But what exactly is your opinion based on when it comes to passing and defense? I’m willing to listen but I’m having a tough time adjusting if I only see statement, opinion, subjective eye-test and in addition to that a whole bunch of data points to the opposite. Anything measurable your opinion is based on? Like this for example…?

Russell Westbrook ranks 42nd in the NBA in passes made. He’s 7th in total assists. Except for Haliburton, all the other guys in front have played more minutes and they’ve all thrown more passes. He’s 11th in potential assists, taking out the variance of guys making or missing the shot. He’s 7th in points created through assists. 8th in adjusted assists (that stat factors in missed assists where his teammate got fouled as well as hockey assists).

But you said passing efficiency, right… Westbrook ranks 4th in the entire league in assist to pass percentage. That means he needs the fourth-fewest passes to generate an assist. Unless you want to count Jaden Springer and JD Davison who have combined for 59 minutes of playing time, Russ ranks second behind only Trae Young in assist to pass percentage. That’s ahead of freaking Chris Paul, James Harden, Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and everybody else not named Trae Young. ‘Does a poor job of hitting guys in stride’. Not on average, my friend, not if we’re unbiased and fair to him.

For reference, other Clippers and former Clippers: CP3 is 4th (guys who average under 10 minutes not counted). John Wall is 20th. Paul George is 53rd. Kawhi is 75th. Jason Preston is slightly ahead of him. Both Kawhi and PG rank higher in passing percentage for adjusted assists btw as they both get around 1 hockey assist per game (which is a high value). They rank around 30-35 there (Russ 2nd). Eric Gordon is somewhere between 90-100. Powell around 125. Bones around 140. Mann around 190th.

Russ can be very helpful to the team, and if Rob’s comment that PG is more comfortable with Russ, then we have to figure it out.

The Warriors game provided a path to success, but good Russ will then drift back into bad Russ. But, you can see that Russ is trying to make that extra pass. Let’s hope that we see an upward trend.

His defense has gotten better but is not a real strength. When you get switched off a lot as the Clippers do on to non primary offensive players, your defensive rating will go up.

One thing Russell does well is ball reversal in half court sets. It is resulting in Zu, PG/Kawhi getting more touches. However, the number of shot attempts he is taking is still too high. The only thing that justifies him being on the court is his offensive rebounding and loose ball play, and that isn’t worth 30+ mins.

Passing inefficiency? We’ve watched different games then. One bad stretch, 3 good stretches. 3-4 assists he doesn’t get after lob passes to Kawhi, Zu and PG13. Extra free throws following his passes when teammates get fouled. I gladly live with 4 turnovers in 30+ minutes if a guy gets you double-digit assists for 20-25 extra points plus extra free throws plus an inside game that establishes additional offensive threats. And plays efficient (team) defense vs the other team’s superstar.

He’s not that much of an enigma if we pay close attention. He’s a guy who will always try which inevitably leads to more mistakes as he takes more risks – which in turn leads to more production and more offensive contributors, fewer iso plays and workload for the stars. Turns into a problem when he’s off and does too much. This game, he did too much when it comes to his own shots. As a passer and defender, he was pretty damn good for the majority of the game.

Agree on finishing around the rim. He’s 51.9% on layups for the season, not good enough. Mid-range is obviously just a shot he should take after broken plays before getting a shot clock violation.

Game ball Eric Gordon, hands down. He was great throughout and a notable boost on both ends over Morris in closing.

Zu with much stronger finishing. Russ struggling to finish and took some questionable shots. Apart from that, better than expected defensively vs his nemesis Lillard, disciplined with regards to not committing stupid fouls but still pursuing plays, excellent effort, great on the boards, great as a facilitator. Could have easily had 12+ assists. Coaching adjustment helped him to overcome his rough stretch where he looked like riding the edge. Hope he shoots better (and a little less) over the next games.

Nonetheless I’d like to see a little more usage and minutes for Mann. That second unit only has Gordon and PG or Kawhi to score, he should get more shots. Morris was far away from being starting material. Rotation player yes, starter or closer no in this form.

I liked the playing style on both ends apart from Mann taking only 3 shots to Westbrook’s 12. They establish Zu as a threat, they find ways to use Russ both on and off ball, Gordon stepped up more, Morris (though struggling) asserted himself more, Plumlee does when the opportunity presents itself, Batum does the little things and makes great decisions, Kawhi can always take over but also take a step back and initiate rather than finish. Defensively, there’s very few weak spots to attack. When they lock in they are a great defensive team.

Split the back-to-back. Now win 3 of the next 4 and I can forget the Orlando loss. Thx OKC for beating the Suns!

Russ pushes in transition but goes too far, saw an advantage where he had none, gets blocked. Clutch 3s by PG and Kawhi, along with overall good defense increase the lead to 12. 4 minutes left

Offensively, Gordon was the big difference maker. He got separation with his 3 pt shooting while also making plays off the dribble at the rim and with the pass. PG was very sharp in the 2nd half and that’s among the most focused efforts I’ve seen from him in terms of prioritizing where he is most effective. His defensive energy generated more opportunities as well. Underutilizing Gordon cost the Clips vs Orlando. They at least remedied that error tonight.

Kawhi was on cruise control, not a super great performance, but he was still 50% from the field and had 24 pts.

I thought Mann played with a lot of energy and made a big difference on winning possessions and generating good offense but was taken out of the game too soon before he could make his full impact on the game.

Westbrook was an enigma. His shot making sucked, and his passing was very erratic despite the 10 assist total. There were 4 TOs, but there were many more poorly aimed and delivered passes that took the Clippers out of optimal possessions. His teammates demonstrated some good hands to keep some possessions alive. What’s most worrying about Russ is that he can’t finish at the rim, and that completely negates his speed advantage. It’s the same thing we found with John Wall. I think to justify more than 15 minutes on the court, Russ has to be able to rebound and score at the rim. 34 minutes for him tonight was about 14 too many.

What allowed Russ to stay on the court was his rebounding, which was Beverley level good. He has found something with his approach to offensive rebounding which provides a net plus for the team. However, I don’t think we can beat OKC with Russ closing the game. We need the more athletic and better game manager, Terance Mann.

Morris was meh. Not terrible, but not terribly productive either. He can’t do what Eric Gordon does for us. Fortunately, Morris played 24 minutes tonight and didn’t play in Q4.

The difference between Russ and Morris is that as bad as Russ is at some fundamental skills for a starting guard, he still brings some things that the team needs (mainly rebounding and the ability to make a good drive and dish (even if that comes with a high error rate). There isn’t much that Morris does that others like Gordon, Roco and Mann can’t do better. Morris isn’t stretching the floor with a 3 pt shot. He doesn’t rebound better than Gordon/Mann/Roco. He holds the ball too long and doesn’t move it to create a multiplier effect on the court. There’s really no reason why Morris should get more than 15 minutes.

The next 2 games vs OKC are pretty significant, imho. They are a hot, hyper athletic team that the Clippers have had trouble with. OKC could go off on a run where they end up in the playoffs. Clippers have to earn a split at least in these 2 games. Winning both games against that team would be a big statement about the Clippers’ ability to match up and execute against any athletic lineups.

Negatives: Zu missing both freebies, Plumlee overplaying once, too many fouls

Overall 17-11 over a good four-and-a-half minutes.