Is Westbrook Going to Average a Triple Double Again
Marc Stein on Basketball
Russell Westbrook Makes Triple-Doubles Look Piece of cake. They're Not.
Westbrook, the Washington Wizards guard, is on runway to average a triple-double for the fourth fourth dimension in five seasons, making information technology seem almost routine. And then why doesn't everyone practice information technology?
Russell Westbrook and Scott Brooks huddled by phone late Lord's day. After the Washington Wizards' eighth consecutive victory, and with the second half of a back-to-back looming Monday night against San Antonio, Westbrook wanted to practise some actress strategizing with his omnibus.
It was only a few months earlier that half-dozen consecutive Washington games were postponed because the Wizards had been ravaged by a coronavirus outbreak. Their U-plow has been so dramatic, with Westbrook's play reminiscent of his Oklahoma City best, that Brooks couldn't resist interrupting the serious tone by needling his star guard.
"I told him: 'You've got to starting time rebounding the ball — simply 5 this evening?'" Brooks said. "Just busting his chops."
Those five rebounds Westbrook managed in Sunday's victory over Cleveland, to get with 14 points and xi assists in 36 minutes, were indeed an anomaly. In nine of his previous 10 games, thirteen of the previous 15 and 16 of the previous xx, Westbrook reached double figures in points, assists and rebounds.
In his beginning season as a Wizard, at age 32, Westbrook is averaging 21.eight points, 11 rebounds and eleven assists per game — with a league-leading 29 triple-doubles to hike his career total to 175. Denver'south Nikola Jokic, with 15 triple-doubles, is his closest pursuer this season. With 7 more triple-doubles, Westbrook will laissez passer Oscar Robertson equally the N.B.A.'s career leader.
This is where information technology'south important to note that Westbrook, who is on a course to average more than than 10 rebounds per game for the fourth time in five seasons, stands half-dozen-foot-3.
The official stance of this newsletter is that Westbrook's forthcoming accomplishment should be celebrated heartily, at the very least for his relentless rebounding at that size, but it'due south hard to say how much fanfare awaits him when he eclipses the Big O. This isn't even a tape that Robertson knew he fix at the fourth dimension, since the term "triple-double" didn't come into vogue until the 1980s.
Another tricky variable: In my 28 seasons of full-fourth dimension North.B.A. reporting, Westbrook is right there with Allen Iverson when it comes to the most polarizing players I have covered. Because of Westbrook'due south brawl-ascendant style, fickle jump shot, loftier turnover charge per unit, occasionally brusque demeanor and, most of all, nothing championships, information technology is frequently easier to discover his critics than his admirers.
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As Westbrook closes in on Robertson, in that location is also a rising trend to dismiss triple-doubles as empty calories considering they happen so oftentimes in the broad-open modern game. (Example: On March 17, Westbrook was i of six players to tape a triple-double that day.) Westbrook's triple-doubles in particular tend to exist discounted in a way that others aren't, which he brought up in a video session with reporters after Mon's overtime loss to the Spurs.
"I recall it's very interesting that it's non useful at present that I'm doing it," Westbrook said.
As covered in a recent piece by my colleague Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, at that place were merely 18 triple-doubles leaguewide as recently as the 2011-12 regular season. This season's total has already topped 100, for the 5th season in a row, pointing to the various offensive advantages enjoyed in today's Northward.B.A. The faster pace of play creates more possessions, and thus more statistical opportunities, and restrictions on defenders have been designed to promote more freedom of movement on offense. Players are also encouraged to shoot 3-pointers at record rates, boosting scoring numbers and leading to more long rebounds. Old schoolers resistant to the 3-signal revolution, in response, are prone to belittle at some of the gaudy stuff nosotros encounter in box scores these days.
Yet this is where I feel compelled to repeat that office about Westbrook standing just 6-3. He is the just thespian in league history at that size or smaller to average at least 10 rebounds a game over a full flavor.
"It's a lot harder at 6-three," said Lafayette Lever, who went by the nickname Fat and amassed 43 triple-doubles from 1982-83 through 1993-94.
Lever understands Westbrook's challenge likewise as anyone. He was a 6-iii, 170-pound guard who rang upwards a league-leading xvi triple-doubles in 1986-87, ahead of both Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, and he didn't have Westbrook's explosion.
"Russell is so much more athletic than I was at any point in fourth dimension," Lever said in a phone interview, "probably from the day he was built-in."
Lever, though, had an exceptional knack for rebounding, which he credited to playing on a high school team with no i taller than half-dozen-3. He still ranks 10th in career triple-doubles. It wasn't until Johnson joined the Lakers, five seasons after Robertson's retirement, that triple-doubles were seriously tracked and discussed, but amongst my Due north.B.A.-obsessed loftier schoolhouse friends in the 1980s, we associated triple-doubles with Lever as much as with Magic or Bird, since he seemed like such an unlikely source for them.
