Oklahoma City Thunder: Russell Westbrook’s Efficient Season

Russell Westbrook has had one of his most efficient seasons to date, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are primed for another title run. These are reasons why he has been so successful.

Russell Westbrook is one of the most exciting and talented players in the NBA, but he has taken a lot of unwarranted criticism for his style of play.

Many people like to argue that Westbrook needs to take a back seat to Kevin Durant and tone down the all-effort-all-the-time mindset. Westbrook has been labeled as a player who is often out of control, leading to untimely shots or turnovers.

However, Westbrook’s aggressiveness is what makes him such a special player. While Durant is the steady hand that keeps the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offense running, Westbrook constantly puts the opposition on its heels, which has made OKC one of the five best scoring teams over the past five seasons.

Westbrook has turned a corner in terms of efficiency this season, setting career marks in multiple efficiency statistics.

Where Westbrook has improved the most is on his midrange jumpers. Westbrook has made a living using his quickness to create space for pull-up jumpers in the midrange area. Although it has always been a pet-move, the efficiency has never been as high as it is now.

Westbrook has been most efficient pulling up from the elbows or middle of the key, evidenced by his 48.5 percentage, eight points above league average.

In comparison, Chris Paul, a player known for his midrange game, is shooting 44.9 percent from the same area. Russ is keeping defenses honest by being able to knock down shots when given space to protect against his drives, and that has led to a lot of success for both himself and his team.

Another way in which Westbrook has improved his game has been his post play. He has become one of the best point guards in the league at scoring in the post, which opens up other avenues for the Thunder to score.

At 6’3” and 200 pounds, Westbrook presents a mismatch for most point guards in the post. The more opportunities he is able to receive down low, the better.

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Rookie head coach Billy Donovan also brought a new system to Oklahoma City with him this season, and has implemented it successfully. Since arriving to training camp, Donovan has preached spacing and movement to the team.

Back in training camp, multiple players have praised Donovan and his offensive system for the way it creates opportunities for everyone to score. Under Scott Brooks, the team was known to rely on Westbrook and Kevin Durant to create a lot of offense through isolation. While both players are capable of providing this way, there are better ways to utilize their talents.

Donovan’s system has helped lead Westbrook to a career year in terms of efficiency, represented by his 29.5 Player Efficiency Rating (PER), which only trails Stephen Curry. Westbrook’s PER is even higher than the 29.1 rating he posted last year when he was carrying the team without Durant.

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Both Durant and Westbrook are flourishing together in their first year without Brooks as their coach. KD has always been the model of efficiency, but the system they are playing in has allowed Westbrook to become a more efficient player, correcting one of the major “flaws” to his game.