Daniel “The Sports Hound” Trawick
@TheSportsHound of SportsHoundBlog.com
Contributor of AGSH
Russell Westbrook is one of the brightest young talents in the NBA, which you can compare to Harvey Dent “Two-Face” of Batman. Dent was a young district attorney with plenty of potential. Westbrook has as much potential as any player in the NBA, but there is a battle as to whether he is a point guard or shooting guard. Many fans of the NBA and fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder look at Westbrook as a villain, because his running mate Kevin Durant is considered a top 3 player in the entire league, yet Westbrook shoots more than he does. Villain or not, he has the potential to be a hero.
Westbrook is looked at negatively, because he is averaging more field goal attempts per game than Durant. That doesn’t add up, especially since Durant averages 5 more points per game. I am one of those people who look at him negatively for that one statistic, but never have I denied how good a player Westbrook is. Westbrook has to figure out which “face” he is going to play his career as if he wants to be a main factor of his team winning a NBA championship.
There are 2 options that will help Westbrook become a better player, but it won’t necessarily make the Thunder a better team. It depends on which way he chooses to go.
If Westbrook chooses to be a “real” PG, here are a few things that he would need to do. He has become a much better passer and distributor this season, but he still is horrible making “game” decisions. With the amount of explosion he has and his ability to get to the rim with ease, there is no reason he should shoot less than 50% from the field.
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Tony Parker is a great comparison to Westbrook, since both are considered scoring PG’s, yet Parker takes smart shots. Parker’s jump shot has improved over his career, but he doesn’t shoot them unless he really needs to. He can get to the rim at will, which makes him so efficient. Westbrook averages only 2 more ppg than Parker and shoots over 3.5 more shots per game. Everyone in the world knows that Westbrook can take his foul line pull-up jumper anytime he wants, he just does too often.
I also feel that Westbrook could average 10 apg easily if he attacked the rim more and got his teammates easy baskets. That and passing Durant the ball, which is something he forgets to do sometimes. Attacking the rim to make better plays and not just to score is all apart of growth and decision-making. He still has work to do there, but there is no reason he shouldn’t average 25 ppg and 10 apg while shooting less shots per game.
The other option Westbrook has is to be a shooting guard. At 6’3″, he is undersized to be a typical SG, but he is deceptively strong for his 187 pound frame. He has the ability to guard any SG in the league as well as score over 27 ppg consistently in the NBA. That all depends on if he is still on the Thunder and if they have a “true PG.” Westbrook is having a better season than Dwyane Wade and already has the potential to be a better player.
Westbrook needs to work on spot up shooting and running off of screens to catch and shoot. That would put him in an elite category where he could be considered a top 5 player in the NBA. He is practically un-guardable at this point in his career, but because of his shot selection and decision-making he makes it easier on opponents. Westbrook has an amazing amount of talent and still haven’t reached his full potential, which is scary of how good he can be.
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For the Thunder to truly contend for a championship with the loss of their 3rd best player James Harden, Westbrook needs to better figure out what it takes to be a scoring PG with a talent on his team that’s actually better than he is. Maybe it’s an ego thing, but once Westbrook concedes to Durant being the man and looking to make his teammates and team better, he’ll end up being the guy with all the talent that couldn’t lead his team to a championship. You can call him Dan Marino!
No one could ever argue that Westbrook don’t have the heart, but once his mind follows suit the Miami Heat will really need to watch out.
