Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

technically, i'm a bit inland (~2.5 hr drive from the actual coast). but i've liked it here, you know, save for the lakers game situation.

 

I'm on Philippines time, and that is currently 15 hours ahead of CA. it's 2:06 AM where I'm at now. Games end up being the mid morning. Kind of weird. Easy to miss.

But we've been easy to not want to watch.

 

I probably won't be watching too many games either. First Brick made Lakers basketball unwatchable, then we go and grab Ezell, like heaping failure and disgust on top of each other in a hot steaming pile of refuse.

It almost feels like we're being trolled right now.

 

Did you not watch Conley in the playoffs: he was awful. Couldn't stay in front of anybody with a pulse on defense

 

Conley is not tragic but he's overrated by some of you guys.
His D was atrocious last time i saw him.

 

ok. i mean, his team played better defense with him on the floor all year, which has been the case basically his whole career. but fine. those 6 games are what matters most.

and also, this is about whether he's an upgrade on russ, which he clearly is unless you expect complete reversals from both players this year. in which case i want the rationale.

the fact that he'd come with one or two other guys who are also playable makes it a no-brainer.

this is all assuming it takes one pick or less to make it happen. if ainge is asking for both picks unprotected and reaves and whatever, no, i just stand pat.

 

Please sit him if they don't move him.
I have no clue what this team is trying to do: Beverly deal makes no sense if he's around so I suspect he's still out of here. But if he's still around but just for my sanity, I just don't want to watch him on the Lakers

 

The closer we get to camp the less I'm willing to give up or take back. No team wants Russ the player and unless the things I'm hearing are wrong we are going to get screwed again in a trade. I had rather give Ham a chance to see what he can do unless a miracle trade is on the horizon. No bad contracts, no more than one pick. If Russ does not buy in we send him home. Coach Ham will know right away what his attitude is, certainly before the regular season starts. Maybe he buys in enough it ups his trade value a little, he couldn't hurt his trade value at this point. It is hard to get worse than no team wanting you and being sent home as an addition by subtraction. I know Russ lives in a different world but he must know if he does not shape up and gets sent home his NBA days are done. Even if Nunn is not ready to play we have more to work with than many seem to think. If Nunn is ready we are pretty solid. If not Reaves, Bryant and Beverly give us a tough starting five along with Lebron and AD. Maybe someone in camp shows out and takes one of those spots. Then we are even better. Huff will show his worth at some point and we do have some young high energy guys. I just ask that we please don't do anything rash and stupid after all this time.

 

Come on admit it now you’ll miss that face and all its contortions mean mugging after a big dunk and all his combative replies in the Q & A after games to questions about his game.

:THT Heart Hands:

 

Unfortunately, I think Russ' trade value & our trade options go up when we get to the trade deadline.
We may have to suffer through most of the Season with this lineup & find a better deal at the deadline.
Just feels like Teams know we're desperate & will fleece us for every asset we have right now..

 

If he's here I'm with Slick .... go Russ! Do what they ask of you and play well for that next contract. I just have none of his optimism this guy will be able to change his game to what is going to be asked and needed from him, in all the areas it was so bad last year, if he wants to continue starting and closing games. Or be able to put up being around Beverley's chirping at him for mistakes as he thinks is his duty to push everyone, given their past history. Would love to be wrong.

 

Anyone else notice how quiet Russ has been regarding the Lakers?

He's not on the court with Bron and AD.

He did not comment on or retweet Bron or Bev's recent positive comments about Russ..

Hopefully that's an indication of him being on his way elsewhere.

 

The more I look at Myles Turner I am starting to change my mind about this one trade. This is the one situation I would give up two firsts if I had to. I believe that Lebron, AD, Myles, Austin and Beverly could lock teams down for long stretches. With Ham's schemes and that kind of defensive talent teams would hate to see us on the schedule. Start getting in their heads right away. Lebron and AD give us the versatility to play any number of ways. Myles gives us the man power to let Lebron and AD rest a few games and still have a good shot of winning. He is also good insurance in case AD does have some minor injuries. He can't take AD's place offensively but he can sure hold down the middle on defense. We have multiple high energy guys to fill roles. I think this would make us legitimate title contenders. I think under Ham Lebron and AD both return to being top five guys and with a good supporting cast that really should be enough. Do the deal and lets get #18. Be us and Cleveland in the finals. Lebron ain't losing that one.

 

Why not in the 2021-22 Players' Transactions thread and in this thread? I don't even see this being discussed in here anywhere.

 

A trade idea for Russ revisited?

 

According to Stein, we're not going to Wall him if we can't move him

Also Russ will attend Bron's camp if he's still a Laker

 

I think it's one of those where Indiana on offense featured Brogdon and Sabonis so Turner didn't get as much attention but then you watch tape of him being able to rim protect AND do a good job on switches on perimeter and it's like hmm, the Lakers would have the only team with two bigs who can do both of those things at an elite level. Plus he can space the floor. I've grown to really like the Indiana trade the more I watch Turner. He's not Sabonis in the post but unlike Gobert he's not a half bad post player so is willing to punish the small switch onto him. He's just an incredible fit with AD.

-Bev, Nunn, Reaves, Hield with a little luck (Nunn coming back from injury would hopefully reduce Beverly's minutes and injury risk, Reaves taking a good leap into second year) and that is solid playoff quality backcourt. Can give Ham both offense/defensive looks and ability to switch

-The frontcourt would be awesome Turner/AD/Lebron to start with 2 good backup centers for either offense in Bryant or defense in Jones, I like Gabriel as a backup PF. Just need JTO to be playable against the dual wing threat teams and you have a legit title contender IMO. (f***ing ironic it's Kuzma who I always had a soft spot is really a missing piece here - he ended up being the best player in the WB deal and is the exact guy the roster is missing now and even after a possible Indiana trade)

 

We can analyze the quantifiable data as to how bad Russ was last year (as is going on in the trade rumors thread), and that's the most reliable and accurate way to make such determinations. But, i think it's worth considering the human aspects, outside of the stat sheet, of what may or may not contribute to a team's performance.

Basketball is an emotional team sport, with confidence, focus, passion, perceived momentum, frustration, and intensity playing a large part in one's performance; along with health, physical talents and skill. We've seen "the gritty underdog" overachieve after rallying around a common ignited passion. We've seen a well timed block or dagger three send a crowd into a fury and the team into a "zone" of success where their adrenaline is masking their fatigue and their focus is making the basket appear a mile wide. Conversely, we've seen an injury or a terrible call completely deflate a team's momentum.

I think we must ask ourselves, "Do all stats reflect accurately what transpired on the court?" Do all turnovers, missed shots, or blown defensive assignments hold the same weight as to their affect on the team's "human" variables? I think the answer is clearly no. There is no way to quantify this, so by nature it's speculative. But i think the inference is self-evident.

I don't think I need to rattle-off a list of examples of Westbrook's "OMFG....WTF was that" turnovers, missed shots, or defensive blown assignments to make this point. Any honest viewer knows what I mean. The things he did, more frequently and more egregiously than any player I've ever seen, HAD to have negatively impacted the team's performance much more than any quantifiable measure of his already bad stats.