NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 633 The Two Young Masters Are Not a Good Match

The Rockets never expected Westbrook's three-pointers to be so unreliable, and his signature drive to the basket also became inefficient in terms of finishing.

At his peak, Russell Westbrook was the most aggressive point guard in the league, comparable only to Derrick Rose at his peak. Although he didn't have many finishing techniques (he relied more on dunks) and couldn't score from any angle with imaginative dribbling like Kyrie Irving, his powerful finishing still earned him a large following in the basketball world.

But seeing him finish at the rim now always feels like he's missing something, it's truly disheartening. His declining physical abilities are the main reason he's starting to struggle now. Fans who predicted his "Running Man" style of play wouldn't work after 30 are no longer saying that, but that prediction has come true for Westbrook…

Westbrook's physique is indeed amazing, but it still can't compare to Running Man. Running Man is incredibly durable and rarely suffers major injuries. So even among players with top-tier physical attributes, there are differences; it's just that Running Man's physical attributes are too extraordinary.

Westbrook's current predicament is partly due to his position and playing style. Take the Running Man (or Running Man) as an example: both are ball-dominant and dislike off-ball movement, but there's a difference. Neither is good at catch-and-shoot, but Running Man has gradually developed a spot-up three-pointer (though not very accurate), while Westbrook hasn't. Running Man can also be effective as a screener in the paint, acting as a playmaker like Draymond Green, or directly attacking the basket. Westbrook, being a guard, isn't as effective at screens as Running Man, and his ability to create scoring opportunities and handle localized power situations is inferior.

This means that when Westbrook doesn't have the ball, while it's not exactly a 4-on-5 situation, it significantly impacts the team's offense. At that point, he's even less effective than a regular shooter. Meanwhile, Harden controls most of the Rockets' ball possession. Harden's off-ball movement is much better than Westbrook's, but he's incredibly lazy, rarely runs, and seems completely detached from the team's tactical system when he doesn't have the ball.

The Clippers have firmly grasped the Rockets' Achilles' heel; their offense is ineffective, and relying on defense to beat the Clippers is a pipe dream.

In fact, the defense of Westbrook and Harden in the Rockets' backcourt isn't much better than that of Lillard and CJ. However, the Rockets currently lack outstanding defenders on the wing and have no interior presence, making it a joke to try and limit a five-outside lineup with Jia Fei.

Therefore, if the Rockets' offense cannot suppress the Clippers, they have no hope.

首节比赛贾飞并没有打满，他还是轻松砍下9分11个篮板4次助攻1个抢断3个盖帽，打出了和他气质不相符的数据。

At 23:35, the Rockets' offense was completely suppressed, but they couldn't stop their opponents and fell behind by a large margin.

It's acceptable that the Rockets' defense couldn't contain the Clippers; their defense this season isn't even in the top 10 of the league. After trading away Kawhi Leonard, their rim protection was practically nonexistent, and they've won many games only through high-scoring shootouts. However, failing to score 25 points is a bit hard to accept. If you don't score 100 points against the Clippers, your chances of winning are practically zero.

Don't expect D'Antoni's team to have the same depth of rotation as Kerr or Popovich. The closer to the playoffs get, the shorter his bench becomes. He's a much earlier and more experienced practitioner of the strategy of overusing his starters than Thibodeau.

However, D'Antoni still used an eight-man rotation in this game, with the three substitutes being Austin Rivers, Danuel House, and Ben McLemore.

Without a doubt, all three are perimeter players, and two of them are guards.

The Rockets are really going all out with their small lineup, completely ignoring their inside players.

The Clippers' second unit also did not field a center. They used a nine-man rotation for this game, with the four substitutes being Bridges, Hart, Brunson, and Lee Kyle.

But the Clippers' overall roster has enough height! Apart from Beverley and Brunson, the rest of the players can be used as wings. Hart may not be tall, but he's really good at rebounding. Against the Rockets' short lineup, he was grabbing offensive rebounds like crazy, practically dominating the opponent.

Harden and Westbrook played better when they led their teams separately, but this is the playoffs, and you can't really completely separate the two.

So, in terms of playing style, both of them can partner with Durant, but a partnership between these two wouldn't be ideal. Both are ball-dominant, needing a lot of ball possession to be effective, and neither is willing to do the dirty work defensively, requiring others to clean up their messes. Cleaning one person's mess is manageable, but cleaning two people's messes is difficult.

Ultimately, both are essentially combo guards, ball-handling specialists, and neither likes playing off the ball. Westbrook's shooting is poor, and sometimes when he wants to play off the ball, people ignore him, like in this game. Harden, on the other hand, has off-ball ability and a good catch-and-shoot ability; he's just lazy and unwilling to move. This isn't just true on defense; he also doesn't move when he doesn't have the ball on offense—he's too cunning.

Durant is different. Although he's very good at one-on-one play with the ball, he doesn't need to hold it all the time; he just needs to receive the ball and attack. Also, he's a forward, so his position doesn't conflict with the other two.

Another example of a poor fit is the pairing of Running Man and Wade. Although they won a championship together, anyone who has actually watched the Heat play knows that they never achieved a synergy greater than the sum of their parts. Both are penetrators, possessing off-ball skills, but their catch-and-shoot abilities are relatively weak. Back then, the Heat suffered from severe spacing issues in their half-court offense. It was only after Wade relinquished control to play off-ball, pushing Bosh from the power forward position to center, that the spacing and ball possession problems were resolved. However, this resulted in the team consistently struggling with rim protection and rebounding; the images of them being dominated by the aging Duncan and Diaw are still fresh in our minds…

Why are the Splash Brothers such a good match? Because they are both shooters, both are historic shooters, and both are willing to give up possession of the ball and play off-ball, so they can complement each other perfectly.

A historic 3-and-D player like Klay Thompson can be paired with any superstar; 3-and-D players can fit into any system and any team.

No matter how basketball evolves, it will always need people to shoot and people to defend; shooting and defense will never be outdated.

In the second quarter, the Rockets narrowed the gap a bit, but once Jia Fei returned, they couldn't stop them again...

When Harden and Westbrook are on the court together, the Clippers leave Westbrook wide open and double-team Harden. When Westbrook has the ball, if there's a pick-and-roll, they'll go around the screen to give you a jump shot opportunity. If it's a one-on-one, they won't help defend easily; they'll only help protect the rim when they're deep in position.

This put Westbrook in a very difficult position; he was caught between a rock and a hard place – whether he attacked or not.