Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets Makes Sense

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets Makes Sense Page 2 ~ THE VILLAGER/July 19, 2019 THE COMMUNIQUÉ www.theaustinvillager.com Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets Old OKC teammates Westbrook and Harden to Makes reunite in Houston. (Getty Images/Ringer illustration) Sense Westbrook remembers will carry over on the one thing: It’s Harden court. and Westbrook. Not Either way, Westbrook and Harden. Westbrook and Harden That’s right. on the same team is a Harden’s name comes fascinating pairing. If first. It’s his team, his nothing else, they’re city. worth the price of ad- Harden gets to mission. shoot as much as he Westbrook is in- wants. There will be credibly gifted plus he’s enough shots to go the hardest worker in By John Harris Jr. around, and Russ will the league. He’s aver- VILLAGER Sports receive his share. But aged a triple double for Columnist Harden is the first option three consecutive sea- (VILLAGER) - Get - first, last, always. sons. your popcorn ready! Let’s hope Russ is Harden, mean- I like the Russell OK with that. He should while, is the king of the Westbrook for Chris Paul be. After all, Westbrook step-back 3-pointer trade. Love it, in fact. and Harden go way back who’s led the NBA in the Why not? together. They’re both scoring two straight The Houston Rock- from Los Angeles, so years. Both Westbrook ets were down on their they’ve followed each and Harden have won luck. James Harden and other’s’ games for a long MVPs - Westbrook in Paul, no matter how time. They were team- 2017, Harden in 2018. friendly they are to each mates at Oklahoma City Will the Rockets other in those State before Harden was compete for a title? Farm commercials, did traded to Houston - a With Kawhi Leonard and not mesh on the basket- deal from which the Paul George on the Clip- ball court. Thunder never recov- pers, and LeBron James Paul likes to shout ered. and Anthony Davis on at teammates to get his Make no mistake, the Lakers, Houston point across. Harden Harden knows what he’s won’t make it out of the wasn’t having it. getting in Russ, who has Western Conference, The Rockets are the reputation for being much less reach the NBA Harden’s team, so guess a ball-hog - just like Finals. who got traded to Okla- Harden. Apparently, Even so, the homa City? Harden is comfortable Westbrook trade was a Bye, bye Chris. with that. Or maybe he gamble worth taking for As long as feels like their friendship the Rockets..
Recommended publications
  • Auf Der Falschen Fahrte
    NBA-TOPTHEMA WARUM DER KLASSISCHE POINT GUARD VOM AUSSTERBEN BEDROHT IST ANALYSE AUF DER FALSCHEN.. FAHRTE TEXT TIMO BÖCKENHÜSER Was haben Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, John Wall und Eric Bledsoe gemeinsam? Sie sind alle Top-Playmaker. Sie sind alle maximal 25 Jahre alt. Und sie verbindet alle ein Schicksal: Ihre Körper kapitulieren schon jetzt vor ihrer brachialen Athletik. Denn die neue Point-Guard- Generation spielt ein sehr riskantes Spiel! s ist nur ein kleines Rechteck. Gerade mal 5,80 Meter lang und 4,90 Meter breit und doch ein Bereich, der im Basketball immense Bedeutung hat. Denn jene meist bunt gefärbten 28,42 Quadratmeter markieren an beiden Enden des Courts die Zone. Von jeher ist „The Paint“, wie der Amerikaner sie nennt, das Reich der Großen, der Büffel unter den Basket- E ballern. Länge beschützt den Korb, daran ist nicht zu rütteln. Deshalb beherrschen Big Men die Zone, kleine Spieler haben vor allem im Set-Play dort wenig zu lachen. Die langen Leute lauern darauf, dass Guards es wagen, in ihr Reich einzudringen und zum Korb zu ziehen. Dann prallen Welten aufeinander. Bulldozer auf Smarts. Büffel auf Gazellen. Dwight Howards auf Eric Bledsoes. Ein starker Drive zum Ring heißt dorthin gehen, wo es wehtut. Trainer lieben diese aggressiven, tollkühnen Akte, denn sie bedeuten, dass ihre Backcourt-Player nicht nur auf Distanzwürfe setzen, die weniger Erfolgsaussichten haben als Layups. Und das hat zusammen mit den Regeländerungen wie Defensive-Three-Seconds und Handchecking, die für mehr Freiräume in der Zone und dadurch auch für mehr Penetrationen über die Mitte gesorgt haben, zu einem gefährlichen Umdenken im Basketball geführt.
