Russell Westbrook is an Arsonist

 

Interviewer: Is it always a pleasure for you to crank up the guitar, or do you ever do battle with the instrument?
Kurt Cobain: The battle is the pleasure. I'm the first to admit that I'm no virtuoso. I can't play like Segovia. The flip side of that is that Segovia could probably never have played like me.

Russell Westbrook isn’t a different type of player than he was a couple of years ago when people wanted him benched for Eric Maynor. Russell Westbrook has just become a better version of what he already was. He’s still hyperaggressive on offense. He still passes way more than people give him credit for. He’s not Chris Paul or Mike Conley. That’s fine. Defenders have different nightmares about Russ.

My favorite player to watch over the last 5 years or so has been Russell Westbrook and I’ve never been particularly shy about that. I also struggle with objectivity when describing his game/ because I don’t think that an “objective” description of what Russell Westbrook has meant to Oklahoma City has to be a bullet point list of what Russell Westbrook is not. You don’t know how long you’ll get the opportunity to watch a player. Players have off the field issues, they get injured, and they decide to retire early. For every Tim Duncan whose prime lasted for what seemed like an eternity, there’s a long list of players like Gilbert Arenas, Brandon Roy and Greg Oden who had primes that ended early or never really began. I’m not going to waste time being unappreciative of what Westbrook does.

Russell Westbrook began his career with an impressive ironman streak for the Thunder, playing every game from when he was first drafted in 2008 until the 2013 NBA Playoffs when he was injured as a result of an aggressive defensive play by Patrick Beverly. Right before the next season began, Russell Westbrook was had a second setback and a second knee surgery.

The second knee surgery was the first time I was worried about Westbrook’s career. Was that the end of great performances? Russell Westbrook once carried the Thunder to a triple overtime victory in the playoffs against the Grizzlies. During the third overtime, he ran up the court as if the game just started, with seemingly unlimited energy. Did you know that Russell Westbrook has the Thunder’s playoff scoring record? He put up 43 points against the juggernaut Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals.

After the second knee surgery in 2013, he was projected to miss an extended portion of the season. He came back after 2 games. Not only did he come back early, but he was as explosive as he ever was. When I went back home to New York for Christmas, my siblings and I went to Madison Square Garden to watch Russ versus the Knicks. My sister didn’t appreciate me cheering for Russell against an overmatched Knicks team on his way to a triple double. He got the triple double in three quarters. He sat for the 4^th quarter because Scott Brooks had mercy on the Knicks.

What I didn’t know was that Westbrook was playing that game on a bum knee that he injured in the game before. 2 days later, Westbrook underwent arthroscopic surgery, his 3^rd knee surgery in less than 9 months. Meanwhile, Derrick Rose, who was drafted 3 spots before Westbrook in the 2008 NBA Draft, also had multiple knee surgeries and did not look the same as he did when he was at his prime MVP level. It wasn’t clear whether Westbrook would suffer the same fate.

The answer still isn’t clear, but right now the Thunder don’t have the option to rest Westbrook. Kevin Durant is out with an injury and the Thunder’s success depends almost entirely on Russell Westbrook. The Thunder need everything that Westbrook has to offer, because they are currently the 8th seed in an extremely competitive Western Conference. Westbrook has taken on the challenge. Before this season, Westbrook produced a total of eight career triple doubles. Since the beginning of 2015, War Machine has had ten of them including 4 consecutive triple doubles. Westbrook’s play alternates between benevolent Prometheus bringing fire to mankind and Heath Ledger’s Joker watching the world burn.

People can complain about what Wesbtrook is. Point guards need to pass more. Point guards need to get their teammates involved. Point guards can’t play like Russell Westbrook. Meanwhile, Joker Westbrook is breezing by your team’s defenders while cackling out of the side of a speeding car. This Vine of Russell Westbrook shut down Twitter. People struggled for descriptions of what happened.

Russell had a nice dunk… No, that’s not right.
Russell had a fastbreak dunk?
Russell created a fastbreak?

Then after analyzing the tape like it was the Zapruder film, people started noticing more things. Russell Westbrook, on an inbound pass ran court to court, ran past all 5 Philadelphia players including two of them who were already in the on the other side of the court when the play started. He did it so fast that the entire play was encapsulated in a Vine which can only be six seconds or less. The right handed Westbrook only dribbled 5 times down the length of the court and did it with his left hand. Ish Smith, a player known for his speed, was one of the Sixers who Russell left in his dust. 2 days before this play, Westbrook had facial surgery after having a bone in his cheek accidentally kicked in, leaving a dent in his face. Russ did all of this while dribbling a basketball. The referee also lost the race to the basket. The announcer didn’t even catch on to what happened until it was too late. He jumped from the dotted line. Nine feet later he has an explosive dunk.

