Westbrook struggles highlight differences in OKC Thunder vs. Rockets systems

OKC Thunder alumni Russell Westbrook had one of the worst net rating games in the past eight years. Yet, the fault doesn’t fall solely on him.

There has been much speculation as to which of the new duos in the NBA will work. LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as well as James Harden and OKC Thunder alumni Russell Westbrook are the three headline acts that were put together over the summer. In addition earlier last season the Mavericks traded for Kristaps Porzingis to pair with rising superstar Luka Doncic bringing the new duos to four.

Davis and James are working, both of them are putting each other first and the Los Angeles Lakers are humming, mostly. George is yet to take the court for the Los Angeles Clippers so that is a question that is yet to be answered.

One need only pull up the match between the Lakers and Mavericks from November 1st to witness how well the Mavericks wunderkids are doing.

The Harden and Westbrook combination is going to take a lot of work if it is going to succeed. The Houston Rockets are not seeing the benefits of the talents of Westbrook alongside Harden, particularly with the iso-ball, one-shot offense they run. This was especially true with the recent loss to the Miami Heat where Westbrook had a net rating of -46 for the game.

This game was historically bad as have only nine other times in the last eight years where players had a net rating of -46 or worse. Antawn Jamison had two games in his tenure at the Cleveland Cavaliers at -46 or worse. Manny Harris had the worst game during this period with a -57.

I had to watch the game for myself to see why the most competitive player of his era could allow such a deficit. He never let things get that bad when he was with the OKC Thunder. The truth is the Heat were just too good for the Rockets. Their swarming defense was stopping the Rockets from playing their game.

Westbrook turned the ball over on the first play because the Rockets players are not used to moving without the ball and the defense was so good. Westbrook also missed his first two field goal attempts, which were from behind the line.

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However, the problem is a whole lot deeper than that. The season is less than ten games old and Westbrook already looks frustrated with the Rockets’ defensive effort. I should actually say the lack of defensive effort from the Rockets. They have been appalling. It looks like their philosophy is they will simply try and outscore you through offense, not playing any defense.

The problem is that this does not work against a well drilled team. The Heat simply suffocated the life out of this game in the first quarter. Westbrook already had a net rating of -34 at the end of the first. Westbrook looked simply lost on defense. Part of the reason for this was that no Rockets player seemed to want to play at that end.

Westbrook tried for a number of defensive plays but they did not come off and often cost the Rockets points. Likewise, on offense, Westbrook is standing as a floor spacer. This is not using his talents at all. Westbrook is at his best when he is creating but the Rockets are James Harden’s team.

Harden has not shown that he has the mentality required to win a championship, and a big part of that is the lack of sacrificing his own game. He managed to put Chris Paul offside, he now appears happier with the OKC Thunder. Now it seems that Westbrook is already starting to get frustrated.

It is going to be a huge job for coach Mike D’Antoni to get the two stars to play together in harmony. If he can’t do this, Westbrook is going to be the next player to want to get out of Houston.