Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

[mmg]

I'd rather play with 24 year old WB than 24 year old Kobe. Kobe ran Shaq outta town. No way is WB gonna run Durant out of town. WB was wrong for what he did tonight but Kobe was unbearable to play with even after he won 3 championships.

Ill was worth you until right there, shaq won those 3.

 

[victor page]

 Durant wouldn't be the killer he is without Russell pushing him every step of the way.

 

[powerballin]

Westbrook once again proving why the Thunder won't win....clown

 

[sooperhooper]

Russell legitimately has anger issues. If it wasn't for basketball, son may have caught some bodies in his life by now. He's fiery like mj was, but at more dangerous levels.

Also, what made you guys ask about vc and Carlisle?

 

[airjordan jb23]

"If that's what you say bruh"

Chuck going in on his shirt

The thing is with Westbrook, you know what you get from him in terms of his hot temper & forced shots, but at the same time he'll still bring that energy on defense & put up points in a hurry on offense. You have to expect both from him.

 

[flyerthandelta]

EHHH BRUH!!!!!!!

 

[julius wrek]

Hey_

Royce Young of the Daily Thunder blog:

Really, you could look at this Westbrook tantrum two ways: You could see it as a classic fit, a sign of his frustrating immaturity and overly emotional play, OR, you could see it as big time growth by the hot-headed 24-year-old. Because really, Brooks didn’t bench Westbrook at all. Immediately after the blowup with Thabo, Westbrook actually tugged on his jersey and said “get me” at Brooks. He wanted out. He knew he needed a little breather. And when he couldn’t settle himself, he decided to take a timeout in the hall.

And evidently, it worked. He checked back in and was terrific in slamming the door on Memphis.

On another note, do the media and the pundits got at other teams with such gusto when these incidents occur?

Julius F. Wrek

 

[antidope]

The why wouldn't he make that perfectly clear to the media? If he said that to Craig, then this probably wouldn't be as big of a deal as it's going to be today.

 

[CP1708]

Westbrook once again proving why the Thunder won't win....clown

Baseless post is baseless.

 

[julius wrek]

Hey_

My guess is that given the media's love for crucifying Russ, at times deservedly so, he might have figured "why even try?".

After giving this some more thought, I'm guessing that Kendrick Perkins' comments after the Christmas day loss to the Heat are something to keep in mind.

I'll let the homie Datz handle the Thunder rumblings though.

Julius F. Wrek

 

[mr marcus]

what did perkins say?

 

[sooperhooper]

I definitely wouldn't want my sister dating Westbrook. Dude seems mad unstable and potentially abusive.

 

[trynafeelmink]

The Thing is Russy's teammates love him so **** what the media has to say

 

[quik1987]

He looked legit crazy when he was rockin in the chair though

 

[solarius49]

do you guys think that this will increase any trade rumors around Russy?

I would love to see a pass first PG in that option, but with Thabo and Perk in their starting lineup, where would they get that scoring from?

I dont even know a (healthy) pass first PG that is a realistic trade option for Russy.

 

[julius wrek]

Hey_

“I just feel like — never overreacting to a loss — we just got to start getting back to who we are as individuals,” Perkins said. “Turning off the TV and stop looking at articles on ourselves and start just losing ourselves in the team a little bit more than the sky's the limit.”
Perkins did not single out any of his teammates but said the focus, as a team, needs to be on maintaining what it is that's made OKC successful early this season.
“We just got to start knowing what got us here and what each guy did to get us to this point,” Perkins said. “We just got to make sure we start knowing who we are and what we are and what we mean to this team as individuals and the rest will take care of itself.”

source

I for one, don't think this incident is that serious. Happened before between the two max players, they put it behind them and get to the Finals.

I was surprised, and thankful he didn't come back in to the game and shoot like there was no tomorrow.

Russ is most likely the most lambasted player in the league at present. It doesn't matter if he played terrible or fantastic that night, somebody is going to have something to say regardless.

Lastly, this immediate jump to call somebody crazy is really strange and off putting for me. We don't know these cats, all we know is what we're allowed to see on tv.