All of his intensity doesn’t just benefit Westbrook. Russell Westbrook has been criticized for not passing enough. The criticism is largely meritless. He’s averaged a decent amount of assists for a point guard, despite playing with a ball dominant player in Kevin Durant who also has a high usage rate. Before this season his career high for assists was 16. In 2015, he’s met or exceeded that career high 4 times. This season, Russell Westbrook has been fourth in assists per game. Even Russell Westbrook can be Prometheus, bringing fire to others. To those who would argue that Prometheus didn’t bring fire to humanity, he stole it from the gods, Russell Westbrook is also second in steals per game.

One of the things that has aided Westbrook is the addition of Enes Kanter. Kanter is a flawed player and that’s why he was deemed expendable by the Utah Jazz. However, unlike everyone else on the Thunder he understands his role as a frontcourt player isn’t merely to take jump shots. Big Men have to get to the hoop. Over the last few years a lot of plays have ended with Russell Westbrook slashing to the rim and passing the ball to Serge Ibaka. Serge would shoot an elbow jumper or a three pointer with varying levels of success. Kanter is an old-school offensive center. When Kanter gets the ball 17 feet from the rim, he’s driving to the hoop. Kanter and Westbrook are an amazing offensive combination.

Westbrook has been leaving teams scrambling for answers this month.  17 of 17 free throws against the Hawks. 49 points and 15 rebounds against the Sixers. 43 points and 8 rebounds in a loss against Coach Thibideau’s Bulls on the 5th. Buy more Gasoline. 36 points and 11 rebounds in a 9 point win against the Bulls. 36 points and 5 steals against Boston. The only game where he didn’t score 20 points this month was on Sunday when he had 17 assists against the Heat. He’s led the Thunder to a 7-3 record.

Despite the fact that Russell Westbrook averages more points, assists, steals and rebounds than either James Harden or Stephen Curry, the only MVP award Russell will have in 2015 is the All Star MVP he won in February. That’s fine. He’ll be setting fire to a court near you.

Late Night Heat

So, I can't sleep. I’m uncomfortable and don’t immediately recognize why. I realize it’s because I’m hot. I wake up; I get out of bed; I'm peeling off clothes. I’m only wearing boxers but I’m still melting. Now I’m worried that I’m sick, but I’m not sluggish, just hot. Finally, I check my thermostat and I realize that it's 80+ degrees in my apartment and a balmy 60 degrees outside. I'm not exactly sure why that’s the case but damn it's hot in my apartment. I’m currently in front of my air conditioner. I figure that since I’m awake I may as well write about what I checked out tonight, because sleeping isn’t part of the schedule.

• St. Johns suspended Chris Obekpa for apparently failing a marijuana test. Honestly, I don't care that much if schools decide to penalize marijuana use . But it would have been nice to see Obekpa in the tournament.
• Speaking of the tournament, today was Selection Sunday I've already done my bracket. Spoiler alert, I picked Kentucky. I know that chalk picks are boring, but as it happens, Kentucky is really good and while the odds are good that they'll lose at some point, they will be favorites in every game that they play this month, so why would I pick against them. There's also nothing about their defense that screams "overrated" or "regression candidate". I'd still pick the field over Kentucky, just because of the fluky nature of March Madness The bracket doesn't let you pick the field though, so am I really supposed to pick Iowa State or Duke or Wisconsin to upset them? Not likely.
• So, Kendrick Lamar's second album, To Pimp a Butterfly, has been released. I'm definitely going to check it out.
• Watched the new 30 for 30 about Christian Laettner. It's a quality documentary as always.
• Also watched the abridged version of the Rockets Clippers game. The best part of the game was late in the 4th quarter. James Harden, MVP candidate, hit free throw after free throw throughout the game. With a few seconds to go, the announcers talk about the fact that James Harden hit 17 of his 17 free throws and that is a career high for him. Naturally, he misses the 18th. The game was also the triumphant return for Blake Griffin.
• I also learned that Enes Kanter put up 18 points and 18 rebounds in the game earlier. Enes Kanter is already the best Center that the Thunder have ever had. Is it too soon to say that? It is also alarming because Kanter was deemed to be expendable by the Utah Jazz a couple of weeks ago.

