What has happened to Westbrook?

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gophermanic

gophermanic

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Last three games:
Indiana 0-7 FG 0-3 3-pt 4 pts

Ohio State 2-10 FG 0-5 3-pt 4 pts

Michigan State 2-7 FG 1-2 3pt 6 pts

Our offense being as bad as it is, we have to have LW score 12-15 a night or we have no chance asgainst decent competition.
 

He's too short and not quick enough to get off his shot when teams are smothering him. Better ball movement and or penetration and kick outs will open up his game a ton, IMO.
 

He is just too small. He is also a fairly poor ballhandler. He's made some good moves to get inside at times and occasionnally converts. But if a team wants to take him out of the game, it's not a difficult task. When he gets anywhere near the lane right now, he will be blocked. His height is an issue.

But he was able to shoot well when open, and now he is in a slump on top of it all. This is why as much as Bostick hasn't benn impressive, it would be nice nice if he could become an effective player, so when Westbrook is off, he could take some minutes.
 

he just isn't that good, I have never liked his game; can't handle it, too small, trigger happy. But you can't quesiton the kids toughness or his ability to make the open shot. A personal preference, just don't like the way he plays the game.
 




Following the Wisconsin game:
"Yeah, great job by Westbrook--talk about cool and calm under pressure..."
"I'll take him on my team anytime. Maybe not a warm and cudley [sic] guy, but he's just the X factor this team needs."
"Westbrook - tough as nails"
"He may take some wierd [sic] shots now and then but he is a scorer and scorers have to shoot"

Now he's in a slump:
"he just isn't that good"
"He is just too small. He is also a fairly poor ballhandler."
"He's too short and not quick enough to get off his shot when teams are smothering him"

To paraphrase Slug - he ain't all that bad, but he ain't all that great. He'll snap his slump and go off yet this season, and some thread will start touting his merits.
 

He's a great free throw shooter at the end of the game under pressure. He's been huge in that department! But yeah, his height hurts him. We need him bad if we are going to make noise come March.
 

He'll go off again as soon as a Big Ten team let's him run crazy with the ball and doesn't have 6'8" guys waiting under the basket to slap his reckless shots aside. A heckova HS player, I'm sure, he'd be dynamite in a league for 6-footers.
 



parkinglotgopher said:
Following the Wisconsin game:
"Yeah, great job by Westbrook--talk about cool and calm under pressure..."
"I'll take him on my team anytime. Maybe not a warm and cudley [sic] guy, but he's just the X factor this team needs."
"Westbrook - tough as nails"
"He may take some wierd [sic] shots now and then but he is a scorer and scorers have to shoot"

Now he's in a slump:
"he just isn't that good"
"He is just too small. He is also a fairly poor ballhandler."
"He's too short and not quick enough to get off his shot when teams are smothering him"
Click to expand...

POTY. Fans are idiots.
 

Gopher4Life said:
He'll go off again as soon as a Big Ten team let's him run crazy with the ball and doesn't have 6'8" guys waiting under the basket to slap his reckless shots aside. A heckova HS player, I'm sure, he'd be dynamite in a league for 6-footers.
Click to expand...

Speaking of Penn State's back court...
 

I wasn't saying Westbrook isnt a good player or isnt important to our team. Its just that its hard for him to create his own shot. If you kick it out to him standing at the 3 point line, he's lethal. He can drive and hit mid-range, but he's not as consistent in that regard. When our offense is stagnant and everyone is just standing around looking at each other, its hard for him to score. Its hard for all our guys to score like that. If we get could movement and kick it to him, its a different story.

I have always felt this and I never fell over my chair when he went for 29 against Wisconsin.
 

Not saying anything about you specifically WUG. I was just making the point that when things are working for a player, fans are quick to lop on praise. When they're going badly, many are just as quick to levy criticisms. In both cases, these fans tend to take a "See, I told you so, I've been saying all along..." sort of attitude toward it. People react the same way when the team is clicking or struggling.

In reality, everything is in middle. No one is ever as good as they look in their finest moments or as bad as they look in their worst moments. In the specific case of Westbrook, he's hit pretty much every point on the spectrum from very good to very poor this season.
 



I think he is streaky, he will have a hot hand at times and be cold at others. Kinda like the entire team at the moment!
 

Did you ever think that those quotes may not have been from the same posters? I'm sure there are people who think Westbrook is very good and others who think he's not. Obviously his big supporters aren't going to brag him up now, and obviously his detractors aren't going to spout off after he goes off for 29.

I, for one, think he's a very mediocre big 10 guard. He's got some scoring ability, but mainly he leads this team in scoring because this team is very short of real scorers. The fact that Damian Johnson is the second leading scorer says that this team has almost zero offensive talent. The fact that they are winning is a huge testament to the defense they play.
 

RedChristmas said:
Did you ever think that those quotes may not have been from the same posters?
Click to expand...

Of course I know they're not the same posters - I'm the one who looked up the quotes. The whole point is that when things are going well, things appear to be great. When things are going badly, the sky appears to be falling. No one who thought Westbrook was great in that old thread is stepping up to reiterate their old points about why Westbrook is valuable now that folks are bashing him. Catching individuals flip-flopping was never the objective of the post.
 

Bashing? Sky falling? Wow.

I hope that's not what you got from my post. I think Westbrook is OK. He has some good games, but can be easily neutralized and is definitely undersized. I also don't think he handles the ball particularly well. That's my observation, not bashing or ripping.

It's gotten to the point around here that you can't post anything anymore without a bunch of people totally exaggerating the intent (postive or negative) and blowing it out of proportion.
 

I like him, but for a small guard he sure does lose his dribble alot.
 

i got your post WAG.

he's quick but not that quick. he can handle the ball, but not that well. Some teams can deal with him others can't. He'll look great against the right opponent, and poor against the wrong. Plus let's not forget that canada is getting more and more time as the season goes on. Westbrook is going to get squeezed on the numbers game. not too mention Carter getting more minutes reducing three g rotations. It will get tougher and tougher for him to get minutes, too bad i like watching him play. So in the end he'll be great depth for this team.
 

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