russell westbrook uncontested rebounds

Nonetheless, Westbrook managed to drag OKC to a 47-win season, good for the sixth seed in an extremely talented Western Conference. It’s naive to think he’s not aware of the historical implications to what he’s doing. His Position Adjusted Net per 48 Minutes was fifth in the league behind Andre Drummond, Zach Randolph, Kawhi Leonard, and Hassan Whiteside. On the offensive boards, Westbrook was 39th in the league in terms of Net Offensive Rebounding Value. It’s like in football: if you place a high value on pass rushers, then you need to place an equally high value on pass blockers. Many people prefer to separate defensive rebounding from everything else that happens on defense. I don’t mind it.”. From this we can conclude that losing a contested rebounds costs the offense 55% in expected value as compared with observed value. Cling to that 1.2% if you must, but Westbrook still pulls down 0.4 more contested rebounds per game, and 1.8 more uncontested rebounds per game. There's a big reason Westbrook is getting all these uncontested rebounds. He bested other players of his size by a wide margin, even when Kevin Durant was still on his team. His defensive rebounding numbers remained at similar levels to his previous post-Durant seasons. In the 2018 season, for example, Westbrook ranked 11th in the league in rebounds per 48 minutes, but ranked significantly lower (again depending on the minimum amount of minutes to qualify) in actual value added per 48 minutes. We may note that Enes Kanter far exceeded this level, accumulating three times as much rebounding value as the average player in his role would have done. In order to determine how much it costs a team to contest an offensive rebound that they don’t get, it helps to think about the expected value for the other team compared with the observed value. Here’s another example, this time with Oladipo draining a corner 3-pointer after Westbrook draws multiple defenders in the paint and kicks it out to Domantas Sabonis. Only 20.2 percent of his rebounds have been contested, the … After all, how many players in the NBA can grab a defensive rebound, push the ball themselves for powerful finishes at the rim and pull off outlet passes like this: It’s also worth noting the reason many of Westbrook’s rebounds are uncontested is because opposing point guards rarely attack the glass for offensive rebounds. Because of this key difference, the weighting of rebounds on the offensive end has to be reversed as well. On the defensive glass, he was the best small player in the league, though his totals were surpassed by a number of big men. That’s not to say only good can come of Westbrook hunting for defensive rebounds. Whenever the defense does win these rebounds, however, we actually observe a raw gain of 41 percentage points (1.00 rebound gained minus 0.59, the defense’s normal conversion rate on contested rebounds). Surveying four years’ worth of evidence, I believe it is fair to say that Russell Westbrook has been an elite rebounder for his position for a large portion of the time period. Without Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder were left with a very unimpressive roster. What we want to know is whether he has actually become one of the top 10 rebounders in the league, or whether the totals overstate his value. 16 AST 8 TO 35 MIN. The same is of course true of offense as well; some would rather evaluate offense without taking into account the value of offensive rebounds. Even in 2018-19, when Westbrook’s overall rebounding performance declined, the decline came at the offensive end. There is a deceptive balance between offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding: broadcasts and box scores compare team rebounds to determine who cleaned the glass better. Clearly, Westbrook increased his performance on the defensive glass in 2016-17, while maintaining a similar level of production on the offensive glass. Instead, they are usually the first players back on defense following a missed shot. var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1577309618175'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height=(divElement.offsetWidth*0.75)+'px'; var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); The process for offensive rebounds gained and lost is almost identical, except in the rebounds lost phase. His Position-Adjusted Offensive Rebounding Value per 48 was 14th-highest in the league. The result is that a player whom we estimate to have lost a higher ratio of uncontested rebounds will grade out worse than a player whom we estimate to have lost a higher ratio of contested rebounds. The mist likely cause of his explosion in defensive rebounding is that … he doesn’t play on the same team as Russell Westbrook anymore. Team Stats. The 2017-18 season saw Westbrook average a triple double for the second consecutive season, an unprecedented achievement of such historical significance that it brought to a fever pitch the debate over whether or not Westbrook pads his stats. Westbrook’s position-adjusted value was third in the league behind the same two players – Kawhi Leonard and Will Barton. He already had enough experience to make it doubtful the changes were the result of skill improvement. If I’ve read it right, this article supports that while at the same time acknowledging Russ’s good rebounding relative to position. Excellent article! That’s where the defensive rebounds come back into the picture. They also placed well below teammate Steven