NBA 2017-2018 Season Thread

If he does somehow manage to gather 16 boards, two straight triple double seasons means he is a lock for the Hall of Fame.

He only has 25 triple doubles this season (compared to 43 last year) which is even more insane.

stat padder

The Mavs take 3rd place in the draft lottery. Time for Cuban to pay off Silver for those ping-pong balls to bounce just the right way now.

How is Westbrook a stat padder? He basically did a repeat of last year except this time he had Paul George and Carmelo. He leads the league in assists, plays a ton of minutes and is very sturdy. The guy is a monster, plays hard every fucking night, and doesnt get hurt. He puts up numbers because he is available to put them up. He isnt resting or inured, he just balls out every night. How can you say he is out here just padding his stats when he is willing his team to victory in an enormously difficult conference while playing unselfish ball?

He has also been a clutch player, the guy isnt padding shit besides his legacy.

The team is supposedly better than last year talent-wise and they won the same amount of games. I honestly don't think he cares about winning as much as his stats.

If it was just points then you could say he's padding his stats, but how do you average a triple double in a way that doesn't directly help your team?

I'd put it more like he cares about winning, tries his best to help his team do that and in the process puts up a ton of stats with his insane usage, but doesn't realize that maybe him having insane usage is not necessarily the best route for the team to be successful. Two pretty good offensive players (well, Melo used to be good at least) joined his team this year and Westbrick still led the league in FGA's. So yes he led the league in assists, but he also took more shots than anybody. He just has the ball all the friggin time. Very much a hero ball player in an era when most teams are trying to get away from it. You can look at his teammates and say wow Cory Brewer had the 5th most FGA's you don't want him getting any more, and maybe his high usage gives them the best shot to win. But with a guy like PG joining that team, I'd say nah. Westbrick was near the bottom 5 of their team this year in eFG% and TS%. If anybody on that team should have been getting 21 shots a game, it was Paul George.

All the hate and criticism Lonzo Ball got about his shot this year, his rookie season where he was constantly faced with a spotlight of criticism (his shooting numbers will improve), and his 3P% was still higher than Westbrick's this season of 0.299.

Of course he does a ton to help his team win and most of his rebounds and assist do that, I just think there things he could change in the way he plays that might help his team win more games. But he never seemed to consider that at all this season, even while they at times struggled to win games when they were supposed to be more talented.

The advanced stats show that fast breaks when he gets the rebound are very high points per possession for his team. Steven Adams was told to box out his man so that Westbrook can get the rebound and start the fast break. His team has an 80%+ winning percentage when he has a triple double. I'm sure there's some part of him that goes for the stats, but the reality is his rebound vulturing is usually a positive for the team.

However, as Pharazon2 alluded to, he could use better shot control at times and he still has yet to develop a respected three point shot, which is a big negative in today's NBA.

But yeah, I'm not shocked he has 17 rebounds with 7:30 to go in the third quarter, haha.

Edit: Just saw that Steven Adams is averaging 5.1 offensive RPG and 3.9 defensive. That's so unusual. He could probably be a 14 RPG guy if it wasn't for RB!

Russel Westbrook is the only non big to have more than 8 rebounds (he averaged 10.1) in the top 40 guys in rebounds per game.

He is grabbing more boards a game than the Greek Freak, LeBron James, Ben Simmons, Marc Gasol,....its fucking insane. You cant "pad" your way to averaging a triple double. ANd you cant say he is playing hero ball when he leads the fucking league in assists.

Sure you can. And I just did, cause he also led the league in FGA even though he's a poor, not very efficient shooter. Westbrook attacking the hoop is a great play. Westbrick dribbling around and chucking a jumper is a relatively low efficiency play that happens too often.

He has always taken too many shots. What the fuck does that have to do with stat padding and averaging a triple double? Are you saying he cant average 10 points a game if he takes 6 or so less shot attempts per game?

And like someone said, he affects the game in positive ways when he rebounds the ball and starts a break, and is obviously a reliable ball handler so he is going to put up his shots regardless. The guy just averged a triple double for two straight seasons and you want to talk about his field goal percentage....lol.

Playoff thread wru?

Cavs in 4.

Field goal percentage is pretty fucking important, Jozu.

Yeah, it's funny he gets so much shit for supposed stat padding, when his biggest flaw is his shooting. He didn't even hit 30% from three this year.

His TS% is 265th in the league. That is bad. Now, last year I would have given him a little more leeway. When you're one of the few true shot creators on your team, you're going to have a greater burden. But this year, it's harder to understand.

He is a polarizing figure, there is no middle ground with him. You either love him or hate him.

He had 43 triple doubles last year and 26 this year, and averaged a triple double for the season in both years. His 3 point percentage was terrible but he still averaged 25 points per game and is a ferocious defender which no one ever gives him credit for. He lead the league in loose balls grabbed, he is playing hard every minute he is on the floor.

But lets forget about all that and focus on his bad shooting percentage. OKC finished 4th in a ultra competitive western conference and they win like 85% of the games he records a triple double in. This guy isnt getting these numbers in a garbage time sense, its helping his team win, even if he misses every 3 he takes.

"Finished 4th" this year doesn't mean what it usually does. They're a good team but it was legitimately in question as recently as a week ago whether they'd even make the playoffs at all. Finished 4th, could have finished anywhere from 4-9 depending how things went the past few days. Whose to say if he stops chucking 3's, takes 15 shots a game instead of a 21, tries to get his teammates even more involved, that they don't finish 2nd or 3rd this year? They have the talent to win 60 games.

I dont necessarily disagree with you, I think most observers would agree he should shoot less, and attempt less 3 pointers specifically.

But the facts are he doesnt NEED to shoot 3's to be effective, as he can slash and explode inside better than pretty much anyone. Ben Simmons is probably going to be rookie of the year, and has been fantastic as the primary ball handler, he was basically a PG this season.

He attempted ONE 3 point shot ALL FUCKING YEAR. Now, should he have attempted more 3 pointers? Should he develop his 3 point shot? Does it even matter?

The point is, Westbrook's team has success when he records a triple double, and he still averaged 25 points a game, while leading the league in assists. And like I said he leads the league in hustle plays and is an elite defender. He is good at too many other things to sit here and knock him for a poor shooting percentage. Yeah shooting % is important, but you know whats more important? Winning. They win when he records a triple double.

Simmons' Sixers were one of the best teams in the NBA after Embiid went down and he was featured more. Are you going to knock SImmons for not attempting more 3's? Or should he be praised for NOT taking the shot? In the end none of it mattered because he was highly effective and his team was winning.

Sure, you could say Simmons should be praised for playing to his strengths. Maybe Westbrook should do that more.

I never really thought of it like that Alex. I guess your right. But what does playing to his strengths mean? Just not shoot 3's?

I dont know maybe Im just too big of a Westbrook fan to realize he is a flawed player who somehow isnt realizing his potential....