Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

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Anti-Westbrook rage, justified as it is on some nights, has blinded some to his continual improvement as a passer. It’s not just the jump in assists, from 5.5 per game last season to a career-best 8.7 this season; it’s the type of passes Westbrook can throw now. Just a year ago, Westbrook had trouble throwing kick-out passes to players outside of his direct line of vision, and he was only learning to probe defenses in ways that create passing lanes.

He understands the geometry of the floor better now. He can throw inside-out passes to shooters all over the place, even ones directly behind him or diagonally across the court. And he’s better on the pick-and-roll at finding those little drop-off passes to the “other” big man — the one who didn’t set the pick — lurking around the baseline.

The Thunder overall rank ninth in assist rate after finishing dead last a year ago, and they’ve done that without sacrificing much in the way of free throws — long their bread and butter.

The starting five has so far scored 106.7 points per 100 possessions, below the Thunder’s sterling overall mark, but still the equivalent of a top-five scoring rate. Even more shocking: This five has assisted on 63.9 percent of their made baskets, better than the Thunder’s overall mark and just about equal to Boston’s assist rate — the second-highest in the league.

It’s hard to overstate what a massive turnaround this is. The Thunder’s starting five has long been miserable to watch, and last season assisted on just 45.8 percent of baskets — significantly below the Thunder’s miserable (and dead-last) overall number.
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The Thunder Are Better Than We Thought They Were Going to Be

Certainly their upcoming schedule is a lot tougher, but still interesting to note so far.
 
^^^ So, does that suggest that not having Harden there has actually helped Westbrook, at least in terms of his playmaking abilities?
 
lawdog1 said:
^^^ So, does that suggest that not having Harden there has actually helped Westbrook, at least in terms of his playmaking abilities?
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I'd say a combination of his continued improvement as a playmaker and Harden no longer handling the ball as much.

Westbrook was averaging over 8 assists in his 2nd and 3rd year, it was last year where it dropped to 5.5. And last year we saw both Harden and Durant's assist percentage increase as Russell's dropped. Of course, it's a young season so these numbers will change, but so far Westbrook's taken less shots than last season while his assists have risen. He's making better passes, the kind of passes he just didn't see last year. 

At the very least, the team's offense hasn't fallen off the cliff like many predicted without Harden and that the continued improvement of Westbrook, Durant, and Ibaka, have lead to a better starting lineup for OKC.
 
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Non-distributing, non-scoring, no-left-hand-having, no-defense-playing combo guard. 
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His form is bad. He has his elbow sticking way out to the side. I've seen him miss free throws left or right which is a red flag.
 
I saw a conversation that PMATIC was having on Twitter so credited to him. And it makes sense for both squads and players. We need shooting and Dwill needs to be in Orlando to play.
 
Also, to be fair to Rivers, he has been a much better playmaker than I would have imagined. That handle though, which looked great in HS and College, looks really shaky. That no left hand hurts you, especially when homie is just an average/good athlete with no weight on him and a subpar shot.

And cosign on The Jerryd Bayless thing, he really is one of the weirdest looking players in the league :lol:
 
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