Day 103

Fresh Start_103: Russell, I’d like to apologize…
As a huge fan of Lebron James, I am conflicted to say that Russell Westbrook is the best player in the NBA right now. There is nobody even close to the level of play that Westbrook is playing at, and that goes for Lebron too. With the 27-point, 18-rebound, and 14-assist triple double in the Garden on Monday night, Westbrook becomes the second player in NBA history to average a triple double through 19 games. The only other player in NBA history to average a triple double through the same period is Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson (who did it multiple times).

Two or three years ago I remember saying after a terrible performance that Westbrook accumulated some game in the middle of I don’t know possibly February that Westbrook and Durant should go their separate ways. If you remember, a couple years ago Westbrook was a running joke and an example of what not to do at the point guard position. The shoots that he is making right now and the plays that he is making right now, the Russell Westbrook of 2014 was not doing that. The 2014 Westbrook would go 5-17 for 12-points 5-rebounds, and 4-assists. The evolution of Westbrook is almost improbable if you asked me just two years ago.

I never thought that Westbrook would be the last man standing in Oklahoma City after the talent that dawned that gym over the past five years. Westbrook is the face of the Thunder and I don’t think Mr. Westbrook would have it any other way. After blowing a 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals and the embarrassment that followed, the mindset of “us against the world” mentality is completely rational, while also adding the departure of Kevin Durant.

For years I thought that Westbrook would be better off as a shooting guard on a border line playoff team, he has transcended himself and proved everyone wrong. Westbrook is playing like there is a fire lit under his backside every single game, and no team can match the intensity at the moment. Westbrook so far through 19 games is averaging 30.8-points per, 12.5-rebounds per, and 11.4 per which is just absolutely incredible. Right now Westbrook is the MVP of the NBA and the best player in it, and the conversation is not even close. If you take Westbrook off the Thunder roster, the only other playmaker on the floor is Victor Oladipo, who is a border line All-Star but this team would not be a playoff team that’s for sure. Every season in the past couple of years has had a bandwagon that fans jump on, and 2016 is the Westbrook Bandwagon.
Sources:(theringer.com, espn.com)

Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share on your way out!  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 2023 Offseason is Brian Cashman's Biggest Test Yet

Image
   Now that the World Series is over five days from now the offseason begins. With that in mind, this is the biggest offseason that Brian Cashman will have in his 25-year tenure as Yankee General Manager. For the first time since 2016 the Bronx Bombers watched the postseason from their couches, and they earned that right. Amazingly, this team finished over .500, although not that far above that mark. This iteration of the Bronx Bombers finish with the same record as that 2016 team—but the feeling with this squad feels different. Following the 2016 season, there was hope of the two power bats that would usher in the “Baby Bombers,” and in that offseason, the farm system was rated in the Top 10 in all of baseball. There was almost certainty that Brian Cashman would put a championship team around Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Luis Severino that would be a title contender for years to come. There was hope. And that hope almost turned into reality. Almost. But, that was then
Read more

The Question going into the Trade Deadline for the New York Yankees

  There is a crossroads in the Bronx in between River and 161 st Street right now. As New York Yankee Manager Aaron Boone likes to put it “[the season] is right in front of them.” The second half of the season is for the taking. As we move into the dog days of summer the Bronx Bombers are nine games out of the division and now a game and a half out of the AL Wild Card race following a disappointing first series in Colorado. With that, the historic starting Tampa Bay Rays have cooled off, going 3-7 before the break while showing signs of being mortal. Baltimore, who has been keeping pace with Tampa, didn’t look like a Superpower when they split against the Yankees two series before the break. The AL East is still a Spartan Training Facility with every team above .500, the Orioles holding the first Wild Card spot, and the “struggling” Boston Red Sox tied the Yankees in the Wild Card race. And unlike Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, help is not on the way. Aaron Judge’s toe is still a m
Read more

The Answer for the Mets

  As Yogi Berra would say “it’s déjà vu all over again.” Buck Showalter is an all too familiar place. The 67-year-old manager has taken a time machine back to 2012. No, he is not managing in Baltimore anymore, however that’s what it feels like the end of Showalter’s Oriole tenure in Queens right now. The Mets simply can’t get out of their own way. With Pete Alonso likely headed to the Injured List, the Mets scored 10 runs last night in Atlanta. 10 runs on the heels of back-to-back gut-wrenching losses at the hands of the team that has foiled the Mets for the better part of almost three decades, the Atlanta Braves. 10 runs with their hired ace, Justin Verlander, who was looking to put together good starts consecutively for the first time all season. The Mets looked like they were about to exercise some demons in Atlanta last night, and then, the other shoe dropped. It wasn’t good enough. Again. Last night, I wrote that the Mets season was on the line with Verlander toeing the slab. Well
Read more