There’s been a lot of talk about Russell Westbrook exacerbating rather than helping the Lakers’ need for better free throw and 3-point shooting but a close review of his stats renews hopes his shooting struggles can be cured.
Let me first be clear about a couple of major issues. First, the critics have gone way overboard by throwing Russ under the bus for his shooting woes while ignoring the unbelievable contributions he makes in other areas. Second, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers deserve high praise for the moves they made after the Westbrook trade to add six sharpshooters who can make their free throws and shoot a high volume and high percentage from deep.
The crux of the moves Pelinka made this offseason was to shift the team’s 3-point production from superstars LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, none of whom is really a reliable or trustworthy 3-point shooter. While LeBron, AD, and Russ are not going to stop shooting threes, the Lakers’ plan is to have their superstars attack the rim to create wide open threes for the six new 3-point shooters they signed this offseason.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how Russ’ stats contain valulable clues that should alow the Lakers to find a cure to improve his 65% free throw percentage from 65% to 75% and his 3-point percentage from 31.5% to 35%.
HOW TO FIX WESTBROOK’S FREE THROW SHOOTING
Let’s start with Russell’s issues at the free throw line. Last season, he averaged 65.6% from the line, which matched the 65.6% he shot three seasons ago. Russ will need to shoot better to close games for the Lakers.
The good news is Russ is a career 79% free throw shooter over 13 seasons, who shot over 80% from the line 8 of his first 10 seasons. The bad news is his free throw percentage dropped to 68.8% over the last three years. The question the Lakers need to answer is what happened to cause the elite free throw shooter who shot 81.4% over his first 10 years to have his free throw percentage to drop 12.7% to just 68.8% over the last three years?
Nothing jumps out from reviewing his stats or comparing his free throw shooting routine now and then that explains the precitous drop in free throw percentage. There’s no correlation to his shots or free throws taken. The solution is for the Mike Penworthy, the Lakers’ shooting coach, to work with Russ to get him back to shooting free throws with the accuracy he did during his first 10 years in the league. This is a problem coaching can fix.
Getting Russell Westbrook to improve his free throw shooting from 65% to 75% as a Lakers is an attainable goal, especially since Russ won’t have the heavy workload he had at Oklahoma City, Houston, or Washington.
HOW TO IMPROVE WESTBROOK’S 3-POINT SHOOTING
When an NBA player is an elite free throw shooter, which Westbrook was his first 10 years, there’s a good chance that player will also develop into a capable 3-point shooter. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen with Russ.
But looking at his 3-point shooting stats for last season by quarter and by half revealed information that could explain Westbrook’s inconsistency when it comes to 3-point shooting and suggest a possible plan to improve. Last season, Russ shot a mediocre 31.5% on 1.3 of 4.2 threes per game but when you dig deeper you find Russ shot a respectable 35.0% on 0.6 of 1.7 threes in the 1st half but a dismal 29.1% on 0.7 of 2.4 threes in the 2nd half.
That suggests the pressure and workload playing on the Wizards could have caused Russ’ shooting percentage to dive the second half of games. Russ’ worst quarter all year long was the 4th, when he shot 27.8% from three. Frankly, playing on the Lakers with superstar bigs like LeBron James and Anthony Davis should enable Russ to dial down his effort on offense, limit his shot selection, and focus more on playmaking and attacking the rim.
A dose of restraint and discipline and less pressure and workload should give Russ the opportunity to raise his 3-point shooting from 31.5% to 35%, which would be the highest 3-point percentage in his storied 13-year career.
WHAT WESTBROOK HAS TO DO TO FIT IN WITH LAKERS
Russell Westbrook has a well-earned reputation for being a stubborn player and while he’s played with superstars like Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Bradley Beal, he’s never won a championship in his 13 seasons in the NBA.
The Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook to win their 18th championship. They’re taking the ball out of LeBron’s hands and putting it in Russ’ hands. His job will be attack the rim and turn this year’s Lakers into Showtime 2.0. For the new big three to click, all three superstars must make sacrifices. That means Russ learning to make his free throws and limiting his 3-point shots, LeBron moving to the four and playing off the ball, and AD playing the five.
All of this was obviously discussed during the meeting in Los Angeles before free agency between Russ, LeBron, and AD so each of the superstars knew beforehand what they would need to do to make the surprise trade work. Had that meeting not happened, the Lakers would have probably not traded for Russ and Buddy Hield would likely be wearing purple and gold right now. And give Pelinka credit for still being able to get the shooting they needed.
The basketball media wrongly thinks the Lakers made mistake trading for Westbrook because his poor shooting is a bad fit. In the end, the Lakers will not only prove they can win the championship but also that Russ can shoot.
Aloha Tom, you missed the in my opinion the crux of Russ’s 3 point shooting problems. Shot selection is his biggest issue. He shot over 35% on catch and shoot 3’s and over 40% on corner 3’s. He was a dismal 28% on pull up 3’s. If he eliminates a lot of the pull ups he probably will hit your 35% mark over even better. And playing with LeBron he will get catch and shoot opportunities then he probably has ever had.
Aloha, Michael. Thanks for chiming in. And adding valuable stats to back up your point that Russ’ main problem was shoot selection And we all know that is something that usually can be improved, especially when you’re playing on a bigger stage with two other proven champions like LeBron and AD.
Russ may have been the leader or co-leader of every team he’s played for. But even he knows this is LeBron’s team. Russ will take more care of his shot selection and won’t be under the pressure to have to do more in the second halves and fourth quarters.
I think we’re actually in agreement because my point was for Russ to keep the constant pressure on the other team evenly throughout the game. All of his stats but his 3-point shooting seem to remain constant or up in the second half or fourth quarter except for 3-point shooting. That’s all about shot selection under pressure as the game ends. With LeBron and AD, Russ won’t face the pressure or need to dial it up.
Let’s hope the Lakers coaching staff makes sure Russ sees those stats and jumps aboard. LeBron would ideally be involved and maybe AD too. I know I want all three superstars to shoot more at the rim and less from deep. But I want our other players to focus on shooting threes rather midrange or layups. Keep the floor clear so LeBron and AD will be playing 2 on 2 in the paint. Keep our shooters out where the points count 3 to create spacing. That’s what I think is the formula for this team.
Historically, the opposite seems to come true.
Some of it can be explained mostly by guys not being able to handle the bright lights of Hollywood even though you would think playing with LeBron and AD and getting more wide open shots would offset that. Be interesting to see how this bunch of shooters fare by the end of the season. Lots of playmakers and shooters should translate into both higher volume and percentage. We’ll see.
Short turnaround + excessive workload = Tired legs
Russ isn’t immune or stubborn enough to not get tired.
Playing with LBJ and AD should help but Russ’s big adjustment will have to be dial it back 10% every quarter. Not cumulatively, of course, but just save a little for the end. Pick your spots, you haven’t won a title playing your way now try a different one.
Yeah, the numbers show that he dials it up as the game goes on. Just keep the pedal to the metal consistently all game long and focus on getting the ball to your co-superstars and corps of 3-point shooters and don’t worry about having to do everything yourself.