Andre Roberson has been a consistent rock for the Thunder on defense and once he went down with a season-ending injury in January, his value to Oklahoma City was accentuated, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman writes.
“I know a lot of people across the world, even you guys doubted Andre many, many times about his shooting and all that stuff,” Thunder guard Russell Westbrook said. “But to me, man, the type of guy he is, the things he brings to the game is a huge, huge impact on our team and what he brings to the table. I never take anything he does for granted because of the way he lays it out on the line.”
As Horne points out, Oklahoma City’s defensive rating was fifth in the NBA at 103.1 with a healthy Roberson and dropped all the way to 15th (107) in 33 games without him.
Check out more notes on the Thunder below:
- In a separate story, Horne writes about veteran Corey Brewer, who came over to the Thunder from the Lakers and contributed on both ends of the floor. The Thunder will have other things to take care of this offseason, namely Paul George‘s free agency, but Brewer’s short stint at the least warranted a second look. “It was good for me to have a chance to play, to get to show everybody I can still play, just coming in here to try to help the team as best I could,” Brewer said
- While improving his game is a priority, Alex Abrines‘ most important goal this offseason is marrying his fiance, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman details. Then, his focus will turn to improving his defense and maintaining his offense, which was strong but did slip numbers wise. “I think I can do a better job with that,” Abrines said. “I think it’s just because I couldn’t find my rhythm during the regular season. I had some really good games scoring five threes, and then I’d have stretches not scoring a three in five, six games. So I think I’ve got to work on that and just be more conscious.”
- Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman also writes about Terrance Ferguson, the Thunder’s 20-year-old guard who had an up-and-down rookie season. He appeared in 61 games while averaging 3.1 PPG and he hopes to improve on that as a sophomore. “I just want to come back a totally different player,” Ferguson said.
He cant shoot. That’s not a doubt it’s a fact.
Westbrook basically said “you guys have your doubts about his shooting and you’re right but Andre is a great guy” lol
Watching Boston and the way guys like Rozier,Brown,Tatum,Baynes, and Morris have been flourishing proves a system is needed to help guys flourish. So long as the Thunder keep letting Westbrook chase numbers, we’ll never see what Abrines,Roberson, or Adams could be.
All of Boston’s guys have ridiculous skillsets, can play defense, pass, and create shots for themselves. Even Aron Baynes and he has a great jumper for a big. Abrines and Roberson are very one dimensional and Russell Westbrook taking the ball out of their hands is better for everyone. Adams won’t be as valuable as Baynes till he gets a jump shot. Danny Ainge is just better at acquiring talent than Sam Presti, who’s really good at watching it walk out the door and win a championship somewhere else.
It’s the coaching dude, Roberson and Abrines would be much better if Westbrook was more of a team player. Sure he racks up assists but it’s just like Lebron, neither of them sacrifice stats to win.
The Paul George shot is better than the Roberson shot. The James shot is better than the Jeff Green shot. The methods used by Boston is not a switch that can be turned on and off, otherwise everyone would do it.
Teams that do NOT have James or Westbrook are not doing it like Boston or GSW in their absense. So your blaming is dumb.
No coach could make Roberson and Abrines as talented as Rozier, Tatum, or Brown. Roberson can only play defense and Abrines can only shoot. No tools in their bag at all for any coach to use.
what does chasing numbers mean? Russ is very good, a beast, & he does all he can & more to win & to will his team to victory. Yes his numbers are absolutely unbelievable, but that is to his credit no detriment, cannot understand how people can say Russ, Lebron or other players chase stats, they are amazing players doing amazing things… love to see them playing & I think they make their teams so much better, people should stop saying silly arguments. You might not like them but they are awesome, I take any of them any day of the week & twice on Sunday ahead of players like Kawhi, PG 13 or others.
It is not hard to see that the type of stat chasing that lebron and Russell do is not helpful to the team. When Russell is chasing a triple double, no one is allowed to touch the ball. This is why oladipo played ok in okc but played great in Indiana. He didn’t have a ball dominant point guard to stifle his offensive creativity. And an example of lebron doing this is Rodney hood. He was a really good shooter and defender in Utah but now can’t find playing time on the cavs.
That being said, stat chasers are still very fun to watch and if that is all you are looking for, have fun with your triple doubles and first round playoff exits
It’s ruining the game of basketball. One guy pounding the air out of the ball for 10-12 seconds and no one on offense moving around.
Rodney Hood has been exposed on a team that does not cater to him. He is slow in reactions. James does not take his minutes; Hood does not play like he deserves them. Osman does not have the issues Hood has and makes better use of PT. THE JAZZ GAVE UP ON HIM and the Cavs should too.
James does not chase stats; he is simply the best option. Look how many times he has 8 or 9 assists or rebounds, not 10 for the “double”.
Saying James is good for first-round exits marks your opinions appropriately.