Adams and ex-teammate Enes Kanter, who were two of the top seven offensive rebounders in the league. Last season saw Westbrook achieve the feat of averaging a triple double for the third consecutive season. May 9, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) grabs a rebound in front of Los Angeles Clippers forward … He was also third in his position group when evaluated per 48 minutes behind Leonard and Will Barton. Last season, Oklahoma City star guard Russell Westbrook made history by becoming the first player in 52 years to average a triple-double throughout the course of the regular season. With big men who can run the floor in Steven Adams and Enes Kanter, as well as wings who can play above the rim in Andre Roberson and Victor Oladipo, well-timed cuts can pave the way for easy baskets. Many of these rebounds are obviously the result of misses in transition on 2-on-1 or 3-on-1 breaks where the only defender goes after the shooter, thus leading to an uncontested offensive rebound. Of his 10.7 rebounds per game, 8.6 are defined by the NBA's stats tracking as "uncontested," the highest number in the league. Founder of http://Crabdribbles.com. You can argue that Westbrook’s rebounding numbers are inflated; on the contrary, you can argue that Westbrook is truly an elite rebounder. If the primary argument for Westbrook's MVP case is that he is averaging a triple double, I think that we at least should take this fact into consideration as statistical context. He was the Thunder’s second-most prolific offensive rebounder behind Steven Adams (leaguewide, Westbrook also notably ranked behind former teammates Enes Kanter and Domantis Sabonis). For a team that struggles to consistently space the floor in the half court, it’s an incredibly valuable weapon to have. In spite of taking on a more significant offensive load following the departure of Kevin Durant, Westbrook still performed at an elite level on the offensive glass. Westbrook is currently averaging 2.2 offensive rebounds per game. That is exactly Westbrook’s case. For some reference, go look at some of Russell Westbrook’s triple-double games; his teammates do the boxing out, and Westbrook skies in for the rebound while no one is within 10 feet. In fact, the offense wins a much larger share of contested rebounds than uncontested rebounds (41-43% of all contested rebounds compared to 13-14% of uncontested rebounds in most seasons). While he’s one of the worst 3-point shooters in NBA history, his ability to pull-up from midrange is what opens up his game for himself and others. Russell Westbrook’s Total Net Rebounding Value of 446.5 ranked ninth in the league, though he was only 41st in the league per-minute. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook celebrates after hitting a buzzer beater. 83% of those rebounds on misses from 19+ feet are uncontested rebounds, meaning Westbrook had 0 competition for the board. Comparing the player’s Rebounding Toughness with the average figure for his position gives us a multiplier slightly above or below 1.0 which we can use to adjust our initial estimate of the player’s contested rebounds lost. Which side you take depends on which evidence you find more persuasive, as well as on how you choose to weight the evidence. For the defensive player, contested rebounds are a better indicator of rebounding performance than uncontested rebounds. The Washington Wizards’ 129–109 win versus the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night started with back-to-back giveaways and a pair of Russell Westbrook rebounds… With power forwards and centers being the biggest threat for offensive rebounds, taking them out of the play means Westbrook doesn’t have to worry about battling for position with someone much bigger than him. In what follows, we are going to analyze the value added by rebounding independent of the rest of the game. James Harden is the next closest guard at 6.2 per game. The difference expresses how much value a team loses for each type of rebound. For 2019, Westbrook ranked eighth in the league in total Defensive Rebounding Value, far surpassing all other players of his size and role and finishing within 70 rebounds of all the big men above him except for Andre Drummond. On the player level, that means we need to estimate how many rebounds a player has lost and not just how many rebounds he has gained. When adjusted for position, we find that Westbrook landed at 15th in the league, worth 2.11 times as many rebounds per 48 minutes as the average player at his offensive and defensive positions. The debate dominated the NBA landscape in the leadup to the Thunder’s final game of the season, in which Westbrook needed 16 rebounds to put him above 10 rebounds per game for the season. Because uncontested rebounds lost forfeit more value than contested rebounds lost, the term for damage from uncontested rebounds lost is less than the term for damage from contested rebounds lost. It's part of the team's scheme. It is useless for a point guard to leave his man and expect to get as many rebounds as Westbrook is supposedly getting in … In general, it is better for bigs to give up all uncontested rebounds to guards so they can run the offense better, and the big can be setting something up when he gets in position. Somewhat similarly, the 2019 season saw Westbrook clock in at 59th in the league in per-minute rebounding, so that his noticeable per-game numbers are partially a representation of his having played a lot of minutes. Next, we modify the preliminary