Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

really looking forward to some russ/AD/shooters lineups when lebron rests.

 

Interesting read on Russ and Carmelo. I totally agree with this article and have expressed the same sentiments here. Love Melos new found attitude and I hope Russ takes a page from Melos book


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sp...elo-anthony-lakers/1v6s54w3tphgb1hwu6fq9z4yk4

 

Yes, a good read. Thanks for posting this. I see the concern, but what this article doesn’t take into consideration is the fact that Russ will not only have Melo, but Dawight too, to learn how to transition to a new role.

And Russ seems to already understand, saying his job is to support Bron is huge. He didn’t say complement. He said support

 

I find narrative repeating takes like the Sporting News article just lazy. I look forward to us winning some rings and burying them for good.

If Russ takes the ball away from the best player so much, how did Durant win 4 scoring titles with him (less than half a point away from a 5th). How did Harden win the scoring title alongside Russ? How did Bradley Beal score 31+ (half a point away from the scoring title) and how did PG have his best ever scoring season at 28 next to him?

The only season where Russ shot more than Durant was when Harden left OKC and Russ subbed out early to run the bench unit - he wasn't taking shots away from Durant. The truth is Durant and Harden shot the same amount of shots with Westbrook on their team as without him, while PG/Beal had their most attempts with Russ. So then the question is, after the Durant/Harden/PG/Beal players, who else should be shooting more than Russ? Ibaka, Fisher, Jeremy Lamb or Ronnie Brewer in OKC? Eric Gordon, PJ Tucker, Robert Covington or Danuel House in Houston?

Since his rookie season, Westbrook has run a top 10 offence eight times out of twelve seasons and a top 5 offence six times. When he had a good scoring option next to him, they won the scoring title 7 times in a 11 year period. When he didn't have good options next to him, he won the scoring title himself twice. Russ is one of the best playmakers in the league, averaging over 10 assists a game and setting up the most favourable scoring opportunities of anyone in the league by a wide margin (wide open 3pt'ers and fast break finishes at the rim).

There is also a lazy ongoing narrative that Russ is resistant to change. In his last OKC season he focused on defence and playmaking. In Houston he took a better spread of shots while becoming the secondary playmaker and an aggressive cutter & finisher.

We need to challenge him on defence like PG did in OKC and use Houston's season as a playbook on how to get the most out of him offensively. Cut when you are off the ball, shoot a career low in 3's unless it's from the right corner, attack the basket as much as possible with a mix of mid range pull-ups. Aside from that, play make and rebound as usual.

 

Get it svtzr!!!

I also didn't agree with the article. You can't compare Melo's career stage with Westbrook's.

Melo was washed and stopped being as dominant. Russ just came back of a 22-12-12 AVG season. He also never played with 2 top10 stars. And he definitely always has shown that he is more about winning than ego.

I think he will just shut all those big mouths

 

I totally agree with you - you can't compare Melo and Westbrook. Westbrook can still play elite man on man defence, is one of the best playmakers in the league, can still attack the rim like almost no one else and showed a season ago that he can be extremely efficient with proper direction.

These kind of lazy narratives annoy me. I remember it happening to Kobe before 2008 - "Can't win without Shaq/Bad Leader/Selfish Ball Hog/Empty Stats/Not an all time great/Blah blah." We got Westbrook and media/other fans are saying it's a terrible move and we should of kept KCP and Kuzma.

Looking forward to the season to prove them wrong.

 

You definitely add Russ for KCP/Kuz & Harrel, no doubt. He has so many intangibles it's not even funny. The comparison of Melo to Russ for me was about recognizing what your role is that best suits the teams needs to win period. Nothing more. They are 2 totally different players at 2 separate points in their respective careers. When Russ went to Houston and stopped shooting 3's and midrange and still averaged 35 points a game, I want to see that duplicated here. He has been on opposite ends of the spectrum in the past, this is who I am and I'm not going to change my game to playing in Houston and last year with the Wiz and adjusting his role.

Examples good and bad

ESPN the bad:

ESPN's Kirk Goldsberry: "Of the 50 players who have launched at least 2,500 jumpers the past five seasons, Westbrook ranks last in shooting efficiency, logging a putrid effective field-goal percentage (eFG) of just 42.5 percent. That's on 4,814 attempts."

Houston the good:

He enjoyed his best shooting percentage (.514) on 2 point FG attempts when he dropped his attempts from distance down to 3.7. He drove more to the cup and took better open midrange shots.

If He can duplicate what he did with Houston and refrain from shooting, play his role and do whats best for the team I think it'll be a great season

 

Good thing for Westbrook is that he's never felt that he wasn't the best player on the team and he's played with both Durant and Harden!

On LA, there is a clear pecking order and Westbrook finally mentally can actually adjust to be #2 or #3 because Lebron is on this team and at this stage in his career everyone knows whose in charge of the locker room. Hopefully that means he goes into turbocharged Houston mode then he's going to have a great season. Just take out the pull ups jumpers and especially the pull up 3s, and you get a player whose weaknesses suddenly become much less prominent.

 

I'm confused man

 

I think Ceez meant Russ can go from one extreme to another. From saying I’m not interested in changing to completely changing his game in Houston.

As always, look at what people do and not what they say. Russ doesn't like the media and routinely antagonises them. However, each time he has needed to change for the better of the team - he has. Examples; raising his offensive output in the MVP year, lowering his usage to accomodate Melo & PG, lowering his usage further with PG only and focusing on defense and playmaking, becoming a secondary ball handler with Harden while cutting 3's out and last year letting Beal be the main offensive focus while focusing on playmaking.

Before Durant left, OKC were a legitimate contender every year for 6 seasons. Since KD left, Westbrook has moulded himself to whatever his team needs yearly (as best as a flawed but aggressive player like Westbrook can).

 

League average would be about 51-52% over that time frame. I'm not sure how they worked out Russ' EFG%, as over the last 5 years it was 47.6%, 47.7%, 46.8%, 49.3% and 47.4%. I assume they stuffed something up as he should be around 47-48%. If he plays like he did in Houston from December onwards, his EFG was 54.2%.

When Russ got healthy last year, Washington had a 7.3+ point differential and he averaged 22/14/13. They were 4th in offensive rating and 8th in defensive rating over that time with WB responsible for 53 points per game from scoring and assists. His assists lead to 31.6 ppg on a 57.8% EFG which is amazing (2nd place was Luka at a distant 24.8 ppg off assists). Last season, he was the best playmaker in the league, a top 10 rebounder and one of the best clutch scorers. Sure, he didn't shoot great to start the season with his quad tear, but even then he does so much else:

 

Lebron is no longer the best player on the Lakers. Discuss.

 

did they calculate efg just for jumpers, which basically removes his strength (getting to/finishing at the rim) and highlights his weakness (3pt %). it's a bit disingenuous.

and yes, houston pre-injury and washington post-recovery, he was quite good. if we're getting that guy, teams should be VERY concerned.

especially if we get the AD that's existed basically every year except last year.

 

Melo has finally taken the rightful keys to the Lakers franchise!

 

mcdisbelieveyou:

 

if we're having this debate in 2 months, i'll be quite happy.

 

LOL.

I think AD needs to take that mantle.

 

Totally depends on the context, careful what we wish for..