Some Perspective On Russell Westbrook Shooting More Than Kevin Durant
Skip Bayless was at it again this morning.
The renowned talking head on ESPN2′s First Take continued his personal campaign against all things Russell Westbrook, ignoring last night’s gritty win by the tough-minded Thunder and instead focusing more on how the team’s All-Star point guard took one more shot than Kevin Durant.
Debating Stephen A. Smith (not pictured above), Bayless unleashed a tirade while attacking Westbrook. I’ve transcribed his entire opening statement, but I’ve also included the audio so you can hear just how venomous Bayless was about Westbrook.
Skip Bayless rips Russell Westbrook
It happened again, right on schedule for you to sit across from me today. I’m going to say it again. I’m going to be very clear about this. My Oklahoma City Thunder are now blessed to have the man, I think, who has turned into the best player in the NBA, Kevin Durant, who is not blessed to be partnered with a “point guard” who routinely brings up the ball and then routinely chooses to shoot more shots than the superstar standing over on the wing saying “Do I get to play today? Do I get this ball this time? Maybe I will, and if I do I better force a shot because I know I’m not going to get the ball back.’ I’m going to say it again, this is a postseason recipe for disaster. I love the Thunder because it’s my hometown team. But I’m not going to sit idly by like some blindly-loyal fan and say nothing about something that is getting to be a bigger and bigger issue on a nightly basis. He did it again last night. ‘Well they both scored 31. What a duo.’ They both had four assists. The point guard had four assists. That is asi-fifteen.”
Rather than roll our eyes at Bayless, or revert to calling him everything but a child of God, how about we dig deeper and examine whether there is any truth to his now well-publicized opinion.
Research shows that Westbrook has attempted more shots than Durant in 12 games this season. In those 12 contests, Westbrook has shot a total of 44 more times than Durant, giving him 3.6 more shots on average than the reigning two-time scoring champ in the games in question. Westbrook’s largest shot differential with Durant was 10, when Westbrook attempted 20 shots to KD’s 10 at Utah on Feb. 20.
In the other 11 games, Westbrook attempted one more shot three times, two more shots once, three more shots three times, four more shots twice and five and seven more shots once each.
In other words, out of 12 games in which Westbrook has out-shot Durant, only three times has Westbrook finished with more than four more attempts than Durant.
But why stop there? In fact, you can’t.
It’s important to note that in those 12 games, Durant has attempted 18 more foul shots than Westbrook, 90 to 72. In Westbrook’s second largest shot attempt disparity over Durant, seven on Feb. 9 against Sacramento, KD attempted nine free throws to Westbrook’s three. Additionally, in the third largest margin, five against Dallas on Feb. 1, Durant struggled with an off night from the field but shot two more foul shots than Westbrook. Those are critical numbers in accounting for what the box scores show under FGA.
There’s more.
The Thunder is 9-3 in games that Westbrook attempts more shots than Durant. The losses came at Washington, at the Los Angeles Clippers and at Sacramento. The Thunder also is 1-0 when Westbrook ties Durant in field goal attempts.
Since we’ve come this far, what do you say we not rely solely on won-loss record or a few entry-level stats to serve as the basis for getting to the bottom of this story?
Of those 12 games, I covered eight. Our man John Rohde is the only media member, local or national, who can lay claim to being at more. He’s witnessed 10 of them. So as one of only two media members who actually attended more than 50 percent of those games, as well as closely analyzing each one, allow me to assess each one in a brief breakdown.
PHOENIX, DEC. 31
WESTBROOK: 18 points, 8-for-14 shooting, 2 FTA
DURANT: 12 points, 4-for-11 shooting, 2 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 107-97
SUMMARY: This was a blowout. It was one of two wire-to-wire wins for OKC this season. The Thunder led by as many as 24 points and didn’t have a single struggle against the Suns. Neither Durant nor Westbrook, or any other starter for that matter, needed to play a single second in the fourth quarter. KD and Westbrook played just 26 and 25 minutes, respectively. Nothing to see here.
SAN ANTONIO, JAN. 8
WESTBROOK: 13 points, 5-for-13 shooting, 2 FTA
DURANT: 21 points, 5-for-9 shooting, 10 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 108-96
SUMMARY: Another blowout. The Thunder led by as many as 25 points and, again, no Thunder starter needed to play the fourth quarter. Durant and Westbrook played only 29 and 25 minutes, respectively. As for the shot attempts, surprise, surprise, Durant is more efficient than Westbrook. What else is new? Moving on.
