Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

yeah, it's a question designed to get a troubling answer, and he didn't really fall into it.

what's he supposed to say? i think they like me and that they didn't try to trade me?

eff them for not liking me? i'll try hard if they say they like me?

 

lol ok. not sure how to respond. i barely watched the train wreck last year. if it's the same, i'll do the same. but i'm not going to scrutinize responses to bad questions from reporters.

 

Sees WB back on the roster.

Sees @svtzr defending his boy, which is cool, and he's a nice guy.

But can't take it all season.

***Puts on ignore until season conclusion.***

 

Hallelujah!!!!!

 

yeah, i just don't see his response there or in the interview yesterday as that similar to his exit interview or most of what he said or implied throughout last year.

we'll see; i just don't think he's a huge issue this time. he knows he can't dictate action behind the scenes this time, so he'll either get in line or be sent home. and i think he really doesn't want the latter.

 

You know what? He handles all this s*** better than i would.

 

i thought he handled his own role in his failures last year poorly. he's already basically admitted that in the past couple of days, which is a positive step. he hasn't publicly bristled at his coach saying that he doesn't yet own a starting spot, either, which i expected would immediately cause an audible issue.

 

Westbrook has done an outstanding job of deflecting all the attention away from AD this offseason IMO. I know that Russ is going to be ready to rock and roll once the season starts.

But...GOOD LORD!!! AD better be ready too, because if he's looking shaky out the gate, he's going to get a thousand page thread in his honor this season.

 

Stay with us, I think you are going to see Ham run a well oiled machine and any cog trying to jam it up won't be playing. It is going to be a fun season. If Russ doesn't co-operate you can get the satisfaction of seeing him benched. We need everyone's psychic energy.

 

Media day went about as well as could be hoped. There’s just a reality that no one wants Russ here including Russ. Everyone is trying to make the best of a less than ideal situation. We will see how long they can play nice.

winning cures all. Get off to a good start and the heat on everyone dies down.

 

Come on man, the season hasn’t even started you can’t ignore me straight away you’ll be happy to know I won’t be defending Russ this season.

I just find nitpicking like what he said to a question designed to create trouble ridiculous.

 

The bolded is what I see.

This is what sucks for Russ, too: he can play exceptionally well, but if the team is still struggling, he'll get the blame.

If I were him, I'd want out especially in a contract year.

 

There’s no use defending Russ anymore. I argued that he could go back to Washington/Rockets form and that he could be a better player than any we had coming back in a trade. So he has the opportunity now to prove that - and if he doesn’t, bench him. If he does, the majority of the success will still rest on AD who is the linchpin of our season.

 

Russ can handle himself, I'm more worried about AD.

 

Who cares what he says? It only matters what he does on the court. We have more than enough guys who are willing to defend at a high level, ready to replace him after Ham gets tired of watching missed assignment after missed assignment, after another missed assignment.
If Russ can somehow shock the world and learn how to play great team defense over the next few months, then good on him- he will have earned his minutes.
If not, we have plenty of guys who have already proven they can play better than League average defense.

 

We won't be a trainwreck at all with Westbrook coming off the bench which is what is going to happen. I don't think it will take much time before it happens either. Wouldn't surprise me to see us come out the gate that way.

Very few teams have a 6th like him and he can excel in that position matched up against the bench players of the league he will do fantastic. Suddenly we aren't as lacking in depth, we will have a few good running mates for Russ, be that Nunn or Reaves or Schroder, Walker or whoever. One of the Bryant/Jones centers and we have some good newbs and scrubs If Ham gets the chemistry right, who knows what the team can do. To have a bench come out with a take-charge guy like that is a big advantage. I am going to see the bright side of things because I can not believe that Ham/Rob/LBJ/AD will not take the steps to make this happen. It's their careers on the line.

 

Well, since Ham is a defense first guy, Russ will also have to play at a high level on the defensive end. He won’t be given a longer leash than anyone else.

 

What do you mean season is over? You only follow if we are a contender? That's rich...

We put ourselves in a hole after we traded for him. It was discussed for length, many people in the organization are to be criticized for that and it is what it is. Now you can either choose to embrace it and move on or get stuck on that until we compete again and that shows the type of fan you are.

We made a pretty solid offseason. Made the moves we were able to and were counting on a Russ trade it didn't happen. PR wise we excelled honestly in managing Russ situation. We did great in appointing the head coach and gave him a proper setup for him to build our future. We didn't fleeced on trades and made no panic moves that usually set a franchise for mediocrity for many years. We should know that very well (Mozdeng).

I think we moved forward compared with our last year baseline and that's what you can ask as a fan. We can't change the past. But you can have expectations of the franchise being well-run in the present and I think this off-season was solid, based on where we came from and the lack of assets to change things more deeply.
I don't like to criticize just for the sake of it or hold grudges from the past. We have to move on and find the best situation for the present and future and that's what we are trying to do

We are out of title contention, albeit having AD and LeBron. However, it's important we are competitive and top 6 would be a good result for the FUTURE of this franchise. That's what we should be rooting for, as painful as it can be.

It matters because what he says will reflect his approach on the court.

I think he did very well yesterday. Situation is delicate, but I enjoyed how it was approach. Rob and Ham clearly emphasized that if Russ doesn't commit to defense and doing the right things, he won't play. Russ appear to have understood he's not bigger than the franchise and that his career is on the line this year. It doesn't mean he will play great, but at least the mindset is closer to what it should be and that's at least promising