Breaking Down How Russell Westbrook Elevates OKC Thunder

While most observers hold a high opinion of him, every so often you'll hear a strange and almost entirely untrue phrase from an uninformed fan or a denigrating opposing announcer: "Russell Westbrook doesn't make his teammates better." One need only look at the gradual improvement of Serge Ibaka throughout his career to know how ridiculous that statement is. 

Ibaka entered the league as a hyper-raw 20-year-old power forward out of the Congo in 2009 and has gotten progressively better and more well-rounded with each passing season, particularly on the offensive end of the court. His chemistry with his point guard is a huge reason why. 

Consider: This is now Ibaka's fifth NBA season, and he has made 1,319 baskets as of this morning. Of those 1,319 baskets, he has been assisted on 930, according to NBA.com. Of those 930 assists, 378 belong to Russell Westbrook. This means Westbrook has gathered 41 percent of all assists to Ibaka in his career and has assisted on 29 percent of Ibaka's total baskets since he entered the league. 

The chemistry between the two is most obvious in the pick-and-roll. Westbrook has assisted on six Ibaka baskets out of the pick-and-roll thus far this season, an average of about 0.67 per game, according to mySynergySports (subscription required). This is down slightly from the 0.74 average from last season, though Westbrook's only participated in nine games thus far and is still getting his sea legs under him after undergoing two knee surgeries last summer. 

Most often, Ibaka sets Westbrook a screen near the elbow, and as the point guard blares his way to the rim or strings out the defense, Ibaka does a half-roll to the free-throw-line area for a jumper. 

Ibaka has shown steady improvement throughout his career on mid-range jumpers, having raised his field-goal percentage from that zone in each of the last three seasons. He's shooting a cool 51.9 percent on such shots this season, per NBA.com, over 10 percent better than he shot from mid-range as a rookie. 

Westbrook's ability to get him open looks from that range has been a huge reason for that improvement. Of Ibaka's 1,319 baskets in his career, 414 of them have been mid-range jumpers. Of those 414, Westbrook has assisted on 163, meaning around 39 percent of Ibaka's made mid-range shots have come directly from Westbrook assists.

In the three seasons prior to this one, Westbrook assisted on 38 percent, 48 percent and 46 percent of Ibaka's mid-range jumpers. Just north of 12 percent of Ibaka's total baskets and 18 percent of his assisted baskets have been mid-range jumpers off direct passes from Westbrook. 

Of course, their pick-and-roll chemistry is not limited to netting jumpers for Ibaka. The Congo native has become an excellent screen-setter in his short time in the league, and Westbrook, of course, has learned how best to rub his defender off those picks. 

Their pick-and-roll prowess is not even limited to getting a shot for either of them. Look at this pass Westbrook throws to Kevin Durant out of a high screen-and-roll with Ibaka. 

A lefty, one-handed, no-look hook pass off the dribble while being double-teamed coming around the screen? That's absurd and unfair. It helps that Durant's man crashes down onto Ibaka near the free-throw line ever so slightly and leaves KD just enough space to rise and fire, but this is the kind of pass Westbrook couldn't make even two seasons ago. 

You can't think of Westbrook, though, without picturing him charging through the lane to get to the rim. Though Westbrook has not been overly successful looking for his own shot when driving the basketball this season (only 26.5 percent shooting, according to SportVu player tracking data), he has created plenty of looks for his teammates. Of the top 50 players in drives per game, Westbrook has averaged the 13th-most points created via assist on drives so far this season, with 4.3 per game.

He doesn't always have his head up on the drive, as evidenced by that low field-goal percentage and the many ill-advised looks you see him take throughout the game, but when he does find an open player when on the drive, it can often look breathtaking. Sometimes, though, it's just about making the simple pass to the open man. 

Draw the defense, kick to the shooter. Lather, rinse, repeat. 

Anyone who says Westbrook doesn't make his teammates better probably isn't paying too close attention, and rather is simply subscribing to tired narratives. Anyone screaming "JUST PASS TO DURANT!" while justifying it by looking at straight efficiency numbers doesn't know how valuable Westbrook's shot creation (for himself and others) is to the Thunder. (Another Tom Ziller link expounding on the subject can be found here.) 

It's often said that the measure of a good point guard is netting open shots for his teammates and directing an efficient offense. Well, for each of the last five seasons, Westbrook's teammates have shot a better percentage with him on the court than when he's been off. And Oklahoma City sits seventh in offensive efficiency this season with Westbrook having missed two games and working his way back from injury, after placing second, second and fourth in the three seasons prior. It's scary to think that he's only 25 years old and he's still going to be at this for a long, long time. 

Jared Dubin works for Bloomberg Sports, writes and edits for the ESPN TrueHoop Network sites Hardwood Paroxysm and HoopChalk, is a freelance contributor to Grantland, and is coauthor of We'll Always Have Linsanity.