Russell Westbrook thinks he's better than Kevin Durant

[djohn2oo8]

Bosh is not. Nor is Bosh as vital to the Heat as Westbrook is to Oklahoma City. Although it triggered the predictable firestorm, Westbrook deserved to be benched. He was having a bad night and his substitute, Eric Maynor (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Eric+Maynor), was giving Brooks quality minutes. TV cameras caught Westbrook yelling at Brooks when he was yanked from the game, offering incontrovertible proof that he didn't like his coach's decision. What undoubtedly fueled Westbrook's fiery response is a sense of entitlement. As one Thunder veteran said, privately, "He thinks he's better than Kevin Durant."

Not only that, but Westbrook has the backing of Thunder GM Sam Presti (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Sam+Presti), who made a name for himself with his drafting of Westbrook with the fourth pick in 2008. Presti's micromanagement behind the scenes has caused some friction between the head of the front office and his coaches, but Brooks didn't pay any attention to that when he saw that Maynor was his best option to even the series.


http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2011/05/22/2011-05-22_win_or_head_to_the_bench.html?page=1

[Kyle Orton]

Yeah, he's a cancer.

[Brazil]

Westbrook needs to sftu and to start making good decisions during the games

[Giuseppe]

Durant has nobody to blame but himself. He needs to engage him into the game. He's watching:::like us,,,nervous, like us.

[Isitjustme?]

tbh I've been trying to defend this guy but he's making it harder and harder.

[endrity]

I loved Westbrook during the season, I thought he developed a lot this year.

But I love even more what he is doing now. He is the Mavs' MVP this series. Keep at it Russ!

[Mav-elous Man]

Westbrook is a poor man's Allen Iverson. Nah thats disrespectful to AI.

[Brazil]

His shooting selection is most of the time awful and he is a TO machine. He should differ more to Durant and Harden right now and limit himself to distribute the ball, play good defense and penetrate for layups.

[djohn2oo8]

Durant needs to clothesline his ass, Raja Bell style if thats what it takes to get through to his dumbass

[Pelicans78]

Westbrook is a poor man's Allen Iverson. Nah thats disrespectful to AI.

I agree. Iverson was asked to be the scorer since his team knew he wasn't a real PG. Plus, Iverson was a better scorer.

[Brazil]

oh and lol at thinking he is better than durant

[Mav-elous Man]

I think if they were to start Maynor at the point and move Westbrook to the 2 they would be better off.

[Kyle Orton]

Durant has nobody to blame but himself. He needs to engage him into the game. He's watching:::like us,,,nervous, like us.

I agree with this. Durant tries so hard to promote his humble, quiet image he needs to demand the ball more. The underlying problem also is Durant isn't a great iso scorer so he can't just "demand the ball", he's best coming off screens.

[Pelicans78]

The problem is Westbrook is not a PG. He wasn't a PG in college. Darren Collison was the starting PG at UCLA.

[Isitjustme?]

tbh since no one is going to I'll come to his defense just for the sake of the argument (and because I'm one of his biggest fans/nuthuggers) I will. Obviously Westbrook has his positives; he supposedly works insanely hard in practice and in the offseason, and his athleticism and all around game show star potential. The numbers he put up at his age are really super impressive. Hopefully this is just growing pains. Also I would take this with somewhat of a grain of salt since he and Durant are like BFFs and supposedly get along great.

[Mav-elous Man]

The problem is Westbrook is not a PG. He wasn't a PG in college. Darren Collison was the starting PG at UCLA.


Right. Actually running the point is a craft that takes time and experience to learn. Westbrook just isn't there yet. He over-relies on his athleticism and doesn't know how to set his teammates up yet. He's just raw talent.

His natural instinct is to score and you're asking him to go against that so it will take some time. But as these playoffs go on it becomes more and more apparent that its affecting his team as they face better teams.

I saw this coming in the last series when Durant was on the sideline complaining that Westbrook wouldn't pass the ball. Westbrook is one of the main reasons why they play so much one on one.

[Giuseppe]

I agree with this. Durant tries so hard to promote his humble, quiet image he needs to demand the ball more. The underlying problem also is Durant isn't a great iso scorer so he can't just "demand the ball", he's best coming off screens.

Durant has the ball enough. He needs to produce. Hurriedly jacking up a shot to see if it'll go in & he can thus relax is not producing. Dallas is giving him what he wants, because they know that is all he wants, not what OKC needs.

But, Media has aced out Westbrook for the whipping post & come Hell or high water he'll take that beating. Durant gets a pass here, to his own detriment & that of his team.

[Venti Quattro]

This is going to end up with Brooks being fired. Too predictable.

