Post by eric on Apr 2, 2015 13:04:50 GMT -6
Russell Westbrook recorded yet another triple double last night, but the Thunder were pretty lousy with him on the court (-3/44 = -.07). Is that a trend? Let's see!
Over his 10 triple doubles this year, the Thunder are +33 in 387 minutes with him on the court: +.09 per minute, +4.1 per 48 minutes. That's a pretty decent mark, a little worse than the Trail Blazers on the season. The Thunder in those 10 games without him are +19 in 103 minutes, though: +8.9 per 48 minutes. That's Warriors territory, and his -4.8 on/off stands in stark contrast to his season on/off of +6.8. What's going on here? Is it possible that even though he obtains an arbitrary threshold in counting statistics, Westbrook actually plays worse in triple-double games than non-triple-double games?
Yes. Obviously.
And it turns out to be the case. He shoots 40% from the field, a step back from even his low standard of 42% on the season. Same story in eFG% (43% from 45%) and points/TSA (1.035 from 1.067). He turns the ball over an incredible 5.3 times per game, a step up even from his brutal 4.4 per otherwise. His passing efficiency does actually increase from 1.96 ast/tov to 2.38, though.
You might be wondering if the Kevin Durant factor explains away some of this, but it actually makes it worse. Durant spent 78% of his minutes on the court this year with Westbrook, which leaves 22% where he can carry bench units in Westbrook's absence. With Durant only playing in one of the triple-double games, who's carrying the bench units for the other nine? Nobody, that's who. We can also see this by looking at only the other nine: Westbrook's on ± per 48 drops to +2.2, his off soars to +12.7.
Westbrook is just playing poorly when he gets triple doubles. He hogs the ball (36 possessions used per triple double game vs. 30 in general) and is inefficient... even by his standards.
Over his 10 triple doubles this year, the Thunder are +33 in 387 minutes with him on the court: +.09 per minute, +4.1 per 48 minutes. That's a pretty decent mark, a little worse than the Trail Blazers on the season. The Thunder in those 10 games without him are +19 in 103 minutes, though: +8.9 per 48 minutes. That's Warriors territory, and his -4.8 on/off stands in stark contrast to his season on/off of +6.8. What's going on here? Is it possible that even though he obtains an arbitrary threshold in counting statistics, Westbrook actually plays worse in triple-double games than non-triple-double games?
Yes. Obviously.
And it turns out to be the case. He shoots 40% from the field, a step back from even his low standard of 42% on the season. Same story in eFG% (43% from 45%) and points/TSA (1.035 from 1.067). He turns the ball over an incredible 5.3 times per game, a step up even from his brutal 4.4 per otherwise. His passing efficiency does actually increase from 1.96 ast/tov to 2.38, though.
You might be wondering if the Kevin Durant factor explains away some of this, but it actually makes it worse. Durant spent 78% of his minutes on the court this year with Westbrook, which leaves 22% where he can carry bench units in Westbrook's absence. With Durant only playing in one of the triple-double games, who's carrying the bench units for the other nine? Nobody, that's who. We can also see this by looking at only the other nine: Westbrook's on ± per 48 drops to +2.2, his off soars to +12.7.
Westbrook is just playing poorly when he gets triple doubles. He hogs the ball (36 possessions used per triple double game vs. 30 in general) and is inefficient... even by his standards.
