The Los Angeles Lakers may be fixated on trading Russell Westbrook, perhaps for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, but head coach Darvin Ham is moving forward and planning as if Westbrook isn’t going anywhere.
He has spoken glowingly of the former league MVP, not just when it comes to his abilities on the court, but also his mental qualities.
Reportedly, the two are building a solid relationship. Ham has said they have met and talked in person about the upcoming season.
During the Lakers’ NBA Summer League contest versus the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, the coach explained how he will make Westbrook successful.
Darvin Ham: “I’m excited as hell to have Russell Westbrook on our team.”
(via @NBATV)pic.twitter.com/0Vdjec9OBk
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 11, 2022
“In today’s game, Russ is known for his huge competitive spirit and the velocity in which he gets up and down the floor pushing the ball. The thing I said is you just have to diversify that. Not only will you lead the charge, pushing the break, but screening and rolling, defending. I have film put together of him just being a pitbull on defense in pick-and-rolls, against DHOs, chasing guys off pindown, guarding screeners, guarding in the post. And that’s where it’s gonna start, not only for Russ, but everybody. AD (Anthony Davis), Bron (LeBron James), we got to get back to playing defense. I think they were either first or second in defense the year they won the championship in 2020, so that’s where it starts, that’s where you make you biggest change and biggest improvement as far as from an impact standpoint. But Russ, in my opinion, he’s in great shape, he’s durable and in this system, this four-out, one-in system, he’s gonna have a chance to screen and roll and make plays in the half-roll. He’s gonna have a chance to run on the break and slash, get layups, he’s gonna have a chance to sprint out to the corner and flatten the defense with corner threes as well as the things that he already does well in terms of moving the ball and pushing the pace and pushing the tempo. So I’m excited as hell to have Russell Westbrook on our team.”
Westbrook certainly has big flaws in his game, but he is still very strong when it comes to attacking the basket, especially in transition, finishing at the rim, rebounding and playmaking.
The keys for him will be limiting his turnovers, playing more attentive defense, not leaving his man to chase defensive rebounds and doing something productive without the ball in L.A.’s halfcourt sets.
Westbrook actually did a very good job of protecting the ball in the second half of the 2021-22 season, which was good enough to knock down his season average to 3.8 turnovers per game, his lowest since 2014.
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