Rick Barry - Jays have "Westbrook Disease"

[Who]

“Both (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum suffer from what I call….(Russell) Westbrook syndrome. Westbrook is an incredible talent. I love how hard he plays, but he tries to force things. In the game of basketball, you should always be taking what the defense gives you… Both Jaylen and Jayson….they have a tendency to force things and end up getting a lot of turnovers,” Barry exclaimed.

[Roy H.]

I don't respect Barry's analysis at all.  For instance:

“I mean, look at some of the contracts they have,” Barry said during an interview with Joy D’Angela. “Even, you know, like Brown. [$304 million?] That’s just hard for me to believe. His average for the playoffs for them is 18.5 points per game, and he’s going to make $69 million in the last year of his contract. 18.5 points per game is nothing, seriously, to pay somebody that kind of money.”

JB averaged 22.7 ppg in the playoffs this season, and 23.1 ppg the year before.

[Surferdad]

IIRC, Barry has said some wacko things before.

[Roy H.]

IIRC, Barry has said some wacko things before.

His "watermelon" jokes certainly p---ed Bill Russell off.

[gouki88]

IIRC, Barry has said some wacko things before.

His "watermelon" jokes certainly p---ed Bill Russell off.

He also called Beverley the n word

[Roy H.]

IIRC, Barry has said some wacko things before.

His "watermelon" jokes certainly p---ed Bill Russell off.

He also called Beverley the n word

I hadn't heard that.  How is he still getting an audience?

EDIT:

“You come in all tough, all macho, all ‘Next-5-Years-Are-Mine’ bull****. You proudly claim to do whatever it takes to win. Even if it means injuring stars. like Russell Westbrook, Jamal Murray, or Chris Paul. So why on earth can’t you hit a stinking free-throw?

“Why won’t you shoot underhand? Is it because it makes you look weak and pathetic? I shot underhand, got a 0.893 career free throw rate, and won a championship. You said you want to win. Just shut up and do your job n*****.”

He said that was "out of context".  The context doesn't seem particularly confusing to me.  That's multiple data points pointing to racist views.

[Donoghus]

IIRC, Barry has said some wacko things before.

His "watermelon" jokes certainly p---ed Bill Russell off.

He also called Beverley the n word

I hadn't heard that.  How is he still getting an audience?

EDIT:

“You come in all tough, all macho, all ‘Next-5-Years-Are-Mine’ bull****. You proudly claim to do whatever it takes to win. Even if it means injuring stars. like Russell Westbrook, Jamal Murray, or Chris Paul. So why on earth can’t you hit a stinking free-throw?

“Why won’t you shoot underhand? Is it because it makes you look weak and pathetic? I shot underhand, got a 0.893 career free throw rate, and won a championship. You said you want to win. Just shut up and do your job n*****.”

He said that was "out of context".  The context doesn't seem particularly confusing to me.  That's multiple data points pointing to racist views.

He's an a-whole.  Always has been. 

[Vermont Green]

Hard to take Rick Barry seriously.  It is true that the Jay's do force it at times and turn it over.  That isn't particularly controversial.  Being compared to Westbrook is clearly intended to be a slight, big stats but not a winner is the implication.  Both Brown and Tatum shoot much better than Westbrook though.  And Westbrook has a career average of 4.1 Turnovers.  Brown is 2.0 (although higher the last few seasons) and Tatum is 2.3 (also closer 3 the last few seasons).

[Celtics2021]

Luka Doncic has a career FT% of 74% and averages 4 turnovers a game.  I wonder when Barry will offer the same criticism.   

[Vermont Green]

Luka Doncic has a career FT% of 74% and averages 4 turnovers a game.  I wonder when Barry will offer the same criticism.   

I would say that Luka is a more apt comparable to Westbrook.  I have actually offered that in the past.  I think Luka will accomplish more in the end than Westbrook, will have a better overall career, but so far, Luka has been very much Westbrook.