NEW ORLEANS, JAN. 11
WESTBROOK: 22 points, 9-for-20 shooting, 6 FTA
DURANT: 29 points, 11-for-17 shooting, 6 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 95-85
SUMMARY: Westbrook had seven assists in this one. And guess what? He had just two turnovers. This was one of his better games from a decision-making stand point. He was getting his teammates involved while also providing the offensive aggressiveness his team needs. You can’t complain about three more shot attempts in this one.
WASHINGTON, JAN. 18
WESTBROOK: 36 points, 14-for-26 shooting, 9 FTA
DURANT: 33 points, 11-for-24 shooting, 9 FTA
RESULT: Wizards, 105-102
SUMMARY: Ah, a loss. But don’t forget what happened in D.C. Westbrook carried the team in the first half and throughout a stretch in the third quarter. Without Westbrook being aggressive as a scorer, the Wizards would have blown out the Thunder. And while Westbrook was doing all the right things offensively, Durant was turning it over at an alarming rate before finishing with seven. Westbrook, meanwhile, had seven assists and just three turnovers. The Thunder needed Westbrook to take two more shots than Durant this time. Can’t pin this loss on Russ.
DETROIT, JAN. 23
WESTBROOK: 24 points, 11-for-17 shooting, 2 FTA
DURANT: 20 points, 9-for-13 shooting, 3 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 99-79
SUMMARY: Already, we have a theme emerging. That’s now three blowouts in the first five games. Yet again, Westbrook and Durant did not play a single second in the final period. The Thunder led by as many as 32. But, if you remember, Westbrook absolutely abused Pistons rookie Brandon Knight. I mean, he just had his way with him, especially on the low block. Westbrook also finished with six assists against only two turnovers. Is Westbrook supposed to not take advantage of a clear mismatch just to make sure Durant gets more shots? Next.
NEW ORLEANS, JAN. 25
WESTBROOK: 14 points, 4-for-14 shooting, 9 FTA
DURANT: 25 points, 9-for-13 shooting, 7 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 101-91
SUMMARY: Westbrook was just awful through three quarters of this one. He missed nine of 10 shots and did very little to help his team in those first 36 minutes. There were some bad decisions, as he inexplicably held onto the ball and chose to shoot rather than pass on several occasions despite his slump. This was a game where you could not have complained if he was benched for the entire fourth. But, as has been the case, Westbrook was brought back early in the final period. Good thing, too, because he went 3-for-4 in the fourth quarter and hit two huge shots immediately upon checking back in. At worse, this one is a push. But considering Westbrook attempted only one more shot than Durant and really came through in the fourth, we’re expunging this one from his record.
L.A. CLIPPERS, JAN. 30
WESTBROOK: 31 points, 13-for-26 shooting, 6 FTA
DURANT: 36 points, 14-for-23 shooting, 7 FTA
RESULT: Clippers, 112-100
SUMMARY: This was easily, EASILY, the worst game of all the “Westbrook-took-more-shots-than-Durant” nights. This is one of the games I didn’t cover. But I remember sitting there watching as Chris Paul put on a clinic (26 points on 12 of 16 shooting with 14 assists and just two turnovers) and wondering what on earth Scott Brooks and Mo Cheeks, two former NBA point guards, must be thinking watching the difference in how the two star point guards were orchestrating and facilitating. Westbrook had just four assists and turned it over six times, while trying to do too much throughout the night. What made it worse was that Durant had it going. He hit four of five from 3-point range but, at times, couldn’t even get a touch.
DALLAS, FEB. 1
WESTBROOK: 33 points, 11-for-24 shooting, 10 FTA
DURANT: 23 points, 7-for-19 shooting, 12 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 95-86
SUMMARY: Question. Who’s going to score when KD’s off? OK, who’s going to score when Durant and James Harden are struggling? Perk? Ibaka? Collison? Of course not. So while Durant was 5-for-14 through three quarters, Westbrook did what he was supposed to do. He took over. And when KD went 2-of-5 in the fourth quarter, Westbrook took over some more, scoring 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting to save this win. Westbrook might have had only four assists against six turnovers. But with KD and Harden combining to go 10 of 30, the Thunder would have been helpless without Westbrook.
