FRENCH TOASTER
Westbrook’s defense goes beyond stopping Rubio
SALT LAKE CITY – Russell Westbrook made his proclamation. What happens next is the big question.
Westbrook sat on the podium flanked by Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, his running mates in the great Thunder experiment, and laid down a personal ultimatum about Ricky Rubio and what happened in the Thunder’s 115-102 Game 3 loss.
“He made some shots,” Westbrook said. “Too comfortable.
“I’ma shut that (expletive) off next game though. Guarantee that.”
As Westbrook goes, so does the Thunder, no more so than on defense. It goes beyond just stopping Rubio from scoring.
Six possessions into the game, Westbrook sagged a few feet off Rubio at the top of the 3-point arc but didn’t bother to put his arms out. Rubio picked up his dribble, and Westbrook’s first reaction wasn’t to crowd him but to take a step back, which allowed Rubio free reign to pass to a cutting Joe Ingles, who darted past Paul George (behind a step) for a layup.
Game 3 was a bonus for Utah, which isn’t worried about Rubio getting locked down if he’s controlling the other aspects it needs from him.
“Yeah, it doesn’t work like that with our team,”
Utah forward Jonas Jerebko said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that can step up, so let’s see what they take away.”
Three possessions after Rubio set up Ingles, he made a stand-still ball fake with seven seconds on the shot clock, 23 feet from the rim. Rather than stand Rubio up behind the 3-point line, he closed out wildly, leaving his feet, and Rubio blew past him for a mid-range runner.
Westbrook could do what he says he will against Rubio, forcing him to shoot closer to his Game 2 and 3 averages (37.5 and 27.8 percent).
It won’t matter to the Jazz.
“(It) doesn’t become for us really about any one matchup,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “Ricky just needs to take what the defense gives him and be solid. So does Joe. We need to attack as a group.”
Westbrook’s problem isn’t a disrespect of Rubio’s game, but an entire season of deficient defensive discipline and effort that is being exposed against a team that executes. It’s not just him. The Thunder, particularly George and Corey Brewer, cheated into the paint on the Jazz’s pick-and-roll game Saturday and it led to a combined six corner 3-pointers from Ingles and Donovan Mitchell.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan balked at the idea of putting Westbrook on Derrick Favors on defense for possessions, instead saying the Thunder has to execute defensively with “more force” and aggressiveness.
“There’s a level of physicality that goes into all that stuff, whether it’s getting over a screen or getting over a pick and roll,” Donovan said in reference to defending Rubio. “You want to be able to play with force in those situations.
“There’s also the coverage for the big, what they’re doing in specific situations, specific areas of the floor. So, it’s two people having to work together and then you’ve gotta deal with obviously the rolls to the basket and backside help. That’s a job of everybody.”
Yet, while a lot is on his plate offensively, Westbrook has too often picked and chosen his nights of defensive focus rather than keeping his assignment in front of him and doing the early work necessary in a defensive set to snuff out a developing play.
When that effort isn’t put into action, it leaves teammates at a disadvantage and the Thunder’s defense scrambled.
“If somebody breaks down in their job, something is going to get exposed,” Donovan said. “I think as it relates to Russell on Rubio, Russell has guarded great point guards throughout this league for a long, long time. He knows the things that he has to do to help us defensively in his job and in his role.”
It exacerbates Westbrook’s defense when his offense is off-kilter.
When matched up on Westbrook, Rubio is scoring 2.6 more points than his regular-season average per 100 possessions, whereas Westbrook is minus-12 below his per 100 possession average when matched up with Rubio, per Second Spectrum. Granted, it takes less for the light-scoring Rubio to exceed his standard than Westbrook, but Rubio is defending Westbrook better than Westbrook is defending Rubio. The Jazz guard has outscored his counterpart 30-28 when they’re matched up on each other.
Westbrook understands he needs to be better. In postgame on Saturday, he acknowledged his bad decisions that led to eight turnovers.
“I was getting myself in trouble jumping in the air, trying to get the ball to Melo (Carmelo Anthony), other guys on the floor,” he said.
On both ends for Westbrook, understanding and executing have to meet. The Thunder’s playoff life depends on it.