I don't see the Lakers winning a title with Russell Westbrook (Game/Fit Breakdown)
- Matthew Irungu
- Dec 26, 2021
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 3, 2022
Last night, the Los Angeles Lakers played against the Brooklyn Nets in a game that was terrible for my mental health. After starting out like a YMCA team, the Lakers mounted two different comebacks (down 15+ in the 2nd quarter and then 23+ in the 4th) but ultimately fell short 122-115. The game was electric in many facets: 10-day contract newcomer Stanley Johnson showing why he belongs on a roster, James Harden returning from protocols and feasting, LeBron James making another case why he’s still the King, Patty Mills being unguardable and Russell Westbrook stinking it up.
LATE-GAME: RUSS' CATASTROPHIC MISTAKES
It was this Christmas Day game that did it for me when it comes to the Westbrook experience in LA. Even after LA’s egregious start to the game, defense that makes you question if it’s professional basketball you’re watching and shot selection that makes you gasp, they had a great chance of winning. After being down 107-84 with 10:20 left in the game, the Lakers managed to cut the deficit completely down to 2 (112-110) with 1:55 remaining with the help of a LeBron offensive assault. It was here when my optimism of the Westbrook experience began to end. With 1:37 remaining and still down 2, Russell Westbrook is caught ball watching and gives up a wide open corner three to Patty Mills, who had been shooting lights out the entire night.
It is just a nonsensical play and it completely renders you speechless. At this point in the game, Patty Mills had scored 31 points with 21 of them being from downtown. How does Russ find himself not tracking the hottest shooter of the night?
There was only 6 seconds left on the shot clock, and James Johnson (Nets C) was in a compromised position. You just have to be glued to Mills on a play like that. That open three lead the Lakers to being down 5 (115-110) with 1:34 remaining.
Even with Westbrook's brain fart, on the next possession LeBron knocked down a crucial top-of-the-key three to cut the lead down to 2 again (115-113) with 1:19 remaining. After getting a big time stop on the other end, a James assist for a Malik Monk layup tied the game at 115 a piece with 45 seconds remaining. A Nic Claxton monster dunk plus the foul (at the expense of LeBron's soul) put the Nets up three with 40 seconds remaining. It is what Westbrook decided to do on the next Lakers possession that made me scratch my head in agony.
In the most crucial possession of the game for the Lakers (failure to score leads to playing the fouling game and likely a Nets win), Russell Westbrook drives in on three people and tries to DUNK with his off hand and completely gets rim-checked. Keep in mind, at this point in the game, Russ was a glorious 4-19 from the field while being 0-3 from beyond the arc. Why in his right mind does he a) drive in a packed lane b) not at least try a layup and c) not kick it back out to Melo or LeBron who are sitting wide open and have at least a decent chance of hitting a tying three.
The dunk attempt from Russ essentially ended the game for LA, resulting in their fifth straight loss. To delight Skip Bayless fans, WestBRICK ended the game with a triple double (13 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds) and a shockingly impressive -23 +/- (if you aren't familiar with basketball statistics, this is horrific). It's impressive in the fact that one can somehow drop a triple double but have such an overwhelming negative impact. Those two idiotic plays from Russ killed the Lakers, and the problem with him is these will not stop and only continue.
Russ hasn't been terrible all year, and his play has led to some (the few they do have) Laker wins without LeBron in the lineup. The problem is the Christmas Day game encompasses what is the Russell Westbrook experience: he'll fill up the stat sheet, but at the end of the day his impact on the game is inconsistent, often negative, and when big time plays and decisions need to be made you just cannot trust him. The game demonstrated entirely why, if the Lakers want to win a championship, I don't see how Russ can be on the roster. His game is just not a great fit for a Bron and AD-led team.
WESTBROOK'S GAME: ONGOING HEADACHE...
Westbrook's game at times feels like a fever dream. Sometimes he'll make an incredible winning-basketball play, but it's always countered by multiple nonsensical shots, drives to the rim (like the one last night) or turnovers that leave you in awe of the reasoning behind the decision. It's his inconsistent and often dreadful decision-making on the offensive and defensive end that, come playoff time, just cannot happen. Especially when almost every possession counts, it's hard to have your starting point guard be the league's second leading man in turnovers (4.6 per game, just behind James Harden's 5.0).
