Something is wrong right now with Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, he finished the game 0-for-13 with only four points scored. Against the Dallas Mavericks, he finished the game 6-of-15 and against the Orlando Magic he finished 6-of-17.

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
Wikimedia Commons

Over those three games, he is shooting 26-percent from the field.

He has also turned the ball over 25 times in the first four games of the season, an average of 6.25 a game. On a team less talented than the Thunder, those numbers from a starting point guard would mean a lot of losses. However, the Thunder have won all their games despite Westbrook’s poor play.

Actually, the Thunder won the games partially because of his play.

In the Memphis game, he only scored four points. However, two of those were in the final seconds when he shot two free throws that put the game out of reach for the Grizzlies. In the Mavericks game, he went 3-of-4 in the final quarter of the game, including a thunderous dunk. If he missed one of those final shots, Oklahoma City would have lost.

The big problem here is that the Thunder are good but they won’t continue to lead this charmed life unless Westbrook figures out what is wrong and fixes it.

In the game against Memphis, Westbrook was playing bad and ended up taking it out on his teammates, yelling at Thabo Sefolosha for not taking a shot that Westbrook thought he should and then having an argument with Kevin Durant, who was trying to defuse the situation.

In the Dallas game, it was the same old situation. Ever since the 2010-11 postseason, no one has made me yell at my television as much as Russell Westbrook. Here he was again, missing shot after shot. Instead of just playing around his difficulties, he raced down the court and missed a quick jumper, never even looking at his teammates. He wanted to fix his shooting problems so bad that it seemed to take over the game.

Between the Memphis and Dallas game, Westbrook missed 17 shots in a row. Since then, he made six of 12 and helped make sure the Thunder would win. One important thing to notice is that, when the fourth quarter came and Westbrook got the ball in his hands, the Thunder faithful began to chant for him. He responded to the positive vibes from the crowd and turned his game up a notch.

Maybe Westbrook needs encouragement. Maybe he plays poorly when things grow negative around him. I don’t know if it is all mental, which would make sense for a 23 year old, but it is something he needs to get under control before it ruins the Thunder’s season.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: CBSSports.com

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