Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
For years, Westbrook has received criticism for his selfish play, “stat padding” and poor decision making. Yet, here we are attacking him for giving the ball up in the final seconds of a game for a good shot. As basketball fans, we need to make up our minds – do we want him to take a tough shot over a perennial defensive player of the year candidate or give it to the open man?
Fox Sports Oklahoma City analyst Antonio Daniels nailed it right on the head while replying to a fan’s tweet:
So often criticism comes no matter what...if Russ shoots “he doesn’t trust his teammates.” If he passes “he needs to be selfish.” I commend Russ for trusting in Alex. Regardless of the outcome. https://t.co/YyB0oUR6WH
— Antonio Daniels (@adaniels33) December 13, 2018
This is a fans conundrum more than Westbrook’s. Two season’s ago, the Brodie most likely wouldn’t have made that pass and we would be here slandering him for taking a tough jumper over Davis instead of trusting his teammates. Russ understands its a make or miss league and has chosen execution over team glory.
Here are his thoughts on the final play:
Russell Westbrook on the positives in Thunder‘s progress on offense this season: “Just executing. Taking our time, getting the shots we want. Miss or make, we’re gonna live by them.” pic.twitter.com/X5hKk1uAw1
— Erik Horne (@ErikkHorne) December 13, 2018
And while Westbrook continues to embrace his revamped role with this year’s team, he’s still doing “Russ things” to keep the team in the game.
Case in point ….