Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

News is slow..gotta produce some content..Let's repackage the same old Westbrook, Kyrie or KD "news" and post it. It will still get some clicks! It ain't just Buha either.

 

That means the reporting is BS? Not the first time we heard about Russ’s act in the locker room during film sessions, and all heard his exit interview.

 

I can't think of anyone who got better as a defender after age 30. Kidd was always awesome on D before he changed his game on offense. Is there anyone who has done this?

Not only do you need athletic ability but you need endurance to be a great defender. You see Lebron still has it at bursts but he's not going to put the clamps on Derrick Rose or switch 1-5 at this stage of his career unless it's like for a quarter of a playoff game. Do I see Russ going away from trying to exert himself on offense to focus on defense: just don't see that happeneing

 

Sports Journalism is a lot like "opinion " News fodder these days. If there isn't any" breaking news " just rehash and repackage, the most recent hot topics, and speculate on what you think is going on. If everyone is doing the same thing, there isn't much concern about being accurate. If you got it wrong, you can fall back on the well " Everybody was thinking along the same lines" Besides..a couple of months from now, NOBODY remembers what you wrote or said anyway, because there is actually news to report on. It's a sweet gig.

 

Well you singled him out initially. It is the off season.

 

And we've heard about the exact same incident from 50 different guys since it happened.

 

I did because I subscribe to the Athletic. Not impressed by this kid. He did " break" the Clippers were having chemistry issues in the bubble. His biggest scoop, he covered them for a few years. I think Jerry West is his Lakers "source" LOL.

 

I have no doubt it happened. Everything points to it. The evidence was on the court. Of course he was unhappy about it.

 

My point was that happens rather frequently in the NBA. It wasn't some kind of big deal. It was something about Westbrook so it was news. Players argue with coaches, each other and FO all the time. Bron had a lil riff with Handy, AD tried to snatch up Dwight on the bench, guys were on their cell phones during games, Kurt dressed Frank down in front of the team. s*** happens during a season, but it was Russ, so for some reason it's still "news".

 

In your bizarro Russ world sure it was no big deal. Whatever dude. Until I can’t take it any more and have to vent at it again. You notice we don’t butt heads on much of anything else. You’re just whack on your Russ takes though in playing down how bad he was and how intractable in his attitude. IMHO.

 

I don't see the whole attitude thing. He didn't give proper effort and he wasn't accepting of the reality. But I don't see his attitude problem with any team mates or coaches... that's just drawing conclusions that don't exist and that no-one has commented on.

 

You are more passionate about it I guess. I moved on, but I do still personally appreciate the banter. The season is over, I'm looking forward to the next one.

 

He had the attitude he was HOF Russell Westbrook and not willing to really buckle down and do what was asked from day one, as reported (my guess is Handy when he was also probably the one sticking up for Vogel and the staff near the end of the season) (because of all of them he, to me, would be the one to least give a f*** and could go anywhere if he got fired) …. that when they explained they wanted whoever rebounded the ball to push it up court, Russ balked and was vocal about having a problem with that. The attitude of getting pissed off at the coaches because they would point out his brain farts and lost/blown assignments on team defense, and then taking NO accountability and basically blaming Vogel for everything and claiming he had no idea why there was a problem. Seriously, that’s not a bad attitude?

 

…. No you didn’t / haven’t. You lay low for a couple of days and then boom start the same song and dance that excuses how Russ actually played and was, all because of James’s and Davis’s only 21 games together “confusing the issue”. And you accused me yesterday of making Russ the biggest issue of why we missed the playoffs. NO. They’re 2 separate issues. Russ’s BS season is Russ’s BS season.

But it would be nice if you would move on.

:THT Heart Hands:

 

A lot of this is all inferred. When you have a look at all the interviews with the staff and players, no-one had anything bad to say about Westbrook. Not just last season, but any season. But the media don't particularly like him for whatever reason.

I do believe Westbrook was unaccountable, but to me this was a team wide problem. No one defended, no one did the extra effort plays. The whole season everyone was just talking about effort. That to me screams of the team in general just expecting everything to click without the hard work - top to bottom. Pinning ALL of that on Westbrook seems to me disingenuous.

When I say attitude, I mean I don't think his attitude had any kind of negative locker room effect on the staff or coaches. His bad play did.

 

Oh I would disagree about his attitude’s effect with the coaches. And of course, unlike him with his exit interview, they all took the high road and weren’t going to say anything negatively about him publicly.

 

i mean...

agree with bold; the attitude started at the top. poor leadership from lebron, AD, and russ. all of them dropped the ball, imo.

but russ basically refusing to play differently certainly has a negative impact on teammates, whether he's nice to them or not. it sends a bad message.

his argument may be that lebron didn't adjust, either. ok, but he's much, much better than you. this is the crux, i think. you can't ask for equal billing, here. if lebron promised that, that was bad, too, but i think all the leakage about never setting screens or getting annoyed about being called out for defensive lapses is meant to shed light on the deleterious effects of having an aging diva in the locker room.

 

You do..you post about Westbrook at least 50 times a week. Lebron and AD playing in 21 games was the biggest issue with that team. A terrible roster of past their primes was too. I never excused Russ of anything, I just never agreed, that it was all or mostly about him. I respond to what's posted, not much else going around on this board so..here we are.

 

Why were you arguing with yourself. That's your take alone that anyone here blames Russ for us missing the playoffs. Every person here knows, and why it's so annoying you keep harping on it, that James and Davis not being healthy enough games to get us there is the reason. Everyone! Our take if anything about Russ and the playoffs is he would have been targeted for all the things he sucked at this year and would have put a further limit on how far we could have gone .... as well as the poor roster construction and Nunn and all that rest of it.

 

Then we've been going around and around for months, basically killing time. I totally agree.

I hope I never have to mention James and Davis playing in 20 something games together again. Whether Westbrook is here or not.