westbrook vs rose

[misplacedsooner]

first off let me say i dont know what id do without kd and never want to find out. but what if we didnt have kd? we all know russ and roses stats are pretty close to the same and rose is the leading mvp candidate this year. what kind of numbers do you think russ would be putting up having to carry the main load night after night? sure, there would be more mistakes here and there but also more amazing plays. what you guys and gals think? would russ be in the mvp hunt? how would we be as a team? would we of made the trade for perk? having a center like nenad that likes to shoot outside would open the lane more for russ to perform his magic. thoughts?

[sooner4ever]

We wouldn't be nearly as good and RW wouldn't be anywhere near the MVP. He has this little turnover problem that would only get worse without a real superstar on the team to take the pressure off him.

[ThunderObsessed]

You think RW leads the league in Turnovers now, just imagine if he didn't have KD? He'd be trying to force it inside more than he already does.

[Thundercat]

You think RW leads the league in Turnovers now, just imagine if he didn't have KD? He'd be trying to force it inside more than he already does.

yeah ... sadly you are probably right ... though, I will say, that RW0 would have had about 4-5 more assists the other night if Serge and Nazr weren't clanging balls off the rims from the wide open looks they were receiving.

[Laramie]

Look back at the early season win against Boston in TD Garden in which Russell Westbrook put this team on his back without
Kevin Durant and Jeff Green in the lineup.

That was the NBA's biggest regular season upset.

[okcnba]

Watching Rose in games 1 and 2 in the playoffs vs Westbrook in game 1... it really isn't as close as us thunder fans like to believe. I love russ, but he went on an 8 minute stretch in the 4th where he single handedly almost lost us the game with his poor decision making.

[misplacedsooner]

Look back at the early season win against Boston in TD Garden in which Russell Westbrook put this team on his back without
Kevin Durant and Jeff Green in the lineup.

That was the NBA's biggest regular season upset.

thank you. i was hoping russ would at least get a little support on our great thunder board. im glad we dont have to find out how it would be without kd but i really think russ would shine.

[misplacedsooner]

Watching Rose in games 1 and 2 in the playoffs vs Westbrook in game 1... it really isn't as close as us thunder fans like to believe. I love russ, but he went on an 8 minute stretch in the 4th where he single handedly almost lost us the game with his poor decision making.

imagine where we would of been in game 1 without russ in the first half.....and at the very end.

[okcnba]

Hard to say, I'm not saying he's not great, I'm saying he's just not Rose.

[IbakaFlockaFlame]

I find stats hard to be telling when it comes to a player's true skill and value. Robert Horry meant immense amounts to his championship squads, yet only averaged 7.0 PPG and 4.8 RPG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Horry).

However, I find that Rose's will to win and complete buy in in his coach's philosophy on 100% effort at both ends of the floor is what truly makes him the MVP. I don't think Westbrook could have carried the Thunder the way that Rose did for an extensive amount of time when Noah and Boozer were out.

I honestly think that Rose is the better player overall, but I would lose a nut before I'd trade Westbrook. I'll be waking up to cry daily if the scuttlebutt about him wanting to go to the Lakers and play back home is true.

[jumperstop]

Rose>Westbrook...

[r2b1]

Stop talking about my RW like that! lol. I love this guy....full of determination and hustle.

[Tydude]

Rose is amazing but russ will be better then Rose in a couple of years

[misplacedsooner]

keep in mind that rose hasnt gone as far as westbrook in the playoffs let alone win anything yet.

[thebig3]

Hard to say, I'm not saying he's not great, I'm saying he's just not Rose.

But then we are comparing the best player on the best team and probably the league MVP to our second best player.

[misplacedsooner]

But then we are comparing the best player on the best team and probably the league MVP to our second best player.

and the comparisons are very close.

[random]

Westbrook is a great player. Rose is a fantastic player.

It sort of feels like Westbrook could reach Rose's level if the game slowed down for him a bit more. He has all the tools Rose has but he makes to many bone headed plays. Hopefully he'll improve upon that.

That Boston game from earlier in the season showed Westbrook can take over a game as good as Rose. However, hes inconsistent within the game. I mean, look at game 1 against Denver. 20 points in the first half on 8-11 shooting and he played within himself showing a great all round game. Then he subs back in in the fourth quarter and he played out of control shooting 1-5 and turning it over twice. Then from a broken play he ices the game by putting us up three with a great free throw line jumper.

I think at this stage of his career you take that inconsistency and hope he works it out. Guy is 22 years old, no where near a finished product.

... that being said, neither is Rose.

Their summer workouts together would be awesome to watch.

[Thundercat]

Rose>RW0 in terms of basketball
RW0>Rose in terms of athleticism

... RW0, if he can continue to learn & improve, has a greater upside IMO ... but that is kinda the great unknown; whether a guy can continue to grow the basketball IQ as his career goes on.

[misplacedsooner]

well, if you look at how russ has improved every year then i think there is no doubt he continues to do nothing but get better. when we drafted him how did people feel? after his first year nobody wanted him to be a point guard for us, after year 2 did anyone think...hey...we have an all star here? seriously, it would be almost impossible to make a jump like he did this year again but i look for him to improve in lots of other areas.