An Ode to Don Juan DeMarco Murray

 

“I'm one of the best … that done it, six digits and running
Y'all … don't want it
I got the Godfather flow
The Don Juan DeMarco”  - Jay-Z (Can’t Knock The Hustle)

It will be ok

That’s what I’m telling myself. I’m a sucker for good luck stories. When the Dallas Cowboys picked DeMarco Murray in the third round of the 2011 draft, I didn’t think much of him. Then, in week 7 of his rookie season, he had an opportunity to shine. The starting running back, Felix Jones, was injured, and Murray was the backup RB, behind Tashard Choice. DeMarco exploded for 253 yards. This set the Cowboys franchise record for yards in a game. It was also the most yards allowed by the Rams. It’s the ninth best rushing day ever. Needless to say, he was the starting running back the next week.

DeMarco’s career as a Cowboy seemed to be star crossed. He missed six games in the 2012 season with a sprained foot. He sprained an MCL in 2013. There was no doubt that DeMarco was special, when he was healthy. However, at the beginning of the 2014 season, it seemed unlikely that he’d be able to get through an entire season with an NFL workload.

2014 was unbelievable. When the season started, I drafted him early in my 10 team fantasy league. I figured that I might regret it, but I’m a Cowboys fan, and I’m a sucker for their skill position players. Despite the sprained MCL he had the previous season, he made it to the Pro Bowl. I figured that 10 games of DeMarco would be more than enough for me to win my league.

In 2012 DeMarco had 663 yards in 10 games. In 2013, DeMarco had 1121 yards in 14 games. DeMarco Murray had more rushing yards in 2014 than in 2012 and 2013 combined. The season he had was special. He had 100 plus yards in his first 8 games, an NFL record. He led the league in Rushing Yards with a monstrous 1845 yards, the 17^th best performance in NFL History. He tied for the lead in Rushing Touchdowns. He led the league in rushing yards per game and had almost 20 more than the second place guy. He led the team to the playoffs.

Last year was also a contract year for DeMarco, meaning that DeMarco would be a free agent. Should the cowboys pay DeMarco or not? The question depends on whether you believe past performance to be prologue. The Cowboys offensive line was ranked number one overall by Pro Football Focus and second in run blocking. The main players on the line are also young, and we can safely assume that they are going to improve. DeMarco has shown evidence that he’s amazing when healthy. He had few bad performances in a Cowboys uniform that weren’t related to health and none of those performances happened last year.

The other side of the argument for DeMarco Murray is the excessive number of carries he had last year. DeMarco had 392 regular season rushing attempts, 80 more than the next player. He played all 16 regular season games and 2 playoff games. Running back in the NFL is a brutal position, and the mortals who play it tend to have short careers. Running at full speed at a 250 pound linebacker who is also running at full speed towards you is not good for the body. Repeating this process more than 400 times in the course of 5 months isn’t great. In just the regular season, he had 449 touches, plays where DeMarco Murray ran the ball or caught a pass).

People who are into football statistics (especially fantasy players) will discuss the so-called “Curse of 370.” The short version of this theory is that running backs who carry the ball 370 times or more have a drop in production the next year. There’s a 2011 article about this topic. The results are both damning and intuitive. The more you run the ball, the more likely that you will have a lackluster follow-up year.

DeMarco will not be a Cowboy in 2015. According to reports, he signed a 5 year, 42 million dollar contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, a division rival. Remember earlier, when I said that the Cowboys had the second best run blocking rating in the NFL last year? Well, according to Pro Football Focus, Philadelphia has the best when their linemen are healthy. The Cowboys will have to hope that DeMarco Murray isn’t the exception to the Curse of 370. Otherwise, they could be regretting this decision 2 games a year for the next few years.

As for me, I’ll root for his success during the other 14 games. DeMarco has been a special talent, and I hope that he continues to excel. He helped to win a fantasy title last season, and I want him to continue to be a special player for as long as possible. Except when he’s playing against the Cowboys, of course.

The BIG Details 3/9

“The greatest rapper of all time died on March 9” - Canibus (Second Round K.O.

