Brooks: Russell Westbrook “Plays At Another Level Than Any Other PG”

We voted for Stephen Curry, Kyle Lowry, and John Wall on the rough draft of our All-Star ballot. It speaks to the incredible wealth of point guard talent overall and this season especially that we chose three for just four available backcourt spots, but what does even louder is that we were forced to leave off so many quality floor generals.

Chris Paul deserves MVP consideration. Damian Lillard has taken another step towards unquestioned superstardom. Mike Conley is playing the best basketball of his career. Jeff Teague has made a giant leap. Tony Parker is suddenly an elite three-point shooter. And Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo are regaining the form that had many calling them the league’s top quarterbacks just two seasons ago.

But asked to choose the most impressive point guard of 2014-2015 thus far, we’d answer none of them. Not MVP frontrunner Curry. Not Toronto engine Lowry. Not two-way beast Wall. And not the ever-brilliant Paul or any of his underlings, either.

Russell Westbrook has been basketball’s best point guard this season. After the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar posted another typically dominant performance – 26 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, 50 percent shooting – in leading his team to a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, coach Scott Brooks agreed.

Via Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman:

“He’s a force,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said of Westbrook. “He plays at another level than any other point guard in this league.”

Indeed.

But the funny thing about about Westbrook’s game is the “force” that Brooks describes so easily takes center stage over its increasing nuance, fueling the narrative fire that he’s not really a point guard. It makes sense. Plays like these are more exciting than canny playmaking knack normally ascribed to players like Paul:

The above is what makes Westbrook the awesome yet divisive player that so many league followers still misunderstand. And while the emotional explosiveness and angry speed will always be his hallmarks, what has Russ playing the best basketball of his career is an understanding and patience that’s been missing in years past.

He admitted as much after the Thunder’s win on Thursday:

“You got to read the game and see how the flow of the game is going,” Westbrook said. “That’s something I’ve learned over the course of the years is reading the game and seeing how the pace of the game is going. You’ve got to find a way to get other guys shots as well.”

Passing is what Westbrook is discussing here, and he has done a better job of managing the Oklahoma City offense this season to which we’re accustomed – whether Kevin Durant is in the lineup or not. But “reading the game” is about so much more than playmaking. It involves shot selection, defensive intricacies, and overall influence that only basketball’s genius stars can fully grasp.

Paul, Curry, Lowry, and LeBron James do it better than anyone. And while Westbrook isn’t on their level yet and likely never will be, that he’s making strides in that regard at all is the most important step in his ongoing development.

Westbrook gets an assist opportunity on 24.2 percent his passes; Paul’s mark is 24.6 percent. He’s shooting 50 percent on 8.4 drives per game, numbers easily better than last season’s. He’s traded three-point attempts for rim attacks. And he’s holding the players he’s guarding to 37 percent field goal shooting, a mark 6.6 percent below their combined average and one well outpacing 2013-2014’s.

Oklahoma City’s offensive rating is 7.6 points better with him on the floor this season, and it allows 3.2 more points per 100 possessions when he’s on the bench. The Thunder are 5-2 in games Westbrook has finished and 4-11 otherwise.

The caveat here is the same one that prevented us from including Westbrook as a starter on our early All-Star ballot – he’s only played eight games this season. That can’t be discounted when assessing the potential longevity of his awesome play. It’s easy for superstars to play career-best and nearly peerless basketball over a two-week stretch; the all-time greats do it over full seasons.

But something feels different about Westbrook’s incendiary start to 2014-2015. It’s undeniable while watching him play. The relentlessness and fervor that’s been his biggest benefit and detriment throughout his career is hedging ever more towards the former. He’s picking spots on offense and playing consistently sound on- and off- ball defense while doing so with a consistent and chaotic control that’s been fleeting on his road to stardom.

We’ve always thought the possibility existed for Russ to someday join James, Durant, Paul, and now Anthony Davis as a perennial MVP candidate. Might he have realized it now? It’s too early to say for sure, but Westbrook’s play so far this season makes that long-held hope seem like more of an inevitability.

*Statistical support for this post provided by nba.com/stats

What do you think?

Follow Jack on Twitter at @ArmstrongWinter.

Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.

Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.

×