Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

Safe to say he has lost us 2 games this season already. Good D in game 2 or not.

 

BRICK was a bad fit from the start but now he is a bad fit and a worse player than ever.

 

Goddamn this bum.

I think he wasn't that bad (apart from shooting) throughout the game but that closing stretch was just awful. We were up 8pts when he got in

Hope he sits in clutch next game.

 

Darvin Ham, when asked about Russ on the bench for the final 3 possessions:

"We don't have time for feelings or people being in their feelings. Like, we're trying to turn this thing around," Ham said after the Blazers' win dropped the Lakers to 0-3 on the season. "For one person to be in their feelings about when and where and how they should be in the game, I don't have any time for that."

It's like he's giving Russ all the rope he's needed to hang himself. The end seems nigh, but maybe I'm too optimistic. If we're at "I don't a damn about his feelings," it's a good sign. Or am I being naive?

 

I was at the game. Not sure if it was one of the plays in this clip, but there was a moment towards the end of the game where after a bad offensive possession Russ didn’t really try to get back on defense and was still in the back court. Portland ended up scoring, and then we called a time out. Russ then mimed a run to the corner and went through the motions as if he was practicing a shot. I couldn’t remember the details of the prior offensive sequence, but I got the sense he was either mad he didn’t get the ball while open or was frustrated at being relegated to the corner. Rest of the timeout he was sulking and JTA had his arms around his shoulder trying to console him.

I think he wants out as badly as the fanbase wants him out. I think he’s as frustrated playing with Lebron and AD as they are playing with him. He’s going through the motions but he’s not actually invested in the team. On the court, he just doesn’t work as a starter alongside Lebron and AD. He’s not going to sacrifice and accept a smaller role.

At this point any hope that this can work out with Westbrook on the team is beyond delusional. This is one of the most toxic situations I can ever recall.

 

Yeah nice read. He's definitely unplayable with this squad. He makes 0 sense with LeBron. He can't be himself because himself is a non-winning player. But he can't be any other person at the floor because he has no other skills

I really don't see him playing in the playoffs again, and it's arguable if any team picks him up next summer, even for the min

We really dug a hole when we got him, that's why part of me would accept sitting him and not attach any assets to get rid of him. At this point, the biggest help he can give us is not losing any more assets because of him.

After yesterday, I'm leaning towards sitting him down the stretch and don't panic for a move, if it comes, it comes. I wouldn't do it yet, I would start by benching him in clutch time, this needs to happen next game.
He's still making some efforts on defense and we don't have much talent on the team that justifies sitting him already, at least until we have a look at Dennis.

It sucks to have a max not playing + makes us lose leverage in negotiating him, but we're at a point where it's so bad that we have to take a step back, see the big picture and understand how can we better put this franchise back on track for the years to come.

This is my proposal to deal with him:
Sit him in clutch time > cut his minutes to 20/25 > bring him off the bench > sit him for good

Every time he does a bad thing and proves he harms us more than helps us, would move up to the next stage

 

Send him home already

 

he's been given his chance, imo. i'm sure he disagrees, but how many games are you going to drop solely because you're trying to make him work?

and the only real reason i supported moving on from vogel was that whoever came next would at least have the confidence to handle russ without looking over his shoulder. so what's ham doing here?

and i think his "feelings" quotes weren't about russ, which is concerning. i'd have to see the full clip to get a better sense of that, though.

 

what about OUR feelings?

 

Worse shooter than RW? Easy--one of my favorite players: Bo Outlaw.

 

Or, you know, our FO could have empowered our championship coach ... Vogel didn't deserve this crap.

 

I can't get the video on that quote that is catching up. Saw the whole conference video on YT and missed it. I'm curious too

He also said he would have prefer Russ to drive for the 2 for 1. For god sake, can't stand this sugarcoating

 

I tend to agree. I think Ham and the front office wanted to give him another shot. At his salary I get feeling like you have to at least try.

But when he shot that jumper when we were up 1, even the most optimistic, rah rah, leader is going to be throwing their clipboard in that moment.

 

When he shot that jumper my initial reaction was that he's actively trying to sabotage the Lakers. After having some sleep and time to digest, I still feel like it may be the case.

 

Still rarely makes a layup any more though he gets there often enough. At first thought that shot with 30 seconds was just more maddening stupidity. But after reading the tweets and seeing his body language on the prior plays agree it was his ego and attitude added to his sheer stupidity as a basketball player.

 

For those that were at the game have the boos started yet that you heard?