Russell Westbrook Says He’s Trying To Be “Best Defensive Player” In NBA

The incredible raw stats don’t even do Russell Westbrook’s performance justice. The three-time All-NBA Second Team honoree is averaging 26.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists per game this season – and doing it in a mind-bending 29.6 minutes a night. Prorated for a 36-minute game, Westbrook’s numbers seem like they must be fake: 32.0 points, 7.1 boards, 8.3 dimes. Each of those marks is a career-high, as are his shooting percentages from the field (49.5) and beyond the arc (35.5). But that mostly takes just one side of the floor into account. Basketball is played on two, and Westbrook is finally living up to the hype on defense that accompanied his NBA arrival from UCLA.

It’s hard to remember now, but Russ was drafted in 2009 as a combo guard who would wreak havoc on the defensive side of the ball. He projected as merely a plus offensive player at best, a guy that would take time to develop into a nice supporting piece for a good team.

What’s happened since no one could have predicted. Westbrook is a bonafide superstar, a supernaturally gifted athlete with a growing floor game that’s perhaps the most devastating scorer at point guard we’ve ever seen. And he could have been described thusly even before his awe-inspiring start to 2014-2015.

The only aspect that’s lacked for Russ in his six-year career is the one that was supposed to be inevitable: lock-down defense. But that’s changed this season, and Westbrook insists his uptick in defensive intensity and influence is no accident. This was planned.

Via Sam Amick of USA Today:

“I defend every night but I told myself in the summer time that I really needed to lock back in defensively and try to be the best defensive player in the league,” Westbrook told USA TODAY Sports. “I think if you’re going to be one of the best players to do it in this game you’ve got to be able to do it on both ends. That’s just my opinion, and that’s how I felt. So every night, regardless of who we’re playing or who it is, my job is to lock down and to help my team. So that’s what I’ve been doing.

“(The defense) is important man. For us to win games, we’ve got to defend. We can score with the best of them; we can do that every night. But I think defense is something that we’ve got to take pride in as a unit. It starts with me, and my job is to be able to come out and set the tone defensively and kind of keep going from there.”

Why not?

The same unmatched quickness, speed, and power that makes Westbrook an unmatched physical force with the ball should make him one defending it, too. That’s obvious. And so many highlight reel steals and blocks have long allowed the casual league or Oklahoma City Thunder observer to buy into the idea that he’s en elite defensive player.

But that simply hasn’t been the case.

Westbrook would lose focus off the ball. He’d wildly lunge at fakes from ballhandlers. He’d get screened far too easily. He’d deviate from the Thunder’s scheme, jumping a passing lane or giving help that left teammates behind him scrambling.

Note the past tense. He’s a different defender now.

Westbrook held Jrue Holiday to 6-of-17 shooting on December 2. The much-improved Brandon Knight went 2-of-10 a week later. Kyrie Irving made a dismal seven of his 21 shots versus Oklahoma City two days after that. And Eric Bledsoe was limited to 4-of-12 last Sunday.

Russ is defending just 5.9 shots per game, evident of the relentless pressure he’s applying both on and off the ball. And when Westbrook’s man does manage an attempt, he’s not doing much with it – shooters make 3.6 percent fewer shots than their overall average and 14.7 percent worse than their norm from deep when being checked by Westbrook.

Opposing point guards have a paltry 10.9 PER against the Thunder. Scott Brooks’ fourth-rated defensive outfit allows 4.2 points more per 100 possessions with Westbrook on the bench as opposed to the floor. His steal rate ranks fifth in the NBA.

Might Russ have made good on his goal? It’s too early to say, and “best defensive player” is a lofty ambition for a guy that shoulders so much offensive responsibility. But if Westbrook wants to prove to the world just how much he’s improved defensively, he won’t get a better chance than tonight against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in Oakland.

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Curry’s offense versus Westbrook’s defense might be basketball’s best representation of that paradox this season. And considering Russ’ sheer will and utter dominance, maybe we’ll finally glean an answer to that question.

What do you think?

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