CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
- Feb 27, 2002
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Nah the phantom shitter Gilbert gave his blessing for Westbrook to wear 0.
maybe something changed....comment I saw from Westbrook is he wore 4 in HS, wants to wear it again....
Nah the phantom shitter Gilbert gave his blessing for Westbrook to wear 0.
Westbrook is definitely ball dominant and more of a score first guy than Wall. His distance shooting effectiveness has waned over the years (shot only 25.8% from 3-pt land last year) and he's most effective in a small/mini-ball offense so it'll be interesting to see how Bryant and Lopez do but few players in the league can score like him, even at this age. Westbrook has some of the highest usage rates in league history which can be detrimental to the team if he's not effective, and it could potentially hurt the development of some of the younger Wizards if they're relegated to a "stand there and watch and maybe shoot an occasional three" role if Russ tries to do everything himself. This is something that Brooks will have to figure out and it'll likely take some time to mesh.I haven't followed basketball since Jordan retired the second time, but this trade has me interested.
Questions for those more involved than I:
- How is Westbrook off the ball?
- How "score first" is Westbrook's mentality vs. Wall?
- How is Westbrook's defense?
and jettisoning Phil and Steve from the broadcast book it's been a rough last few years so this is the most exciting start to a season in recent memory and I'm just going to hope they're fun and watchable and try to enjoy it.
It's as if NBC Sports Washington were to jettison Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin out of the blue tomorrow. Dagger.
Westbrook is definitely ball dominant and more of a score first guy than Wall. His distance shooting effectiveness has waned over the years (shot only 25.8% from 3-pt land last year) and he's most effective in a small/mini-ball offense so it'll be interesting to see how Bryant and Lopez do but few players in the league can score like him, even at this age. Westbrook has some of the highest usage rates in league history which can be detrimental to the team if he's not effective, and it could potentially hurt the development of some of the younger Wizards if they're relegated to a "stand there and watch and maybe shoot an occasional three" role if Russ tries to do everything himself. This is something that Brooks will have to figure out and it'll likely take some time to mesh.
Westbrook used to be an elite defender but that has gone downhill since 2018 or so. He had really high defensive efficiency ratings earlier in his career and he was the Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year in college but that seems to have slipped.
I think the biggest hope is that Russ realizes he's on his third team in three years and that he's 32 years old and he can't do everything himself any more or he risks really damaging his legacy. I think there was a ton of pressure last year in Houston to win a championship and make it work with Harden so he pressed a lot and he was unstoppable for a few months leading up to the bubble but really struggled in the bubble after he got Covid and hurt his quad. He's reunited with Scott Brooks who coached him in OKC and who loves him and he requested Washington as his preferred destination (allegedly) and made clear his desire to play with Beal so there's optimism but they will certainly need to work to make this work.
I think they'll be a really fun to watch on offense but they'll be a train wreck too many nights on defense. They should be a playoff team but there are 9-10 playoff quality teams in the East so it's not certain at all. Honestly though, between Wall's injuries, Ernie's terrible contracts and FA decisions, and jettisoning Phil and Steve from the broadcast book it's been a rough last few years so this is the most exciting start to a season in recent memory and I'm just going to hope they're fun and watchable and try to enjoy it.
Pretty much. He's incredible at getting to the paint and awful outside of the elbow. If he's ok distributing, Beal and Bertans should get a ton of open looks from beyond the arc. It's also why Houston jettisoned Capella and played small ball since it opens up space for Russ to get to the rim.man I was reading an article the other day that broke down his shooting. He’s like historical-level bad at shooting the ball for a guy who shoots as much as he does. He’s basically fantastic in the paint and ranges from decent to poor in everywhere else on the floor....it was comical how bad he was in this analysis.
but he makes it all happen somehow. I can’t wait...will be fascinating to watch.
I haven't followed basketball since Jordan retired the second time, but this trade has me interested.
Questions for those more involved than I:
- How is Westbrook off the ball?
- How "score first" is Westbrook's mentality vs. Wall?
- How is Westbrook's defense?
My general take he was more of a scoring pg with driving and getting fouled. I think the one difference is that generally Wall not a great shooter so when he had an off shooting game teams would force him to shoot by sagging back. One thing Beal showed last year was the ability to create off the dribble when he should do so and which he really didn't in his early years so I'm not too worried about working with Westbrook compared to a SG that had to have a ball in his hands (Harden).
Wall random thought...I don't think I ever have seen a player with Wall's natural driving speed strength where it was like pulling teeth to get a foul called on a drive by the umps.
I think a lot of was that Wall went to the basket s fast and with such reckless abandon that he often looked out of control so when he got fouled it just looked kind of normal.
Maybe watch different teams?Well...Army Navy was the only football I have watched this year and it sucked to high heaven. Next?