Lever accrued all 43 of his triple-doubles in a half dozen-flavour span with the Denver Nuggets from 1984-85 to 1989-xc as one of the driving forces on a squad that, like Westbrook, wasn't always appreciated. Detractors at the fourth dimension took issue with the freewheeling style those Nuggets played under Coach Doug Moe — and the wild scores and stats their games produced.
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Turbocharged statistical lines are a staple at present in a league where 13 teams out of 30, entering Tuesday'southward play, were attempting at least 40 pct of their shots from 3-point range. Cries of stat padding became commonplace in Westbrook's later years with the Thunder, and the hyper-awareness of triple-doubles — and a corresponding urge to chase them — is another perceived advantage for the Westbrook generation. But Lever insisted that achieving the consistency of Westbrook's board work is far harder than information technology looks.
"Information technology's still a large deal," Lever said, "because not everyone is able to do information technology."
Westbrook fabricated similar statements after the Wizards' winning streak was snapped by the 146-143 loss to the Spurs. Asked nearly his latest triple-double, which included 22 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists — albeit on 9-for-26 shooting — Westbrook said: "I honestly believe there is no player like myself. And if people desire to take information technology for granted, sorry for them. Simply I'm pretty sure if everybody could do it, they would do information technology."
It's difficult to argue with that logic, although many effort. In 2016-17, Westbrook became the start player since the vi-v Robertson in 1961-62 to average a triple-double for an entire season. That feat helped Westbrook, starring for the 47-win Thunder, become the North.B.A.'s get-go About Valuable Role player Award winner from a sub-fifty-win team since Moses Malone in 1981-82.
With a boost from his recent surge, Westbrook is on a course to average a triple-double for the quaternary time in v seasons, which in theory should position him as an M.VP. candidate. The reality is much colder: Westbrook has seemingly normalized averaging a triple-double and has been traded twice during that run, suggesting to some that triple-doubles aren't especially valuable. Or, worse, that he is non a thespian to build around.
Washington caused him from Houston on Dec. 2 in a swap of disgruntled backcourt stars that sent John Wall to the Rockets. In Jan and February, Westbrook's play was alarmingly inefficient and turnover-laden, with noticeably fewer rushes to the rim. Since the All-Star break, Westbrook has consistently played at a top-30 level, and Washington has a internet rating of plus-4.four points per 100 possessions with both Westbrook and Bradley Beal on the floor.
Business persists over Westbrook's five turnovers per game, and his curious slippage at the costless-throw line to a career-low 62.8 per centum from 76.3 pct concluding season, but the constant thrust Westbrook plays with has fabricated the Wizards difficult to baby-sit. His presence has not hindered Beal's scoring, every bit some surmised when the merchandise went down; Beal is locked in an almighty boxing with Aureate State's Stephen Back-scratch for the league's scoring championship.
In March and April, Westbrook became the first player to register at least 300 points, 150 assists and 150 rebounds in consecutive calendar months since Wilt Chamberlain in February and March of 1968, co-ordinate to research from the statistician Justin Kubatko. Westbrook will never be for everybody, especially without a ring, but Brooks couldn't have lobbied harder for the Wizards to reunite them when the trade opportunity arose. He coached him through nearly all of Westbrook's first seven seasons in Oklahoma City,
"The rebounding is the most incredible thing," Brooks said. "He goes and gets them. He but has that knack. It doesn't matter who'south in front of him; he always has one more step on his ladder. The will, the athleticism the competitive drive — I knew what our team needed.
"Eleven rebounds a game for guy half-dozen-iii? Nosotros'll never run across a player like him ever again, non in my generation or my kids' generation."
Corner Three
Paradigm
You ask; I answer. Every calendar week in this space, I'll field three questions posed via electronic mail at marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com . Please include your first and last name, as well every bit the city you're writing in from, and make sure "Corner Three" is in the bailiwick line.
(Questions may be condensed or lightly edited for clarity.)
Q: The Knicks take overperformed this flavour. The front role did not brand whatsoever splashes at the trade borderline. Jeff Van Gundy recently mentioned on television that the Knicks were "still incredibly limited" talent-wise. Their all-time player is Julius Randle , only the Due north.B.A. has been a perimeter-based league for some time. How will Leon Rose address this? — Wallace Leeth (Paterson, N.J.)
Stein: April has been a month for Knicks fans to relish. Genuine optimism and joy are tangible at Madison Square Garden for the first fourth dimension in years. I suppose it was inevitable that someone would inject a sober dose of pragmatism into the chat, but information technology's also hard to quibble with the patient arroyo — and so far.
The Knicks are alee of schedule and well positioned to pursue signings and trades to eternalize an offensively challenged roster, with considerable salary-cap space and two get-go-round picks forthcoming in the off-flavor. Team officials know they nevertheless take plenty of work to do to upgrade the overall talent, simply that wasn't imperative at the trade deadline in March. It's non similar there was a difference-maker they missed out on.
Information technology's true that this forepart office volition ultimately exist judged on its ability to sign or trade for at least one certifiable star to pair with Randle, which means persuading an established player to embrace the claiming of playing in New York as heartily as Randle did. Rose and his management squad as well have to brace for ongoing second-guessing about their first draft pick if the rookie baby-sit Tyrese Haliburton continues to blossom in Sacramento, since they could have drafted Haliburton at No. 8 rather than Obi Toppin.
