Russell Westbrook notched his 40th triple double of the season and is now only needs one more to tie Oscar Robertson’s 1960-’61 season mark. Westbrook’s numbers were 40 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. Otherwise, it was a bleak afternoon of basketball in Oklahoma City as the Thunder as a team brought little edge or emotion to the game and lost by a count of 113-101. This was the first ever time since the Sonics move to Oklahoma City in which Charlotte has won in Chesapeake Energy Arena in the Thunder era.
Other than Westbrook and perhaps Andre Roberson, the performance by the Thunder was abysmal and disappointing. Take away the two miracle comebacks fueled by Westbrook and this team has played like a dead team walking for two weeks. I hate to write this again , but without Westbrook, this team would be no different than the Lakers, the Suns, the Magic, and the Nets and in the hunt for draft lottery position.
Especially disappointing has been the recent play of Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo, and Enes Kanter. There’s no reason for any of these three players to be tired, they’ve all missed time with injuries this season and they’re expected to be the the second, third, and fourth best players on this team. They’re all being paid well, this team needs them to produce accordingly and give Westbrook help every night.
Here’s what they produced on Sunday afternoon. In 76 combined minutes of play, they went a collective 11-28 from the field and as a group scored 30 points. At a minimum, these three need to be scoring 42-44 points a game and giving this team something it can count on other than Russell Westbrook.
Alex Abrines and Doug McDermott were even worse. They’re on this roster to fill one specific need, namely three point shooting scoring. In 25 minutes of combined play, Abrines and McDermott didn’t make a shot and both went scorless..at HOME. Are you kidding?
Brian Davis on the Fox Network said something the other night which literally made me shake my head. He said he will be voting in Billy Donovan third on his Coach of the Year ballot. I hope he was kidding. I measure coaching in incremental improvement both individually and as a team. Other than Westbrook, there’s not one player on this team who has moved the needle individually enough to make this a better team than it was on opening night against the Sixers in Philly. Go through the roster yourself and see if you can make an argument for improvement. Except for Westbrook, I can’t make that argument for one single player on the team, at least on a consistent basis.
My Coach of the Year ballot would go 1 Brad Stevens, Boston, 2 Mike D’ Antoni, Houston, and 3 Scott Brooks, Washington.
With this loss, OKC stands at 43-33 and ‘still’ in the No. 6 seeding position. The Thunder stand a game and half ahead of Memphis, but OKC still has to play at Memphis on Wednesday. Given the way this team is playing right now, there’s not a game which could be labeled as a sure win.
Russell Westbrook needs some help. I feel like I’ve written this a thousand times this season, and it’s not like Sam Presti isn’t paying some nice money for Adams, Oladipo, and Kanter to give Westbrook some help. As a group it’s very simple they have to step up and fill their roles on this basketball team. Same with Abrines and McDermott. Same with Taj Gibson. Same with every player on the roster.
I hate teams which play soft both mentally and physically and don’t take accountability for their play. It makes me ill. This team needs to step up in a big way in a hurry.
I haven’t played this video in a long time. Maybe I’ll play it for myself. Maybe Billy Donovan should play it for his team. It couldn’t hurt. I’m tired of hearing all these excuses for guys being young. Age should in no way be an excuse for playing like a pussy. Maybe Nick Collison needs to say a few things in the locker room.