It’s no secret that Russell Westbrook is struggling shooting the ball so far this season.
Currently, Westbrook is shooting 45.9 percent from the field. That number may not be alarming as it is a bit higher than his career field-goal percentage of 43.5, but it is alarming that he is shooting 17.6 percent (9-of-51) from 3-point range.
This includes a 1-for-12 outing against the Nuggets on Saturday night in which prompted Westbrook to shoot jumpers for two hours, in full uniform, after the game.
While Westbrook is still scoring at a high clip, averaging 23.2 points per game despite time missed due to injuries, seeing this dip in 3-point percentage is worrisome for fans to see.
Thunder head coach Billy Donovan, however, believes in Westbrook and knows the work that he puts into his game every day. Donovan downplayed any potential problem with Westbrook’s mental state after that performance.
“He’s fine,” Donovan said. “I think one of the things that people don’t see, I say this all the time, what happens a lot of the time behind the scenes it’s a back-to-back and we’re playing Denver and we just finished up playing Charlotte and he’s in here at 9 o’clock in the morning getting rehab, taking care of his body, doing stuff. Games are over with and he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well but he goes back in the gym and puts the work in.
“That’s why I think he’s reached the level he’s reached as a player is because of his willingness to do a lot of the other things, and little things that have created and made him the player he is today. So I think for him, he’s always looking for ways to try to improve and get better and the only way he knows how to do that is putting the work in.”
As Donovan backed up Westbrook on Monday, teammate Paul George also came to the defense of Westbrook over the weekend. Despite the poor shooting performance, George still believes in Westbrook.
“Russ has the ability to take over a game down the stretch,” George said. “Tonight, those didn’t fall but we’ve seen Russ get hot behind the 3-point line. He has a real good way of just turning it on when we need him to.”
Westbrook is nearly averaging a triple-double this season posting 23.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 9.3 assists a game. Let’s hope this extra time in the gym results in better deep-ball shooting for the Brodie.