Understanding Russell Westbrook

I think Russ draws attention not only because he's so good (and young), but because he wears his emotions on his sleeve. What might look like bad attitude to some people, to me is a kid who plays with a lot of heart - and someone who can't quite yet productively channel his energy when he's frustrated. I think you could expect that sort of immaturity from any twenty-two year old under that kind of pressure.

So it's important to remember that these guys are still basically kids. If we as fans are too impatient and fickle, subjecting these guys to harsh criticism based on largely unrealistic expectations, we may end up destroying a nascent freaking dynasty.

The story of this team is one of the best things that has happened to OKC in my lifetime. And Russ is a HUGE part of that. The least we can do is give him some time to turn into the player we know he can be. So go ahead and get that dirt off your shoulder, Russ.

Russell Westbrook is a Derrick Rose clone.
Serge Ibaka is the new Shawn Kemp.
Kevin Durant is a better George Gervin.
James Harden is the new Joe Johnson.

We're a pretty talented team.

Note to Bethlehem Shoals:

"He came off the bench for much of his rookie year."

No he didn't. He started his first game November 29th, his first full month as a pro, and he never didn't start a game that season thereafter.

@walrusmuse

I posted replies to your Seattle question in the Wednesday thread and "beast"'s question too.

I like the Shoal's piece. I have to be in the mood for his writing style, but it's alright.

Guys like Russell are just going to have to live with more criticism than they deserve. The high usage guards who are 1st or 2nd scoring options represent a change in era, and anytime a change is made people who don't like it come out of the woodwork to condemn it. It will probably be this way for Russell his entire career.

PG's in the mold of Nash, Kidd and CP3 are going out of style in favor of the Rose, Westbrook, Wall types. Both versions work, but old school folks or folks who only know HS or College ball haven't realized that yet.

In my opinion, Russell lost game 4 in Denver on his own. He was pressing and blinded that game. The rest of the games in the playoffs have been his normal game. Game 1 against the Grizz was a normal Russell game for people who watch him all year. Dude leads the entire league in turnovers, so 7 of them in Game 1 isn't new.

Also, Russell's usage is too high, in my opinion. He could stand to pare that number down. I know it was said earlier that Russ doesn't have any choice, but that's just not true. Harden is open a ton for kickouts that never come, and Russ takes a lot of shots early in the shot clock without passing it even the first time. But I don't see it as some sort of fatal flaw, just as room to grow.

Russ just tries to do what he can to win. His rebounding has taken a hit since Perk joined the team - suddenly he doesn't have to rebound like a banshee, so he's not. I think the same will come with distributing the ball.

@justin
good thoughts. I think in my defending Russ I forgot to add that the way he gets developed and coached by KD/Perk? other players and by Brooks et al (I think...?) is essential. Without that, yeah he might not be the best for any team, or for us with a dominant offensive player.

I loved his move under the rim last night on being fed from Harden, RW barely didnt finish, but the possession ended in a score I think. His looking for JH more last night let the floor breathe so much. And everyone looking for JH to get the ball more isnt just looking for "an open three" but also for Hrden to move it around some, and he did last night.

I'm with @Sammy in saying the main defensive story last night wasnt Conley burning us, I watched Russ fight every possession to stay with him on 3-4 screens a time. The main story is us owning the paint on defense, and getting a hand into fadeaway 10-15 footers, but otherwise letting them chuck-sometimes they'll fall, but better that than the bigs going off.

@Vince

The best thing about Westbrook that might get under appreciated is that he has his head screwed on straight. Everyone says he's coachable and he's a good teammate. As emotional as he is on the court, he seems like a stand up dude off the court and in the locker room. I don't have the utmost confidence in our offensive gameplan / coaching developing Russell into the best player he can be, but comparing him to guys like Marbury, or Francis - those players were big prima donnas from the get go.

It's unfortunate that local fans and your sports radio guys are lambasting him to that degree. But take it from someone who went through Gary Payton's egomaniac B.S. for a decade - it could be a loooot worse.

@Skeletor
Conley killed us in game one because our PnR defense was terrible. He was getting into the lane at will. In game two he barely got into the lane at all (and only hit 1-3 at the rim), but was on fire from 16'+ (5-5 on long twos, 3-5 on 3s). Several of those shots were pull ups off the dribble. I'll give those to him every time.

@justin
Go the games, sit in bars, listen to the fans -- they're all after Westbrook now. There are even comments on here about playing Maynor more, trading Westbrook for Rondo, etc., etc.

I admit to being a Thunder homer, and relative to that a giant Westbrook homer. So I'm probably taking it more personally than I should.