[footey]

Barry has said some ridiculous things.

Barry is also one of the greatest players in NBA history. Most of you were not born when he played. The guy was a great player. Look him up. He took a team of nobodies (the '75 Warriors, I think), and won the NBA championship vs the heavily favored Bullets, in a 4 game sweep.   This accomplishment makes what he has to say about what it takes to win a championship, RELEVANT. 

There is also some legitimacy to his comments.  Jaylen particularly, Jayson less so.  Their career assist averages relative to their usage is quite low.  Zach Lowe laments this often in his podcasts.  There is some truth in what Barry is saying.  They do commit too many turnovers, especially in the 4th quarter, when they press too much to take over the game.  It is probably a major reason Brad made the Porzingis trade; to give them a viable option in crunch time.

[aefgogreen]

Barry has said some ridiculous things.

Barry is also one of the greatest players in NBA history. Most of you were not born when he played. The guy was a great player. Look him up. He took a team of nobodies (the '75 Warriors, I think), and won the NBA championship vs the heavily favored Bullets, in 5 games IIRC.   This accomplishment makes what he has to say about what it takes to win a championship, RELEVANT. 

There is also some legitimacy to his comments.  Jaylen particularly, Jayson less so.  Their career assist averages relative to their usage is quite low.  Zach Lowe laments this often in his podcasts.  There is some truth in what Barry is saying.  They do commit too many turnovers, especially in the 4th quarter, when they press too much to take over the game.  It is probably a major reason Brad made the Porzingis trade; to give them a viable option in crunch time.

Agree on all of this - as you implied, they've kind of had to force things.  I'm optimistic Porzingis will help.

[Roy H.]

“Both (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum suffer from what I call….(Russell) Westbrook syndrome. Westbrook is an incredible talent. I love how hard he plays, but he tries to force things. In the game of basketball, you should always be taking what the defense gives you… Both Jaylen and Jayson….they have a tendency to force things and end up getting a lot of turnovers,” Barry exclaimed.

The funny thing is that in his best season, Barry averaged 4.0 turnovers, to 3.9 assists, in the ABA.  NBA turnover stats weren't kept for most of his career.  Tatum's career high in turnovers is 2.9 per game, and that was against 4.6 assists.

Jaylen also had 2.9 turnovers last year, to 3.5 assists.

It's funny that Barry's turnover over the ball much more than either of the Jays, and was the only one to have a negative assist-to-turnover ratio at his peak.

[footey]

“Both (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum suffer from what I call….(Russell) Westbrook syndrome. Westbrook is an incredible talent. I love how hard he plays, but he tries to force things. In the game of basketball, you should always be taking what the defense gives you… Both Jaylen and Jayson….they have a tendency to force things and end up getting a lot of turnovers,” Barry exclaimed.

The funny thing is that in his best season, Barry averaged 4.0 turnovers, to 3.9 assists, in the ABA.  NBA turnover stats weren't kept for most of his career.  Tatum's career high in turnovers is 2.9 per game, and that was against 4.6 assists.

Jaylen also had 2.9 turnovers last year, to 3.5 assists.

It's funny that Barry's turnover over the ball much more than either of the Jays, and was the only one to have a negative assist-to-turnover ratio at his peak.

His prime years in NBA don't show his turnover rate, which seemed odd to me. During his peak he was averaging about 6 assist per game.

[Moranis]

I think that statement is much more applicable to Brown than it is to Tatum.  Brown does tend to play hero ball too much given he is a poor passer.  He isn't Westbrook, that part is over the top, but Brown should scale that back some.  I'm mostly fine with how Tatum plays as the #1 option.  Gets to the line ok, decent passer, and generally takes care of the ball.  Sure there are times when all players get a bit too selfish, but I'm ok with Tatum doing that on occasion. 

Smart was the guy most like Westbrook offensively though.  Terrible shooter that just keeps shooting. It was so frustrating watching Smart. Glad we don't have to do that any more.