Alright, let's get to Westbrook. Russell Westbrook won the MVP award this past season and let me preface what I am about to say with this: Russell Westbrook is an incredible basketball player and has a great deal of talent. Let's be clear about that. However, he was a complete ballhog last year. Sure, he averaged a triple double, but at the expense of his team. Now, this is the part of the conversation where people say that he had no one to pass to and he was all alone and to that I say, not true. He had shooters, he had guys that could score, but in order to score they need the ball. Westbrook has guys now. Paul George is a great player and he is going to need the ball. Westbrook cannot average 24 shots per game. He has to be more efficient and he has to find the balance of being aggressive looking for his own shot and trying to get other guys involved. He has to be better at sharing the ball and picking his spots. He has to sacrifice some of his numbers to win. Westbrook has the chance to change and be a point guard that can score when he needs to and distribute to his guys or he can play like he always has and make another All-Star decide that he would rather play with guys that actually pass the ball. Unfortunately, that might mean that he does not average another triple double, that might mean that he does not win the MVP, but it might mean that he gets out of the first round.
Before we get to Westbrook, let me say pass on that Patrick Patterson signed a 3 year/16.4 million dollar deal with the Thunder and I absolutely love the move. Patterson is a stretch 4 that will provide some badly needed shooting for the Thunder. He shot 37% from 3 point range and does not do too much else on offense. He is a solid player that plays with intelligence. He has good touch and can play a little with his back to the basket if given the opportunity. He can be somewhat streaky as evidenced by the playoffs where he was somewhat cold shooting only 30% from 3, but teams have to guard him. Defensively is where I think he will make a bigger difference for the Thunder. The Thunder were ranked 15th in the league defensively according to Synergy, but adding defenders like George and Patterson will help to improve that when you put them next to Adams. If OKC re-signs Anthony Roberson and he continues to start, they will be imposing defensively with four good defenders in George, Roberson, Patterson, and Adams. The biggest positive on defense with Patterson is that he can guard the pick and roll. He is able to switch onto guards and hold his own. In pick and roll situations where Patterson switched onto the ball handler he rated out as Excellent giving up 0.642 points per possession. The thing to remember though is that Patterson will be playing more minutes and the number of possessions will go up, but I think he improves their defense immensely.
Alright, let's get to Westbrook. Russell Westbrook won the MVP award this past season and let me preface what I am about to say with this: Russell Westbrook is an incredible basketball player and has a great deal of talent. Let's be clear about that. However, he was a complete ballhog last year. Sure, he averaged a triple double, but at the expense of his team. Now, this is the part of the conversation where people say that he had no one to pass to and he was all alone and to that I say, not true. He had shooters, he had guys that could score, but in order to score they need the ball. Westbrook has guys now. Paul George is a great player and he is going to need the ball. Westbrook cannot average 24 shots per game. He has to be more efficient and he has to find the balance of being aggressive looking for his own shot and trying to get other guys involved. He has to be better at sharing the ball and picking his spots. He has to sacrifice some of his numbers to win. Westbrook has the chance to change and be a point guard that can score when he needs to and distribute to his guys or he can play like he always has and make another All-Star decide that he would rather play with guys that actually pass the ball. Unfortunately, that might mean that he does not average another triple double, that might mean that he does not win the MVP, but it might mean that he gets out of the first round.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDennis Dow Archives
October 2017
Categories
All
|