Class is in Session Mr. Westbrook

We’ve all seen the headline by now, and if you haven’t, here it is, again. That was before Kevin Durant scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Game 6 followed by dropping 33 points off 12-18 from the field in Game 7. We can put all that “Mr. Unreliable” crap to bed, right? Good.

Now that we’ve moved on from that awkwardness and unpleasantness, let’s move on to the Western Conference Semis matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers — more specifically, the one matchup everyone should be paying attention to.

The point guard matchup.

Chris Paul vs. Russell Westbrook.

Old school traditional point-guard vs. new school unconventional point guard (but the type of point guard that is taking the league by storm these days — see also Lillard, Damian).

A series like this is one where the young gun(ner) has a few things to learn, and make no mistake, Russell. Class is in session. Your professor: Chris Paul. (I imagine that’s what he’d look like if he were an NBA professor of point guards — a “floor general Ph.D” if you will.)

It’s no secret at all that I’ve been one of the most outspoken and critical people writing NBA columns when it comes to Westbrook. I get why defenders come rushing to his aid. Westbrook is a dynamic, athletic point guard. He’s young, has an incredible first step, can get by almost any defender in the NBA, and has that “alpha dog” mentality you’d want in a superstar. I get all of that, but Westbrook’s flaws (shot selection and turnover/assist ratio), almost killed the Thunder in their series against Memphis.

This is the kind of series where the Thunder can easily rely on their #1 star: Kevin Durant. The Clippers’ best on-ball defender is probably Matt Barnes. That’s a HUGE step backwards from Tony Allen. Barnes won’t be in Durant’s head like Allen allegedly was until May 1st when Durant effectively removed him from the room and board that Allen had set up in Durant’s noggin. Westbrook isn’t going to be so lucky.

Amazingly enough, this is the first playoff meeting between Paul and Westbrook. (Actually, it may not seem so shocking considering the Clippers’ previous coach was Vinny del Negro.) In the 19 regular season matchups, Paul has gotten the better of Westbrook in 11 of those 19 meetings. Paul’s stats against Westbrook (19.3 ppg, 10.3 apg, 49% FG, 34% 3-pt) are about his average against the rest of the league. Flip that card over, and Westbrook has struggled somewhat in terms of shooting: 18.8 ppg, 6.9 apg, 41% FG, 29% 3-pt. This is the stat that leaps out. In Paul vs. Westbrook matchups, the Oklahoma City point guard averages close to four turnovers a game and has had games of 5+ turnovers five times.

Paul’s defensive ability creates a sizable disadvantage to the Thunder in this particular matchup. That’s an incredible statement when you consider Paul’s injury history, but this season has been no different from the Clippers point man. According to 82games.com, Paul has held opponents to a PER rating of 13.4 this season. Only one other starting point guard held opponents lower — Phoenix’s Goran Dragic (13.3).

When you look at Westbrook’s shooting numbers against Memphis (63/165 FG, 38.1%), they could look equally ugly against Chris Paul if not worse. Westbrook has to be effective by driving to the lane and not putting up horrible mid-range jump shots early in the shot clock — something he has a terrible habit doing. If Paul makes Westbrook a jump shooter (essentially what Memphis did), that plays right into the Clippers’ strategy because they don’t have the kind of on-ball defender to stop Durant (who averages close to 29 ppg vs. the Clips).

The Thunder do need Westbrook to score, but they need him to do it with better selection. This season, Westbrook had an effective FG% of 43.4 with his jump shots and a much more respectable 54.8 FG% when he’s close to the basket. This is where Westbrook can change the series. Get to the basket and look for open shooters — namely Durant. I know Westbrook defenders believe he’s the alpha male of this team, but we all need to stop fooling ourselves. Durant is Batman. Westbrook isn’t Batman, but he’s not exactly Robin, either. He’s Nightwing. If you’re looking for a superhero for a small metropolitan city like Cleveland or San Diego, he works, but you wouldn’t trust a superhero like Nightwing in a large city like New York or Los Angeles because Batman has the rep and street cred.

(I will now apologize to the non-comic book people who officially have ZERO IDEA who or what the hell I’m talking about, but to those comic book and NBA enthusiasts who appreciate such an analogy? You’re welcome.)

Nightwing always had someone to learn from, and in this series, Westbrook should be taking some notes at how Paul plays the position. I’m not saying that he has to change his game entirely for the Thunder to win this series, but some tweaking needs to be done. There’s no better point guard to learn from than Chris Paul — who is second only to San Antonio’s Tony Parker in the “best point guard in the game” conversation.

From an offensive standpoint, the two guards are relatively close to each other. Paul sports a 28.3 PER rating compared to Westbrook’s 26.5. Paul is simply more effective as a result of his ungodly assist numbers. Rarely will Paul put up jump shots or three pointers because that’s not his game. He shoots when he has to and does a much better job getting everyone involved.

Yes, Westbrook SHOULD get his shots because that’s part of his game. What he could do without are those terrible contested mid-range jumpshots early in the shot clock that just anger me to no end at this point. Let’s say Westbrook took four or less of those and changed them into easier assists in this series. Get to the basket. Drive and kick. Lay it up if the finger roll is there. The Thunder aren’t going to win a series with Westbrook taking 20-25 shots and shooting 40% or less doing so.

Whatever the Grizzlies did to waken the dormant Durant in Game 6 and 7 is what’s going to carry the Thunder in this series. That’s where the matchup fares better for Oklahoma City — not at the point guard position. Chris Paul is not Mike Conley, Jr. He’s much more effective, and if Paul outplays Westbrook in this series, then the conversation of “should we bring in a more natural point guard” will spark back up in OKC.