NBA: Russell Westbrook is a true freak of nature
Westbrook shows no signs of pressure in Durant’s absenceWith Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant out once again with a hamstring injury, fellow superstar Russell Westbrook had to transform himself into “do EVERYTHING” mode, and for NBA fans worldwide, there aren’t many things much better to watch than that.LeBron James might still be the best, most dominant player in the league and Stephen Curry is the reigning MVP and best player through 12 games so far, but if you ever wanted to see what it’s like to have an NFL free safety play basketball, I imagine Westbrook is the closest you'll get.He may be out of control sometimes and he may take some poor shots (actually he definitely does both), but nobody in the league can match his relentlessness to attack or his ability to will his team to victory every night. In the last two games, Westbrook has matched this relentlessness with sublime production and some patented turnovers – 12 in the last two games. However, to focus on that would be to miss just how truly amazing Russ is.Just let this two-game stat line sink in: 83 points (27-44 fgs, 5-11 threes, 24-33 free throws), 22 assists, 13 rebounds, and four steals. I mean, to score that much, that efficiently and still have time to dish out over 10 assists a game is something only LeBron and Steph can do, and I’ve already said they are the best two players running the show right now.So where does that leave Russ? I’d say right up there with them in terms of sheer dominance on the court, especially when it comes to offensive production. Now arbitrary end points (he shot 5-20 in the game immediately preceeding these last two) and small sample sizes abound, but if you want to get hung up on those things, that’s your problem.Here's a quick breakdown of why he’s been so good.
Also read: Top 10 of Russell Westbrook's Triple Doubles
#1 Shooting
One of the biggest knocks on Westbrook has always been that he shoots too much and doesn’t make enough to back it up. Even last year when he had his crazy run of triple doubles, all people could talk about was the fact that he went 13-33 or something and he was actually below-average and making the Thunder lose.
Well guess what, this season he is sticking it to the haters and shooting a cool 47%, including a respectable 35% from three on 5.5 attempts a game.
In the last two, he’s upped that to 61% and 45% from three, and now all you hear is crickets from the critics. He’s doing this by being a little more judicious with what shots he shoots. He is also just looking more and more comfortable with controlling his speed while driving, helping him kiss the ball softly off the glass on layups and stay balanced for his patented off the dribble mid range jumper.
People forget that he’s only 27 and is maybe in the second year of his prime, so it was definitely possibly for him to improve and fine tune his game to make him an unstoppable force.