Are superheroes a threat to the population they are trying to save? No, this question did not come to us by falling back on the old dusty DVD of Indestructible which hangs out on a shelf in the family home during the holidays but well ahead of the start of the Wizards’ season. Arrived with his Monsieur Triple-Double cape on his back, Russell Westbrook wanted to drive out old demons from Washington and bring order and justice to the streets of the capital. But after ten days, the transplant is slow to take and the result is final: four defeats when the Brodie is in service and DC’s only victory coincides with his absence. So, is the Marsupilami the right superhero in the White House? Or rather, is Beastbrook really a superhero? The question is valid.
Collateral victims, significant damage, uncertain hierarchy, assistance from the population, mistrust… if the (DC) Comics teach us one thing, it is that each superhero also has its dark side. However, if the NBA is very real and does not offer similar issues, some consider Russell Westbrook as a superhero of the courts. We are talking about a leader who was an MVP, who has averaged triple-double three times in a row, carrying on his back a franchise to which he was faithful and where it will be difficult to blame him for a lack of result but also of one of the greatest athletes in the League. But what we are also taught in Spiderman’s bubbles is that great power comes with great responsibility.. Translation, Russell Westbrook, all Mr. Triple-Double he is (already 4 in 4 games played this season), must above all make his team win. And for that, he must understand that he cannot do it on his own. In the end, we hope that someone had the good idea to offer him the saga ofAvengers at Christmas.
No need to go very far to illustrate this reality. The number is right there before our eyes, and you don’t even have to dig into advanced statistics to find it more telling. So let’s take the record of the Wizards since the start of the season: five defeats including four with Russ on the field for a single victory … without their new All-Star leader. Arrived with great fanfare in the blockbuster trade of this offseason, we can still give the Brodie the benefit of the doubt and put all this on account of the time to adapt but it will take results, quickly if possible, under penalty of being caught in the flu by the Wizards. Not that Raul Neto is a real threat in his post, far from it, but the confidence of his teammates who must give him the ball in an abundant way will diminish, especially when we see an imperial Bradley Beal against the Wolves and nine players from Washington more than ten points in this game against only five of them against Chicago for the same number of points scored in total (130). Statistics that does not mean anything? Not when you also have to associate the rebounds and the passes to this observation. Instead of seeing 15 rebounds for Westbrook alone and the crumbs for the rest, we see 7 at Thomas Bryant and Deni Avdija, 6 for Robin Lopez and even Ish Smith. A more equitable distribution, symbol of a more homogeneous and therefore better collective? The team hasty conclusions arrives at a gallop but we prefer to wait a little bit. On the other hand, while we shouldn’t go too fast, the point is that Washington has finally won against Minneapolis and the Wolves, as little bite as they have, are no worse than troubled Bulls who have yet defeated Scott Brooks’ team twice in three days when the former Rocket held his place.
And speaking of our brother Scott, it is also important to point out that all the evils of the Wizards do not emanate from the ex-agent 0, on the contrary, with in particular a coach who is hiding when real choices are made. ‘impose. But if they are not only his own, these evils of the whole team are very similar to Russell Westbrook: lack of clutch, impatience therefore clumsiness, a game that is sometimes messy, intermittent defense, etc. He is therefore not the only culprit but we do not see how he can be the savior if he suffers from the same ills as the others. However, Westbrook is in great physical shape, it is always this exceptional impact player that hurts the defenses and exhausts his vis-à-vis, well Westbrook what, everyone knows the qualities of this all-time player . And this is true not to mention his 100% triple-doubles this season, because we don’t care and he should follow our example. It is especially heartbreaking to see how the Brodie hasn’t changed a single hair in his approach to the game when arriving in the capital. And it is not a passage from number 0 to 4 that will make us change our minds. We could criticize but understand the importance of wanting to reach 10 rebounds at all costs during his MVP season and his quest for 42 triple-doubles but not anymore. RW has nothing more to prove at this level and it is time to change his game but especially his mentality to win on a collective level. We have already written this sentence about as many times as it counts triple-double but when you come into a franchise to become the boss again, you are obviously expected at the turn. In the end, it’s still a shame to persist in being the man whereas by putting himself at the total service of a team he would be a Superman. Because a superhero always ends up winning… and so far, that isn’t really the case.
If he’s unable to question himself, maybe Russell Westbrook is not a superhero but a super-athlete. Which is already not bad and which should nevertheless serve Washington during the season after the current bad patch. But that will never win the Wizards or any other franchise, at least as long as we talk about HIS franchise. So we change mentality or status but we change under penalty of missing a beautiful story or rather a beautiful comic book.