“Say he’s no Big and Pac but he’s close, how am I supposed to win when they got me fighting ghosts.” - Jay Z (Grammy Family Freestyle)

“No use in me tryin to be lyin', I been trying to be signed

Trying to be a millionaire, how I used two lifelines

In the same hospital where Biggie Smalls died

The doctor said I had blood clots, but I ain't Jamaican, man” - Kanye West (Thorugh The Wire)

On March 9, 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. died. I remember sitting in my Dad’s Ford Explorer when the news broke. I was 7 at the time. It was the first time that I had a connection to someone dying where I had an understanding of what death was. 18 years later I still regard Christopher Wallace as the greatest to ever put hands on a microphone. He had a way of turning semi-autobiographical tales into wonderful stories. To this day, people wonder “Who was the New York Knick in his song Got a Story to Tell?”.

Nowadays we don’t ask these sort of things. Part of the reason is because he had a verifiable past criminal life. The other reason, I contend, is that the Notorious B.I.G. had a way of telling a story that made it seem real. Every character was fleshed out. Random details, from the important to the innocuous are thrown in. All of this comes with Biggie’s impeccable flow. It’s one thing to have a good story but he delivered it in an amazing way. In Somebody’s Gotta Die,  from his album Life After Death Biggie masterfully delivers a story.

♫ I'm sittin in the crib dreamin' about Leer jets and coupes

The way Salt shoops and how they sell records like Snoop, (oops!)

I'm interrupted by a doorbell, 3:52, who the hell is this? ♫ - Notorious B.I.G. (Somebody’s Gotta Die)

In the opening bars of Somebody’s Gotta Die, he gives details about what he’s doing at 4 o’clock in the morning. This isn’t the meat of the story. The meat of the song involves him getting revenge for a fallen friend. (And by fallen I mean shot “no less than 50 times”). But the opening bars gives a setting to the revenge plot. First, he’s dreaming at 3:52 in the morning. This isn’t a night where he’s out having a good time. He’s dreaming about Salt from Salt-N-Pepa, a nod to Just Playin’ (Dreams).  He’s also dreaming about being successful, both in talking about private jets and nice cars, but also selling records like Snoop. Snoop, then Snoop Doggy Dogg, sold 4 million copies of his debut album, Doggystyle. Of course, Snoop was a rival rapper, a West Coast rapper who once stomped on New York buildings in a video. Biggie still shows respect to Snoop’s success, but because he’s a rival, Biggie says “oops” after the line.  That line also reflects the mid-90’s time period. The last line “Who the hell is this” is a nod to Warning, a song from his first album where he says the same line after getting a page from “Pop from the Barbershop” at 5:46 in the morning. 

♫"I gets up quick, cocks my shit

Stop the dogs from barkin', then proceed to walk in

It's a face that I seen before

My nigga Sing, we used to sling on the 16th floor

Check it, I look deeper

I see blood up on his sneakers

And his fist gripped a chrome four-fifth

So I dip, nigga, is you creepin or speakin?"♫

Sing comes to Biggie’s door with a .45 in hand (gun not record) and blood on his sneakers. A paranoid Biggie asks why Sing is there. Sing and Biggie used to sell drugs together, but it’s unclear to Biggie why Sing is there now.

♫He tells me C-Rock just got hit up at the Beacon

I opens up the door, pitiful, "Is he in critical?

Retaliation for this one won't be minimal

Cuz I'm a criminal way before the rap shit

Bust the gat shit, Puff won't even know what happened

If it's done smoothly, silencers on the Uzi

Stash in the hooptie, my alibi, any cutie

With a booty that done fuck Big Pop

Head spinnin, reminiscin' 'bout my man C-Rock♫

So now we know why Sing showed up, unexpectedly. Biggie’s friend, C-Rock got shot at the Beacon Theatre (Details later). Big finally lets him and without any further discussion, Biggie is thinking about what he’s going to do to the people who shot C-Rock. We can assume that C-Rock got killed, because when Biggie pitifully asks if he’s in critical condition, there’s no response (Details later). Another small detail comes when he says Puff (daddy, later Diddy, then Sean Combs), biggie’s Manager, “won’t even know what happened. There’s an real life, though apocryphal, story where Puff called Biggie to come to New York. Biggie leaves his drug hideout shortly before police came, raided the place and arrested his partner. The story is legendary and is veracity is in question. What is definitely true is that, even in his music, Biggie is trying to keep his criminal activity hidden from his manager.