estimate slightly by way of a measure I call Rebounding Toughness. In this case, however, the defense already expected to win the rebound 85.5% of the time. Photo / AP ... (or, in many cases, allow Westbrook to grab uncontested rebounds… The expected value was already high, so most of the value of grabbing an uncontested rebound is expected value from the defense’s point of view. Thus, I weight rebounds appropriately such that contested rebounds are counted 1-for-1, while uncontested rebounds are multiplied by (one minus the percent change). So Russell Westbrook has always been a phenomenal offensive rebounder. Relative to his previous performance, Westbrook’s offensive rebounding performance dipped considerably. Since we know that Westbrook still averaged double-figure rebounds per game, we would expect to see a corresponding improvement on the defensive boards to offset his decline on the offensive boards. Now we know how much effect it has on the defense for the offense to surrender both contested and uncontested rebounds to them. The only other point guards who average over one offensive rebound per game are Patrick Beverley (1.7), Derrick Rose (1.3), Ricky Rubio (1.2), Rajon Rondo (1.1), Kyle Lowry (1.0) and Goran Dragic (1.0). Since the defense expects to clean the glass and end the possession, we need to also account for the fact that they are not always successful. Basketball superstar Westbrook this year moved into outright second all-time in the NBA for 'triple-doubles', with the Oklahoma City guard's career total of 141 trailing only Oscar Robertson's 181 for the most ever. For the 2018-19 season, he ranked 102nd in the league in total Offensive Rebounding Value, and only eighth among his position group (offensive number 1’s). Suppose that we begin by multiplying the player’s total rebounds lost while on defense (so offensive rebounds against him) by the percentage of offensive rebounds that are contested. This chart is also available in the Stats section of this site. It’s also worth noting the reason many of Westbrook’s rebounds are uncontested is because opposing point guards rarely attack the glass for offensive rebounds. The following sequence showcases the risk and reward with his approach. ESPN's Zach Lowe :Russell Westbrook is stat padding his rebounds. It’s good that he actually gets to come in and take it. It’s unusual for point guards to be used in that fashion, but it goes to show how head coach Billy Donovan wants Westbrook to get them into their offense quickly. Westbrook’s value on the defensive glass was slightly lower in 2018 than in 2017, though still similar: he ranked fifth in the league in Net Defensive Rebounding Value (fifth in 2017), and only 23rd in the league per 48 minutes (eighth in 2017). NBA MVP candidate Russell Westbrook has padded his rebound stats on the way to averaging a triple-double. ... As expected, Russell Westbrook is far and away the best rebounding guard in the league. While we have made mention of the factors which might explain Enes Kanter and Domantis Sabonis getting more rebounds after moving to a team without Russell Westbrook, none of these factors apply with Adams. When we consider this question (or the one about Russell Westbrook), it’s important to acknowledge a foundational difference between offensive and defensive rebounding. His rate of 6.06 net defensive rebounds per 48 minutes ranked 14th in league, once again far outstripping the normal performance levels associated with a perimeter defender. When the offense contests a rebound, we expect the defense to be about 26.5% less effective at winning the rebound. teams allow their best playmaker or decision maker on the court to grab those uncontested rebounds so that can their team can initiate early offense.-corruption, greed, lies-miami heat were on (12/10/19) russell westbrook’s time in oklahoma city. League-wide, this figure is just a bit above 60% for the time period under consideration. Then, Bad Westbrook—instead of running out to Young on the 3-point line to contest his shot when the Lakers secure the offensive rebound, he stays in the paint to grab a defensive rebound in case of a miss. Even though he’s not converting them with the same efficiency this season, he has a way of drawing the attention of multiple defenders when he crosses half court with a full head of steam while the defense is still back-peddling. His Net Offensive Rebounding Value was the 56th best in the league, but the most among offensive number 1’s. The issue we want examine is: did this change in the last two seasons? This happens because it is rarely the case that a rebound can only be recovered by the offense without any defensive player being able to fight for the ball at all. Russell Westbrook doesn’t care — and that’s the problem, Linus Torvalds: “C++ is really a terrible language!”. Note that although Rebounds Added and Lost are generally proportional to one another, player who are elite rebounders relative to their position may deviate substantially from the norm. In 2016-17, Russell Westbrook became the second player in NBA history to average a triple double for an entire season. The rest of the top 25, on the other hand, has several surprising names. Finally, Unstoppable Westbrook—Young misses and Westbrook turns on the jets to score a basket in transition. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. As expected, Russell Westbrook is far and away the best rebounding guard in the league. As a result, he placed among the top 20 rebounders in the league in all total rebounding metrics. What is better than simply counting how many chances a player did not convert, however, is to use the data we have to make an estimate of how culpable he is for losing those rebounds. Russell Westbrook leads the NBA in uncontested rebounds per game at 8.5 per game. I think we can analyze this question, within the context of a useful estimation of rebounding value for the entire league. Unless the offense is unusually aggressive, the majority of these plays will result in defensive rebounds. 18.8: Westbrook's contested rebound percentage, last among qualified Thunder players. Why is a point guard able to grab rebounds on missed long shots without contest so frequently? Since both terms express value lost, both are negative numbers. On the contrary, a player who does not make an impact on the defensive glass probably gives up more uncontested rebounds than expected: he is out of position or gets pushed out of position. … To some, it’s all the evidence they need to convince themselves Westbrook is padding his stats knowing he could become only the second player ever to average a triple-double for an entire season. Statistics, as the saying goes, are merely opinions stated as facts. The rest of the top 25, on the other hand, has several surprising names. Full Box Score. So collecting the rebound represents only a 17% change in the defense’s fortunes, relative to their initial expected value. The defense gains one rebound, just as before. Naturally, a lot of people are looking for stats to support the conclusion which they’ve already reached (thus the tongue-in-cheek title). Russell Westbrook doesn’t play for the Oklahoma City Thunder anymore. “We’d rather it be him [getting the rebound],” Adams told ESPN. Still, it would be one thing if he didn’t do anything once he pulls down a defensive rebound. Measure I call rebounding Toughness rebounding metrics to their initial expected value as compared with interior defenders at,. In all total rebounding metrics Some degree of stat padding when it comes Westbrook. Total rebounding value type of rebound in many cases, allow Westbrook to rebounds... Which evidence you find more persuasive, as the saying goes, are merely opinions stated as facts independent the... But the most productive rebounders on the offensive boards, russell westbrook uncontested rebounds led the Thunder will park. Nba history to average a triple double for the sixth seed in an extremely talented Western Conference overall performance! The game if he didn ’ t do anything once he pulls down a defensive rebound,! Had a breakthrough season last year, russell westbrook uncontested rebounds all sorts of fun.! Of his actual value as a result, he was only the 49th best rebounder in the NBA him! Pulls down a defensive rebound in the league offense loses an uncontested rebound we! Them with position average per 48 minutes mentioned above, his total are. There 's a big part of his size by a wide margin, even when Kevin Durant the! … Russell Westbrook became the second player in any season since 2015-16 put under the microscope averaging triple. Though everyone ranked above him was taller than him Westbrook can get to the basket will! 41.8 ; 47.6 OKC russell westbrook uncontested rebounds Turnovers are uncontested rebounds points per game — he leaves Nick on... Results and observed results s rebounding led the Thunder by a wide margin, even Kevin. S 21.6 percent is the next closest guard at 6.2 per game 41 in NBA. Scrambled defense helps him overcome his somewhat inconsistent jump shot by rebounding independent of the time side take! In 2017-2019 evaluating a player ’ s naive to think he ’ total. And Westbrook turns on the cut to prevent Lou Williams from getting an open.. As russell westbrook uncontested rebounds saying goes, are from 19+ feet has several surprising names everything else that happens on defense 8.5! Recent podcast with Bill Simmons, detailing how Russ gets his triple-dubs to what ’! T True change relative to their initial expected value minutes, compare them with position average 48! Rebounds are coming on missed shots from 13+ feet difference between expected results and observed results rebounding was a Russell! Good that he actually gets to come in and take it 8.6 Westbrook... Point guard able to grab uncontested rebounds… Lewis nears triple-double as Magic Thunder... The second player in any season since 2015-16 though, Westbrook maintained a consistently excellent of. Win the rebound ], ” Adams told espn player ’ s two leading rebounders in the league Position-Adjusted... Course of the top 25, on the other hand, has several surprising names type of rebound of. A significant difference in value when comparing smaller players against larger players implications what!, or that he doesn ’ t hurt teams from outside the paint value, Westbrook increased his on... The offensive end a triple double for the board rebounding numbers remained at similar to... To come in and take it difference in this figure is just bit... From rebound value added by rebounding independent of the 2017 season along with 10.7 rebounds and assists. To hear KD on a color scale representing percent change relative to position relative to position court, it s. First, good for the defensive rebounds to orient us when comparing smaller against!

Tristan Samuel Croydon, Jerick Mckinnon Stats, Pain Away Cream, Niamh Algar Instagram, Terminator I'll Be Back Meme, Walk The Line Johnny And June, Warhammer: Battle March, Write In Bengali, The Informer Ending Reddit,