    [Show full text]
  • The Maturation of Russell Westbrook
    The Maturation of Russell Westbrook Khris Matthews-Marion Contributing Writer, Sports Radio America “I think Russell’s demeanor and his aggression is what the DNA of a team should be. He’s aggressive and he’s unapologetic about the way he plays. “I believe Russell has the same mentality that I have had, which is that criticism doesn’t matter.” -- Kobe Bryant on Russell Westbrook’s development. Oklahoma City – When he was drafted fourth overall by the Seattle Supersonics in the 2008 NBA draft, analysts struggled to come up with a player comparison for him. Marc Jackson compared him to Gary Payton and because of his rebounding ability; the media tabbed Rajon Rondo as the best example of what he could turn into. Still, others thought he was built in the Steve Francis mold. However, it may be the Black Mamba, in terms of intensity and eye- popping athletic ability, who may be the closest and best equivalent when looking at the future of Russell Westbrook. Kobe Bryant is arguably the greatest player the NBA has seen in the last thirty years not named Michael Jordan. He has been the heartbeat of LA's most historic team for almost two decades and has hoisted the Larry O'Brien trophy five separate times. His comments during ESPN Grantland's Basketball Hour were revealing about the level of respect he has for a man who is walking down a similar path. His experience, success, basketball acumen and specifically his relationship with Shaquille O'Neal made him a perfect candidate to judge the maturation of man who is escaping the shadow of an established star.
    [Show full text]
  • Hawks' Trio Headlines Reserves for 2015 Nba All
    HAWKS’ TRIO HEADLINES RESERVES FOR 2015 NBA ALL-STAR GAME -- Duncan Earns 15 th Selection, Tied for Third Most in All-Star History -- NEW YORK, Jan. 29, 2015 – Three members of the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks -- Al Horford , Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague -- headline the list of 14 players selected by the coaches as reserves for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, the NBA announced today. Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors earned his first All-Star selection, joining teammate and starter Stephen Curry to give the Western Conference-leading Warriors two All-Stars for the first time since Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway in 1993. The 64 th NBA All-Star Game will tip off Sunday, Feb. 15, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will be seen by fans in 215 countries and territories and will be heard in 47 languages. TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 13th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports' 30 th year of NBA All- Star coverage. The Hawks’ trio is joined in the East by Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving . This is the 11 th consecutive All-Star selection for Wade and the 10 th straight nod for Bosh, who becomes only the third player in NBA history to earn five trips to the All-Star Game with two different teams (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett). Butler, who leads the NBA in minutes (39.5 per game) and has raised his scoring average from 13.1 points in 2013-14 to 20.1 points this season, makes his first All-Star appearance.
    [Show full text]
  • Lebron, Stephen and the Essence of Florida Non-Competes Published May 18, 2017
    LeBron, Stephen and the Essence of Florida Non-Competes Published May 18, 2017 As this blog post goes to press, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics just began their series to determine which team will face the winner of the series between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. To the surprise of very few, the Stephen Curry-led Warriors are leading the Spurs in the series and are widely expected to return to the NBA Finals. The LeBron James-led Cavaliers are expected to defeat the Celtics. (New Englanders widely disagree with this prediction, although the first-game blowout suggests the Cavaliers are playing with a champion’s confidence.) A Cavaliers series victory could set up a rematch of the pre-season division favorites. You may wonder how basketball rivalries and the NBA playoffs relate to non-competition agreements Florida. It’s simple. Both Cleveland and Golden State loaded their teams with talent to out-perform the competition. Cleveland added LeBron James and Kevin Love to join Kyrie Irving. Together, the three of them form a consistent and formidable foundation for the Cavaliers’ success. Golden State pulled off perhaps an equally impressive coup. With the possibility of an immediate championship, Golden State lured Kevin Durant away from adoring fans (and away from NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook) in Oklahoma City. Under the NBA rules, once a player is eligible for trade, there is very little that a team can do to stop that player from leaving to join a team that he prefers. Usually higher salaries incentivize players to move.
