Updated: December 22, 2014, 5:11 PM ET
By
Royce Young | ESPN.com
Pelicans Hold Off Thunder
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OKLAHOMA CITY -- Often criticized for his shot selection, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook said Monday that he needs to cut back on the number of 3-pointers he attempts.
"I need to stop taking as many as I'm taking, to tell you the truth,"
he said. "I'm going to take those down as the season goes along."
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Layne Murdoch/Getty ImagesRussell
Westbrook has missed 14 of his 17 attempts from 3-point range in the
last three games. "It's not always a great shot for myself or my team,"
he said. "So I've got to do a better job of taking those out."
Westbrook, who has actually reduced the number of long balls he's
attempting this season to 3.4 per game from a career-high 4.7 last
season, said despite lowering his 3-point shots already, he wants to be
more selective with them.
"It's not always a great shot for myself or my team. So I've got to
do a better job of taking those out," he said. "My advantage is
attacking, regardless of who's in front of me. That's my advantage. And
I've got to use my advantage to help my team and help myself."
Westbrook is shooting a career-high 46.2 percent from the field and
was at a career-high percentage from 3 a week ago. But he's missed 14 of
17 from deep in the past three games.
He attempted three 3s in the final three minutes -- including a
failed game-winning attempt at the buzzer -- against the Pelicans on
Sunday, and then
he bristled at questions
about his perceived lack of passing. In the final four minutes of the
game, however, Westbrook went 0-of-6 with one turnover and didn't pass
once.
"I thought he took maybe two or three too many last night," coach
Scott Brooks said. "The ones when his feet are set, those are ones all
our guys can make. The ones behind screens off the dribble, those are
tough shots. ... But his shot selection for the month of December since
he's been back has been good."
After practice Monday, Westbrook gave an out-of-character lengthy
response when asked about what goes into his late-game decision-making.
"Depends how the game is going," he said. "Depends what's working,
depends on what's worked throughout the game. You have to see the flow
of the game. You have to actually watch the game and know what's going
on, know what sets is being ran, know what plays is being ran, know
who's guarding who, know who's a bad defender, know who's not a bad
defender, know who's slow, know who's fast, know who's not smart.
There's a lot of things you have to take into consideration.
"And I think it's very important people understand the game, not just
the stats," he continued. "You have to honestly understand the game,
understand what's going on throughout the game. Lotta people don't watch
the game unless it's on TV. So if you don't watch our games, you don't
know exactly what's going on. You may turn the game on in the fourth
quarter and say, 'Oh, s---, what's going on?' Make sure you watch the
first quarter and see what's working for us. Watch the second quarter.
Watch the third quarter. If you don't know personnel, you don't know
anything. So I think it's very important people know exactly for each
individual player what's going on throughout the game.
Chelsea
West Ham United
Stoke City
When
the Thunder are without both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook they
are just 6-14, a mark that would put their record in the area of the
lowly Lakers and Jazz, according to Stats & Info.
