March 7th: Welcome to Views from OKC, Thunderous Intentions’ daily roundup of the best OKC Thunder content across the web.
New to Views? I’m glad you’re joining us, even if it’s for Game 64. Let’s get to it.
The case against Russell Westbrook for MVP
“Westbrook’s usage rate is at a league high 42.1 percent, meaning he finishes a large portion of Oklahoma’s City’s possessions when he is on the court. His true shooting percentage, a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account two-point field goals, three-point field goals, and free throws, is just 54.6 percent, 142nd out of 271 players qualifying for the scoring title this season. The last league MVP to win the award with a true shooting percentage under 55 percent was Kevin Garnett in 2004.”
I got in a minuscule Twitter exchange with the writer of this article; sadly I looked like an oaf because of my poor grammar. Still, I stand by my statement. How can you base your “Russell Westbrook is not the MVP” around True Shooting Percentage? Have you seen how contested his shots are? And don’t bring up Russ’ Real Plus/Minus if you aren’t going to compare the Thunder’s RPM with him on and off the court. It’s okay to think Russ isn’t the MVP. It’s not okay to use a bunch of flawed advanced statistics to back your claim…especially when many advanced stats are on Russ’ side.
Must Read: Five reasons why Thunder fans should NOT panic
The past road trip may go down in history
“We now have a candidate for worst road trip in Thunder history. Only three previous times has the Thunder lost three straight games on the same road trip. And never had those losses come to teams this mediocre-at-best.”
This is only the fourth time in franchise history that the Thunder have lost three straight games on the road. It’s the second time this season. I’m genuinely concerned about this; if they can’t win road games in the regular season how are they supposed to win in the playoffs? Home court in the first round is a distant memory so OKC is going to have to win at least one road game if they want to advance. That’s scary.
Views from Twitter
Here's a fun fact: James Harden averages more turnovers per game than Russell Westbrook. Did people know this?
— conrad kaz (@conradkaz) March 6, 2017
Something is wrong with NBA fans. All they ever do is critique Russ for his “constant turnovers” yet James Harden is an even bigger culprit. And the thing is Harden shouldn’t even be close to Russ. He has the ball less, he has more space to work with on offense and the talent around him is much better. But alas, it’s much easier to critique herky-jerky Russ than the smooth-sailing Harden.
The Thunder mourns the loss of our Senior VP of Guest Relations Pete Winemiller. We also celebrate his life and devotion to our fans. pic.twitter.com/Ia9toFPjxc
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 6, 2017
It’s the behind-the-scenes personal like Mr. Winemiller that make the Thunder organization so great. He cared about the fans first, something that has been the mantra in Oklahoma City since the franchise’s inception. My condolences go to his friends and family. RIP Pete Winemiller.