    [Show full text]
  • Pictured Aboved Are Two of UCLA's Greatest Basketball Figures – on The
    Pictured aboved are two of UCLA’s greatest basketball figures – on the left, Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) alongside the late head coach John R. Wooden. Alcindor helped lead UCLA to consecutive NCAA Championships in 1967, 1968 and 1969. Coach Wooden served as the Bruins’ head coach from 1948-1975, helping UCLA win 10 NCAA Championships in his 24 years at the helm. 111 RETIRED JERSEY NUMBERS #25 GAIL GOODRICH Ceremony: Dec. 18, 2004 (Pauley Pavilion) When UCLA hosted Michigan on Dec. 18, 2004, Gail Goodrich has his No. 25 jersey number retired, becoming the school’s seventh men’s basketball player to achieve the honor. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Goodrich helped lead UCLA to its first two NCAA championships (1964, 1965). Notes on Gail Goodrich A three-year letterman (1963-65) under John Wooden, Goodrich was the leading scorer on UCLA’s first two NCAA Championship teams (1964, 1965) … as a senior co-captain (with Keith Erickson) and All-America selection in 1965, he averaged a team-leading 24.8 points … in the 1965 NCAA championship, his then-title game record 42 points led No. 2 UCLA to an 87-66 victory over No. 1 Michigan … as a junior, with backcourt teammate and senior Walt Hazzard, Goodrich was the leading scorer (21.5 ppg) on a team that recorded the school’s first perfect 30-0 record and first-ever NCAA title … a two-time NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team selection (1964, 1965) … finished his career as UCLA’s all-time leader scorer (1,690 points, now No.
    [Show full text]
  • André Snellings' Top 150 Fantasy Basketball Rankings: Points Scoring
    André Snellings' Top 150 Fantasy Basketball Rankings: Points Scoring RANK/PLAYER/POSITION(S) TEAM POS RANK RANK/PLAYER/POSITION(S) TEAM POS RANK RANK/PLAYER/POSITION(S) TEAM POS RANK RANK/PLAYER/POSITION(S) TEAM POS RANK 1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF/SF MIL PF1 39. Dwight Howard, C WAS C9 77. Jordan Clarkson, SG/PG CLE SG13 115. Danilo Gallinari, SF/PF LAC SF19 2. James Harden, SG/PG HOU SG1 40. Ricky Rubio, PG UTH PG12 78. TJ Warren, SF PHO SF12 116. Carmelo Anthony, PF/SF HOU PF25 3. Anthony Davis, PF/C NOR PF2 41. Julius Randle, PF/C NOR PF6 79. Jusuf Nurkic, C POR C18 117. Jeremy Lamb, SG/SF CHA SG19 4. Karl-Anthony Towns, C MIN C1 42. Blake Griffin, PF DET PF7 80. Dario Saric, PF PHI PF14 118. Isaiah Thomas, PG DEN PG32 5. LeBron James, SF/PF LAL SF1 43. John Collins, PF ATL PF8 81. D'Angelo Russell, PG BKN PG24 119. Evan Fournier, SG ORL SG20 6. Kevin Durant, SF/PF GSW SF2 44. Mike Conley, PG MEM PG13 82. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, SF BKN SF13 120. Josh Richardson, SF MIA SF20 7. Russell Westbrook, PG OKC PG1 45. Rudy Gobert, C UTH C10 83. Jabari Parker, PF CHI PF15 121. Tyreke Evans, SG IND SG21 8. Damian Lillard, PG POR PG2 46. Jayson Tatum, SF/PF BOS SF6 84. Nicolas Batum, SG CHA SG14 122. Greg Monroe, C TOR C24 9. Nikola Jokic, C DEN C2 47. Gordon Hayward, SF/SG BOS SF7 85. Kris Dunn, PG CHI PG25 123.
    [Show full text]
  • KEVIN HUERTER and TRAE YOUNG NAMED to NBA ALL-ROOKIE TEAMS Huerter Named to Second Team; Young Earns Unanimous First Team Honors
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/21/19 CONTACT: Hawks Communications (404) 878-3800 KEVIN HUERTER AND TRAE YOUNG NAMED TO NBA ALL-ROOKIE TEAMS Huerter Named to Second Team; Young Earns Unanimous First Team Honors ATLANTA – Atlanta Hawks guards Kevin Huerter and Trae Young were selected to the 2018-19 NBA All-Rookie teams, it was announced today. Huerter earned a Second Team berth, while Young was a unanimous First Team selection after receiving first-team votes on all 100 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. It marks the second straight year a Hawk has received All-Rookie recognition (John Collins earned Second Team honors last season). Atlanta last placed two players on the All-Rookie teams in 2005 (Josh Childress and Josh Smith). In 75 games (59 starts), Huerter averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 27.3 minutes (.419 FG%, .385 3FG%, .732 FT%). Among qualifying rookies, he ranked third in three-point percentage (36th in the NBA), sixth in assists per game, seventh in steals per game, seventh in minutes per game, 10th in ppg and 12th in rebounds per game. He is second in Hawks rookie history in three-pointers made (136) and tied for fifth in starts. He was second among all rookies (to Trae Young’s seven), recording six games with five-or-more triples. His 136 makes from long range are the sixth-most in league history by a rookie age 20 or younger. On January 11 at Philadelphia, Huerter scored a career-best 29 points (career-high 11-17 FGs, 5-8 3FGs, 2-2 FTs) in 39 minutes.
