The Westbrook hate on this forum is high lately. Westbrook had an absolutely ridiculous 2011-12 season.
One point that people keep making is that Westbrook doesn't pass the ball enough, or rephrased, takes too many shots. Specifically that he doesn't pass the ball to the reigning scoring champ. I get that but here are some numbers from last season:
He was in the top 15 point guards in assists
He was in the top 5 in scoring and steals
He was the top rebounding point guard and top 10 among all guards.
He was top 5 in FT% among point guards
Those are absolutely ridiculous numbers. If all of those things are just athletic gifts then I guess that is what you need in the NBA because those numbers are bonkers. Considering both he and Durant are in the top 5 in scoring from last season and their team made the finals I'm not sure where all the skepticism and criticism is coming from.
Here is something that people don't take into account. Durant hangs out by the 3 point line a lot. When he's not doing that he's in isolation or he's running off of screens. Now just for a second let's consider this. You're the PG. The other team has to double team Durant or at least guard the screens he's running off of. Westbrook driving when people are paying attention to Durant is a good move. Sometimes the best thing Durant can do is be the best player on the floor who never gets the ball. He takes everyones attention so Nick Collison can get easy layups or Westbrook can drive into 1 guy instead of 3 or so Ibaka and Perkins can get put backs. It was the same philosophy we had with Ray Allen except Durant is better and does other awesome and amazing things like lead the league in scoring despite being the focal point of most teams defense.
Anyway this is all to say stop hating on Westbrook. He's shown nothing but all-star, top tier greatness in his few years in the NBA. He does make mental mistakes. He's 23.
The biggest stat that glares to me is out of 193 qualified (among stat numbers/game played) Russel Westbrook was number 189 in turnovers per game. His assists to turnover ratio was among the worst ten in the league.
He just doesnt make good decisions. When you've got the NBA scoring champion on your team taking as many shots as you and shooting better than you from all areas, wouldnt you try to get him the ball more often? Me thinks so...
And i hate to nitpick man but he was 8th in the league in steals not top 5, but more importantly, being top 15 in PG's as a good stat? That means HALF of the point guards in the league passed better than him. On a championship contender your PG has to make better decisions on when to get the ball to the open man.
I was about to say, top 15 IN PGs... lol, how many good PGs are even in the league?! Heck, there are only about a handful of top notch PGs all together. Then the notion that Durant gets double teamed so it's sometimes best not to give him the ball... LOL pretty much most of the shots he takes and makes are doubled and triple teams, that's why he is the highest scorer, because it doesn't matter! You think when Shaq had 4 people hanging on him he would pass it out? LOL no, he took them with him! If you can score the rock the way guys like Durant can, he should be taking double Westbrook's shots! When you have Durant standing around looking around like he's on the bench when they are on offense, that's a problem! Just like Wade had to figure out after season 1, let LeBroid have the ball, let him take the big shots, and let him be "The Man", b/c he is the BEST player... Westbrook needs to learn that! Get your ego in check, Durant is clearly the best (second best overall), player on your team!! I also fault Durant, he needs some Kobe in him (not all the way as egotistical as he is though)... if you don't give Kome the ball then you might as well book your ticket outta there! Who do you think they would keep if Durant made complaints? No contest, WB would be out of there like Road Runner *meep meep*!