Houston Rockets: Inside Russell Westbrook’s mid-season resurgence

The Houston Rockets’ acquisition of Russell Westbrook was met with criticism early in the season as the guard grappled with being himself and fitting in schematically with his new team. Now, those criticisms feel a lifetime ago.

To call Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook eccentric would be the understatement of the century.

It’s what makes him, him. His undying and relentless energy is what led him to back-to-back seasons averaging a triple-double – one of which culminated in league MVP honors.

For the entirety of his career, Westbrook has been as polarizing a player as there’s ever been. Naysayers point to his wretched efficiency – Westbrook is a career 30.4 percent 3-point shooter on 3.7 attempts per game, as well as a career 43.6 percent shooter from the field, largely due to his infatuation with mid-range jumpers. On mid-range jump shots, Westbrook has ranked in the 48th percentile or better in just five of his 12 seasons. In four seasons, he’s ranked in the 24th percentile or worse.

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Conversely, others point to Westbrook’s obscene statistical achievements and leadership capabilities as testaments to his stardom – the aforementioned triple-doubles seasons as well his achievement in steering a thoroughly average Oklahoma City Thunder team to the six seed in 2016 evidence this.

Both sides, in some way or another, manifested themselves early in the season. Westbrook’s already erratic style of play paired with his need to adjust to his new team and their profoundly unique offensive scheme made for tough viewing at times.

In the month of November, Westbrook shot 49 percent from 2 (14.2 attempts per game) and 21.6 percent from 3 (5.7 attempts per game). While his shooting was particularly erroneous, this was, in a roundabout way, the Westbrook we had come to know in recent years.

For the month, he shot 53.8 percent on shots within 10 feet, 33.9 percent on pull-up jumpers, and hoisted up a decent number of threes, despite his shoddy marksmanship from deep.

While ultimately a poor shooting month, Westbrook’s November numbers didn’t overly divert from his career figures. Simply put, Russ was being himself – an energizer and a leader of the highest caliber. A rebounding phenom, a high-level playmaker, but a wildly – and often times damagingly – inefficient player.

Alarm bells were beginning to sound amongst the Rocket faithful. Game by game, month by month, Daryl Morey’s decision to trade Chris Paul, two first-round picks and two pick-swaps for Westbrook was starting to seem asinine.

December saw much of the same: 53.6 percent within 10 feet, 37.4 percent on pull-up jumpers, 22.8 percent from 3 (4.4 attempts per game). But Westbrook – slowly but surely – was finding himself. His 3-point attempts had ticked down slightly, and while he remained inefficient from the field, his free throws took an enormous leap, jumping from 72.2 percent in November (6.3 FTA per game) to 90.1 percent in December (6.2 FTA per game). There was no distinguishable change in Westbrook’s form or routine at the line, making the sudden spike all the more confusing.

Westbrook shot north of 78 percent from the line in each of his first nine seasons before bizarrely plummeting to 73.7 percent in 2017. In 2018, he cascaded further to 65.6 percent.

Westbrook’s newfound confidence at the line meant he was more inclined to drive and attack – seek out contact. Many pointed to Westbrook’s fingers completely healing as the reason for his rejuvenation from the charity stripe. Whatever the case, Russ was finally done settling.

In January, Westbrook’s 3-point attempts dropped all the way to 2.2 a game. He shot a stellar 54.7 percent on2’s, including 57.7 percent within 10 feet and an improved 42 percent on pull-up jumpers (45.7% excluding pull-up 3’s). 16.6 of his 25.3 field goal attempts came inside 10 feet – meaning 66 percent of his shots were coming right in his wheelhouse.

In December, just 48.5 percent of his shots were coming inside 10 feet – in November, just 40 percent of his total shots were inside 10 feet. In fact, in November, he shots more pull-up jumpers per game (8.6) than shots within 10 feet (8).

Over Westbrook’s last 10 games, the 31-year-old has embarked on perhaps the most disciplined shooting stretch of his career. His 3-point attempts are all the way down to 1.4 per game, he’s at 7.1 pull-up jumpers per game, and he’s shooting a gargantuan 18 times a game within 10 feet. Westbrook is at 58.3 percent within 10 feet over his last 10, as well as 47.1 percent on pull-up mid-range jumpers. His 2-point percentage is up to an excellent 55.6 percent, and his overall field goal percentage sits at 54.1 percent over this recent stretch. His free-throw shooting has persisted, too, as he’s right around 79 percent – right at his career average.

Westbrook has also started to use his size in the post. His combination of speed, strength, and playmaking gives him a bevy of options down low. His favored option is to simply back his defender under the rim and lay it up over him, though he has dabbled in spinning off his defender as well as utilizing a post fadeaway (the latter is to the dismay of Rocket fans, and rightly so. A Russ fadeaway is a win for the defense).

Westbrook’s comfort in the post adds another wrinkle to Houston’s offense. His ability to play-make once the defense doubles create open looks and adds another level of complexity to Houston’s offense beyond James Harden/Russ iso’s.

Westbrook’s new-found comfort within Houston’s offense displays the benefits of spacing. Never in his career has Westbrook been afforded this much room to operate. Early in the season, he was settling – doing what he had done his whole career. Now, he’s playing to his strengths – getting downhill, using his speed and power. This year, Houston is second in pace. Just a year ago, they were 27th. Westbrook’s end-to-end speed is giving Houston’s high-octane offense – third in offensive rating (113.3) – more opportunities to do damage.

This has always been the pipedream with Russ. Get him spacing. Have him shoot fewer 3’s. Get him attacking the rim, over and over, with reckless abandon. Now, it’s finally manifesting itself, and Westbrook is in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career.

The key for Houston now is for Harden and Westbrook to thrive alongside one another. Typically, when Harden’s ‘gone-off’, Westbrook has faded into the background, and vice-versa.

For the Rockets to affirm themselves as contenders, Harden and Westbrook need to find their ‘A games’ alongside one another, rather than at the expense of the other’s success. Through Harden giving up a few more shots and D’Antoni continuing to stagger his two stars, it’s hard to imagine the pair not fully clicking in the coming weeks.

The adjustment is understandably hard. Harden took ALL the shots last year. He took a whole heap early in the season, too. But he needed Westbrook to get comfortable, for the sake of the team’s long-term success. Westbrook’s aggression picked up, and, eventually, he worked through the kinks and is now reaping the benefits. Harden’s play, in turn, dropped off. Lately, he’s shot less and his efficiency has plummetted.

With Westbrook now acclimated and his role and duties on the offensive end clearly defined, Harden can get back to being him. He seems to have done so over his last two, dropping 35/16/6 on the Dallas Mavericks and 40/10/9 on the New Orleans Pelicans.

As the all-star break approaches, Houston seemed to have figured out their offensive hierarchy. With a few savvy moves at the deadline, they could find themselves firmly in the championship conversation.