“The worst thing to call somebody is crazy. It's dismissive. "I don't understand this person. So they're crazy." That's ********. These people are not crazy. They strong people. Maybe their environment is a little sick.” - Dave Chappelle

Julius F. Wrek

 

[lobotomybeats]

:x at all the westbrook slander, yal watch too much espn/first take



kids been my favorite player for the last few years. after he stormed off and came back to the bench sulking i was |I at first
he will always be an emotional loose cannon but thats russ, thats what makes him great.

Wrong. More execs would have kept Harden over Westbrook.

The Thunder could soon be in a position where they are unable to retain their entire core due to financial constraints.

James Harden will become eligible for a contract extension this offseason and would become a restricted free agent in 2013 if no deal is reached.

Russell Westbrook signed a five-year extension with Oklahoma City last January.

Harden or Westbrook are more likely to be moved than Kevin Durant.

ESPN's Chris Broussard asked 22 NBA executives which player they would trade if they had to for financial reasons. Fourteen of the executives replied that they would trade Westbrook, while eight said Harden.

There's no way that you can read that and not think that it's due to his immaturity.

 

[mr marcus]

westbrook looked legit crazy when sager was interviewing him....

 

[antidope]

do you guys think that this will increase any trade rumors around Russy?

I would love to see a pass first PG in that option, but with Thabo and Perk in their starting lineup, where would they get that scoring from?

I dont even know a (healthy) pass first PG that is a realistic trade option for Russy.

If the Thunder got a pass first PG they would not be anywhere near as good as they are now IMO. I said this when the Rondo rumors were floating around last year; the scoring that he provides is too important. Last year they only had 3 double digit scorers: Durant, Westbrook and Harden, if Rondo and his 9 points a game went there what would happen. I doubt he could really make his team mates better to the point where people like Thabo and Ibaka start putting up mid teens numbers to make up for what Russell would take with him. Ibaka has started to pick it up and K Mart is gettign 15 a game, but they still arent as exposive as Westbrook and cant create their own shots which is one of his main positives now that Harden is gone.

In a GM fantasy land, if the Thunder could trade Westbrook for Steph, Paul, Rose, Parker, Williams, or another PG whos scoring ability and passing ability are equal then they would be a good, but a pass first PG wouldnt work here at all IMO.

 

[Maximus Meridius]

People all say that Kobe would be a tough player to have as a teammate. It's crazy but I'd rather him than Russ at this point.

I'd rather play with 24 year old WB than 24 year old Kobe. Kobe ran Shaq outta town. No way is WB gonna run Durant out of town. WB was wrong for what he did tonight but Kobe was unbearable to play with even after he won 3 championships.

Get the hell outta here with that. Shaq has shown he's just as much of a diva as Kobe was. Shaq is still sensitive on TNT.


Westbrook ain't touching a 24 year old Kobe.

 

[darthska]

Shaq went on to another team knowing the team was someone else's (Wade's).

No, it wasn't 50/50 blame. he didn't have a problem deferring, as was proven by the very next team he went to.

 

[sooperhooper]

He was past his prime (Shaq). He had no choice but to defer. He went to Mia in 0t not 95.

 

[ag 47]

Shaq went on to another team knowing the team was someone else's (Wade's).

No, it wasn't 50/50 blame. he didn't have a problem deferring, as was proven by the very next team he went to.

He also reported to Miami in shape. Previous two seasons Shaq used the regular season to get in shape. But no biggie right?

 

[datznasty]

do you guys think that this will increase any trade rumors around Russy?

I would love to see a pass first PG in that option, but with Thabo and Perk in their starting lineup, where would they get that scoring from?

I dont even know a (healthy) pass first PG that is a realistic trade option for Russy.

The 3 point guards you could argue are better all injured, and yes I'm including CP3 as injured since he has no meniscus and that's a ticking time bomb.

I could see the argument for keeping Harden over him though, but it wasn't even just between those 2 only when it came to the money. Perkins' albatross contract to average 5 and 5 is ridiculous at over 8 mil. Serge is making 12.25 himself.

Ideally our owners would quit acting like they're in the poorhouse and kept all of them.

But let's not act like Harden didn't completely vanish in the finals last yr because of his off court antics with his Miami rapper girlfriend and her Grand Canyon sized snatch.

 

[jumpmantwenty3]

Not many PGs have Russ's temperament problems, but then not many have his all-around game and effort level either.