Westbrook needs to distribute the ball more

dream_catcher_9 · Post #1 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:27 pm

He has fallen in love with his mid range game. Its true that he is hitting it at a solid clip, but as the floor general on the team he needs to get others involved in the offense more. He is playing like a volume SG which is fine if he was actually playing off the ball, but he is not, he is our PG and he needs to pass the rock much more consistently.

IDC if we have bad offensive players next to him, he needs to develop better habits. We won't win a Championship with him jacking up shots left and right like he is now.

HornetJail · Post #2 » by **HornetJail** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:46 pm

In other news, water is wet.

Krodis · Post #3 » by **Krodis** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:33 pm

I, on the other hand, DO care that we have bad offensive players next to him. Passing it to Kendrick Perkins isn't going to do any good for anyone.

CKRT · Post #4 » by **CKRT** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:23 pm

I'd rather have Westbrook throwing up any shot on the court than have Perkins try to post someone up.

1Shooter · Post #5 » by **1Shooter** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:55 pm

I think it's time to face reality that Westbrook will always play this way... it's just in his nature it seems. lol

I would love him to distribute the ball more cause I think it'll add a lot more to his game.
I think he just have a lot of bad shot selections and when he's on fire, he falls in love with shooting the ball 24/7 and it can get annoying sometimes.

I hope he improves with the mid-range jumper and distributing the ball.

Phailadelphia · Post #6 » by **Phailadelphia** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:06 am

1Shooter wrote:I think it's time to face reality that Westbrook will always play this way... it's just in his nature it seems. lol

I would love him to distribute the ball more cause I think it'll add a lot more to his game.
I think he just have a lot of bad shot selections and when he's on fire, he falls in love with shooting the ball 24/7 and it can get annoying sometimes.

I hope he improves with the mid-range jumper and distributing the ball.

Distribute to who? Perkins has stone hands. Ibaka can't even catch the **** ball. Thabo can't create his own shot so if he's not wide open for 3 he's worthless. There is literally no one on this team for Westbrook to pass the ball to. Can we just stop this "he needs to pass more" nonsense already?

ronnymac2 · Post #7 » by **ronnymac2** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:51 am

I disagree. Westbrook distributing the ball more isn't the best thing for OKC, simply because distributing isn't Westbrook's strong point. To his credit, he seems to understand this now.

What the Thunder need is what this calmer Westbrook has become. RW has upped his scoring volume this season from 21.9 to 24.2 points per game, all the while scoring more efficiently than ever before (55.2 percent True Shooting). His assists have dropped from 8.2 to 5.5 per game, but that's more a function of issuing the ball to James Harden and Durant to accommodate their respective ball-handling and improved iso scoring capabilities. He has improved his ability to play off of others.

And that's why defenses are having a much harder time corralling him. Westbrook is shooting at career-high percentages from 3-9 feet, 10-15 feet, and 16-23 feet, all the while shooting the same or a greater volume from those spots on the floor compared to 2011. Perhaps most importantly, he's developed a potent 3-point shot. He's assisted on 45.8 percent of his 3's, but he has also more than doubled his volume of total attempts, meaning he's even more of a threat off the dribble from deep.

http://nba-wired.blogspot.com/2012/03/russell-westbrook-and-creating-luck.html

OKC is number one in offensive rating btw.

dream_catcher_9 · Post #8 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:17 pm

I thought Westbrook played his best game of his career vs Portland the other day. Not only was he picking his spots well, but he was making unselfish plays and kept his emotions in check the whole game.

Was it because he was guarded by a rookie? who knows but I hope we see more of this Russ.

BIG EDDIE · Post #9 » by **BIG EDDIE** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:32 pm

dream_catcher_9 wrote:I thought Westbrook played his best game of his career vs Portland the other day. Not only was he picking his spots well, but he was making unselfish plays and kept his emotions in check the whole game.

Was it because he was guarded by a rookie? who knows but I hope we see more of this Russ.

I agree with you, especially in the 1st half Russ played very well, distributing the ball unselfishly and smart. Actually I have noticed, that since Fisher's signing, the whole team is sharing the ball much better and much more.
Do you think it's all Fish's impact that we see?

OKCLouisiana · Post #10 » by **OKCLouisiana** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:57 pm

To be honest, I did notice the team change A LOT right when fisher came. Who knows what happened

dream_catcher_9 · Post #11 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Sun Apr 1, 2012 9:43 pm

OKCLouisiana wrote:To be honest, I did notice the team change A LOT right when fisher came. Who knows what happened

ever since Fisher came here, Westbrook has been a MVP level player. Sure it's just 6 games but its not just level of play, its his attitude, his leadership has been great. I hope he turned a corner.

curryshimmy · Post #12 » by **curryshimmy** » Fri Apr 6, 2012 5:04 pm

Warriors fan here. But I've always been a big fan of Westbrook. I kind of wish he would pass more. As a point guard you want to distribute about 7 assists per game at least. He was able to do it in the past.

Anyways, his style seems to be working. You're record is up, and I am impressed that a team can have so much sucess just running an iso offense the whole game.

Jase · Post #13 » by **Jase** » Sun Apr 8, 2012 1:21 am

I would be happy just knowing that he knew how to differentiate WHEN to pass and WHEN to shoot. If he HAS to shoot/create his own offense, then fine, but it really should be situational.