Lakers: Russell Westbrook Gets Defensive Over His Performance
After another disastrous loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers postgame conference was bound to have some fireworks. The Lakers got outscored 35-24 in the fourth quarter and had a lot of complete defensive lapses in crunch time.
Westbrook's late performance was particularly an issue for one reporter, who asked Westbrook about it.
"You saw it. Don't ask me questions you know the answer to. You seen it. I lost the ball. I missed a three. There's nothing to it."
Westbrook's postgame press conferences are already legendary, especially his honesty. Between telling a reporter he flat out didn't like him, to saying a reporter was 'trippin,' to randomly telling a reporter he uses dove soap...Westbrook's interviews are never boring.
I understand Westbrook's ire, but the thing is, that wasn't his only issue late in the game.
With 21 seconds in the game, completely abandoning your man on the basket side is a monstrous error. You can't double a player from over 7 feet away, especially completely abandoning your man basket-side. The Lakers have drastic defensive schemes to fix, but falling asleep on defense is an individual issue. Westbrook should have made a better choice.
Westbrook's ill-advised three point attempt has already been parsed by Coach Frank Vogel (who said he wanted a better shot than that) so it's hard to jump on that. Westbrook is a big-game performer, but passing on a three-pointer may have been the best choice, but in the long run the mental mistakes for the Lakers are going to count for bigger losses.
