I didn’t see the team scheming for him to get boards or players clearing out so he could get them. Those were the complaints in OKC, as far as “fabricating” his stats.
Nah... The difference is Stephen Adams was boxing folks out for WB to get rebounds... Clint won't even box out for himself!..
Westbrook received complaints for putting stat padding ahead of winning. It was clear that he was ignoring perimeter D to chase boards, not shooting at moments where he needed assists, etc. The team received complaints for making his triple doubles a team goal.
So you think he has changed that aspect of his game completely? Or were those complaints unfounded, considering he is getting just as many rebounds in a different system?
I like the mindset. Get the rebound at all costs. If you gotta take some from your teammate so be it. Don’t be second guessing worrying about if you look like you are stat padding. Some guys worry about perception and don’t fight for the rebound if it looks like a teammate will get it. A more aggressive competitor will snatch it away if you don’t aggressively go for it. But not Russ he fights for everything. In the end all that matters is the team gets it.
So far it really looks like he just wants that ball, like he says, it's his only friend on the court. Why he gets them on our team is simply because many are too slow or unwilling to fight for it. Harden will fight for rebounds that are falling in his lap with another teammate there, Westbrook will fight for rebounds that are almost 100% someone else's given the position and length they have.
The complaints weren’t unfounded. OKC was open about assisting him in getting rebounds. It was obvious that he was camping in the lane defensively to chase them. No one said he wasn’t capable of getting triple doubles. We said he was clearly being assisted in getting them and ignoring other aspects, like defense, to chase stats. Do you deny that any of that occurred?
Just to add in his “mvp” season he was LAST in contested shot rate(forgoing defense to hunt boards) and FIRST in uncontested rebounds per game(team was scheming for him to accumulate stats) And none of that means he isn’t a great rebounding guard.
We need all the rebounds we can get from him... we have been consistently one of the worst rebounding teams in the league year after year. Honestly, him getting a rebound for himself is good since he can start the fast break, from there it's 6 seconds or less baby!
He used to have one of the highest percentage of 'uncontested rebounds' in the league back when he was in OKC, per NBA.com - and it was pretty blatant. But on this team, his tenacity to stat pad might actually be a good thing.
But, he gets just as many rebounds here as he did in OKC. So something doesn’t quite add up. A. “Clearly being assisted” to get rebounds. B. Gets just as many rebounds when unassisted on a different team. I believe I must reject your hypothesis, and seeing how eerily quiet it is in here from our anti-Westbrook residents, I’m very comfortable in pointing out some serious bias, then and now.
Westbrook rebounds seem to result in Westbrook transition baskets for himself and others. Here, there and everywhere...
