Westbrook’s dunks elevate fame, but misses bring down team

Russell Westbrook has had all the qualities of a human highlight reel this season.

With almost reckless abandon, the athletic 6-foot-3-inch sophomore guard has found himself on countless highlight videos with his high-flying, powerful dunks.

At times they have been momentum boosts for the Bruins, like at home against Oregon when his dunk over LeKendric Longmire helped spark an insurmountable run in the second half.

But at times, his propensity for sensational play has left the Bruins in a worse position.

Against Arizona State on Thursday, he missed a dunk after an ASU-missed dunk when the two points an easy layup would have brought could have helped spark a surge by the Bruins.

Although UCLA won comfortably, coach Ben Howland had a talk with Westbrook afterward.

“That was unfortunate,” Howland said. “Russell has a tendency when he makes a mistake to get down on himself, and he gets frustrated, and it compounds into a bad play coming up rather than just putting it behind him. That’s something I talked to him about, and he knows that.”

But Howland stopped short of asking Westbrook to rein in his high-flying ways.

“He dunks like that every day,” Howland said.

“I don’t think he has it in his mind, the YouTube dunks. It’s like someone said once, you don’t see jump shots (on highlight shows), all you see are dunk shots. That’s what’s promoted by the media. I, on the other hand, would rather see the good screen,” he added.

Beyond the dunking, Westbrook has begun to establish himself as the best NBA prospect on the team thanks to not only his athleticism but also his vision and playmaking ability.

At times this year, point guard Darren Collison has suffered from an inability to make the proper pass on time, and Westbrook is actually averaging more assists than Collison.

Howland was asked in Tuesday’s press conference whether he thought about playing Westbrook at the point more and Howland responded with a terse “no.”

Statistically, Collison is the best 3-point shooter on the team. So it would appear that playing him off the ball more and having him come off screens for the 3-point opportunities rather than Josh Shipp, who has struggled, or Westbrook, who is a less reliable outside shooter, might be beneficial for the offense.

Westbrook, whose probable NBA position would be point guard given his height, is amenable to playing more point guard.

“I have no problem playing it,” Westbrook said. “I did it in high school and the first 10 or 11 games we played, or whatever. How it works out would depend. (Collison would) probably have to guard a two-guard. It all depends on who we’re playing and things like that.”

WOODEN UPDATE: Howland went to see former coach John Wooden in the hospital Monday. Wooden suffered a fractured wrist and a broken collarbone after a fall in his condo last Friday.

Howland said Wooden seemed like he was in a lot of pain but was struck by how “tough” he is.

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