The Rose authorities, though, has done many good things in its first year. The Knicks appear to have hired the right coach in Tom Thibodeau, helped conductor Randle to All-Star status and can point to promising development from RJ Barrett and the rookie Immanuel Quickley to offset the injuries that take derailed Mitchell Robinson'due south third season.
At that place accept been whispers for weeks that the Knicks' flirtation with the East's No. 4 seed has helped restore their reputation to the betoken that star players are finally prepared to consider them a destination franchise once again. If that proves true, they volition accept multiple pathways to address the concerns you raised, whether information technology's by trying to sign a savvy former All-Star similar Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan on a short-term deal equally a bridge to complimentary-amanuensis classes more star-laden than this summer's, or by using future draft picks (perhaps packaged with Toppin) to construct a meaningful trade.
Things could e'er go askew if the Knicks rush into the incorrect deal, equally they have been known to do over the years, or if the team's owner, James Fifty. Dolan, decides he needs to go involved after abiding by the organization's plan to permit Thibodeau and on-court results practise all the talking. But I would say that the Knicks have certainly earned a grace menstruation through the end of this surprising flavour. This is a time for Knicks fans, surely, to revel in what'southward going right.
Q: Exercise they really get the Oscar itself? Kobe Bryant was very involved in co-creating his film, which is why he was given an Oscar . Executive producers frequently provide financing and aren't involved as easily-on producers. In any case, good for them. — @FromMeadows from Twitter
Stein: In my exuberance Sunday night, I tweeted that Kevin Durant, Mike Conley Jr. and Rich Kleiman, Durant'south business manager, joined Bryant every bit Oscar winners from the N.B.A. considering they were listed as executive producers for "Two Distant Strangers," which won the best live activeness brusque moving picture category at Dominicus's University Awards. That's wrong.
They were function of an Oscar-winning movie, just did not get awards themselves. Kobe took dwelling an Oscar trophy in 2018 for the blithe brusk film "Love Basketball," which was based on a poem Bryant wrote in 2015 to announce his retirement at the end of the 2015-16 flavour.
Q: I've never seen and so many tweets and stories about a team signing a guy to a ten-twenty-four hours contract. We've seen posts virtually Mike James virtually 50 times over the past week. — @MrWright1218 from Twitter
Stein: In that location are some good reasons for that.
Information technology'south partially a function of where we are on the regular-flavour calendar. There just aren't every bit many roster moves happening this close to the postseason, peculiarly involving title contenders, so the ones that exercise happen generate actress coverage.
Yet it's likewise a byproduct of the circumstances. James was one of the most prominent Americans playing away, with a loftier-profile European guild (CSKA Moscow), and he had a complicated contractual situation to negotiate — too every bit six days' worth of wellness and safety protocols to complete — before he could actually join the Nets on Friday. The fluidity of James's status led to more frequent updates.
Numbers Game
Paradigm
l
Recording 50 wins in an 82-game flavour is a traditional mark for Due north.B.A. excellence. Winning 50 games in a 72-game flavour is obviously harder, simply six teams withal have a chance to practise so with nineteen days remaining in the regular flavour: Utah (44-17), Phoenix (43-xviii), the Los Angeles Clippers (43-20), the Nets (42-20), Philadelphia (40-21) and Denver (40-21). Of those 6, just the Jazz (52) and the Suns (51) are currently on a step to do so.
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Nikola Jokic'south M.V.P. instance volition undoubtedly be bolstered by his durability in this pandemic flavor. Jokic has played in all 61 of Denver's games and has led the Nuggets to a 6-one record since Jamal Murray'due south season-ending knee injury on Apr 12. Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, widely regarded as Jokic's closest pursuer in the M.V.P. race, has played in 42 of the 76ers' 61 games.
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Monday'southward home loss to the Suns, the No. 2 seed in the Due west, brought a halt to the Knicks' nine-game winning streak. The Knicks have had only one longer unbeaten run in the 21st century, winning 13 consecutive games late in the 2012-13 season, which featured the club'due south final playoff berth.
37.5
The Knicks' Julius Randle leads the league at 37.5 minutes per game. Motorbus Tom Thibodeau has faced criticism for years about overplaying his best players; Thibodeau about probable would counter that Randle, at 26, is young enough to handle the workload.
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This is Seattle's 13th season without an N.B.A. squad. The W.Due north.B.A.'s Seattle Storm have won 3 championships in that time, merely the await for a new franchise to replace the SuperSonics will soon have on a new dynamic when the Seattle Kraken join the N.H.L. side by side season. We're less than iii months abroad from the Kraken'south expansion draft on July 21.
Striking me up anytime on Twitter ( @TheSteinLine ) or Facebook ( @MarcSteinNBA ) or Instagram (@thesteinline). Send whatever other feedback to marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com .
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/sports/basketball/russell-westbrook-triple-double.html
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