SACRAMENTO, FEB. 9
WESTBROOK: 33 points, 15-for-26 shooting, 3 FTA
DURANT: 27 points, 9-for-19 shooting, 9 FTA
RESULT: Kings, 106-101
SUMMARY: The third and final loss in these games. And the second largest shot differential between Westbrook and Durant this season when Westbrook shoots more. Turnovers, however, were more of Westbrook’s issue than his number of shot attempts. Throw out the giveaways and Westbrook played fantastic against the Kings. But those turnovers. Westbrook had seven on the night, his final two being extremely costly as they came in the final 50 seconds. As for the shot disparity, pay attention to the free throw attempts. Durant had his opportunities.
UTAH, FEB. 10
WESTBROOK: 28 points, 10-for-20 shooting, 8 FTA
DURANT: 19 points, 6-for-10 shooting, 6 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 101-87
SUMMARY: This was vintage hero mode. Durant barely could get the ball in this one. Westbrook was forcing the issue and taking it upon himself to score. On numerous occasions, he called his own number and appeared to never even consider looking for a teammate. Westbrook finished with three assists and four turnovers. I didn’t like his performance in this game one bit. But you know what? The Thunder won by 14.
DENVER, FEB. 19
WESTBROOK: 40 points, 16-for-29 shooting, 5 FTA
DURANT: 51 points, 19-for-28 shooting, 10 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 124-118 in overtime
SUMMARY: This was Westbrook’s best game of the season. Maybe it was just me, but I didn’t even notice Westbrook took 29 shots. And it hardly felt, to me anyway, like he had 40. That, in my eyes, is a good thing. It’s next level. When Westbrook can consistently dominate a game without it appearing to be that way, he’s going to be the best point guard in the league. That’s what he did in this one. He finished with nine assists and just two turnovers. And when KD appeared gassed in overtime, Westbrook took over in the extra session, hitting three of four shots to put the nail in the Nuggets’ coffin. Said Durant: “A lot of people might talk about me getting 50, but Russell Westbrook carried us in overtime.”
NEW ORLEANS, FEB. 20
WESTBROOK: 31 points, 10-for-20 shooting, 10 FTA
DURANT: 31 points, 10-for-19 shooting, 9 FTA
RESULT: Thunder, 101-93
SUMMARY: Another theme. Westbrook shot more than Durant in all three meetings with the Hornets this season. What up with that? At any rate, Westbrook was under control throughout. He made a few questionable passes early and really late that resulted in an ugly four-assists, five-turnover line. But even that didn’t overshadow how good he was in this one. Westbrook was getting inside the paint at will and working his way to the free throw line extended area, where his pull-up jumper was money all night. He also had his 3-point shot falling, hitting two of three. I’d take this game from Westbrook for the next 34 games.
Let’s review.
Based on this analysis, that’s two times in the Thunder’s first 32 games that this “problem” has reared its ugly head. Only the Clippers game and the Jazz game were inexplicable and inexcusable performances.
And if that’s the worst drawback to this dynamic duo, I’d say that’s a ratio everyone would gladly live with.
-DM-
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Comments
With football now over, the first take boys are just trying to drum up some controversy somewhere. It’s been hard for Skip to find much fault in the play of his #1 NBA goat (Lebron) this year so it’s on to #2. Don’t sweat it Russ – keep doing what you’re doing, you’re playing great.
I’m going to give Skip the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is paid to be the contrarian on any ESPN panel which includes him. There is no other explanation for so many of the inane opinions he puts forth on not just Westbrook, but a number of other subjects. Have you heard him talk about Tim Tebow? Let us not forget that the last time Skip got too close to a basketball court was at Northwest Classen High in the late 1960′s. Hey, Skip—they don’t wear those real short pants anymore. Watch a game and join the twenty-first century!
You know, you listen to what Bayless says, and you wonder if he’s thinking, “if Westbrook doesn’t stop this insanity, there’s no possible way we’ll ever achieve world peace.” I mean geez.
If OKC were to end up winning the NBA title, I can envision Bayless going on TV the next day and railing about how they’ll never repeat unless Westbrook stops shooting the ball. It will never end, and he’ll never admit to being wrong.
