“You Question Yourself When You’re Open Every Shot”: Draymond Green On His Psychological Warfare With Russell Westbrook

Draymond Green’s defensive strategy on Russell Westbrook has the NBA spectrum talking, as the Los Angeles Clippers fall to 0-4 since Brodie’s advent. 

The Golden State Warriors dismantled the new-look Clippers in a compelling fashion. The Dubs held the Clippers to 91 points while torching them for 115. They accomplished this feat without their protagonist, Stephen Curry.

GSW inched nearer to clinching a spot in the 2022 Western Conference Playoffs, with the victory placing them in fifth, effectively rendering them capable of directly making the playoffs rather than the ‘Play-In’.

In contrast, the Clipper’s playoffs push seems to be pulling away from them, in what can only be assumed to be a distant dream to avoid the Play-Ins.

The startling aspect of the game, in the wake of the Warriors’ victory, was the defensive scheme they implemented on Russell Westbrook. The Dubs anchor, Draymond Green, and Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, both had thoughts of their own to share post-game regarding the tactic. 

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Draymond Green provides his insight on the Warriors’ sagging defensive scheme! 

As the 34-year-old Westbrook edges closer to the latter stages of his career, his explosiveness and athleticism have deteriorated. This is a fair assessment. Teams have also realized that Brodie’s jump shot is subpar and, accordingly, have opted to rely on the sagging defensive scheme to nullify his threat.

“You’re taught in basketball, you’re open, take the shot. But if you’re open every play, you kind of start questioning yourself.”

Draymond Green on the Warriors’ sagging defensive scheme against Russell Westbrook and the Clippers 🗣️pic.twitter.com/r73FDmQb0L

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 3, 2023

Draymond Green, who defended Russ throughout their fixture last night, realized this and blocked his pathway by providing him with an ample amount of space on offense, i.e., the sagging technique. Speaking about it, Green said: 

“You’re taught in basketball, you’re open, take the shot. But if you’re open every play, you kind of start questioning yourself.”

The Golden State Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, had some thoughts of his own to share and heaped Green for his defensive acumen. Kerr said:

“Yea Draymond as a center fielder is the best, the best in the league. I think there’s nobody who can muck up the lane like he can..” 

Russell Westbrook is an output machine. The nine-time All-star has been stockpiling numbers, replicated only by a handful throughout their NBA career.

Steve Kerr explains the benefit to Draymond sagging off of Russ pic.twitter.com/UrweSd6hS3

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 3, 2023

However, in tandem, how does that bode well for a player who holds a reputation for possessing a poor jump shot? The answer is it doesn’t, and this can be attested to by the spacing complexities he brings to any franchise he represents. 

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Are the Clippers title contenders with Russell Westbrook?!

The NBA is apropros to ‘fit’. This is why the Russell Westbrook and Los Angeles Lakers experiment failed horrendously. And if Brodie or Tyronn Lue does not transpose their tactics to enable the franchise to win.

The Postseason is a time when games slow down and defenses tighten up. The pathway to the rim will be congested, mandating players to resort to their jump shots effectively.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBxDmKV8aY4

Given the fact that Westbrook’s jumper has been mediocre, as well as inefficient, the Clippers will have to devise another plan to get their three stars firing on all cylinders. 

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