   
♫Fillin' clips, he explained our situation

Precisely, so we know exactly what we facin'

"Some kid named Jason, In a Honda station wagon

Was braggin', about how much loot and crack he stackin'

Rock had a grip so they formed up a clique

A small crew

'Round the time I was locked up with you"

"True indeed,"

"But yo nigga, let me proceed

Don't fill them clips too high, give them bullets room to breathe

Damn where was I? Yeah...♫

      

In Verse 2, Sing explains what’s going on and it’s mostly self explanatory. Of course, while he’s telling the story, Biggie and Sing are both loading guns. Also, you find out that Sing, who used to sell drugs with Biggie on the 16th floor, also spent time in jail with Biggie while C-Rock and Jason were selling drugs together. During a  small pause in the action and some comic relief, Sing loses track of the story of how C-Rock died while reprimanding Biggie about how Big loads his gun. The small details matter here.

♫Went outta town, blew the fuck up

C-Rock went home and Jay got stuck the fuck up

Hit him twice, caught him right for the Persian white

Pistol whipped his kids, and taped up his wife (Niggas is trife)

He figured Rock set 'em up, no question

Wet em up no less than 50 shots in his direction"

"How many shots?" "Man nigga, I seen mad holes"

"What kinda gats?" "Heckler & Kochs and Calicos♫

C-Rock and Jason were successful, but then when C-Rock went home, Jason got robbed. The people who robbed Jason stole his heroin (Persian White), tied up his wife and pistol whipped Jason’s kids. This fleshes out Jason’s motives. After a brutal robbery which, “coincidentally”, happens right after C-Rock leaves, Jason thinks that C-Rock was behind it. Later Jason shoots C-Rock. Biggie interrupts the story, incredulously to ask how many times C-Rock was shot at. A lot.

♫But fuck that, I know where all them niggas rest at

In the buildin' hustlin', and they don't be strapped

Supreme in black is downstairs, the engine runnin'

Find a bag to put the guns in, and c'mon if you're comin'♫

Sing is still talking. Sing knows where to find Jason and Sing knows Jason and his goons won’t be armed. A black car is waiting and the engine is still running. Sing ends the verse making it clear that he’s going there now, regardless of whether Biggie will accompany him.

♫Exchanged hugs and pounds before the throw down

How it's gonna go down, lay these niggas low-down

“Slow down, fuck all that plannin' shit

Run up in they cribs, and make the cats abandon ship"

“See niggas like you do ten year bids

Miss the niggas they want, and murder innocent kids”

“Not I, one niggas in my eye

That's Jason

Ain't no slugs gonna be wasted”

Revenge I'm tastin at the tip of my lips

I can't wait to fill my clip in his hips♫

Right before the hit happens, someone gets scolded. The person getting scolded doesn’t want to be careful and instead wants to run in firing. One of the flaws in the storytelling here is that it’s not clear who is being scolded and who is doing the scolding. My interpretation is that Sing is doing the scolding and Biggie is being scolded. Sing seems to be the experienced one in this song from the previous verses and Biggie is the excitable one. But Biggie responds that he won’t miss when he shoots Jason and Jason is the only target he wants.

♫Revenge I'm tastin at the tip of my lips

I can't wait to fill my clip in his hips

"Pass the chocolate Thai"

Sing ain't lie

There's Jason with his back to me

Talkin to his faculty♫

Biggie smokes with revenge on his mind and he sees Jason facing away from Biggie talking to his crew. Jason and his crew are “Fish in a Barrel”, as the saying goes. 

♫I start to get a funny feeling

Put the mask on in case his niggas start squealin'

Scream his name out (Ay yo playboy!), squeezed six, nothin' shorter

Nigga turned around holdin' his daughter♫

Biggie does enough to put a mask on so he’s unidentifiable (Aside: Biggie weighed nearly 400 pounds, it seems like the mask is a bit unnecessary). After he yells for Jason, to turn around, BIG shoots him, and realizes that Jason is holding his kid. As the song ends, you here a lot of commotion and you hear a baby crying.

At the end of the song, Biggie gets his revenge, but his revenge results in a kid being orphaned. Throughout his music, he could weave a tale, ranging from dark humor to tragic. For example, at the end of Niggas Bleed the guys who are coming to kill him get their Range Rover towed, because they stupidly “double parked by a hydrant.”  In Me and My Bitch, his girlfriend gets killed. In Suicidal Thoughts, the last song on the Ready to Die album, Biggie shoots himself.

Sometimes you know that you’re not long for this earth. Biggie’s first album was titled Ready to Die. Biggie died of multiple gunshot wounds on March 9, 1997.  On March 25, 1997, his second album, Life After Death, was released. It was a great loss for rap. We will never know where his career would have gone. What we are left with is an incredible sample of storytelling across those two albums. His music provides a blueprint that other rappers would do well to follow.