And OF COURSE it's nit-picking. What the hell else are we supposed to do for four days? :)

I'm the one who asked the question about Thabo on Conley. He is killing us and RW is not playing D. OF course, if Mayo is on the floor and hot, you can't have Thabo/Harden guard Conley

I mean Hawks

Lots of teams have their SG bring the ball up the floor and facilitate from time to time. Bulls did it in crunch time last game with Joe Johnson.

@justin
Well put.

Vince, you are being way too reactionary. Most people on these boards agree with you and watch all the games. No one is saying take mins away from RW. Just maybe have 2-3 possessions where Harden handles the ball with RW and KD on the floor.

I dont think Harden can be PG whole game,but he can play this role in clutch time.As I had said,it can make our best 3 players share ball better.

@anonymous
That's a really smart observation. I agree.

@cdub00
Harden doesn't work as a full-time PG, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't handle the ball more when he's in with the starters.

@Mark!
I'm annoyed by a lot of Shoals' writing, but he's at his best when waxing long-form about the aesthetics of a certain player he fetishizes, which is what he's doing in that Westbrook article.

I may be way off, but the local criticism of RW almost mirrors the criticism of Landry Jones. One bad game or even one bad play, everyone is saying things like 'he'll never get us to the promise land' and 'They need to start Maynor/Drew Allen'

@Royce Young
I just don't agree with the Shoals piece at all. I don't see the idea that Russ is MORE wild this season, or that he "sucked the vitality right out of Thunder, hogging it all for himself." What Shoals is saying is exactly the problem -- when the Thunder were underdogs, the mistakes were cute. Now that we're the "favorites", they're too much (and I realize Shoals admits this in his own flowery way). And I would argue that his "high-wire act" which Shoals now deems "inappropriate for the playoffs" single-handledly pushed the Lakers to 6 last year and knocked out a very good Denver team in 5. It's just a more high-minded version of the same media freakout that happend over Game 1.

@Vince

Nobody wants Harden to take Westbrook's minutes at point guard, I don't think. But it's always good to have a secondary ball handler in the game to do different things. Like you said, and I agree, it's not all on Westbrook because our offense isn't built to take advantage of the strengths of our best players.

This is all really nit picking though when you get down to it. We finished the season 5th in offense, and we're Top 3 in the playoffs. I've said it many times that Westbrook's development speed has been faster than his teammates and coaching to keep up with. This offseason I expect a lot of those things to come together. But there will still have to be a firm decision made on what Westbrook's role is going to be long term.

@Royce Young
Yeah, my bad - I even commented on it. Long busy day.

@cdub00

Wasn't he fouled on the play. I noticed that play too.

did you see last night where Harden passed to Russ on the backdoor cut that Collison and Harden usually run? It was a beaut, except I don't think Russ finished.

@justin
That's not on Westbrook. Harden usually isn't open. Westbrook has missed him on a couple of occasions but usually at tough angles. In that lineup, Brooks simply isn't running sets for Harden, so Westbrook's choice is to give Harden the ball for an iso or iso himself. Rightly or wrongly, RW is keeping it.

I'm just tired of the narrative that Westbrook is forcing shots while KD and Durant wave their arms at the 3 point line and Ibaka calls for a wide-open alley oop. So much of the statistical criticism of Westbrook comes from the fact that he has to take tough shots late in the shot clock because there are SO MANY possessions where it breaks down and he's the only option. The idea that a) it's Westbrook's fault and b) that a 22-year-old should somehow be running the offense at the level of a Nash or a CP3 is just ludicrous. And to hear people call for Harden to take his minutes at PG...the guy is the 2nd-best player on the fastest-improving team in the history of the NBA. And our team offensive stats are pretty good considering we're nearly throwing half our playing time to subpar scorers like Thabo, Perkins, and Collison.

Westbrook looked comfortable off the ball in the Worlds, where he would cut to the rim, spot up from mid range, and run around creating havoc (like Iguodala did). We experimented some with Maynor / Westbrook early, but that didn't work well. I think the offense has to examine Harden handling the ball some possessions with Westbrook on the court. It just would make it much harder to defend against. Right now every team knows what's going to happen. Run a Harden PnR with Russ and KD on the court... or even more KD / Russ PnP, with Harden in the corner.

justin :@cdub00
James Harden is no point guard, but when he has the ball in his hands, good things happen. He’s in the top forty in the NBA in almost every isolation or PG-type play according to Synergy.

This is where stats and reality collide. You say it yourself, Harden is no point guard. The guy asked if he could be a good PG, and for many reasons, I would say no, he could not be a good PG. I am with you though, in certain situations, specifically PnR and late clock ISO, he is one of the best. Two more reasons why I think he needs to be coming off the bench while our other two "scorers" are resting.

You either like Shoals or you don't. He tries to capture some of the feel of the creativity of basketball played on the court in the cadence and structure of his writing. Sometimes the words themselves aren't the descriptors, but the impression you get from reading it.