    [Show full text]
  • Pac-10 in the Nba Draft
    PAC-10 IN THE NBA DRAFT 1st Round picks only listed from 1967-78 1982 (10) (order prior to 1967 unavailable). 1st 11. Lafayette Lever (ASU), Portland All picks listed since 1979. 14. Lester Conner (OSU), Golden State Draft began in 1947. 22. Mark McNamara (CAL), Philadelphia Number in parenthesis after year is rounds of Draft. 2nd 41. Dwight Anderson (USC), Houston 3rd 52. Dan Caldwell (WASH), New York 1967 (20) 65. John Greig (ORE), Seattle 1st (none) 4th 72. Mark Eaton (UCLA), Utah 74. Mike Sanders (UCLA), Kansas City 1968 (21) 7th 151. Tony Anderson (UCLA), New Jersey 159. Maurice Williams (USC), Los Angeles 1st 11. Bill Hewitt (USC), Los Angeles 8th 180. Steve Burks (WASH), Seattle 9th 199. Ken Lyles (WASH), Denver 1969 (20) 200. Dean Sears (UCLA), Denver 1st 1. Lew Alcindor (UCLA), Milwaukee 3. Lucius Allen (UCLA), Seattle 1983 (10) 1st 4. Byron Scott (ASU), San Diego 1970 (19) 2nd 28. Rod Foster (UCLA), Phoenix 1st 14. John Vallely (UCLA), Atlanta 34. Guy Williams (WSU), Washington 16. Gary Freeman (OSU), Milwaukee 45. Paul Williams (ASU), Phoenix 3rd 48. Craig Ehlo (WSU), Houston 1971 (19) 53. Michael Holton (UCLA), Golden State 1st 2. Sidney Wicks (UCLA), Portland 57. Darren Daye (UCLA), Washington 9. Stan Love (ORE), Baltimore 60. Steve Harriel (WSU), Kansas City 11. Curtis Rowe (UCLA), Detroit 5th 109. Brad Watson (WASH), Seattle (Phil Chenier (CAL), taken by Baltimore 7th 143. Dan Evans (OSU), San Diego in 1st round of supplementary draft for 144. Jacque Hill (USC), Chicago hardship cases) 8th 177. Frank Smith (ARIZ), Portland 10th 219.
    [Show full text]
  • Baller2vec: a Multi-Entity Transformer Formulti-Agent Spatiotemporal Modeling
    baller2vec: A Multi-Entity Transformer For Multi-Agent Spatiotemporal Modeling Michael A. Alcorn 1 Anh Nguyen 1 Abstract Multi-agent spatiotemporal modeling is a chal- lenging task from both an algorithmic design and computational complexity perspective. Recent work has explored the efficacy of traditional deep sequential models in this domain, but these archi- tectures are slow and cumbersome to train, par- t = 4 t = 8 t = 13 ticularly as model size increases. Further, prior Figure 1. After solely being trained to predict the trajectory of attempts to model interactions between agents the ball ( ) given the locations of the players and the ball on the across time have limitations, such as imposing an court through time, a self-attention (SA) head in baller2vec order on the agents, or making assumptions about learned to anticipate passes. When the ball handler ( ) is driving their relationships. In this paper, we introduce towards the basket at t = 4, SA assigns near-zero weights (black) baller2vec2, a multi-entity generalization of to all players, suggesting no passes will be made. Indeed, the ball the standard Transformer that can, with minimal handler did not pass and dribbled into the lane (t = 8). SA then assumptions, simultaneously and efficiently inte- assigns a high weight (white) to a teammate ( ), which correctly grate information across entities and time. We identifies the recipient of the pass at t = 13. test the effectiveness of baller2vec for multi- agent spatiotemporal modeling by training it to platform, or a theme park manager forecasting the flow of perform two different basketball-related tasks: (1) visitor traffic, humans frequently attempt to predict phe- simultaneously forecasting the trajectories of all nomena arising from processes involving multiple entities players on the court and (2) forecasting the tra- interacting through time.
