Westbrook needs to be used more as a PnR short-roll man

[Im Still Ballin]

This is how I'd use him when a particular matchup isn't going well. Use him ala Draymond in that short-roll man action. He catches the ball near the free throw line, where he's in an effective position to pass or slash. He could be an absolutely lethal secondary passer.

I think, when it comes to Westbrook, it's all about being creative; they have to work as a team.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB8rqvFNjYk

[Im Still Ballin]

Acquiring Buddy Hield would be huge for this action. They might not have a Curry-tier threat on a PnR, but they have LeBron, and Buddy positioned on the wing. If they want to send help defense on the short-roll, Hield will make them pay.

[Im Still Ballin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6tNTroDXnw

[bladefd]

Or you can use LeBron for the short roll role and Westbrook initially creating that to LeBron. AD or Gasol can get the alley-oop score in the paint (I would probably want Gasol pulling out his big man to the 3pt line).

LeBron can also post up in the high post, trying to create a passing lane. The problem is still spacing. Opponents will stack the box. You need at least one elite 3pt shooter on the opposite side of the court to keep the defenses from collapsing into the paint.

[Im Still Ballin]

Or you can use LeBron for the short roll role and Westbrook initially creating that to LeBron. AD or Gasol can get the alley-oop score in the paint (I would probably want Gasol pulling out his big man to the 3pt line).

LeBron can also post up in the high post, trying to create a passing lane. The problem is still spacing. Opponents will stack the box. You need at least one elite 3pt shooter on the opposite side of the court to keep the defenses from collapsing into the paint.

The issue I have with Westbrook as the PnR ball handler is that he's got no outside shot. At least with LBJ, you have to respect his perimeter scoring.

Either way, it's all about matchups and lineups. I just hope they try different things with Westbrook.

[Im Still Ballin]

Here are a couple of play examples featuring Westbrook:

https://i.makeagif.com/media/8-01-2021/ADTWA9.gif

https://i.makeagif.com/media/8-01-2021/_0cf3t.gif

Houston were really intelligent with how they used him.

[lxlHoTsAuSelxl]

They need Mcgee, DHoward as lob threats(LOL Gasol cant jump off the floor anymore).

[lxlHoTsAuSelxl]

Who needs Lebron or Westbrook tp cut when you have Ayayi! They said best cutter college.

https://youtu.be/AiuJMPi9-Tc

[Im Still Ballin]

Here's another one:

https://i.makeagif.com/media/8-01-2021/6AMti9.gif

[Im Still Ballin]

More of this!

https://i.ibb.co/bWb575w/gif.gif

[3ba11]

No

Lebron is the forward so HE should be the assisted player (roll man)

But instead Lebron's skill deficits force teams to let him play PG so Westbrook must play forward (roll man)

Lebron lacks elite jumpshooting skill and quick iso skill to play off-ball, so guys like Westbrook are reduced to spot-up shooters or role man

And you guys wonder why Lebron's teams always underwhelm their talent? "Not 6, not 7" becomes 2/4 including goat choke and record loss

[tpols]

Why would you use a point guard as your screen man instead of the guy built like Karl Malone? You want a point guard setting screens on bigger guys that are defending LeBron? lmao... employing that regularly would wear Westbrook down and probably get him hurt.

If anything LeBron would be the more effective pick setter and roll man for Westbrook since he should be able to set a pick on smaller PGs.

[tpols]

Here are a couple of play examples featuring Westbrook:

https://i.makeagif.com/media/8-01-2021/ADTWA9.gif

https://i.makeagif.com/media/8-01-2021/_0cf3t.gif

Houston were really intelligent with how they used him.

Houston bombed out in the playoffs with Westbrook. They looked better without him.

[3ba11]

Why would you use a point guard as your screen man instead of the guy built like Karl Malone? You want a point guard setting screens on bigger guys that are defending LeBron? lmao... employing that regularly would wear Westbrook down and probably get him hurt.

If anything LeBron would be the more effective pick setter and roll man for Westbrook since he should be able to set a pick on smaller PGs.


Replace Lebron with Karl Malone, so the trio of Westbrook, Malone and AD average 25+ and the Lakers reach full capacity

[j3lademaster]

It won't be that easy to replicate. That play is 100% created by Curry's gravity.

[FultzNationRISE]

Problem is his IQ is low and his shot is sketchy. So there's no situation you can put him in where he can execute dependably. Obv he can make a defense pay if they bungle something. But if the defense is playing well, you can't rely on Westbrook to come up with a way to just beat them anyway like how Lebron does.

He's not only a bull in a china shop, but he's a bull with mad cow disease in a china shop.

He sucks.

[3ba11]

Problem is his IQ is low and his shot is sketchy. So there's no situation you can put him in where he can execute dependably. Obviously he can capitalize here and there when the defense bungles something. But if the defense is playing well, you can't rely on Westbrook to come up with a way to beat them anyway. He's not only a bull in a china shop, but a bull with mad cow disease.

He sucks.