As a shooter, Westbrook is horrendous. On the season, he is shooting 31% from three and 65% from the free throw line (career low). Somebody like this cannot play off of LeBron, who throughout games is often looking to kick the ball out.
It's hard to even have a non-shooting, offensively-prioritized guard in the modern NBA landscape, and because of Westbrook's poor shooting quality he's become a player who mainly utilizes the drive. Well, if you're someone like Russ whose shooting free throws like an NBA center and can't finish at the rim like you used to, it diminishes the weight driving to the rim even holds. Russ drives....gets fouled....oh, misses both free throws. Russ drives....oh, misses the gimme layup finish.
Defensively, Russ doesn't demonstrate the same intensity he does for the offensive end. More often than not, he is caught not paying attention or ball-watching, along with not being a very intimidating or great defender to begin with. It's poorly defended plays (like the one last night) that can seriously cost you playoff games. What's the point of you rocking the baby on one end, if on the other end you're losing your man because you're staring at the opposing teams' center dribble. Taking possessions off on either end of the court doesn't work anymore.
Can Russ still be an effective playmaker? Of course. Russ is still a certified Hall of Famer and at times grants beautiful assists to others, all while his slashes to the rim off of quick dribbles can still be difficult to contain. The problem is as I said before, Russ' IQ a lot of the time just isn't there. For every great play he creates or assists on, there are two or three where he carelessly turns it over or shoots something ridiculous (like pull-ups off the backboard) that completely waste possessions. Again, these are possessions that are valuable in playoff games in a conference that features the two best teams in the NBA (Suns and Warriors).
Apart from the erratic decision-making, non-shooting, and defensive liability aspects of Russ' game, it's the fact that late in games, you just can't trust him. Russ has a real tendency of waving off the better player or someone who's hot and then doing something idiotic. It was clear last week against the Bulls, when Russ didn't prioritize the mismatch LeBron had and tried a circus shot over Nikola Vucevic that had no chance and it was clear last night with the rim-check.
LeBron has been on a complete offensive tear the last couple of weeks (31.6 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 5.2 apg on 56% FG
over the last 5 games) and the fact that there's already evidence of Russ doing multiple,"hey, I got this" illogical moments that have eventually led to losses is...bad. Not only should the ball be in LeBron's or even AD's hands, but it's also things that like that can (again) lose you key playoff games.
And at the end of the day, after playing poorly or making a decision that costed a game, it never sticks with Russ because he's completely unfazed. He will be who he is every day. Nothing he negatively does will lead him to change or improve because he's been the same player for his entire career. If he knows he played hard (which he definitely does, however poorly it is) he's happy with any outcome, something he always reiterates himself.
Of course he doesn't want to lose, but it doesn't drive him crazy enough to be different. In my opinion, that's just not a great mentality at all and definitely not a winning one.
I TRIED BEING OPTIMISTIC, BUT...
it just won't work with Russ. We're a good portion into the season and I just don't see the Russ fit coming to fruition with LA. I tried being optimistic, because my initial reaction (left) to him even being discussed in a trade to LA was not very appealing. The Lakers should look into Russell Westbrook trades now, prioritizing solid role players and primarily a 3 and D wing.
A main aspect of the Russ trade was to take some pressure off of LeBron as a playmaker when he's not playing, and overall I don't think that's happened or will happen.
The Lakers troubles and reasons for being bad this season are far from all Westbrook's fault (majority COVID protocols and injuries) but I think prioritizing a more solid rotation in place for him would be more beneficial to the team for the future.
If the Lakers want to win another title before the King's reign is over, a trade must be done. I've seen enough of Russ play with both LeBron and AD to know it's never going to be as valuable as the Lakers hoped. When all three of them play together, there just isn't enough there to be convinced that they can contend with that core nor that Russ was worth trading three players for or even just bringing on a salary like his.
With the way LeBron is playing, these games should not translate into losses...but when you have a player that is such a counter to any good that is done through bonehead plays, they are inevitable. If a trade cannot be done (it's very likely this is the case *sighs*), it will take supernatural play from both LeBron and AD to somehow make up for Russ' inconsistent play and crunch time baffles.
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