Views from OKC: Stop blaming Westbrook’s supporting cast

Views from OKC is a public diary about the current state of the OKC Thunder. Today we take a look at the tendency to blame Russell Westbrook’s supporting cast.

I needed over 24 hours to recover and have a clear head after that Game Two debacle. Okay maybe school got in the way a little bit too. But that’s besides the point.

In those 24+ hours I’ve heard a lot about how Russell Westbrook’s supporting cast is to blame because they couldn’t hit a shot all game. That is quite contrary to the truth.

In Game Two Westbrook shot 17-43 from the field. 39.5%. The rest of his team went 23-54 from the field. 42.6%. Westbrook went 2-11 from the three-point line. 18.1%. The rest of his teammates? 5-19, or 26.3%.

By no means am I blaming Russell Westbrook for this loss, nor am I saying his teammates’ numbers are good enough when you’re down a game in the playoffs. But to blame Westbrook’s teammates for not giving the man any help is ridiculous.

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In the first half the OKC Thunder offense was humming because Westbrook was distributing the ball all around the court. Taj Gibson and Andre Roberson made four field goals each, Doug McDermott and Victor Oladipo hit three apiece in the second quarter and Westbrook had 10 assists and only 15 shot attempts.

It resulted in a 68-point half.

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Sure, Westbrook’s supporting cast started missing a few shots in the third quarter. But the lead wasn’t shrinking, it was only growing because they were playing fantastic defense on the other end. When Russ saw his bench blow a 12-point lead – not the starters he had been playing with all game – he decided to tune out everyone in the fourth quarter.

Everyone saw how hard-headed Russ was in that moment. And as a basketball player, on a team with a no-doubt-about-it alpha male in Westbrook, you don’t do anything to piss him off. Any offensive rebound went immediately in to Russ’ hands, every open shot was passed up to give the ball to Russ because they were afraid to miss and get that angry Russ look.

The supporting cast didn’t lose that game for the Thunder. Through the first 33 minutes they did everything they could to put Oklahoma City in a position to win.

But when Westbrook came back in, he didn’t give them an opportunity to help him. The good news is he knows that.

Again, I don’t blame Westbrook. Most of these guys have never been in the playoffs, and even those that have don’t have a good enough offensive game. This supporting cast was loosely assembled around Russ after July 4th and won’t truly come into shape until this offseason.

I know I picked Oklahoma City to win the series, but that was out of hope. Deep down I knew the Thunder would lose this series, and that’s okay. History says we shouldn’t even be here. It’s not fair to place blame on anyone this series because the Thunder are simply overmatched in almost every facet of the game.

Now let’s get ready for tonight and hope everything I just said is wrong.