Russell Westbrook really gives a $#!t.

Russell Westbrook really gives a shit. He cares so much, it can...

Russell Westbrook really gives a shit. He cares so much, it can sometimes hurt him, but that same drive, emotion and visceral need to win is what often makes him a transcendent player. A player that can team with Kevin Durant to out-score the entire Heat squad in the second half.


The common misconception about Westbrook over the last two years is he shoots too much to be a true point guard. But, in case you weren’t paying attention (I’m looking at you Bayless), Russell Westbrook dropped 11 dimes on the Heat last night to go with his 27 points and 8 rebounds. He may not be Chris Paul, but Chris Paul is watching these NBA Finals from home, while Westbrook continually split the Heat players that jumped out on the high pick and roll last night and did untold amounts of damage to the Heat and their usually hermetic defense. That’s why the Westbrook haters—and there are a lot of them—should try and remain taciturn the next time Russ almost goes for a triple-double and the Thunder win.
 
Westbrook does occassionally launch an errant 3 early in the shot clock, but it behooves the Thunder to continue giving him free rein with the ball. He’s at his best when he’s slashing into the lane, but he’s also got be able to pull up when he sees fit. Kevin Durant, the guy all the Westbrook haters point to when they say he shoots too much, told us as much back in the early stages of this abbreviated season.
No one understands how important to the Thunder Russell Westbrook is more than Keivn Durant. If that means Russ shoots a few more times a game than the hyper-efficient Durant, than so be it. The energy Russ brings to the table is always worth it.

With 31.4 seconds left before the half, and a still-listless Thunder team down double-digits, Russ scooted in for lay-up, then got into an altercation with Shane Battier under the basket. Both players were award technicals for the posturing, but it awakened the hell-fire demon that is Westbrook and sent the Thunder into the locker-room with revenge on their minds.

“‘That’s all I need every once in a while. I don’t know what he was thinking,’ Westbrook said. ‘He was trying to punk me.’”

I doubt Battier was trying to awaken the beast that is a pissed off Westbrook (my guess is he was trying to get into his head), but he merely enraged him and the second half was a different basketball game because of it.
As the always excellent Royce Young (and a frequent Russ defender over at Daily Thunder) wrote for CBS Sports, Russell Westbrook stuck to his guns.

OKLAHOMA CITY — At a certain point in the third quarter, you could feel it coming. Russell Westbrook was forcing the issue, missing shots, taking bad ones and seeming to ignore his superstar teammate on the wing.
The critics were drooling, ready to unleash on Westbrook for a selfish Game 1, likely preparing to pin a miserable home defeat on his shoulders.
But he kept coming. And coming. And coming. He didn’t change course, didn’t adjust his game. He continued with his trademark maverick style, gunning each possession, never pausing to come up for air.
Westbrook always toes that fine line between reckless and relentless. When he finds the proper dosage, he’s breathtaking. He can completely taking over a game, owning the floor.
And as the Thunder searched for a third quarter spark, it was clear: Russell Westbrook wasn’t going quietly. He scored 12 of his 27 in the third while also setting fire to his team and setting a new tone for the second half.

You can’t coach that desire and that will to win. You can’t teach it, and you almost never see a player glean it through experience. You either have it or you don’t. There are very few people caught in-between. Russell Westbrook has that relentless drive you need to win championships. True, there will always be Skip Bayless’ out there knocking him for not being a more traditional point guard, but there will be just as many Royce Young’s and others that see the beauty and genius to his game. Kevin Durant gets it. So does Scott Brooks (although I’m sure he’d rather Russ didn’t shoot quite as many 3’s early in the shot clock), but the important thing for Thunder fans and opponents alike is that Russ gets it.
He’s not shying away from his game; a game predicated on emotion, fire and explosive ingenuity going towards the rim. I bet Shane Battier won’t be trying to punk Westbrook on Thursday. It could be a mistake large enough to put the Heat in the hole 2-0 heading back to Miami.
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