"Russ, what do you normally make?" - Skip Bayless tears into Russell Westbrook for his poor shooting, compares it to centers
Famous sports TV personality Skip Bayless recently shredded Russell Westbrook for his poor performances. The nine-time All-Star is playing subpar basketball and several fans and analysts are upset with his production on the floor. He recently got benched in the overtime period against the New York Knicks and many analysts have suggested that his absence on the court is the reason the LA Lakers won the game.
Lakers survive in OT, mostly because the Knicks went colder than New York is. Lakers won in spite of Westbrook going 1-10, 0-3 from three, 3-7 FTs, including 2 costly late misses in reg. GUESS WHO DIDN'T PLAY IN OVERTIME? WESTBROOK, BENCHED.
Russell Westbrook shot 1-for-10 from the field, including 0-for-3 from three-point range, and missed four of his seven free-throw attempts. In his latest rant, Skip Bayless didn't hold back after Brodie made a postgame statement saying he missed some shots he normally makes.
"Russ, what do you normally make?...Russ is now shooting 66% from the free-throw line. Two centers are the only two guys shooting worse from the line. You are the point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers!"
Westbrook has taken a lot of the blame for the LA Lakers' struggles lately and is now the scapegoat whenever they lose games. His style of play hasn't blended well with LeBron James and the LA faithful is demanding that the star point guard be traded.
.@RealSkipBayless on Westbrook benched in OT of Lakers comeback win:
"Russ is now shooting 66% from the FT line. Two centers are the only two guys shooting worse from the line. You are the point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers!" https://t.co/WWcZFZfq0j
Westbrook is now shooting 30% from beyond the arc while attempting 3.5 threes a game. That ranks 143rd in the NBA out of 149 qualified three-point shooters. His 66% free-throw shooting mark is the worst amongst point guards and only two centers in the league shoot worse from the charity stripe - Houston's Christian Wood and Cleveland's Evan Mobley.
It was no surprise coach Frank Vogel benched Westbrook during the dying moments of the game because he cannot shoot contested threes and is also a liability from the free-throw line if he gets fouled on a drive.
Russell Westbrook was upset after he got benched in overtime
After Russell Westbrook got benched in overtime against the New York Knicks, media personnel were hungry to ask him about it in the postgame press conference. He was asked whether coach Frank Vogel discussed benching him beforehand and how he felt about it, to which he replied:
"There was no communication...He's the coach, he makes the decision that he feels is best for the team and like I said, the most important part is not about myself, it's about our team and we won the game and that's the important part. I talked to him about [that] I was upset about it but I [would have been] more upset if we didn't win the game."
Russell Westbrook spoke after being benched in OT vs. the Knicks: https://t.co/W0bb9zi9MR
Russell Westbrook was asked about his poor performance a bunch of times and he kept focusing on the fact that the LA Lakers won the game. LeBron James and Anthony Davis also encouraged him to keep shooting even if the shots aren't falling.
Nevertheless, his poor efficiency and turnover rate are alarming and his name is now popping up in several trade rumors around the league.