NBA Players of the Month: Wall and Durant/Westbrook

[tontoz]

John Wall, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were named NBA Players of the Month on Monday to commemorate their high level of play throughout December.

Wall, point guard for the Washington Wizards, was selected for the Eastern Conference, and Westbrook and Durant, point guard and small forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, were co-selections for the Western Conference.


USA TODAY
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Wall became the first Wizards player to earn Player of the Month since Gilbert Arenas in 2006. Westbrook and Durant, on the other hand, have combined for 14 total throughout their careers, with the most recent coming from Westbrook consecutively in February, March and April of 2015.

John Wall statistics, December 2015 - Points: 22.6, assists: 11.7, rebounds: 4.8, steals: 2.3, field goal percentage: 46.0%, plus-minus: +3.9

Russell Westbrook statistics, December 2015 - Points: 23.8, assists: 8.9, rebounds: 5.9, steals: 2.7, field goal percentage: 47.6%, plus-minus: +12.1

Kevin Durant statistics, December 2015 - Points: 24.9, assists: 5.7, rebounds: 7.2, steals: 0.9, field goal percentage: 50.8%, plus-minus: +10.8

Despite Wall's heroics (13 double-doubles in 16 games), the Wizards posted an 8-8 record in December. The Thunder, led by Westbrook and Durant, went 12-3.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2016/01/04/john-wall-russell-westbrook-kevin-durant-nba-eastern-conference-western-conference-player-of-the-month/78274260/

[Graviton]

Nice to see Wall isn't taking it up the ass like in the beginning of the season.

[tontoz]

Nice to see Wall isn't taking it up the ass like in the beginning of the season.


I get the feeling that he isn't the hardest worker in the offseason. He was hard to watch in November and then all of a sudden started lighting it up in December.

He has been playing hurt lately and his play has fallen off a bit.

[Graviton]

I get the feeling that he isn't the hardest worker in the offseason. He was hard to watch in November and then all of a sudden started lighting it up in December.

He has been playing hurt lately and his play has fallen off a bit.
I don't understand why he isn't as dominant as Westbrook, he has the same physical tools and is even taller. Is Russ just on another level work ethic wise?

[tontoz]

I don't understand why he isn't as dominant as Westbrook, he has the same physical tools and is even taller. Is Russ just on another level work ethic wise?


Look at the current starting lineup next to Wall:


Garrett Temple- Dleaguer shooting 37%
Otto Porter- playing his first season as a starter shooting 30% from 3.
Dudley- starting at the 4 for us, a backup on most good teams.
Gortat- the only other good starter.

Wall is more of a playmaker than Westbrook. But with so little scoring talent around him Wall is forced to shoot more than he should. And the defense can collapse on him since the other guys aren't making them pay for it.