By now, most of you know I'm a former Sonics/OKC Thunder fan. And let's keep it real here: Kevin Durant is a bona fide All Star and a flat out stud. But I'm here to tell you not to sleep on a cat who is rapidly becoming one of the best all around players in the NBA, and a soon-to-be All Star in his own right - a man named Russell Westbrook. With or without KD in the lineup, Westbrook has taken his game to the next level and is making a strong case for why he should not only head to LA for this years ASG, but definitely in the conversation for best point guard in the L.
Witness the most recent case for my argument; a triple overtime thriller that OKC won over New Jersey 123-120. While starting out slow, Russ ended the game with a crazy line of 38/15/9, and found time to grab 3 steals as well. Oh, and did I mention he also scored all 13 points for the Thunder in the 3rd overtime period? Yeah, that too. Looking at the season numbers, Russ has really worked hard to improve from last year, and its showed. Running the point isn't ever easy, but he's managed to do the following so far this season:
FG% - 45%, FT% - 87%, PTS - 23.8, REB - 5.6, AST - 8.6
And he's had at least 1 theft in every game but 2 this year. Impressive numbers for a guy in just his 3rd season out of UCLA when everyone at draft time said he was athletically gifted, but perhaps didn't have a position in the NBA. Consider that's he's averaging almost 8 points more per game this year, and doing it while almost doubling his free throw attempts/makes per game, and pushing his free throw percentage up from 78% to 87%. So not only is his getting more attempts per game, but he's also making almost 90% of them. And while the assists are up only slightly from last year (8.0 to 8.6 this year) the turnovers have only risen by about the same amount as well (3.3 per to 4.0 per). A 2-1 assist to turnover ratio isn't horrible from your point guard, and not bad at all for a guy who "was going to have a hard time running the point" in the NBA, according to a lot of draft analysts.
And let's move beyond just the numbers...he's pretty damn exciting to watch. Blake Griffin is making a lot of noise out in LA (and rightly so, that dude is flat out crazy skilled), but Russ is putting up highlights on the regular as well for Thunder fans. He's got the whole package...explode by defender into the lane for circus dunk? Check. Rebound tip dunk off a teammates miss over not one but two 6'8" or taller guys? Check. Have the ball stolen from you, get back on D and steal it back, then take it in for a dunk? Check there too. Westbrook is a freakish athlete with a tremendous wingspan and a knack for offensive rebounding and finishing in traffic for the And-1s. And he can get his shot while getting the rest of the team involved too.
Only 2 heads are averaging at least 20/5/5 so far this year: LeBron James (you may have heard of him) and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder are going to get a lot of airtime this season (and rightly so) after the great run they had last year in the regular season and the playoffs. But the next time you turn on ABC or ESPN or even NBATV to watch one of their games, keep one eye peeled for #35...and keep the other one on #0. Because you never know what he might do, but I can promise you it will be exciting to watch.
