[Vivid5292Participant]

I understand the man was upset for getting benched & frustrated with his bad play, but there was no excuse for acting like that. That’s really being selfish. He was mouthing off on the bench knowing damn well that he was playing sloppy & selfish. I love him & his hunger for the game but calm that down young man. Keep actin’ like that & you’re gonna find yourself on another team next year, possibly not in the position to compete for a championship. Take the criticism, accept the benching, adjust & correct mistakes, then move on. Don’t mess up & then become a distraction. Glad Maurice Cheeks got to him. He was looking real stupid.

Anyways, I know there are other threads about this game, but Westbrook needed his own. Congrats to the Thunder for coming back & winning this game after the loss. They contained Dirk for the most part & did a good job on him. Congrats to Eric Maynor. He was solid even though he was getting pressured. I loved the decision to stick with him for the final quarter. I was hoping Scott Brooks would do it sooner to teach Westbrook a lesson, but its better to be late than sorry.

[torukParticipant]

 He was showing westbrook he don`t need to score to win, just put your teamates in the right situation. As soon as russel realizes that he will thrive in late games situations as he will be able to takeover the game or just hand it over to durant or harden.

[TyroberParticipant]

Around the 3:00 mark the Thunder had some pretty mad possessions. I agree with him sitting while Maynor was playing well but when things started to go bad then it was time for him to come back in after he had a chance to cool off. 

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

I think we forget he’s only 22.

[ghettosermonParticipant]

Westbrook needs to be a professional. The best way to silence the doubters is to stay away from the media and come out game 3 like a man on a mission like he’s capable of with his skill. I back up Scotty Brooks whole heartedly. Keeping Maynor in and Collison for that matter was the right choice. Even though Westbrook was shooting better he was still rushing things way too much and being indecisive. I really love Maynor’s game much like Harden. It has an old school feel. The Thunder really benefited from Maynor being patient and letting the game come to him and then reacting instead of forcing things. Maynor really brought a calm demeanor to the team and more importantly he knew when to let Harden and Durant take over. He attacked only when there was an opening and that’s what you want from a point guard when you play with guys like Durant and Harden. Brooks will take heat for benching Westbrook but it was the right move. It should spark Westbrook to play smarter, plus it’s a luxury to know you have such a solid backup point guard in Maynor. You can tell that Maynor is constantly thinking on the court. Westbrook could learn from that instead of playing the entire game on instincts and trying to make it a track meet regardless of situation.

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

I think once his rookie contract is up, Westbrook may choose to leave to be the “man of his own.” It just seems like he has that type of personality, this reminds me of the KG and Marbury situation in Minnesota, I hope they don’t break up like those two, because they have a chance to win some titles together, if both check their egos.

[Scottoant93Participant]

I think this move will help him in the future he needs to slow things down, and trust himself and his teammates. He is a very talented player, he just needs an attitude adjustment(which is excepted by most young players). I support Brooks move and hope he does it again if westbrook doesn;t learn from it.

@TOL23 Your right he is young but you have to fix mistakes early in your career. Just imagine if Melo was demanded to play defense while in denver,  Bargs demanded to rebound, and play defense for the raps, Kevin love and beasley demanded to play defense…. I think you get the point, You have to instill things early in players career and make them earn what they get, and change thier attitude

[mgreener_34Participant]

 " I think you get the point, You have to instill things early in players career and make them earn what they get, and change thier attitude"

Exactly, you make a great point here. Scott Brooks did the same thing to a couple of the other younger players on this team, and its benefited the Thunder immensely. Cook was playing horrible defense in the beginning of the year, got benched, worked on his game, and got back into the rotation. Same with Harden, and now the Thunder have two good offensive players who aren’t black holes on defense. 

The Thunder aren’t a 23 win team anymore, they are in contention NOW. The whole let him play through his mistakes time is over. If you aren’t playing good, then you shouldn’t be playing because you’re just hurting your team. 

[Blazetrees23Participant]

but imagine tyreke on this team

[Sasha4MVPParticipant]

But you can’t fear Tyreke’s beard

[omphalosParticipant]

Harden fits the team better than Reke, they don’t need another ball-dominant player, Harden is versatile and can shoot the long-ball better than Reke, which is vital for the Thunder. Plus, he doesn’t seem to mind coming off the bench and leading the second unit.

One thing I’ll say that Scott Brooks did well was have Maynor and Westbrook attack J.J. Barea and punish Dallas for playing such a short guy. The refs finally stopped giving him calls on his flops just because he’s tiny and it doesn’t seem like he’ll be a difference maker if Coach Brooks adopts the same strategy with him.

[thparadoxParticipant]

 

Ironically, I think it’s BAD coaching by Brooks which led to this situation in the first place.

Brooks should have dealt with this obvious issue during the regular season.

I can understand that you want Westbrook to get practice taking jumpers during the regular season… but why not take him aside and say "Russ, you’re an incredible player, but when we get to the playoffs, we really need you to A) drive to the basket B) look for durant and set up your teammates C) only take jumpers when you’re wide open, or as a change in pace.. e.g. 1 in 10 FG attempts is a jumper"

To me, it’s CRAZY that you have to bench your star PG in the 4th quarter, for things that you should be communicating about constantly. wtf. Brooks could have dealt with this months ago.

A reactive management style is just a symptom of bad coaching

[marcusfizer21Participant]

First off… It’s not bad coaching when you get the W… Second… You gotta give props to Eric Maynor and James Harden for their impressive play off the bench… Yes, Westbrook is the second option on that team…and yes, he may be smiling outside and hurting inside tonight for being benched in the 4th but for most games, regular season and playoffs included, he has exploded and had amazing performances… His teammates were showing 100% support most of the time… now it’s his turn to at least understand that James Harden and Maynor orchestrated the OKC offense well adn he has to give props to that…

[mj23mj23besteverParticipant]

i agree with the mention that rw mite leave when his rookie deal is up too be the so called man sumwhere else and u know what rw see u bye until he learns too settle down and be mature hes worthless just taking bad forced shots and making unnesecary passes trying too force imo maynor is better suited for running this team knock me for saying that but maynor proved it last night

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Russ is a prideful and competive/aggressive player. I know he’s telling himself, "I’m proud of my teammates… We got the win and that’s all that matters", but I’m sure it’s eating him up inside that he didn’t play the entire fourth quarter. He probably didn’t even sleep well last night.

 

I thought it was a risky move by Brooks because they need Russ in this series. They can’t win this series without him. He’s been getting beat up in the media for just about everything… And for basically playing the way he has all season. He’s a professional and didn’t get this far by being sensitive, but you just don’t want him to start losing confidence and second guessing himself mentally.

 

Personally… I thought Brooks should’ve brought him back once he calmed down and showed a little faith in his star point guard.  

 

 

[Demarcus OnealParticipant]

 I feel that Russell is in one of those damned if you do, damned if you dont situations. If he tries to come out and play agreesive to shake off his benching, people will say  he is not letting Duramt get the ball, If he decides to be passive and only distribute the ball then people will say he did not play well and needs to be more aggressive.

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