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What makes Russell Westbrook so amazing? (Film Thread):
Westbrook clearly regressed as a scorer this season, not attacking the rim nearly as much and as a result has the worst efficiency of his career.
Yet, he& #39;s still maintained high levels of impact, and is even better than last season, and this is because he reinvented his game.
Yet, he& #39;s still maintained high levels of impact, and is even better than last season, and this is because he reinvented his game.
Let& #39;s start with passing, Westbrook being one of the best in the game. In most cases, weaker outside shooters don& #39;t create many shots at the rim, but this just isn& #39;t the case with Russ, making extremely high leverage passes that create wide open layups on a nightly basis.
This is because Russ is not afraid to take risks, he& #39;s an extremely aggressive passer and is willing to fire these through tight holes. While this makes Westbrook& #39;s turnover numbers rise, it benefits the team& #39;s offense greatly, getting a free 2 points when these get through.
While Westbrook doesn& #39;t score at the rim nearly as much as he used to, teams do still react to all of his drives, allowing him to lay these down to teammates. His ability to deliver these after leaving the ground throws defenders off and again, creates wide open layups and dunks.
Teams reacting to his drives also allows him to hit wide open shooters, often going to the drive and kick game to create practice shots for teammates.
Westbrook baseline drives are automatic offense, so a lot of teams will attempt to cut these off, and Westbrook makes them pay, hitting teammates for more free points.
On this play they try the exact same thing, except they drop the corner to cut off that shovel assist, Westbrook counters it by skipping it over the defense for a free 3 points.
When near the basket, Westbrook plays a game of chess with the opposing big man, react to his drive and it& #39;s getting dumped to the big, don& #39;t react and let him go 1 on 1 with a smaller defender, pick your poison.
Westbrook has developed into an elite floor general as well, here you can see he directs Avdija on the cut and hits him perfectly in stride for a layup.
Westbrook still has quite a bit of mid range gravity as well, here he draws the double off the screen and delivers a beautiful 3 point assist.
Westbrook& #39;s versatile passing game allows him to dismantle defenses without even shooting the ball, hitting cutters and shooters all over the court through lay downs, kick outs, no-looks, and skip passes.
The next part of Westbrook& #39;s game I want to touch on quickly is his rebounding. A lot of people write off Westbrook& #39;s rebounding as empty stats, just grabbing free boards, but what people don& #39;t understand is how much offense his rebounding generates.
Westbrook grabs defensive rebounds and instantly takes off down the floor, and in transition every single player on the court is a threat to score because if there& #39;s a hole, Westbrook will find it.
Westbrook can also grab these rebounds and fire full court outlet passes, this one is beautiful because Westbrook throws the ball the moment he touches the floor, not even a dribble to set himself up, and it lands perfectly in stride for a Bradley Beal layup.
Westbrook can also crash the offensive glass, grabbing this one through traffic then quickly turning it into a wide open dunk for Alex Len.
Did I mention that this man is a Point Guard?
Let& #39;s look at some metrics to contextualize what we see on the film.
- 10.8 Box Creation (95th Percentile)
- 7.5 Passer Rating (92nd Percentile)
- 4.3 Rim Assists (99th Percentile)
- 3.6 3PT Assists (99th Percentile)
- 21.4 Potential Assists (100th Percentile)
- 10.8 Box Creation (95th Percentile)
- 7.5 Passer Rating (92nd Percentile)
- 4.3 Rim Assists (99th Percentile)
- 3.6 3PT Assists (99th Percentile)
- 21.4 Potential Assists (100th Percentile)
The playmaking metrics clearly paint Westbrook as one of the best playmakers on the planet, and I would argue they even undersell his value.
Box Creation takes 3 point shooting into account, which undersells just how many opportunities Westbrook creates despite poor shooting.
Box Creation takes 3 point shooting into account, which undersells just how many opportunities Westbrook creates despite poor shooting.
The passer rating is obviously lowered by Westbrook& #39;s high turnover rates, but what it doesn& #39;t take into account is the risks that he& #39;s taking to make high leverage assists.
To summarize, while Westbrook hasn& #39;t been scoring at the level that he used to, his passing has been outstanding and he has been creating wide open scoring opportunities for teammates at will while cleaning the glass.
Let& #39;s all sit back, and enjoy Russ making history.
Let& #39;s all sit back, and enjoy Russ making history.
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