Westbrook’s season will be ‘totally different’
THUNDER JOURNAL
Without for a large portion of the 2014-15 season, the offensive stress on Russell Westbrook was massive.
That season, Westbrook won the scoring title with 28.1 points per game, but he also took the most field goal attempts in the NBA (1,471) … in just 67 games.
Will the Thunder’s offense take a similarly lopsided shape without Durant and Serge Ibaka? On a podcast published by The Vertical on Friday, coach said this time around is going to be “totally different” for Westbrook.
“I think if you go back two years ago when Serge was out and Kevin missed those (55) games, and they’re on the cusp of making the playoffs, I think at that point in time when you set up a system and a style of play and everything is geared toward Kevin Durant and Serge and they’re such big priorities for you offensively, and now they’re not there, you’re not going to be able to just plug somebody in Kevin’s role or Serge’s role and they’re going to be able to just fill in that late in a season.”
Donovan’s thought is an offseason of planning will look a lot different from having to make up on-the-fly for the injuries that plagued the Thunder in 2014-15. While Ibaka and Durant are huge losses — a combined 33.3 percent of the offense from a season ago — their offseason exits give the Thunder more time to formulate a game plan around Westbrook and his ability to create for the players around him.
Arguably no one in the NBA did that better than Westbrook last season, who finished second in the league in assist percentage (he assisted on 49.6 of the Thunder’s field goals when in the game). Donovan said Westbrook understands that he’s “gotta make everyone else around him better.”
“He’s obviously proven he can score, but I think Russell’s also smart enough now to understand he’s got to take the group with him,” Donovan said. “I think from a style of play standpoint, we’ve got to maximize the people around him inside the system where they can be effective, productive and can help.”
That’s Donovan long way of saying Westbrook isn’t going to be firing off a
circa 2005esqe usage season of 38.7, the highest in NBA history, or even a Westbrook-like season from two years ago. Usage percentage measures how many of a team’s plays are used by a player when he’s on a floor, factoring in field goal attempts, free throw attempts and turnovers.
Two seasons ago, Westbrook’s 38.4 (second alltime to Bryant’s astronomical figure) was nearly four points higher than the next closest player. But Ibaka and Durant had healthy seasons, and
took steps forward and Westbrook’s usage dropped to 31.6 last season, his lowest since 2010 and closer to his career average of 31.3.
With Kanter still on board, Adams developing and the addition of Victor Oladipo, Donovan is hoping for a system that will take the strain off Westbrook and bring him somewhere closer to that figure.
“I think for Russell, he tried to put the team on his back and say, ‘OK, I’ve got to get us to the playoffs,’” Donovan said. “I think because we’re starting out without those players available, we’ve got some time to evolve and develop a style of play and a system, and certainly he’s going to be the catalyst and the key to it.”
DONOVAN SPEAKS ON IBAKA’S ROLE
In March, Ibaka admitted he sometimes was frustrated with his role in the Thunder’s offense. Despite that, Donovan said Ibaka, who’s since been traded to Orlando, had an understanding about his diminished role in the fourth quarter of the Western Conference finals against the Spurs.
Against the Spurs, Ibaka’s fourth-quarter minutes (25) were dwarfed by those of Adams (56) and Kanter (46), but he was essential to the Thunder’s smaller lineups against Golden State in the Western Conference finals.
“As a coach, I never really worried about that because I do think deep down in Serge’s heart he always plays and wanted to compete to win,” Donovan said. “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that because coming out of that series against San Antonio in some of those fourth quarters with Adams and Kanter playing together, I think Serge was smart enough and had been in the league long enough where he knew ‘OK, this Golden State series, I’m gonna play a major role in that.’ I admired the way he bounced back from one series to the next.”
Against the Warriors, Ibaka’s fourth-quarter minutes shot back up to 55 in seven games compared to Adams’ 39 and Kanter’s 24.
“I think it’s only normal as you’re a player and you’re a really good player like Serge is to want to have a bigger role, want to have bigger responsibilities. But at the same point, too, the one thing with Serge is that in the series against San Antonio we just felt like we really had something with Enes Kanter and Steven Adams during that time, because those two big guys at that point and time were really playing well.
“I think, for me as a coach, I think Serge always wanted to be somebody that could make a big impact.”
QUOTABLE
Donovan on The Vertical podcast when asked about how he went about understanding the Westbrook-Durant relationship: “I think with Russell and Kevin, both of those guys wanted to win at a very high level and I think they had a really good relationship. I don’t think there’s any question about that. I think being able to talk to those guys, being able to bring both of them in together, being able to communicate with both of them, I thought from my experience I never had any situations where I thought, ‘jeez, we’ve got a problem here this week. These two guys are on two ends of the spectrum and they’re refusing to work together.’ That never happened at all. I think those two guys really wanted to compete and win at the highest of levels.”