Mar 8, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after hitting a 3 point shot against the Toronto Raptors during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Russell Westbrook has been hot. Flaming, molten-lava hot. For about two weeks, everything he’s touched has turned into a triple-double. You can quibble with his levels of efficiency and the quantity of his turnovers, but he has been busy accumulating a Scrooge McDuck-sized mountain of points, rebounds and assists. Even more than his counting statistics, Westbrook has been impressing with his physical advantages—overwhelming opponents with his uniquely pugnacious blend of speed and strength. This edge is always there, but I don’t know if he’s ever exploited it as consistently as he has during this recent tear.
There is one particular type of possession which beautifully illustrates this physical edge—the one-man fastbreak.
Sunday afternoon, less than two minutes into their game against the Toronto Raptors, Serge Ibaka emphatically swatted a Jonas Valanciunas hook shot in the lane. Westbrook collected the rebound (the first of his 11 in the game) and, for what feels like the one-millionth time this year, transformed into a human freight train, smashing through the teeth of the defense at the other end, finishing the deed himself.
One million may be a slight overestimate, but it feels like we’ve seen a lot of this from Westbrook during his one-man campaign of basketball destruction—collecting a defensive rebound and taking it all the way to the other basket himself. These plays are a distillation of how his physicality and willpower allow him to get whatever he wants from the defense. And it turns out he’s done it exactly 37 times this season.
Although this specific data set isn’t included in their wonderful public offerings at NBA.com, the magic elves who manage the SportVU data were nice enough to help me isolate possessions on which a player collected a defensive rebound and then, in six seconds or less, attempted a shot or was fouled in the act of shooting at the other end of the floor, all without passing.
Here are the numbers on every player who has run a one-man fastbreak[1. I’m limiting to possessions off a defensive rebound here because these seem to, generally, occur more often with a player beginning in the middle of the defense, as opposed to being out in front on a steal.] at least 15 times this season.
Westbrook is indeed the most frequent practitioner of the one-man fastbreak, with a fairly wide gap between him and everyone else (given the small sample sizes). He’s also among the most efficient, although he can’t claim top marks there. Stephen Curry’s efficiency is ridiculous because of the three-pointer—just under a third of his one-man fastbreaks have resulted in a three-point attempt, on which he’s shooting 80 percent. John Wall is a ridiculous finisher and draws a foul on nearly a third of his one-man fastbreaks.
For reference, according to the public Synergy Stats available at NBA.com, the league averages around 1.09 points per possession in transition situations. Essentially everyone here appears to be doing their team a service by taking it all the way.
But back to the point, Westbrook is a ferocious, snarling alpha and it has been incredible to watch. His 37 one-man fastbreaks, on 246 defensive rebounds, mean that just over 15 percent of his defensive boards have led to him single-handedly creating a scoring opportunity for himself. That ability to unilaterally change ends is as satisfying in aesthetics as it is valuable in efficiency.
Time to raise your glasses to Westbrook’s speed, strength and viciously single-minded devotion to offensive domination.