His piece on Westbrook is erratic, contradictory, etc etc... those are things a lot of authors are directly saying about Westbrook while Shoals likes to capture that sentiment in a different, more indirect manner.

@cdub00

James Harden is no point guard, but when he has the ball in his hands, good things happen. He's in the top forty in the NBA in almost every isolation or PG-type play according to Synergy.

Almost forgot, simply out of sheer hatred for Kobe and the selfish reason of wanting a crack at the Mavs to GET TO THE NBA FINALS..................GO MAVERICKS!!!!!!

@Vince
It was the second link in them today.

But what I liked about Shoals' piece is just how accurately he describes Westbrook on the floor. I think he nails the relationship of Westbrook as a point guard. I just thought it was good.

I also like Shoals very much.

Scotty sticking up for Russ:
http://blog.newsok.com/thunderrumblings/2011/05/04/scott-brooks-speaks-out-on-russell-westbrook/

@Vince
I don't think anyone here has seriously suggested he needs to be traded, just that he needs to continue to get better. Only time and experience can make that happen. I think you are being a little overly sensitive. I absolutely agree (and i have said very similar things) that his '30for30' game would be looked at in a completely different light if he had happened to make one or two more shots and we had won, thats just the nature of the beast. Its sad but true - if he had made one or two of those threes and we won the game, he would have been the savior instead of the goat. He needs to learn how to deal with being both though, because he often will be.

justin :

Joel :Does Harden have a good enough handle to execute the offense as a fill in PG? That would be sweet if he does.

Harden’s one of the most efficient Pick and Roll handlers in the league.

And, IMO, there is a HUGE difference between being a good PG and simply a good PnR handler.

justin :@Vince
The fact that Harden’s usage when in the game with Westbrook and Durant is ~12% in the playoffs is my main issue with Westbrook and the offense. Of course, Westbrook does not have much choice in our current starting lineup. But even when he does, either he isn’t willing to get the ball to others, or our offense isn’t built to take advantage of it.

Of course it is, we all know you think Harden is MJ or something. Maynor doesn't start over RW because RW is better. Harden doesn't start over Sef because Sef and Harden are a better fit right now where they are. I read somewhere that somebody posed the question "why doesn't Sef guard Conley?". That is a good point except Conley doesn't usually turn in to Larry Freakin' Bird like last night. If we can continue to own that restricted area under the hoop....Memphis has NO CHANCE.

@justin

The ball needs to go through Harden more. That solves almost all the issues that can be solved with our current roster.

All the hand wringing over Westbrook is ridiculous. Westbrook will take bad shots, but not every shot he misses is a bad shot.

Westbrook taking bad shots isn't entirely his fault. A lot of our offensive sets have no movement and require him to pound the ball and create for himself. When nothing opens up inside of 20 feet and he either misses a bad shot or forces a bad pass, I have a hard time blaming him for not being even more incredible.

He's improving, but our offense as a whole still has a ways to go. I'm not expecting anything to change during the post-season. Hopefully the coaches figure something out in the off-season.

I loved the play where KD passed from the wing to harden in the corner, who then found a cutting westbrook for a layup at the rim. It was beautiful, anyone remember that one. I believe my exact words were "thats the kind of play that will get us to the next level!" expletives deleted of course...

Joel :
Does Harden have a good enough handle to execute the offense as a fill in PG? That would be sweet if he does.

Harden's one of the most efficient Pick and Roll handlers in the league.

@Vince

The fact that Harden's usage when in the game with Westbrook and Durant is ~12% in the playoffs is my main issue with Westbrook and the offense. Of course, Westbrook does not have much choice in our current starting lineup. But even when he does, either he isn't willing to get the ball to others, or our offense isn't built to take advantage of it.

First off, what, exactly, did Shoals "nail" in that article, Royce? It's overwrought, confusing, and contradictory.

Secondly, this whole theme is abject nonsense. Had the Thunder pulled out Game 4 (we lost by 3), the national media consensus would have been "Westbrook stepped up when the Nuggets focused on KD" and none of these articles or posts would even have existed.

Thirdly, does anyone who commented on this page (with a couple of exceptions) actually watch the game? When Westbrook is in with Thabo/KD/Ibaka/Perk, and KD is covered, what exactly do you expect Russ to do? What do you think would happen with the other 10% of possessions if Russ' usage did in fact drop? The idea that if Russ gave up 5-7 shots a game they would be open 3 looks for KD and Harden is simply ludicrous. Watch a game live, from up top, and see how the Grizzlies are reacting. They're funneling Russ into the lane, sticking to KD on the perimeter, and taking away the dish-and-drive lanes.

Westbrook is developing, yes. Westbrook makes a few bad decisions a game, yes. Westbrook could get some help from a more consistent, cohesive offensive system. But Westbrook is one of the best PG's in the league (even if he doesn't play like the traditional Isaiah/CP3 type), one of the best players in the league, and anyone on this board agitating for a trade or a benching is, quite frankly, out of their mind.

