Russell Westbrook: Rocking babies and spending time with adults

By now, you’ve probably seen Russell Westbrook “rock the baby” on the court. The first time he sonned an opponent was on Oct. 30 against the Los Angeles Clippers and Patrick Beverley. It was Westbrook’s fourth game of the season, and with his wife set to give birth in less than a month, Westbrook got a head start on putting his children to bed.

Ever since that game, Westbrook has slept opponents who have dared to challenge him on the court.

The idea behind the celebration is that the defender is too small and Westbrook, one of the bigger and most physical point guards in the league, will treat them like his children. He typically breaks out the taunt after posting up the smaller defender and using his superior size to score over his new son.

Posting up is not a new wrinkle to Westbrook’s game. Last season, he was fourth among point guards in post-ups at 0.9 per game. This year, he’s second behind only Chris Paul at 1.5. The difference between last year and this year is that it’s not the same kind of post-up.

With the extra he had putting his son and now two twin daughters so sleep, Westbrook added more tools to his toolkit.

Disclaimer: What NBA.com defines as a post up is different than what we see as observers. According to NBA.com, Westbrook has posted up just 20 times this year. Anyone who has watched the Thunder can tell you that he typically enters some form of post up about 20 times a game. So, don’t read too much into the numbers and focus more on what Westbrook is actually doing.

To start, he’s not forcing the post up. Here he’s up against a taller defender in Jeremy Lamb.

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Nearly a carbon copy here. A bigger defender (Lamb, again) when Westbrook engages, so he backs up. Lamb doesn’t exactly bite, but Westbrook has such a good first step that he uses the slight hesitation to slither past Lamb for the layup.

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These plays don’t count towards Westbrook’s post up numbers, but it shows his maturity. Instead of forcing himself into a bad shot, he recognizes that his kid has outgrown him, so he has to son him in a different way.

Of course, Westbrook is still going to look for his shot out of the post against the smaller defenders.

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Westbrook is at his best when he he’s not looking for his own shot. Too often over the years, when Westbrook would engage in the post, nothing would happen. Thunder players would stand around and let their leader so whatever he was going to do. This year, you’re not seeing any extra movement or designed sets. But you are seeing more maturity from Westbrook.

This isn’t any designed play, just a couple of smart basketball players making smart basketball plays. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but for anyone who has watched the Thunder over the years, it’s a huge development.

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Here is where Jerami Grant shows his improvement on the offensive end this year. On both plays, Grant simply makes himself available underneath the basket.

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A similar scenario with Steven Adams. No forcing, just recognizing the double team and passing out of it.

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The Thunder don’t have much in terms of shooting, but they do have quick and smart players. For all the grief Andre Roberson gets for his lack of shooting, he’s not the invisible man people perceive him as on offense. He makes good cuts and gets easy baskets because of it. Jerami Grant and Hamidou Diallo make similar plays.

It’s up to Westbrook to find and trust them.

Westbrook is at his best when he’s less concerned with rocking his children and decides to spend more time with his adult friends.

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