Cup of Joe. Westbrook vs. Smart Round 1

Russell Westbrook vs. Marcus Smart I

Marcus Smart on facing Russell Westbrook on Wednesday: "It's gonna be a challenge, but this team's up for a challenge

Source: Adam Himmelsbach

There's nothing to be said about this matchup that won't eventually turn into the blog equivalent of 'The Chris Farley Show.' This should be completely and utterly awesome. It'll be the first time the two will face off, and it'll be very interesting to see what, if anything, Smart can do to slow down the human wrecking ball that is Russell Westbrook (who is now playing without Ibaka as well as Durant). Marcus' defensive maturity as a rookie has been staggering, but can he keep up with Westbrook, whose averaged 32 points, 10 assists, 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals since February. So, maybe a rephrase is needed - it'll be interesting to see if Smart can keep Westbrook to something like 28, 8 and 8.

On paper, it would seem like Smart is uniquely skilled to defend Westbrook. He's not nearly as quick or as athletic, but Smart has a bit of a size advantage (Smart is listed at 6'4, 220. Westbrook at 6'3, 190) and is one of the very few point guards in the league who can match Westbrook's strength. It should be a whole lot of fun to see Smart fight through screens and body up against Westbrook.

Start Your Morning Off With... Look out world! Here comes the Knicks!



Vintage WTHHT: What the Hell Happened to... Dan Dickau
authored by TB727

He was probably compared to every other white point guard to come into the NBA in the last 30 years (off the top of my head, this includes John Stockton, Steve Nash, Chris Corchiani, Mark Price, Scott Skiles, Travis Ford, Bobby Hurley, Chris Herren. Ok so Ford didn't make the NBA. Just making sure you're paying attention. And yes I think Ford was an apt comparison while at Kentucky even though he was probably like 5'6). This week in What the Hell Happened To, unless you only began following the Celtics very recently, you'll definitely remember Dan Dickau.

Dickau started at U-Dub but then transferred to Gonzaga, where he graduated in 2002. He'd be picked with the 28th selection of the 2002 draft by the Kings but traded to the Hawks.

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