Lebron is taller, smarter and more efficient than Westbrook, but he's still employing the same inferior strategy/skillset (ball-dominance)

"Westbrooking" is a losing game plan regardless of how tall or smart the Westbrooker is

Ball-dominance simply loses - so Lebron would be another career loser like CP3, Westbrook or Nash but he formed super-teams to save himself.. He still mostly lost, 4/10 including 2 teammate bailouts

[Hey Yo]

Replace Lebron with Karl Malone, so the trio of Westbrook, Malone and AD average 25+ and the Lakers reach full capacity

Malone only avg. 13ppg his 19th season.

[Vino24]

Malone only avg. 13ppg his 19th season.

Savage reality.

[Im Still Ballin]

Suck my nuts mother****ers!


https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/the-lebron-james-russell-westbrook-pick-and-roll-shows-promise-in-lakers-crunch-time-win-over-grizzlies/

The LeBron James-Russell Westbrook pick-and-roll shows promise in Lakers' crunch-time win over Grizzlies

The Lakers ran the play three times in a row down the stretch against Memphis

So they experimented with a middle ground Lakers fans have been waiting for. For three consecutive late-game possessions on Sunday, the Lakers used James as their pick-and-roll initiator, but replaced Davis as the screener with Westbrook, whom they could then unleash as a short-roll playmaker. The result of the first play was, essentially, the idealized vision of what the James-Davis-Westbrook trio can be.

Westbrook makes the initial screen and ducks down into the paint before realizing James doesn't have a passing angle. Undeterred, he waltzes back up to the ball and tries again. This time, James goes right and both his man and Westbrook's go with him. James takes advantage of the double to hit Westbrook at the nail.

This is where Westbrook goes from a half-court liability to a lethal weapon. Suddenly, a former scoring and assist champion has a 4-on-3 and some runway to attack the basket. Adams plays the drive, and that leaves Davis free to make the backdoor cut for the easy dunk. The collective athleticism and basketball IQ of the Lakers' star trio all worked in harmony to create one of the easiest looks of the night, and it would have no matter how the defense had approached it. Had Adams played the pass, Westbrook could've tried his luck with Jackson at the basket or passed out to an open Kent Bazemore for 3. All three options generate good shots. The Lakers got one on their next possession as well even if it didn't go in.

Westbrook's screen manages to free James up a bit more this time, so he steps inside the arc. With two defenders devoted to James, Adams plays the Westbrook short roll because it's how the Lakers just scored one possession earlier. Instead, LeBron fires the pass out to Davis for a wide-open 3. It missed, but the Lakers will live with that look. Of course, they'd prefer more attempts like his dunk from the previous play. They almost got another one on the next attempt.

The play is fairly similar to the first one. The defense commits to James. He makes the pocket pass to Westbrook. Adams plays him as a driver. Davis cuts to the basket, though from the wing rather than the corner. He just doesn't catch the ball. If he had, it would have been two more points. The alternatives were identical as well. If Adams sticks with Davis on the wing, Westbrook either gets a free walk to the rim, or Jackson has to rotate over, which gives Bazemore an open look from 3.

Westbrook lives for these split-second decisions because he's so much faster and so much more aggressive than the defenders trying to stop him. That isn't just physical. It's mental. Making these calls in real time is difficult against an average ball-handler. Defending Westbrook with space in front of him is utter chaos, and in such tight quarters, it's nearly impossible to process everything he's seeing. Watch those two passes to Davis again. By the time Adams even realizes that Davis is cutting, it's already too late.

Defenses will experiment with adjustments. Devoting both defenders to James created these 4-on-3s. A logical alternative would be to switch the screen, but doing so is similarly perilous. A small guard is probably defending Westbrook most of the time. Do you want to leave that player alone on an island with LeBron? Is James just going to attack the switch before it's been fully executed? Pulling off the switch is probably the trickiest part, but once it's done, there's presumably a bigger defender that can sag off Westbrook and help against James drives.

The look is hardly new to James or the Lakers. They ran variations of it with Dennis Schroder last year. It was a staple of LeBron's when he played with Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. In both looks, James frequently worked as the screener, and that's a wrinkle the Lakers are sure to install in the coming weeks and months. For now, they're still fine-tuning their approach to this version.

There will be teams that duck under the screen as well. As much as James has improved as a pull-up shooter, defenses still prefer him attacking from beyond the arc than inside of it. Depending on who closes games alongside this Lakers trio, opponents might dare teammates like Bazemore to hit the open 3s more aggressive coverages might generate.

Cracking these codes is going to be a season-long endeavor for the Lakers. It's a play they're installing slowly. Westbrook didn't set a single ball screen on opening night. He's been such a ball-dominant player for his entire career that he's practically never needed to. But some version of this play is going to have to be a late-game staple for the Lakers if they plan to keep Westbrook on the floor in the final minutes. It's one of the few ways they can take advantage of him and LeBron at the same time. It wasn't quite as unstoppable as the James-Davis pick-and-roll that obliterated the league for the past two seasons. It probably won't ever be. But for three possessions on Sunday, some of the Lakers' vision for successfully integrating Westbrook into their offense shined through. The result was the first of what should be many wins this season.