He plays a fairly small role in UCLAs half-court offense (only 8% of his offense comes from either pick and roll or isolation plays), mostly as a complimentary piecemoving off the ball trying to find holes in the defense to get to the rim with his tremendous strength and leaping ability, or shooting wide open jumpers. Offensively, Westbrooks biggest source of production (nearly 30% of his offense) curiously comes in transition. Featuring an outstanding first step and terrific strength once in the lane, Westbrooks ability to elevate off the floor has made his highlight reels the stuff of Youtube legend. He has solid size at 6-3, an excellent wingspan, and huge hands, and is one of the most explosive players youll find anywhere in the country. Physically, Westbrook is especially impressive, despite his tweener status.
Obviously a late bloomer, Westbrook remains a raw prospect as far as his skill-level is concerned, but has just about as much upside to continue to improve as any guard in the NCAA not named Derrick Rose. Considered a mid-major recruit leading into his senior year of high school, drawing scholarship offers from schools such as San Diego, Wyoming, Creighton and Kent State, Westbrook benefited from a late growth spurt that saw him shoot up from just 5-10 to 6-3 late in his prep career, and is now a key cog on a Final Four contending team and one of the hottest draft prospects in the country as of late. There might not be a more improved player in the country over the last year or two than UCLA sophomore guard Russell Westbrook.
#WESTBROOK STTS FREE#
He hit one NBA 3-pointer even (but bricked other shots and some free throws) and also played his typical fantastic defense, being a menace on the floor with his athleticism, but smart and active enough to take advantage of it effectively.Īt the end of the day, this performance might not tell us all that much about how ready Westbrook is to come in and run an NBA offense from day one, but it definitely highlighted his strengths and showed that Oklahoma City has a lot to look forward to.
He wasnt immune to taking some bad shots from time to time, but you certainly could have expected a lot worse all things considered. Westbrook was fairly effective running the pick and roll (surveying the options nicely and finding open teammates on the drive and dish), and generally didnt seem to have much of an issue getting his team into their offense once he settled in. He showed a good demeanor on the floor, knowing when to try and make things happen individually and when to settle in and get others involved, even if its clear that hes no finished product as far as his playmaking skills are concerned. His terrific first step, combined with his nose for the basket and surprisingly effective crossover to get his man off-balance got him into the paint time after time, allowing him to show off the breathtaking leaping ability finishing above the rim that weve all come to know and love over the last season. Westbrook was nearly impossible to keep out of the lane when he put his mind to it. As the game wore on, though, he came out of his shell, and really started to show all the different things that made him such a tantalizing collegiate prospect, as well as some new wrinkles that we may not have been able to see in his minimal role at UCLA.
#WESTBROOK STTS HOW TO#
Westbrook started off the game a bit tentatively, looking like he was thinking very hard about how to get his team into the offense. His GM Sam Presti took a little bit of heat for drafting him so early, but from the very small snippet of information we were about to gather about Westbrook, he seems to be backing him up thus far. All things considered (first summer league game, playing a brand new position, unfamiliar teammates/environment), this was a very successful outing for #4 draft pick Russell Westbrook.
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