Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 at 5:02 pm  |  7 responses

Growing Pains

Skyzoo shows some support for Russell Westbrook.

by Skyzoo / @therealskyzoo

What’s up y’all, it’s Skyzoo, checking in for Week 6 of my “Chain Link Champions” blog for SLAM Mag. As always, shouts to everyone reading, commenting and tweeting the weekly posts to their inner circles. Definitely appreciate the support. The past week in the League has been the “nail biting, couch standing, scream at the TV” ride we’ve always wanted it to be. The NBA is at it like it’s never been, but with all of the excitement and “break the DVR button” moments comes the media talk and criticism with it. With that being said, I wanna use this week’s post to spotlight the unfair treatment of my man Russell Westbrook.

Let’s start with the facts: Russell Westbrook is a top 10 PG of our new generation. When you name CP3, Rondo, DWill, DRose, etc., you have to name Westbrook. He’s easily a representation of what the League has recently become; teams are now driven by point guards who can score at will, as well as set up the play, run it and then literally run through your defense from end to end. The game is now PG-based, as stated in my Week 3 blog entry, and Russ is definitely one of the new young elite.

The success of OKC has clearly been riding off of Kevin Durant. He’s a top 5 “right now” player (in no particular order: LBJ, DWade, Kobe, Melo and KD35; sue me), for numerous reasons: his skill set is top notch, he’s 6-9 and can dribble like he’s 6-2, great speed, perfect jump shot, clutch gene is through roof, etc. We could list reasons for the rest of the day. But throughout all of that, his “go-to,” his partner in crime, his co-captain, is the wonderkid draped in #0.

Let’s not forget who Westbrook is: the one who helped lead the US team to the gold last summer, the one Kobe said inspired him to “get up like he used to” at this year’s All-Star game (check the press conference footage), the one Kobe himself said he’d have to guard in last season’s first round of the Western Conference Playoffs after Russ ran circles around Derek Fisher and threatened to put the Lakers on the ropes for good. This is the same PG who dropped a triple-double in the WC semis, joining the elite few of Magic, Bird, Robertson and maybe two others, as noted by ESPN. Make no mistake, Russ is far from the villain and “spazz out” the media is making him and his game to be.

When Durant drops 40+, breaks records, wins games at the buzzer, or even has an off night, it’s Westbrook whom he depends on. Whether it’s to get him the ball at the exact spot needed, or to chime in for 30+ of his own when the shots aren’t falling for him, Durant definitely knows the value Westbrook brings to the table, as he’s shown in the media by openly supporting Westbrook. To me, Russ is the closest thing we’ve seen—as far as style and gameplay—to Isiah Thomas. Not saying he’s the next Zeke, but the way he plays the game has #11 written all over it: 6-3 PG, super fast, can score at will, not afraid of the paint, can dish the ball when and where needed, and if it comes down to it, can truly lead a team if need be (until the media completely got into his psyche). Russell is this generation’s edition of what Isaiah was to the 80s.

The tangent the media went on throughout these WCF’s have been outta control. Has Russ made some mistakes? Absolutely. I don’t think he should ever shoot more than Durant unless Durant takes 15 or fewer shots. Should he take the last shot? Not if Durant or Harden can get a clean look. But if they can’t? Then he 100 percent should, before anyone else in a similar jersey. With that being said, though, make no mistake: OKC wouldn’t be as far as they are without what Russ has contributed throughout this season. He’s an All-Star, proven worthy pretty much every night this year, and he practically owned Sportcenter’s Top 10 plays on a nightly basis this winter. Again, Kobe went on record saying Westbrook pretty much inspired him to get back to his afro-and-adidas days at the aforementioned All-Star game.

Tonight, win or lose, I’d like to see Russell play his game. Emphasis on on the word HIS. Not the media’s game or Skip Bayless’ game, but his Isiah Thomas-driven, 20-points, 8-assists, 7-rebounds game. The media has clearly gotten to him, thus resulting in back-and-forth performances. Some nights they love him, some nights they hate him, but regardless, they need to stop denying how nice he is. I’d hate to see him and Durant end up like Shaq and Kobe or Garnett and Marbury. If they keep it together, OKC can, and will, become the new Lakers.

Til’ next week, see y’all at the Chain Links.

