just numbers, but they clearly illustrate what I saw with my on eyes while watching the games. In the 4th quarter of close games, Westbrook tried to take over EVERY time. He forced up bad, low percentage shots and froze out his better shooting teammates. Not what I want in a PG, or in a teammate in general.

Executive Summary: I'm glad OKC decided to keep Westbrook and trade Harden.

BNM

 

durant - westbrook = suck HARD
(durant + westbrook) - harden = still suck

check the W/L records

 

MKG sighting

 

Those numbers are for the 2012 playoffs. It got even worse during the finals:

Durant: FGA = 104
Westbrook: FGA = 120
Harden: FGA = 48

And the trend continued last night against the Spurs:

Durant:
9-18 FG
.500 FG%
23 PTS
1.28 PTS/FGA

Westbrook:
6-21 FG
.286 FG%
18 PTS
0.86 PTS/FGA

This is what happens when Robin thinks he should be the one driving the Batmobile. The more Westbrook calls his own number, the more likely the Thunder will lose. I'm fine with that.

BNM

 

Brandon Roy's return tonight baby!

 

I respect your opinions and you back them up well with stats. I am more of watching them play and getting a feel for their value that way.

Why stats bug me is the stats above suggest Westbrook is a worse to much worse than Durant and Harden, especially in the finals. I watched the finals and can tell you it was Harden that disappeared and underperformed. Harden is a solid player, but not have a good finals.

Westbrook is a PG with the ball in his hands for much of the game. I believe the analysis has to be different for PGs as they tend to have to work harder on the court and for their shots.

I think Westbook can be a ball hog and doesn't have the highest basketball IQ, which hurts being a PG. But his energy, athletic ability and ability to run a team is hard to find. Hard to find the perfect PG and for what Westbrook brings night in and night out, many teams will overlook his flaws.

Harden is shooter. If he can shoot and score like that all season (not even talking about assists), than I jump on board and think he is more valuable than Westbrook. But now it's time for Harden to try and carry a team through a season, and his flaws will start to emerge, IMO.

 

Yeah, Harden did have a bad finals. But that was probably a function of who he was guarding and who was guarding him. Westbrook had a much easier head-to-head match up than Harden and still shot the ball poorly - and a LOT more often. But that doesn't explain why Westbrook took so many more shots than Durant - who was having a much better series.

What I really noticed at the time, and I watched every game during the finals, was that Westbrook would COMPLETELY freeze out Durant in the 4th quarter of any close game. I had originally noticed it the previous year against Dallas, but it was MUCH worse last year against Miami. Freezing out the best scorer in the entire league, with the game on the line, is just plain stupid. If I was Durant, I'd be pissed that my PG was freezing me out, and more pissed that he's the other guy they decided to keep.

BNM

 

Right I agree about Harden having tougher defense on him and maybe that explains the stats. But Westbrook has a target on his back every night and teams plan to stop him. Harden is going to have that this year and I'm going to be watching it with interest.

Anyways, I agree that Westbrook takes too many shots and can get tunnel vision in close games. But I also think he guided the Thunder to what could have been a championship season if not for the Miami Heat.

 

Nuggets are stinking it up so far this year.

 

You keep throwing that out there, but I don't think you've thought it through too well. During those three years Durant has been winning scoring titles, Westbrook has been shooting "too much." For all your statistical analysis, you're ignoring that Westbrook's contribution to Durant's scoring is a positive, not a negative.

 

I saw that. Incredible. I thought he was really good, but not as good as he's looking.

Meanwhile the Knicks are killing Miami - because 'Melo is playing PF?

 

Asik is a rich man's Joel Przybilla. Actually, he could be the white Big Ben.

 

Harden to Houston could be like Bosh going backwards in time from Miami to Toronto...