One of the reasons last season’s Los Angeles Lakers did so badly was the poor fit of their three stars: LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook was often aggressive to a fault last year. At the same time, there were also times he was too passive, almost as if he was trying too hard to ingratiate himself with his new teammates.
But during training camp over the last couple of weeks, all three have decided to simply be aggressive and decisive rather than try to placate each other.
They believe it will be good for the team.
Via The Athletic:
“I think the biggest thing was everybody trying to be selfless and now everybody is being aggressive,” Davis said. “Russ, ‘You get it, go.’ Bron, ‘You get it, go.’ I get it and go. Whoever. And that’s been very helpful for all of us. Obviously, we’re unselfish teammates and we want to pass and do things (for our teammates), but at the same time, we have to get going as well. And I think that’s been the biggest change that we wanted to see from us three so far is whoever gets it, let’s be aggressive because it’s going to open up the floor for everybody else.
“When we’re all trying to be unselfish and share the wealth, the ball kind of ends up getting lost around the perimeter or we’re going up against the shot clock. But when somebody is staying aggressive and Russ is getting downhill, Bron is getting downhill, it opens up the floor. Because they’re aggressive where guys have to help out, they can kick it out to shooters.”
Last season, the Lakers often saw themselves fight the shot clock after reverting to a great deal of one-man basketball.
But now, new head coach Darvin Ham has re-emphasized fast-break basketball and playing with pace overall.
As long as Westbrook is still a member of the team, he will have to find the right balance between aggressiveness and being under control. But he is clearly a better player when he leans toward the former.