    [Show full text]
  • A Descriptive Model for NBA Player Ratings Using Shot-Specific-Distance Expected Value Points Per Possession
    A Descriptive Model for NBA Player Ratings Using Shot-Specific-Distance Expected Value Points per Possession Chris Pickard MCS 100 June 5, 2016 Abstract This paper develops a player evaluation framework that measures the expected points per possession by shot distance for a given player while on the court as either an offensive or defensive adversary. This is done by modeling a basketball possession as a binary progression of events with known expected point values for each event progression. For a given player, the expected points contributed are determined by the skills of his teammates, opponents and the likelihood a particular event occurs while he is on the court. This framework assesses the impact a player has on his team in terms of total possession and shot-specific-distance offensive and defensive expected points contributed per possession. By refining the model by shot-specific-distance events, the relative strengths and weaknesses of a player can be determined to better understand where he maximizes or minimizes his team’s success. In addition, the model’s framework can be used to estimate the number of wins contributed by a player above a replacement level player. This can be used to estimate a player’s impact on winning games and indicate if his on-court value is reflected by his market value. 1 Introduction In any sport, evaluating the performance impact of a given player towards his or her team’s chance of winning begins by identifying key performance indicators [KPIs] of winning games. The identification of KPIs begins by observing the flow and subsequent interactions that define a game.
    [Show full text]
  • 08 All-Conference Honors
    PAC-10 NEWS 1350 Treat Boulevard, Suite 500 • Walnut Creek, California 94597-8853 Telephone (925) 932-4411 • Fax (925) 932-4601 • http://www.pac-10.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, March 10, 2008 Contact: Dave Hirsch, Stephanie Montano KEVIN LOVE NAMED 2007-08 PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR LOVE EARNS FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR HONORS; RUSSELL WESTBROOK EARNS DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR HONORS; TRENT JOHNSON HONORED AS COACH OF THE YEAR WALNUT CREEK, Calif., – In a vote of the 10 Conference coaches, UCLA freshman center Kevin Love has been named the 2007-08 Pacific-10 Men's Basketball Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, UCLA sophomore guard Russell Westbrook has been named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and Trent Johnson of STANFORD is the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today. In a vote of the Pac-10 Coaches during their meetings last spring, the league has expanded the All-Conference honors from one team of 10 players to three teams of five players each. The Complete Conference Honors: ALL-PAC-10 TEAM FIRST TEAM Name School Pos Yr Ht Wt Hometown (Last School) Ryan Anderson CAL F So. 6-10 240 El Dorado Hills, Calif. (Oak Ridge HS) James Harden ASU G Fr. 6-4 218 Los Angeles, Calif. (Artesia HS) Brook Lopez STAN F So. 7-0 260 Fresno, Calif. (San Joaquin Memorial HS) Kevin Love UCLA C Fr. 6-10 271 Lake Oswego, Ore. (Lake Oswego HS) O.J. Mayo USC G Fr.
    [Show full text]
  • The Dynasty That Never Was: How the “Thunder” Never Created Any “Lightning” By: Austin Rader
    The Dynasty That Never Was: How The “Thunder” Never Created Any “Lightning” By: Austin Rader August 4, 2019 -- Small market teams in the NBA rarely win championships. The San Antonio Spurs are the standard blueprint that a small market organization can become a dynasty. They won four championships from 1997-2014. This was due to drafting extremely well, developing their youth, and having the greatest coach of all time didn’t hurt either. When a 22 year old James Harden hit the biggest shot of his young career that silenced the San Antonio crowd, this sent wave shocks throughout the NBA. The young Thunder were one game of going to the NBA Finals. The stepback three Harden made over Kawhi Leonard signaled the arrival as a contender in the league for years to come. This shot was in the 2012 Western Conference Finals that stretched the Thunder lead to five points in a pivotal Game Five. The cameras went straight to James Harden being greeted by Russell Westbrook and being playfully shoved by Kevin Durant. The Thunder would seal the win in San Antonio, taking a commanding 3-2 lead in the series. Two nights later, The Thunder punched their ticket to the NBA Finals. They had arrived In Game One of the Finals, Russell Westbrook made a fade-away jumper over Dwyane Wade to put the Thunder up 8 with under 2:00 minutes to go. Their game one win against Miami marked the closest they got to a championship. It wasn’t supposed to be their peak. This young talented Thunder core that GM Sam Presti drafted were supposed to bring multiple banners in Chesapeake Arena.
    [Show full text]