Russell Westbrook's "Perfect" Triple Double Provides a Reminder of How Exceptional He is
The Denver Nuggets' 132-121 victory versus the Utah Jazz on Monday December 30 featured two triple doubles. Denver's MVP candidate (and three-time NBA regular season MVP) Nikola Jokic had the 144th triple double of his career (36 points, 22 rebounds, 11 assists), and his teammate Russell Westbrook had the 201st triple double of his career (16 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists). Jokic ranks third all-time in triple doubles, behind only Oscar Robertson (181) and Westbrook (201), who became the triple double king in 2021. While Jokic had the "bigger" triple double versus Utah, Westbrook had the more uncommon triple double: Westbrook did not miss a shot (7-7 FG, 2-2 FT) and did not commit a turnover, authoring just the third "perfect" triple double since the NBA began officially tracking individual turnovers during the 1977-78 season. Jokic (in 2018) and Domantas Sabonis (earlier this season) are the only other players who have had "perfect" triple doubles. This is the second time that Westbrook shot 100% from the field during a triple double game.
Denver Coach Michael Malone effusively praised Westbrook: "First-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. And what I admire so much about him, aside from the leadership and toughness that he brings every single day, is he's got no ego." Malone added, "He came here for one reason and that's to help us win a championship. And he hates to lose, and that's another thing I love about him. He's built the right way, and I'll go to war with Russell Westbrook any day."
If you understand basketball in general and the NBA game in particular, then you love the way Westbrook plays. Hubie Brown praises Westbrook to the sky. Unfortunately, many uninformed media members--including Amin Elhassan and Zach Harper--look for any excuse to bash Westbrook and minimize the value of his accomplishments. Contrary to what Westbrook's loudest critics often assert, rebounds are not fungible in general, and Westbrook's rebounds specifically are not fungible.
Seven of the top 12 career leaders in triple doubles are active players. It could be argued that triple doubles in general are easier to get now than in previous eras due to lenient scorekeeping for assists, but it is biased and foolish to praise some players' triple doubles while acting as if the triple doubles by the all-time triple double leader are worthless; the distance between Westbrook and Robertson on the career triple double list--20--would tie Charles Barkley and Tom Gola for 29th all-time. Kevin Durant, Scottie Pippen, Bill Russell, Kevin Garnett, and Stephen Curry are just a few of the Hall of Famers/future Hall of Famers who have less than 20 career triple doubles. In other words, Westbrook is head and shoulders above everyone in terms of triple doubles, and the margin of his dominance cannot be explained just by the nature of how the game is played now or by how statistics are recorded now.
Denver fans need not concern themselves with how easy or difficult it is to get a triple double, or with how many career triple doubles Jokic and Westbrook will have, because what matters most now for their team is that Westbrook's energy and unselfishness are, as I predicted, a breath of fresh air for a Nuggets team that lacks depth.
Labels: Denver Nuggets, Domantas Sabonis, Michael Malone, Nikola Jokic, Oscar Robertson, Russell Westbrook
posted by David Friedman @ 2:25 AM
Mike Brown's Firing Demonstrates that the Kings Are Still Dysfunctional
Last Friday, the Sacramento Kings fired Coach Mike Brown just before the team boarded a flight to Los Angeles, right after he conducted practice and met with the media. That is a bad and dysfunctional but not surprising look for a team that has been bad and dysfunctional for the better part of the past 20 years. In his first season with the Kings, Brown was the unanimous selection
as the 2023 NBA Coach of the Year after the Kings posted a 48-34
record--their first winning season since 2005-06, and their best winning
percentage since 2004-05. Brown led the Kings to a 46-36 record last
season--the first time the Kings had consecutive winning seasons since
2005-06--but the Kings let go of Brown after a 13-19 start this season, a .406 winning percentage that is better than the full season winning percentages of every Kings team from 2009-18. Brown's track record prior to arriving in Sacramento includes winning the 2009 NBA Coach of the Year award
after leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the best regular season record
(66-16) in franchise history, a mark that still stands. Brown was an
assistant coach on four NBA championship teams (San Antonio 2003, Golden
State 2017-18, 2022), and it is a good bet that if he does not receive a head coaching offer soon then he will be on the bench of a top contender as an assistant coach.
Brown's brief Sacramento tenure is the only bright spot on the franchise's otherwise dismal track record of losing followed by coaching changes followed by more losing; the Kings have had 12 coaches since 2006, and Brown is the only one of those
12 coaches who posted a winning record (107-89) with the Kings. Four of those 12 coaches--Brown, Paul Westphal, George Karl, and Michael Malone--led other teams to the NBA Finals, and Malone's Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA title, a track record which strongly suggests that the Kings' problem is not bad coaching but mismanagement.
Brown took over a Kings team that ranked 29th in points allowed and 28th in defensive field goal percentage. The Kings ranked 17th and 21st respectively in those categories last season, and they ranked 19th and 15th respectively so far this season prior to Brown being fired. However, the Kings' leadership may not understand the importance of defense, and thus may not place sufficient value on the type of program Brown built. The Kings had a positive point differential this season despite their losing record, a statistic that suggests that over a larger sample size they would turn things around.
Vivek Ranadive has been the Kings' majority owner since 2013. In 2014,
he suggested that it would be optimal for a team to keep one player on
offense for the entire game and thus to play defense four on five--an idea that only sounds intelligent or reasonable to someone who made a lot of money outside of basketball but does not have a clue about what it takes to win basketball games.
Media members regularly display their ignorance of basketball history, and media members often have a poor understanding of the intricacies of high level NBA coaching, so don't hold your breath waiting for media members to produce intelligent and objective analysis of Brown's Sacramento tenure; such analysis was not forthcoming earlier in Brown's career, and it is even less likely to be forthcoming now in a media landscape dominated by loud mouths who confuse decibel level with IQ level and whose "hot takes" are devoid of intelligent analysis.
However, it is interesting and revealing to consider the comments made by Brown's coaching peers. Denver Coach Michael Malone did not mince words about Brown's firing: "I'm not surprised that Mike Brown got fired, because I got fired by
the same person. And what really pissed me off about it
was the fact that they lost [Thursday] night, fifth game in a row, I
believe. Tough loss...They had practiced this morning. He does his
postgame media, and he's in his car going to the airport to fly to L.A.
and they call him on the phone. No class, no balls. That's what I'll say about that."
Indiana Pacers Coach (and longtime President of the National Basketball Coaches Association) Rick Carlisle called the firing "shocking to me and I'm sure all the people in our profession." He added, "I
had the privilege of working with Mike when I was in Indiana coaching
the first time. I view him as one of the
standard bearers for integrity for our profession. And I'm just
absolutely shocked that that decision was made."
Much like the New York Knicks spent decades stuck in mediocrity (or worse) until the owner hired smart people and then left the smart people alone to do their jobs, the Sacramento Kings will remain stuck in mediocrity (or worse) until the owner stops trying to prove that he is the smartest man in the room; there are few things more likely to destroy any group or organization than having someone in charge who is not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.
Labels: Michael Malone, Mike Brown, Rick Carlisle, Sacramento Kings, Vivek Ranadive
posted by David Friedman @ 3:01 AM
