I would love it if Westbrook had a shooting outburst like DRose did last year. Not very likely but possible. He doesn’t even need to shoot THAT well. If he can just be respectable enough to not be left open we’ll be fine.
Like I mentioned in my original post, Russ and John Lucas have an almost identical shooting stroke. So no, Russ doesn't need a "shot doctor" and that's not what John Lucas does, [which is what differentiates him from Calvin in this role] rather Lucas is about space and comfort. Watching him warmup with Gordon before games is a thing of beauty because you get to see the little things like hip placement and timing and other subtleties that they work on.
Wtf is space is comfort? WB is trying to shoot the ball not traveling somewhere his shooting mechanics are what is comfortable to him as that is what he has been doing for decades and space has more to do with his teammates and their gameplan than what he does himself. Hip placement and timing are part of shot mechanics I'm not sure what you are trying to say.
Luckily for us, a pull up Westbrook mid range jumper is one of the least efficient shots in the league. It’s in the thread about Westbrook breaking some random statistic. So, we shouldn’t have divided loyalties on this the way we did with CP3’s mid range jumper (which was relatively efficient).
Westbrook admitted to having a poor shooting season last year in his exit interview so I have no doubt his % will improve this year, especially in a system and with teammates that suit him more.
What Westbrook needs is exactly a coach who he can respect and will keep him reigned in. Westbrook's entire career has basically been him walking all over his coaches. "I do what I want" is basically Westbrook's motto til now.
My apologies for not being able to explain this to you in a better fashion. Hopefully as the season goes along there will be visual examples to help support what I obviously don't have the ability to articulate.
Most players in the league now have such massive egos that they aren't going to even know who some of these guys are, let alone listen to what they have to say. The game has changed a ton in just 6 years, getting advice from guys who played 40 years ago isn't too relevant. I believe one of the younger guys on the Suns was on camera saying he didn't know who Hakeem was. Relying on some player development coach to drastically change the habits of a guy who has been in the league for a decade makes little sense.
Calvin Murphy really needs to teach Free Throw Shooting to Russell Westbrook and Clint Capela especially. Calvin shot 90 plus percent of his Free Throws, at least come to practice and teach them the basics.
Unfortunately this is true in way too many instances. I remember reading an article several years ago crediting this phenomena with part of the reason Pat Riley hired [video coordinator] Erik Spoelstra as head coach. The players related to him way more than they did Riley, lol. It remains to be seen, but with Lucas' reputation around the league it'd be a shame if a player of Westbrook's caliber wasn't familiar with him.