Originally posted by vaden:
Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
That's Kevin Durant's fault more than Westbrook's. Durant is not demanding ball. He's trying to play more like a point forward (he was doing that when Westbrook was healthy too). With Harden out, Durant has done this all season long. He is a better player when he plays as a scorer rather than a play-maker. Durant should be taking 10-12 shots more with Westbrook out, not 5...but he thinks he needs to play like Lebron.
Lebron is not a pure scorer and is not as great a player when he is focused on scoring, and Durant is not as good a play-maker as he thinks. He isn't as great a player when he is focused on getting his team-mates involved. He was trying too hard today...which lead to 5 turnovers. That's Durant's problem.
Westbrook is a darn good compliment to Durant. He provides energy on every possession, and attacks ALL the time - which isn't Durant's DNA. Yes, Westbrook takes some ill-advised shots, but he is a young player who is a SG at his core.
Durant is being noticeably more aggressive, but he's facing an elite defense and being doubled a lot more because of the lack of talent around him. I'm all for shifting Westbrook to SG and getting a real PG to facilitate and encourage Durant to be aggressive, but I expect Westbrook will continue his ball-hogging and it will continue limiting Durant. Yes, it's Durant's fault but if he's not going to fix the problem, management should do it for him.
Yes, he is handling the ball more, but that's just because he has no choice. He's not all that great of a passer anyway. He has improved a bit but still had 3.5 turnovers with 4.6 assists a game this season. That's not impressive at all.
OKC lost their no.2 and no.3 player from last year. He shot 21 shots a game against Miami in the Finals last year. He is shooting about 22 shots a game since Westbrook's injury.
If anything, what OKC is lacking is another guy who can create shots for himself and others. Durant is trying to fill that role as well, but doesn't have the skills to create quality shots for others consistently. This is why I felt trading Harden was a bad move.