Westbrook closing in on history as Thunder fight for playoff positioning

(Photo by Torrey Purvey)

By Michael Kinney

OKLAHOMA CITY — The chants of “MVP, MVP” rang throughout the arena as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook engineered an overtime comeback victory on Wednesday night at Orlando.
While that is nothing new in Oklahoma City, it is becoming the norm during road games as well for the MVP candidate.
During the win over the Magic, Westbrook displayed every skill needed to be MVP-worthy. The 57 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists gave him his 38th triple-double of the season. He recorded the highest point total in a triple-double in league history.
Westbrook and the Thunder return home to face the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.
“That is definitely a blessing,” Westbrook said of stunning statistical season. “I definitely don’t take this game for granted, and I try to come out each night and try to compete at a high level. That is definitely something that is a blessing and definitely something that I can be proud of.”
However, for Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan, it was an intangible that Westbrook put on display that has stood out this entire season.
“Some people get freaked out about, ‘I don’t want to be the guy who misses, I don’t want to be viewed that way,'” Donovan said. “Then there are guys who don’t think about that. They go for the win. Russell always plays to win. There’s a mindset you have to have for that.”
With eight games left in the regular season for the Thunder, it is hard to imagine what else Westbrook can do to separate himself from the rest of the MVP contenders, in particular, Houston Rockets guard James Harden.
Westbrook can start by racking up a few more wins against the top-tier teams. After getting run off the court twice in the past two weeks by the Golden State Warriors and Houston, a win over the Spurs at the Chesapeake Energy Arena could bolster Westbrook’s resume.
But more important for the Thunder as a team, a victory would aid their bid to grab home-court advantage for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Sixth-place Oklahoma City (43-31) is 2 1/2 games behind the fourth-place Utah Jazz (46-29) and 1 1/2 games back of the fifth-place Los Angeles Clippers (46-31), with the top four securing the home-court edge.
The Spurs (57-17) are also playing the seeding game. But after a crushing loss to the Warriors on Wednesday, they now trail Golden State (61-14) by 3 1/2 games for the No. 1 overall seed.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has never voiced too much concern over seeding. He likes to give the impression that as long as his team is in the playoffs, they have a chance to win the championship.
With a lock on No. 2 in the West, there is no guarantee that Popovich won’t rest some of his starters.
However, the combination of the loss to the Warriors and a loss the last time San Antonio came to Oklahoma City, and the Spurs could be aching to get back into the win column as soon as possible.
“It’s the NBA. You can’t dwell on any of them,” Spurs forward Danny Green told NBA.com. “You learn from it and move forward, be more professional, and try to get better.
“In the past, that’s where Timmy (Duncan) was good for us, or teams in the past just collectively. We wouldn’t let things like that happen. It might happen, but rarely. But I think it’s happened more often than it should here at this time and this year.”

Michael Kinney is a Freelance Writer with Eyeamtruth.com

NBA star attacks illiteracy by making reading cool

 

By Michael Kinney

Throughout his basketball career, Russell Westbrook has played one way. Whenever the Oklahoma City point guard touches the floor, he plays not just to win, but to decimate his competition.

So it should not be a surprise that Westbrook would have the same mindset when faced with off the court adversaries.

In 2015, Westbrook decided to take on illiteracy in America. That was when the first Russell’s Reading Room was opened in Oklahoma City at North Highland Elementary.

Two years later, Westbrook’s motivation hasn’t wavered as he continues to spread the message that reading is important with his reading rooms.

Westbrook and his Why Not? Foundation launched 10 new Russell’s Reading Rooms throughout Oklahoma City March 21. That brings the total number of Russell Reading Rooms to 16 in Oklahoma City and three in Los Angeles.

“With the support over the years of people all over the world supporting my foundation, they’re finding ways to help me make these things possible for the kids,” Westbrook said. “It’s important to be able to constantly keep giving back anyway I can, in as many places I can at the same time.”

Russell’s Reading Rooms are former classrooms that were transformed into a

Russell’s Reading Room is a literacy initiative created by Westbrook’s Why Not? Foundation. They provide students access to more than 1,200 books and a safe environment to read.

The books are provided by Scholastic Books and come in a variety of genres, subject matters and age levels.

When the first reading room opened, students could only come in and read the books at school. Now students at all 19 schools can also purchase books to take home and keep.

“Literacy is very important to me and my foundation and what I believe in,” Westbrook said. “It starts young, in elementary. I think kids, once they get a room like this, they feel excited about it. Something new. New books. You get an opportunity to take the books home, share with their family, come back here, I think it makes it fun for them.”

 

Joining Adams in the newest group of schools to open a reading room in Oklahoma City were Arthur, Bodine , Britton, Edgemere, Green Pastures, Gatewood, Greystone, Oakridge and Pierce elementary schools.

“It means a great deal to our community to our families for Russell to come I and give some attention to our kids here on the southside of Oklahoma City,” Adams principal Heather Zacarias said. “It encourages reading, it encourages that community feel that he is a part of Oklahoma City. Just really appreciate what he did for our school.”

