Thunderous Thoughts: Putting Russell Westbrook on a shot count limit from three
The Oklahoma City Thunder are 1-5 when Russell Westbrook takes 9+ threes. How can we solve his issue of shooting too much? Here’s an idea.
Oklahoma City Thunder fans have a love hate relationship with Russell Westbrook. On most nights, we love him. We’re thankful that he is on the team and marvel at his almost nightly triple-doubles. But then there are some nights where we hate him. That we justly blame him for a loss that could have been prevented had he played a little bit smarter.
Monday night against the Milwaukee Bucks was one of those “We hate Russ” nights.
When the Russ three is counter productive:
After a strong first half against the Bucks, where Westbrook was feeding a feasting Steven Adams and calming running the offense, he abandoned the game plan in the second half and started taking every shot. It didn’t matter if it was a good shot or a bad shot, he was taking it. Early in the shot clock, no movement, no threat of driving, wild and out of control. It didn’t matter. Russ was getting his shots up.
It ultimately cost the team.
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He wasn’t much better Wednesday night against the Charlotte Hornets. Adams was once again feasting on the inside, and Victor Oladipo was shooting relatively well, but Westbrook still decided that taking a bunch of three’s was the best decision.
Despite being clutch for most of the season, Westbrook’s decision making in the clutch is still questionable. He insists on taking bad threes even though he’s an average three-point shooter on his best night. He may make the shots, like he did against Boston, but it doesn’t make his decision making any better.
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When the Russ ‘three’ is key:
Westbrook is at his best when he isn’t forcing threes. He said before the season that he wouldn’t take three’s for the sake of taking them. That he would be smarter about things. He’s currently taking 1.2 more threes a game than he did last season. And while you can defend that with, “he’s only one of two guys who can create his own shot and Kevin Durant, Dion Waiters, and Serge Ibaka are gone, so who else is going to take them?” it doesn’t make it any better.
Westbrook is a career 30% shooter from three. He’s shooting 32% this year. He’s not a good three point shooter, so taking 9+ three’s a game is not ideal. In fact, when Westbrook takes nine or more threes in a game, OKC is 1-5. The only win came in their second game against Phoenix, where he needed a 51-point triple double and overtime. And, if you remember that game, his decision to shoot a dagger three with the team up one and the ball with 30 seconds left nearly cost them the game.
This is why I suggest putting Westbrook on a three-point shot count. He gets one three per quarter. If he makes it, he can take another. And chances are, he’ll take it on the next possession because no one loves shooting a three after making a three like Russell Westbrook. If he misses, that’s it. He doesn’t get another one until the next quarter.
There are three exceptions:
End of quarter threes don’t count as long as there are less than five seconds when the team gets the ball. That doesn’t mean he can take an end of quarter three if the team has the ball with 20 seconds left and Russ drains the clock until there are five seconds remaining. It means if the opponents makes or misses and OKC inbounds or rebounds the ball with less than five seconds, he can take a long three. If there are six seconds left, he better get inside the line or find a teammate.
If it’s a close game (six points or less) in the final three minutes and he’s already used his fourth quarter three, he gets one more. Same rules apply. If he makes it, he can take another. But if he misses, no more threes in the final minutes. If he has yet to use his fourth quarter three in the final three minutes of a close game, this three counts as his fourth quarter three.
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The other exception is if it’s a two or three point game and OKC has the ball for the final possession. If Russ wants to take his flailing three to try and win or tie the game, I can’t stop him. That’s the maddening beauty of Westbrook. I’m not here to prevent it. Just control it a bit.
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The shot count does not roll over. So, if he doesn’t take a three in the first three quarters, he doesn’t get four threes in the fourth. If he has already used his missed three for the quarter and decides to take another one, even if it’s at the end of the shot clock and a desperation attempt, he’s not allowed to take a three the rest of the game. No exceptions.
This shot count would limit Westbrook to an 0/6 night from three at the very worst. And if he ends up taking ten threes in a game, we’ll have to make at least four of them.
There’s no way to enforce this. And the chances of it happening, and Westbrook not laughing before walking away, are slimmer than Alex Abrines . But I swear it works for me in NBA 2K.
Other Thunder Thoughts:
*January is going to suck.
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