BTW, a much more interesting and coherent look at Westbrook is here: http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2011/05/03/credit-memphis-for-some-of-westbrooks-tos/ (I don't think you got it in the Bolts, Royce.)

Does Harden have a good enough handle to execute the offense as a fill in PG? That would be sweet if he does.

Scott Brooks speaks out on Russ:

http://blog.newsok.com/thunderrumblings/2011/05/04/scott-brooks-speaks-out-on-russell-westbrook/#comment-21635

@justin

I noticed that as well, and it got me very excited. I hope that when all three are on the floor they mix up who brings it up between the two.

The play last game with Harden handling and finding Westbrook on the cut to the rim is the type of thing that should happen more with those two on the court together. We're wasting so much offensive potential.

I really like Russell Westbrook even though I criticize him quite a bit. The guy has freaky talent and the confidence needed to be successful.

What I find weird(and hear from RW's defenders)is the "Russ is Russ. You can't change him and this is his game. Deal with it." attitude. If his current game doesn't change besides getting older with having more experience, then he definitely is not the answer in the long run. He HAS to improve his game as a POINT guard.

In my opinion, Westbrook's current bag of tricks is good enought to be a star on a doormat NBA team. No one would complain about all the shots he takes and his recklessness on a 30 win team(see Tyreke Evans last year). But Russ is paired up with Kevin Durant, the best scorer currently in the NBA and arguably top 5 scorer EVER based on his first 4 seasons. Westbrook has to become more of a facilitator. There's no excuses why he can't: he's tall enough, strong enough, quick enough...and gosh darnit, people like him.

How about some drives to hoop with more kickouts to open shooters? Why can't move the ball around more on offense? What I loved about last night was he was ATTACKING the basket. Even if he misses, you're better off with driving the lane then 1-on-1 dribbling and settling for a 20 foot jump shot. Russ has perfected the 15-16 foot jumpshot when he breaks down a defender, and I rarely have an issue with him taking that shot. But he has to know that getting Harden involved is crucial to OKC's success. Some of that blame falls on Harden, but he's way lower on the totem pole than KD & RW and he probably doesn't want to ruffle any feathers. Brooks and RW have to make sure that Harden gets at least 10 FGA attempts every game.

So in summary, Westbrook is not on a path to becoming an elite player right now. He has the ability and just needs to focus on being a floor general more than the Sportscenter highlights.

Keith :
If Russ wants to think of himself and play like a superstar, I don’t think it is unreasonable to judge him by that standard. It is nice to say, “that’s just Russ,” but he shouldn’t get a pass for his failings. That’s not to say he isn’t good. He is, very good. But he wants to play as if he was Kobe or Wade. He’s not, and we definitely don’t want him to be. I think it might be overlooked that even everyone, everyone has a role, and how they fill that role determines a proportionate likelihood of victory for their team. Sometimes a team needs more than a player can reasonably be asked. Look at Love, Toronto Bosh, and even to some degree Dwight Howard. Sometimes a player gives himself a role because he doesn’t understand his own limitations. Russ, Ellis, and a lot of just over the hill former stars fill that group. Teams only work when everyone knows and embraces their role.
Russ’s unpredictability cannot be a long term goal. Either he finds his role, or we must give him superstar sized criticism when he fails to succeed in his role-less world.

Agreed. I don't think Westbrook's role on the team has been developed well at all, though. I don't think even Brooks knows exactly what he wants out of him.

We'll see what happens in the offseason. Westbrook's unpredictability has its place, but it's a rocky proposition in the playoffs to rely on that kind of player as often as we rely on Westbrook. If his USG were down in the 20's and he didn't have the ball in his hands as much, you can live with it. When he's ending 1/3 of your team's possessions? It doesn't make sense. This mindset is part of the reason the Thunder seem like they don't value possessions.

Ultimately, it has to be one or the other. If Westbrook is going to be the 30+ USG scorer with the ball in his hands so much, he has to eventually gain some control and be the team leader in terms of maximizing every possession. If he wants to be the mercurial hybrid guard that can take over a game for stretches, the team has to hedge that by putting the ball in other more efficient hands more often (Harden, primarily).

Anyone have video of RW floater last night that kind of looked like an alley-oop?

Honey Badger DGAS...thats what makes him Honey Badger. Whatever does not kill him or the Thunder will make both stronger. He will get better.

The more important things I was trying to emphasize with the Carlson article (forget who is writing it)

The team defends RW

Other NBA coaches defend RW

Memphis organization and fan base has been much classier than Denver's

Of course, academic writing, which I do, and writing for the paper is a different ordeal so I won't pretend to be an expert in that area.