Links to the Present: Westbrook’s Time

I’d be lying if I said I was just watching the Cavs lately. I’ve been stepping out. It’s okay though. The Wine & Gold have won seven of their last ten and have a record of 40 wins and 25 losses. The team’s losses came against a hot Hawks team, a lucky Rockets team, and a surging Pacers team (more below). The Cavs are second in the East. The Raptors, who are in third, and the Bulls, who are in fourth, are both riding three and four game losing streaks respectively. The Cavs look pretty secure right now. So, yeah, I’ve checked out the West. And, well, the West is pretty. 

Tomorrow, the Cavs are playing the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks have 41 wins and sit in the sixth spot in the West. Imagine if they were in the East.The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the eighth spot out West with 35 wins (as opposed to Charlotte Hornets in the East with only 28 wins). The Pelicans and Suns are just below them by less than three wins each. Russell Westbrook is doing every thing he can to keep the Thunder ahead. As long as the Thunder sit in the eighth spot or even higher, they will be wearing down serious finals contenders while contending for a spot themselves.

Russ has five triple-doubles in his last six games. The last one two nights ago came while wearing a protective face mask. He’s channelling the Mask saying, “Somebody stop me!” Chris Bernucca of Sheridan Hoops believes in the Westbrook ride, but he doesn’t think it’s the best ride in the NBA. He’s all about James Harden.

Both players are doing some heavy lifting in the absence of an injured superstar. In 21 games without Durant, Westbrook is averaging 31.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 9.0 assists, numbers that have made a quantum leap in the last 10 contests without the reigning MVP. But in 30 games without Dwight Howard – that’s right, 30 – Harden hasn’t exactly been a slouch, averaging 28.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 7.1 assists.

But here’s the most important number. When Westbrook plays and Durant doesn’t, the Thunder are 12-9. Not terrible by any stretch, but a pace that would still have them eighth in the West. When Harden plays and Howard doesn’t, the Rockets are a spiffy 20-10, a pace just outside the West’s top four.

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And, while it’s easy to point to Russ’s triple-double run as the highlight of his season, that’s wrong. Adam Yudelman of Nylon Calculus explains in his piece. He uses “Kevin Ferrigan’s DRE, or Daily RAPM Estimate, statistic (find the full explanation here)”:

On the x-axis, 1 refers to Westbrook’s first four games in which he played, 2 refers to games two through five, and so on. The triple double games are data point 36. This shows that Westbrook’s streak is in no way peak Westbrook. Our fascination with nice, round numbers and arbitrary milestones has pulled a critical mass of attention to the human wrecking ball known as Russell, but Westbrook has been putting up RIDICULOUS numbers all year.

I’m pro Westbrook. His February stats of 31.2 PPG, 9.1 RPG and 10.3 APG games are amazing. When people say that Michael Jordan has had a better statistical run than Russ, I say, “I don’t care.”  Westbrook has now become the first NBA player since Jordan to post four consecutive triple-doubles. (Jordan stopped at seven.)  However, here’s my biggest argument for Westbrook: He’s just 6’3” and he’s getting all those rebounds. How tall was Jordan?

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Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has some post trade Cavs stats to blow your mind. The Cavs are jacking up threes at the expense of layups, but they are 20-5, since they started doing so.

From Jan. 15 until now, when the season began to turn with the win at the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cavs have plunged to 19th in the NBA in shots from the restricted area (25 per game). Their 3-point attempts above the break, meanwhile, have soared to 23.3. That’s the most in the league during that time.

I always wanted to pay a big man who can play in the post 15 million a year to take threes. At least the team is winning, Kevin Love.

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The hottest take of the week is from Chris Sheridan, owner of Sheridan Hoops. He is seriously picking  the Spurs to make the finals.

We have gotten a small sample size of it over the first few days of March, and with five weeks now remaining in the season, I will be so bold as to predict that San Antonio will finish with one of the top four records in the West and end up defending their title in Game 1 of the first round on their home floor.

I’ll hold my snarky comment for after the Cavs-Spurs game on Thursday evening.

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Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated wrote about the resurgence of the Indiana Pacers last week. They have won their last five games, and they are the seventh seed in the East. George Hill’s return and a steady defense are why.

Hill’s short work this season has been more spectacular than most know. Very quietly the 28-year-old guard has managed his best season to date – a mature, composed effort on a team that needs him desperately. His role has changed with the times. No longer is Hill a mere game manager for a post-centric outfit, but a genuine creator who draws more than 40 percent of his own possession usage from the pick-and-roll, per Synergy Sports. In those scenarios, Hill maxes out his efficiency not through explosion, but precision. Only one other player in the league to tally 50 pick-and-roll possessions or more has registered as low of a turnover rate on those plays as Hill.

Roy Hibbert, a slow lumbering giant, has anchored the Pacer’s defense. He’s getting 1.8 blocks a game and holding opponents to 42.2% shooting at the rim.

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His dinosaur like demeanor actually exists at the same as this creature who is also seven feet tall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1iunhwzTG0

Joel Embiid of the 76ers is the big man of the future. Embiid still hasn’t played in the league, but eventually he will. He’s going to take on the roll of Terminator, and Hibbert will be a large unattractive version of Sarah Connor. This time the T-800 Model 101 will complete his mission.

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Finally, the obligatory Nick Young piece. This one came out less than 48 hours ago.

Nick Young’s Dad said this about him: “There is no player in the NBA more serious about Basketball than Nick Young.” And, Nick likes Iron Maiden if you believe you love whatever T-Shirts you put on to increase your swag rating. His house also has a mural on the wall that says Swaggy P and Iggy. He’s the coolest man in the Association. Nick’s basketball story starts very tragically, but it’s going pretty well for him now. I really recommend all of these origin videos.

Earl’s Pearl of the Week

Hassan Whiteside has been going nuts lately and not in a basketball way. Against the Suns, last week, he got ejected after a tussle with center Alex Len. The Heat won that game.

And, just last night Whiteside got ejected for taking out Kelly Olynyk of the Celtics. The Celtics won 100-90.

Now the world knows why Whiteside may have been out of the NBA for essentially four years. J.R. Smith once struggled with attitude issues. He untied people’s shoes habitually, but he has turned himself around for the Cavs. Whiteside needs to cut his violent tendencies for the betterment of Heat. If he doesn’t, his double leg takedown of Len hints at a possible UFC career. David Aldridge broke Hassan’s basketball story down on Monday for NBA.com.

Bottom Lines of the Week

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder against the Raptors in a 108-104 win on Sunday. He had 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 17 assists. He was 9-21 from the field. This was his fifth triple-double in six games.

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Shawn Marion may return to the Cavs during their four game road trip.