Big name point guards make for big game matchups. Look no further than tonight's Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder matchup for further proof on that.
Jeremy Lin has been the focal point of a lot of debate since he first emerged from the shadows in New York last season in a hail of publicity. Either you love him, hate him, believe he's the real deal, or think he's a flash in the pan. But either way, Lin has gotten noticed, enough for the Rockets to have invested $29 million over four years on the young undrafted Asian American point guard from Harvard.
Lin has struggled this season, his shooting touch off and his scoring numbers down, and yet his playmaking abilities seem to be on the rise.
Russell Westbrook's success isn't nearly as debatable, although he has his share of critics. He can't play defense, some say. He's not a playmaker, others bemoan. He takes too many shots for a point guard, skeptics complain.
And yet the athletically gifted Westbrook has hit his stride, having made two straight NBA All-Star appearances in the last two seasons, as well as two All-NBA Second teams, and being widely regarded as one of the top three point guards in the Western Conference, and among the elite of the NBA's players at the point.
So the question remains: how do they match up? Who's the better scorer? Who's the better playmaker? How would the two match up defensively? Latinos Post.com ranks these two young studs one-on-one:
Offense
If this were asked during Linsanity--when Lin was averaging 22.7 points in 12 games before the All-Star break--this one would be too close to call. However, Lin is nowhere near that level of production this year.
Fresh off surgery in the off-season to repair a torn meniscus, Lin's shooting has been off the mark in the first 14 games of the regular season, hitting a puny .374 percent of his field goals and scoring only 10.6 points a game. And he's not attacking the basket with the same reckless abandon that he displayed with the Knicks. Whether it's still knee problems or his adjustment to new teammates and a new offensive scheme in a new city that is causing Lin's shooting woes is open for debate, but the fact that Lin's offensive productivity has dropped significantly is not.
On the flip side, Westbrook is looking like every bit the player that has been a two-time All-Star this season, averaging 21.1 points in the last 15 games as he continues to play the reliable role of Robin to Durant's Batman, the Western Conference's most potent one-two scoring punch alive and well. And he's been doing it with all of the explosiveness, quickness, and energy that his 6-foot-3, 187-pound frame has graced him with. Anyone who guards him is in for a tough night, and Lin is no exception.
Advantage: Westbrook
Playmaking
While Lin's offense has been dropping, the Rockets remain fortunate that his playmaking and passing numbers are as good as they've ever been.
Lin is averaging 6.5 assists a night with the Rockets during their 14-game stretch, but don't let the numbers fool you. That number is a pretty solid figure considering that, compared to Westbrook, Lin has only had a month to get to know his teammates, training camp not withstanding. As the season goes up, Lin's figures in assists should go higher. And he has shown in the past an innate ability to understand how to spread the floor and get teammates involved--at his peak last season, he was dishing out 9.2 assists a game in New York and helping Amar'e Stoudemire look good again for a while.
While Lin is a natural playmaker, the same is not often said of Westbrook, who has more of a reputation as a "score-first, pass-later" kind of point guard. His assist numbers dropped last season to 5.5 per game, while his scoring went up two points to 23.6 a night--not a great sign for a floor general. But Westbrook has bounced back with 8.6 assists over the first 15 games of the season (ranked sixth-best in the NBA) on pace for his highest career assists average ever.
Lin has the natural ability, but Westbrook's had the better performance by the numbers thus far. Still, both players know how to get their teammates involved.
Advantage: Even
Defense
Honestly, both players are better known for their offense than how they've fared on the other side of the floor.
Even when Lin was the talk of the town in New York last season, his flaws on defense became evident fairly quickly. This season has been no different, with Lin struggling to get up to par making stops on the other end.
Case in point? Last week, when the Rockets topped the Bulls in a narrow 93-89 win at home. Lin was benched for much of the second half in favor of backup Toney Douglas to guard Chicago's streaky point guard Nate Robinson, who scored 21 points with five assists.
When asked why he benched his starting point guard Lin, coach Kevin Sampson offered this explanation.
You have to go with your instincts," Sampson said. "You're not always right with that stuff. But I felt like Toney gave us our best chance to win. Yeah, a much better matchup with Nate."
Even Lin admitted as much afterwards.
"Yeah, I think that's for reasons of defense," Lin said. "I'm not really sure. Ask Coach. But I think it's a defensive thing. I didn't do a very good job of making Nate Robinson uncomfortable. I've got to do a better job."
Lin can take heart in the fact that Steve Nash, one of the all-time great point guards, is also a poor defender, but unlike Lin, Nash has glossed over that flaw with sensational passing, playmaking and scoring during his entire career. With Lin struggling with his shots, that defensive weakness becomes much more glaring. However, he has been making strides, as well, ranked ninth in the league in steals, with 1.93 a game.
Westbrook meanwhile has had his critics on whether his 'D' can match his 'O'--ironic, given that he was drafted from college with the reputation of being a defensive stopper. But he has shown in clutch time that he can also be a lockdown defender when the time calls for it. His defense on the ever-dangerous Jason Terry last May during the playoffs was the prime example of what Westbrook can do when he puts his mind on stopping opponents.
Advantage: Even
Who do you think has the overall advantage? Let us know in the comments section below.