He hadn’t averaged so few turnovers since the 2013-14 season. He averaged 3.8 turnovers a game on the season, compared to 4.8 last year. Then there’s the matter of Westbrook reportedly not being receptive to feedback from coaches and teammates, something that has been well-documented.īut Westbrook does deserve credit for cutting down his turnovers, something that had troubled him for several years. While he wasn’t fully to blame for the team’s defensive problems, it was clearly (slightly) better off without him on that end of the floor. Without him, its defensive rating was 111.0. KYkXEXxdZMĪccording to NBA.com, with Westbrook on the floor, L.A. Russell Westbrook doesn't contest three pointers, his teammates help him grab rebounds, & takes breaks on defense to get triple doubles. Some have accused him of ignoring his defensive responsibilities to grab more rebounds so he could pad his stats and get more triple-doubles. Laker fans are booing Russell Westbrook after this awful miss □ /yOrAtlB5EAĪt times this season, he also had problems making layups, which was mysterious given how deadly he has historically been at slashing to the hoop and finishing.īut what seemed to infuriate Lakers fans even more was Westbrook’s indifference or inattention on the defensive end. On a number of occasions, Westbrook not only missed perimeter shots badly, but he also didn’t even hit the rim. He made 29.8% of his 3-pointers on the year, which is slightly below his 30.5% career average. His outside shooting never improved as a Laker. The three weaknesses of Westbrook fans were concerned about were outside shooting, turnovers and defense. He didn’t do so, and it was at least partly due to his many flaws. Lakers fans were hoping Westbrook would raise the floor of the team, which a third star is supposed to do. had Dennis Schroder starting at the point, it went 12-15 without James - and in most of those games, Anthony Davis was also out. Instead, they went 8-18 without him.īy comparison, last year, when L.A. It was thought Westbrook could keep the Lakers competitive without their MVP. James missed 26 games this year due to injuries. He seemed to spend a good part of the year trying to find the right balance between aggressiveness and control. He went through a rough stretch in January and February in which his points and assists were consistently much lower than usual. He ended up averaging 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game this season, which seems reasonable, given he was playing with James.īut Westbrook’s play was up-and-down throughout the schedule. Whether because of age, roster instability due to injury or a crisis of confidence, Westbrook wasn’t really Westbrook this season. Over his 14-year career, Westbrook has been one of the game’s best at attacking in the open court, getting to the rim and finishing and hitting the open man. The apparent thinking behind the Westbrook trade (and it was very sound thinking, even if one wants to argue that the execution was off) was an aging LeBron James needed to lessen his workload handling the ball, making plays and scoring with the ball in his hands.
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