Oklahoma City Thunder and the curios case of Russell Westbrook – NBA Special Feature
On the face of it, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the team, most likely to dominate that league in the future. They have a plethora of young, hungry and talented players at their disposal. The Thunder have strong starting players
at almost every position as well as depth on the bench in the form of underrated players like James Harden, Nick Collison and Eric Maynor.
However the team’s fortunes hinge on the maturity, or lack of it, of a certain phenomenally talented young man. I am talking of course about Russell Westbrook.
Since joining the Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder to unite with his good friend and scoring monster Kevin Durant, Westbrook has consistently shown what he is capable of. Westbrook has shown that he can outshine even Durant on his day
and also that he can play petulant basketball to take the shine of any OKC performance.
Westbrook is gifted with tremendous athletic ability, more so than Durant. He is one of the most potent players in the league already when it comes to penetrating and is mightily explosive at the rim. The player certainly knows
how to make the best of his talent on offence. However, his effort on the other end of the floor doesn’t do justice to his ability, but that can be improved over time.
However, the most glaring shortage in Westbrook’s arsenal is his mental capacity. A player who can dominate games easily can also drift into a self indulgent, defiant state of play that has no regard for his team or teammates whatsoever.
Unlike Chris Paul now, and Jason Kidd before him, Russell Westbrook is not a great point guard in the true sense of the word.
Paul and Jason Kidd can more than spot a pass. They can read plays before they happen. They know who to find and where to find him in order to get their team an easy basket. The two might not flash as much as Westbrook does, or
the energetic Derrick Rose, but they can lead their team to victory just through their passing.
And that is the job of a point guard. The likes of Derrick Rose and Deron Williams score bucket loads as well, but they also find their teammates. Also, those players play on teams that don’t have many other scoring outlets, so
they carry the burden.
It’s completely the opposite with Westbrook. He has the league’s best scoring machine alongside him in Kevin Durant. There is talent all over the OKC roster. All he has to do is pass the ball.
Instead Westbrook time and again goes on a one man mission to outscore the opposing team. He takes jump shot after jump shot and misses an awful lot of them. What’s more, when his coach tries to bring him under control, Russell
just ignores him.
Everyone saw the tantrum he threw when Scott Brooks benched him for the last quarter in a playoffs game against the Dallas Mavericks in favour of the young Eric Maynor, who might not have the talent that Russell possess, but he
certainly showed he had the basketball IQ to be a top point guard in this league.
Only time will tell if Russell Westbrook can bring himself under control and become the true point guard that his team needs. If he does, the OKC of the future might just be unstoppable. If he doesn’t, don’t be surprised if they
move him on in return for someone who is actually willing to put his teammates first.
Westbrook needs to be careful, OKC are determined to be successful in the very near future, with or without him.
Tags: