KEVIN & RUSSELL: THE NEW DYNAMIC DUO

The Oklahoma City Thunder certainly are the team to watch with Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook in the lineup. These two prolific scores certainly can bring the house down with there offensive explosiveness. This fearsome twosome account for 49.4 points per night. The Oklahoma City Thunder can put points on the board, but there commitment to defense is whats really impressive. There defense can shut down opponents in all defensive categories including rebounds, steals, blocks, and points allowed. They allow 102 points per game while scoring 104 of there own. The stat that shows the most importance to me is the percentage of shots that the opponents are scoring on a given night. 82games.com breaks this down into four categories: tips, dunks, close and long range jumpers. The close range, dunks, and tips accounts for 34 percent while the other 67 percent is jumpers. This shows the interior defense is not allowing the opposition to get inside and easy baskets. The back court of the Oklahoma City Thunder is what fuels this defensive machine.

Russell Westbrook is not the typical point guard. He does give up the rock but he can also open up an offensive show every night. Westbrook shoots 45 percent from the floor and drops 22 points (14th) and 9 assists per game (8th). He is at a plus six in offensive production from last year to this year. Him playing for team USA really helped his game experience. Defensively he is a beast. He shuts his opponents down and holds them to 17 points per game which is a plus 5. Russell takes more of a Scottie Pippen role in my eyes. He is great on the defensive end and certainly can dish off to teammates but he is the number two guy on the team. Russell and Scottie’s production are very similar to each other as far as field goal percentage and points per game. Defensively we know Scottie was one of the league’s best. He was good at getting into passing lanes and shutting down opponents most effective offensive weapon. We see a flash of this in Westbrook. He certainly can shut down the best at the point guard position. He takes away passing lanes and dribble drives and has them settle for mid-range j’s. Westbrook also ranks in the top five in steals and does not turn the ball over (averages 3.8 a game).

Kevin Durant is one of the leagues best. He is so versatile and hard to defend. Defenses only hope to contain him. Kevin Durant drops 28.8 (#1) per game, total points (1495), and ranks third in the league in points per 48 minutes (35). He has one of the games best efficiency ratings in the game at 25.9. Kevin Durant also shoots 47% from the floor and 41% when the game is on the line. How can you shut down someone that can run and is that athletic? You can’t. He can dribble drive, shoots the mid and close range shots well, and can post his defender up. Not only is Durant an offensive machine but he can play a little defense to. He understands there are two aspects to the game of basketball: offense and defense and is commitment to both. He is like Michael Jordan in that aspect. He lead the league in scoring, points per game, points per 48 minutes, and just flat out dominated the game of basketball. Both are clutch when the game is on the line and shoot a similar field goal percentage on the floor. Defensively, Jordan was one of the best at shutting down opponents. He was named First Team All NBA Defensive Team nine times during his long illustrious career. Its only a matter of time before Durant will receive the same props. The comparison between Durant and Westbrook to Scottie and Michael may be a little premature to some oor. Defensively, Jordan was one of the best at shutting down opponents. He was named First Team All NBA Defensive Team nine times during his long illustrious career. Its only a matter of time before Durant will receive the same props.

The comparison between Durant and Westbrook to Scottie and Michael may be a little premature to some folks, but numbers do not lie. Michael and Scottie dominated the league and is the most fearsome twosome in the game. They had the killer internal drive that can just take over the game when all is lost. They had an offensive game that would blow opponents out of the building. They also got it done on the defensive end by shutting down there opponents most offensive threats. Their 72-10 record proves that. Kevin and Westbrook account for almost 50% of the Thunders points per game. How many teams can say they have two of the top fifteen scorers in the game today? Their defense is intense and one of the best in the league. The best aspect of this team is that they commit to both aspects of basketball.

-TB