Westbrook was only able to attend the ribbon cutting at Adams. There he was greeted in the new Reading Room by a group of students who read the most books over the school year. As he helped them pick out books to take home, one of the kids found “Year in Sports: 2016,” which had Westbrook in it.

“Man that’s crazy. I have ever seen myself in a book like that,” Westbrook said. “I tried to play it cool in front of the kids. But it’s pretty cool to be able to see that. When I was a kid and go to the library and look at Kobe Bryant, Shaq Shaquille O’Neal) and other people in the little sports books. It’s pretty cool to see it here in the reading room.”

The Why Not? Foundation, in partnership with Scholastic Books, sponsored school-wide book fairs at each of the 10 schools that opened up a reading room in March. The students received a gift certificate from Russell’s foundation that entitled them to one free book.

“The proceeds from that sale go back into the school and we can use it to buy more books for this room, furniture for this room,” Zacarias said. “Scholastic has partnered in a way that not only allows us to give the student a free book, but also receiving some profit for that.”

For Chris Mueller, the Scholastic Field Sales Manager, the Russell Reading Room book fair is a great way to encourage independent reading among children with their families.

“The key here is it talks about family engagement,” Mueller said. “We stress at scholastic all about independent reading. That’s what book fairs are all about. Independent reading is when they do it on their own. If they do it on their own, they’re going to become better readers. And when the families get involved, like with Russell’s Reading Room, we encourage that independent reading will grow even more.”

The fact Westbrook has 19 reading just two years after he opened his first still comes as a shock to him. But he is far from being satisfied.

“I was just hoping I could constantly keep growing it and growing it,” Westbrook said. “Now I am here, about to be at 20, which is great. I will keep going until I can go anymore. Keep trying to find ways to reach out to different communities.”

Story ran in The Yukon Review. Michael Kinney is a Freelance Writer with Eyeamtruth.com

Thunder pound fight out of 76ers

(Torrey Purvey)

By Michael Kinney

OKLAHOMA CITY — Philadelphia coach Brett Brown almost thanked the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
Despite his 76ers losing 122-97 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, Brown seemed in awe of the lesson the Thunder taught his young squad.
“I think it’s a fantastic example for our young guys on the physicality of playoff type teams,” Brown said. “That physical side of it stood out to me more than it has in a long time. You look at (Steven) Adams, you look at (Enes) Kanter, Taj Gibson, and the discrepancy on the boards. It’s a reminder that if you want to play late in April and May, maybe June one day, that’s the physicality that the playoffs bring.”
Russell Westbrook recorded his 35th triple-double of the season to lead Oklahoma City. He scored 18 points — going 6 of 6 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line — in 27 minutes. He also recorded 14 assists and 11 rebounds. According to Elias, that is the first time in NBA history a player had a triple double while not missing a shot.

Westbrook didn’t attempt a 3-pointer for the first time since March 14, 2016 — a span of 83 games.
“I was just playing, trying to take my time,” Westbrook said. “Watched film and tried to pick my spots better. I wanted to continue to get my teammates involved throughout the game. It just happened that way.”
Oklahoma City’s Enes Kanter wasn’t perfect from the field, but he was close. He scored 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench. Victor Oladipo scored 18 points for the Thunder (41-30).
The 76ers were paced by Nik Stauskas, who came off the bench to score 20 points. However, 15 of those came in the first half.
Shawn Long scored 13 points, and Dario Saric and Robert Covington each posted 12 points for Philadelphia (26-45).
After scoring only 15 points in a loss to Golden State on Monday, Westbrook made sure he was going to surpass those numbers Wednesday. He hit all four of the shots he took in the first quarter on his way to 12 points.
“Westbrook really did a good job,” Brown said. “Look at the stat line and it’s an interesting stat line, isn’t it? It was eye-popping and he just doesn’t go away.”
The Sixers used the 3-point shooting of Stauskas to keep within striking distance. He hit his first five attempts from behind the arc.
But it was Kanter’s ability to come off the bench and score at will in the paint that really disrupted Philadelphia’s defense. He was guarded by Jahlil Okafor, who provided little resistance.
Kanter played only 12 minutes in the first half, but racked up 19 points to give the Thunder a 63-50 halftime advantage.
“He knows how to play,” Westbrook said of Kanter. “He is very effective at that position, so I just watch and let him go to work.”
Oklahoma City went on a 15-2 run to start the second half. That essentially closed the book on the young Philadelphia squad.
“Those bigs were so tough,” Saric said. “It was a game against a team who was really ready, who is really tough, who is really strong. It was like a bar fight, but they were like the only guys in the bar who could really destroy us.”
NOTES: The Philadelphia 76ers confirmed Wednesday that C Joel Embiid will have season-ending knee surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus. … Oklahoma City G Russell Westbrook said he is not a fan of sitting out games when healthy. He missed only one game for rest during his entire career. “(To rest), that’s their own opinion. I like to play basketball so I like to go out and compete and have fun,” Westbrook said. “I think for me I look at it differently from being hurt and missing a lot of games, I embrace everything moment I have to play basketball and enjoy the time I can play, so that’s just how I think.:

Michael Kinney is a Freelance Writer with Eyeamtruth.com