Anyway, good article Darnell. You’re right that most of us would probably just brush off Bayless’s rant as, well, a mindless rant. But your approach is a better response. Just don’t show it to Bayless. He’ll point to those two games you mentioned, spring out of his chair, and scream “SEE!!!”
Ultimately Skip loves it that we’re talking about something he said. No such thing as bad press, which is why Skip goes out of his way to make so much of it.
Can we start a campaign to disown Skip? Or maybe file an injunction to prevent him referring to the Thunder or Oklahoma City as “his”?
I like the disown Skip Bayless campaign. People should bring signs to the game tomorrow-since it will be on ESPN-that says, “OKC disowns you Skip” (or something to that avail).
Russell is one of the main reasons why the Thunder are so fun to watch. There’s no other point in the league I would rather have. Not one.
As much as it pains me to say it I pretty much agree with Skip 100 percent. Good write up DM, but here are some other stats to ponder:
5.5 assists per game against 4.3 turnovers. Last 10-12 games has been really bad. This is awful for a point guard no matter how you spin it. Specifically when he has averaged 8 assists per game in the past.
Assist to turnover ratio for PGs is a BIG deal and Russ is too careless. In fact, the whole team needs to improve here (including KD).
As a pg you MUST distribute and create for your teammates, especially when you have two of the most efficient scorers in the NBA on your team. Not much of this going on right now..
Paul is great for a team that has a bunch of guys who can’t create for themselves. Nash puts up the same numbers as Paul, how many chips has he won?
Oh God, we’re in first place and even if we win the NBA Championship, will the swipes at Westbrook ever end? We have about 5 guys out with injuries and we’re a smaller squad. More is asked of Westbrook now, and this is how he’s thanked? I’m just going to enjoy the ride this year. I think it’s fun. It can be bumpy, but don’t complain too much. It’s part of getting there.
And as for Skip Bayless; this is the same guy that said Jay Cutler was the next great quarterback. He still argues that point every season so what he says is pretty much horse…!
If Russ was on another team people would praise him for being like D. Rose who shoots some 30 times a game. Its funny how analysts criticize some guys for not averaging 15 assists but others get a pass.
The Rose argument isn’t applicable IMO. KD and Harden are head and shoulders (offensively) above anything Rose has.
Bottom line is if Westbrook averages 20 shots, 5.5 assists and 4 turns in the playoffs the Thunder will not get out of the West.
The game is going to slow down and offensive efficiency becomes critical.
[...] Darnell Mayberry on Westbrook shooting more than KD: “In other words, out of 12 games in which Westbrook has out-shot Durant, only three times has Westbrook finished with more than four more attempts than Durant. But why stop there? In fact, you can’t. It’s important to note that in those 12 games, Durant has attempted 18 more foul shots than Westbrook, 90 to 72. In Westbrook’s second largest shot attempt disparity over Durant, seven on Feb. 9 against Sacramento, KD attempted nine free throws to Westbrook’s three. Additionally, in the third largest margin, five against Dallas on Feb. 1, Durant struggled with an off night from the field but shot two more foul shots than Westbrook. Those are critical numbers in accounting for what the box scores show under FGA. There’s more. The Thunder is 9-3 in games that Westbrook attempts more shots than Durant. The losses came at Washington, at the Los Angeles Clippers and at Sacramento. The Thunder also is 1-0when Westbrook ties Durant in field goal attempts.” [...]
I think Durant and Westbrook push each other, like Mantle and Maris, each trying to out-do the other. It’s a great chemistry and I think they are good friends, but like to compete – even with each other. I know Westbrook gets a little out of control sometimes, but who wants to stop his lightning quick surges and over-the-top slam dunks? Not me. It’s so much fun to watch.
@trevor kd is better than rose offensively but not harden.
and how are westbrooks assists affected by his shot attempts? aren’t assists reflective of how many shots your teammates hit when you pass them the ball? sure he should give kd the ball more when kd is hot, but if kd is not hot then who picks up the scoring?
offensive effeciency is predicated on execution, no matter who shoots the ball. if brooks called a play for russ to get the same shots then whats the difference? overall team execution is going to be the key to winning in the playoffs not westbrook’s individual stats!