It's time to guess that veteran...My guess is Collison or Nazi

[ChrisRichards]

Westbrooks relationship to KD is exactly what Marbury was with KG.

okc are gonna have to break this relationship up in a year or two.

[100%duncan]

lol chuckbrooks

[ogait]

Durant has the ball enough. He needs to produce. Hurriedly jacking up a shot to see if it'll go in & he can thus relax is not producing. Dallas is giving him what he wants, because they know that is all he wants, not what OKC needs.

But, Media has aced out Westbrook for the whipping post & come Hell or high water he'll take that beating. Durant gets a pass here, to his own detriment & that of his team.


I agree with this. Durant for a superstar is only elite at one thing and that's scoring, and not really at creating his own shot but shooting more than anything.
He's not a good enough playmaker, passer, ball handler or even defender when compared to the other best players in the league. He's a good rebounder but for a 6´10 guy that's not very impressive.Therefore he plays the same way in pretty much every game. Off the ball most of the time and when he gets it everyone knows what he's going to do with it.

[ChrisRichards]

I agree with this. Durant for a superstar is only elite at one thing and that's scoring, and not really at creating his own shot but shooting more than anything.
He's not a good enough playmaker, passer, ball handler or even defender when compared to the other best players in the league. He's a good rebounder but for a 6´10 guy that's not very impressive.Therefore he plays the same way in pretty much every game. Off the ball most of the time and when he gets it everyone knows what he's going to do with it.

Durant is a straight up shooter I'd say his rebounding is pretty damn good for someone who plays that way.

[ogait]

Durant is a straight up shooter I'd say his rebounding is pretty damn good for someone who plays that way.

Being a shooter doesn't have much to do with his rebounding, and I mean defensive rebounding because he isn't a good offensive rebounder anyway. He was #41 in the league with 6,8 rpg and # 110 on orpg with 0,7.

My point was that for a 6,10 small forward who normally guards and is being guarded by a smaller player those numbers aren't that impressive.

[jacobdrj]

Westbrook is a poor man's Allen Iverson. Nah thats disrespectful to AI.

Iverson was always just a slightly better version of Marburry/Francis. They are all the same player. If Westbrook is a poor man's Iverson, that means he is just the next Francis/Marburry... And it isn't disrespectful to AI... AI was not a respectable player...

[Killakobe81]

I am a wesbrook, fan as a Bruin, I have to be. He has made some shaky decisions. But much too early to give up on him, he is like a young QB learning the nuances of the PG position. Unfortunately on the stage he is on his mistakes are magnified.

I have called him out repeatedly, even in last nights gamethread ...but some of you on here are not being fair to the kid.

[ploto]

OKC won game 2 in Dallas. No one on the team should have cared how or with whom- just that they won. Obviously, Westbrook couldn't handle it.

[Red Hawk #21]

And it isn't disrespectful to AI... AI was not a respectable player...

You're joking, right?

[djohn2oo8]

Iverson was always just a slightly better version of Marburry/Francis. They are all the same player. If Westbrook is a poor man's Iverson, that means he is just the next Francis/Marburry... And it isn't disrespectful to AI... AI was not a respectable player...

Do you not remember Iverson has an MVP and led a shit team to the finals?

[itzsoweezee]

What a horrible article. That's not at all the reason Westbrook was yelling. He was yelling because his teammates refused to run the play that was called.

[ALVAREZ6]

Westbrook is a douche bag. He really does think him and Durant are equals, when clearly Durant is better and smarter. He really looks like a 7 year old out there pretty often, always making stupid decisions and throwing temper tantrums. Every Thunder game I've watched this post season he has gotten his panties in a bunch.

[024]

:lol westbrook is certainly not as good as durant but the gap is smaller than you guys think. stop buying into the media hype. durant is not that good.

[thedong]

I am a wesbrook, fan as a Bruin, I have to be. He has made some shaky decisions. But much too early to give up on him, he is like a young QB learning the nuances of the PG position. Unfortunately on the stage he is on his mistakes are magnified.

I have called him out repeatedly, even in last nights gamethread ...but some of you on here are not being fair to the kid.

You going to UCLA reggae festival next week? I'm excited to see Lupe.

[Clipper Nation]

After what happened in the playoffs this year, he's clearly the alpha dog in Methlahoma, tbh :lol

[LkrFan]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2011/05/22/2011-05-22_win_or_head_to_the_bench.html?page=1

1037732126576148480

:rollin :lmao :rollin

[LkrFan]

He think he better than Dame too, but:
1118382742650216450

:lol

[BD24]

Where are all the Russ nut huggers at tbh? They gonna try to blame this loss on PG after Russ went 5-20 :lol