OKC Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook loves a challenge and this summer he’s tasked himself with improving from the perimeter.
Russell Westbrook shoots an abundance of three’s which is odd considering his career 3-point percentage is 31.1 percent. During his MVP campaign in 2016-17, Russ launched a career-high 583 shots from beyond the arc. Fast forward to the 2017-18 season where Westbrook dialed it back, by attempting 326 triples, his fewest since the 2014-15 season.
However, do not expect the trend of Westbrook shooting around 330 three’s per season to continue. In a recent radio interview ESPN reporter Royce Young discussed how Westbrook is spending and has spent copious amounts of time this summer honing his 3-point shot;
Upon listening, my initial thought was the same as the groaning radio host Dusty Dvoracek, who can be heard in the above podcast clip. Yet, after diving deeper into Westbrook’s shooting stats it is not as bad as the initial idea indicates.
With that, let’s leap into Russell Westbrook’s shooting statistics.
Westbrook must resist pull up three’s
During the 2017-18 season, Westbrook attempted 226 pull up trey’s while shooting 27.9 percent on those triple’s. The Brodie launched 59 more pull up three’s than running mate Paul George.
Moreover, George shot 37.7 percent on pull up three’s last season, nearly a full 10 percent better than the Brodie, those numbers are striking. Furthermore, among 29 players to attempt 150 or more pull up three’s Westbrook’s shooting percentage, 27.9 percent was second-worst, trailing only Mavericks rookie Dennis Smith Jr.
*The above 3-point percentage for Westbrook & Smith Jr. only includes pull up three’s.
The above clip perfectly demonstrates how detrimental Westbrook’s pull up triple’s can be to OKC. The shot he takes in the clip is off-balance, ill-advised, and made worse because George was wide-open at the top of the key.
If Westbrook is truly going to become a better 3-point shooter, he must resist the urge to hoist pull up treys such as the shot seen in the play above.
The three’s Westbrook should be shooting
Westbrook is putrid when it comes to pull up three’s, however Russ’ percentage on catch & shoot trey’s is much better.
The sample size is small due to Westbrook attempting only 81 catch & shoot triple’s last season, but the numbers are encouraging.
Arguably, Westbrook’s best catch & shoot three came at the expense of the Sacramento Kings as viewed below.
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Russ shot 36.0 percent on catch & shoot three’s, just over eight percent better than his pull up percentage. Eight percent may not seem like a lot, but when it comes to an NBA player’s shooting the slightest uptick is vast.
Moreover, head coach Billy Donovan must do a better job of generating catch & shoot opportunities for his starting PG. Perhaps, with the addition of Dennis Schröder Billy D can use Schröder to allow Westbrook to play off the ball for more catch & shoot three’s.
The verdict on Westbrook’s 3-point shooting
In conclusion, if the coaching staff can generate more catch & shoot three’s for Westbrook the OKC Thunder will benefit from added trey’s courtesy of Russ. But if the added attempts are going to come via pull up jumpers it will hinder the OKC Thunder.
I am a firm believer Westbrook can accomplish anything he sets his mind to. Case in point he just became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double in consecutive seasons.
For what it’s worth, the Brodie’s motto is why not. Therefore, I see no reason why Westbrook cannot become a better shooter if he fully commits to the challenge.