@nick thats a perfect comparison! two want-to-be-great players pushing each other to that greatness. messier and gretzky, walt clyde and pearl, jim brown and bobby mitchell, etc. just to name a few other tandems that seemed to work out
@Ern
I’m comparing KD and Harden to Rose’s teammates. Not him..
As for efficiency my point is I would rather have KD and Harden take 2 more shots each rather than Westbrook take those 4.
Again I want my point guard to make everyone better, sometimes at the expense of him scoring. An ideal stat line for RW would be 15 shots with 8 assists and 3 turns. Not 20 plus shots with 5 assists and 4 turns.
IMO, Westbrook can and should distribute more. If he doesn’t Skip is right, everybody starts pressing because they don’t know if they will ever get the ball back.
Jacking pull up 20 foot jumpers with 15 seconds on the shot clock without anyone else touching the ball is absurd and fools gold, especially in the playoffs.
ok got ya. kd and harden are better than roses teammates, you’re def right about that. but harden needs the ball in his hands to be as effective as possible, he’s not exactly a play off of someone else player. i’ve seen entire possessions where harden has dominated the ball waiting for an opening. that would be just as ineffecient as russ taking a quick shot.
i def wont argue with you over the 20 foot pull-ups early in the possession, thats dumb. but his assist numbers are not solely based on his shot attempts. it all comes down to efficiency in the end. Whether he shoots four times less or not, the end result has to be made baskets. if serge misses three open shots off pick and pop, then how is russ having only 5 assists reflective of his shooting numbers? overall TEAM efficiency(offensively and defensively) is the only thing that matters, not how many shot attempts one player has.
We will have to agree to disagree. Technically you are right, but basketball is a team sport and must be played that way, especially from the player which handles the ball 75 percent of the time.
@Trevor So even if the rest of the team isn’t hitting their shots, Westbrook is still supposed to distribute the ball & take less shots just so the team gets the ball their fair share of the time? If the Thunder had stuck to that philosophy they wouldn’t be 25-9.
Ummmm, no. Clearly, if everyone is struggling RW should be more offensive minded. In fact, I thought he played well last night. Took a ton of shots, but he valued the ball better.
Time will tell. Enjoyed the discussion.
Last night made me realize something. The Lakers are the reason for this whole russ shoots too much thing. But its not really that he shoots too much, its his shot selection has changed. Go back to the Laker series where he constantly blew by fisher and the Lakers put Kobe on him. Russ turned into a pull-up jump shooter. Now, people only give him that shot. So the result is more pull-ups and less drive and kick/drop-offs. End result is the assist numbers are down.
Assists DON’T matter. They don’t. You can’t pass the ball in the playoffs anymore, the D is too suffocating. Offensively, Westbrook should be judged solely on his pullup jumper. I truly believe that. His pullup jumper is more un-defendable than anything Durant has at this time and when playoff time comes around, will Durant be able to get off shots? I don’t know but we KNOW that Westbrook can get that pullup jumper. He can always get that shot at the freethrow line extended area. If he’s making that shot at an efficient rate, he’s the best player in the league and can carry you to a title. I love Durant and believe that he can carry you to a title, too. Don’t get me wrong, at this time, Durant is the best player on the Thunder but if Westbrook gets that pullup freethrow line extended shot to go down at an efficient rate, he passes Durant. He passes the world because no defense can stop him from getting that shot.
It’s true KD and Harden are better than anything Rose has, but Rose has a better overall team around him. Plus guys who can actually score inside. Russ has Durant to reliably generate assists from on the starting lineup, and that’s it. OKC has a total of 3 scorers. I’ve watched Westbrook toss the ball to the other guys not named Durant or Harden and it’s a miss after another or one of the bigs hesitates to shoot and decides to dribble and lose the ball (I’m looking at you Perkins). By the way, how many games has Westbrook missed in his career?
Theyre winning despite Westbrook, who is way too inefficient a scorer to justify 19.2FGA per game. Durant scores 1.426 points per shot, Westbrook scores 1.231 per shot. That’s a HUGE difference overall when it comes to the teams offensive efficiency.
Westbrook also turned the ball over way too much this season…he needs to be reminded he is a PG and his job is to get people involved.
If you think Bayless is wrong, you seriously misunderstand what makes a player a legit s scorer.
Let’s be honest. It’s a quote from Skip Bayless, which doesn’t even require a response. But nice write-up Darnell, as usual.