All eyes on Westbrook
There can be no denying Russell Westbrook’s importance to the Thunder’s cause. For all the claim of teammate and fellow All-Star Paul George as a legitimate candidate for National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player, he’s the engine that drives them. He’s perpetually in motion, his whirling-dervish predispositions enabling him to fill stat lines night in and night out. There’s a reason he’s averaging a triple-double once again, and it’s not because he’s good at padding numbers. Without him, the blue and yellow would be in the lottery and not battling for a favorable position in conference standings.
On the flipside, there can likewise be no denying Westbrook’s penchant for being his own worst enemy. He plays with singular passion and fire, but his continual treading of the fine line between competitiveness and contentiousness places him in risky propositions that should otherwise be foreign to a player of his caliber. He lets the smallest slights — whether real or perceived — fuel his energy, but sometimes to excess. And in cases when his reactions work against him, the Thunder are left to suffer the consequences.
Take yesterday’s match against the Warriors. He was focused from the get-go, but maybe too locked in. Before the second quarter ended, he incurred his 16th technical foul for the season, putting him in danger of serving a suspension in the Thunder’s next outing. Clearly, he was frustrated with the officiating, and the fact that they were being outgunned at the Chesapeake Energy Arena caused him to lash out. In this regard, it didn’t help that he was off — make that extremely off; even after a late-game spark, he wound up canning only two of 16 shots from the field and failing to reach double digits in points, rebounds, and assists.
The Thunder ended the night absorbing a blowout loss, with the setback depressing their record to a woeful four and eight in their last 12 games. There was a lot of blame being passed around for their failure to protect home court against the undermanned Warriors. They should have taken advantage of the absence of two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant. They didn’t, and Westbrook understands that the outcome, while borne of a cacophony of reasons, was ultimately on him.
How Westbrook will respond to the development figures to shape the Thunder’s immediate future. If he resists the urge to overcompensate, they should be just fine. If he doesn’t, though, they’ll be compelled to face the same old, same old — problems they thought they already solved with George’s ascent to the top of the pecking order. Little wonder, then, that all eyes are on him. Make or break? Only he knows the answer.
ANTHONY L. CUAYCONG How Westbrook will respond to the development figures to shape the Thunder’s immediate future. If he resists the urge to overcompensate, they should be just fine. If he doesn’t, though, they’ll be compelled to face the same old, same old — problems they thought they already solved with George’s ascent to the top of the pecking order. Little wonder, then, that all eyes are on him. Make or break? Only he knows the answer.