Sidebar: For this week’s edition of #debateteamtuesdays, I leaked “Test Drive,” produced by Illmind, whihc features a nice DRose line that I was been telling y’all about when the Chi-Town readers were coming after me. Told y’all, I love the Chi. Word to LDRS 1354. Peep the jam in the bangers section of XXLMag.com.

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  • http://www.newyorkshockexchange.com Shock Exchange

    Russell Westbrook’s body of work doesn’t warrant this amount of praise at this point (pun intended). Part of being a good player is to make the “easy play”. Dude needs to get the ball to Kevin Durant and keep it moving. If he can’t then the OKC needs to find a PG who can.

  • buddahlova

    I watched almost all of the thunder’s games this playoffs and failed to notice this alleged ability to “score at will” and “set up the play.” I did notice that he shot miserably and often had more turnovers than assists. Maybe the kid will develop, but he is far from one of the league’s best right now

  • paul

    Anthony top five? Rose not top five? Westbrook comparable to Isiah? Why does this stuff get published? Westbrook is very, very young and very, very immature. He seems to have no idea how to run an offense. He is very talented. Lots of potential.

  • http://slamonline.com AllDayEveryDay

    Some points I disagree with: 1) Russell is not a PG who can score at will AND set up his teammates, he does one or the other, and inconsistently combines both skillsets. 2) KD does not dribble like he’s 6’2″, that’s why he settles for jumpers from 30 foot jumpers without a dribble all the time, because he knows he can’t get himself a better shot, because of a lack of handles. 3) KD and Melo Top 5 players TODAY is a joke. Both are subpar on defense. Not playmakers, both average just 2-3 assists unlike the KB/LBJ/Wade trio who also all have great D. 3 players EASILY go ahead of them both in the rankings. Dwight Howard who completely dominates on both sides, CP3 who COMPLETELY controls the game on offense, and is an efficiency machine with amazing D as well, and the MVP has to be top 5.

    I’ve read all your articles so far, label me a hater, I don’t care, but you always fail to provide insightful basketball/NBA knowledge. You clearly lack a lot of basketball knowledge.

    Some people on here like to say “let him do his thing, leave him alone”… If you have the privilege of writing a column for a nice basketball site like this where basketball heads like to come and read/discuss things, please do your research first. Most commentors on here have way more knowledge and would write a much better piece than this.

    P.S. Thunder, the new LAKERS?! Give me a break

  • r2j

    I think everyone needs to chillout. Last year he single handedly showed Derek Fisher’s age and they gave LA a run for the money. This year, he regressed from playing overagressive. Sure, it’s easy to say give the ball to Durant but those last 2 games against Dallas showed that Durant’s shot select was as poor as Westbrook’s shot selection. Also, he is still young and still learning about the game. He makes more TO’s than assists at times but when he makes more assists than TO’s then he’s a triple double threat like Jason Kidd. He’s also one of the best rebounders in the L even though he lost the ball on a rebound that led to Dirk’s 2nd chance 3bomb in game 5. We do need to layoff of him a little bit cause he’s still learning how to play PG. OKC is still a young team, I hope they DON’T trade Westbrook and I think they need to put Harden in the lineup so they can get another scorer off the bench. OKC will learn just like they learned against LA. They’re offically a contender but let’s layoff of Westbrook, he tried and tried again even though his game wasn’t best. The whole team has to crawl before they walk and somehow this is STILL 1 of the youngest teams in the league so let’s stop attacking Westbrook and give him a standing O for his effort in the playoffs and regular season.

  • AD

    i think westbrook shoots too much and turns the ball over a lot… but when your superstar does not produce.. its hard to pass to him all the time……… westbrook and durant need to be better.. not just westbrook. & @ alldayy… u sound like a true hater…. Durant does have great dribble,he just lacks the power to body his defenders and blow by them as well… And why cant they be the new lakers…. all they need is a pf and time to grow and let westbrook learn the position…. U sound like skip baylesses son

  • flipnoyce

    Thunders need to GET STEVE NASH and have Westbrook learn a thing or two from him as a backup. I think Westbrook just needs to grow up and learn the art of the assist. Overall I like his aggressiveness and competitive fire. He have time to learn if he decides to work on them. P.S. These Thunders are more like the 80′s Celtics. BIRD as DURANT, Westbrook as DJ or Ainged, Perk as Parish. But of course the 80′s C’s was a BEAST even in todays world.

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