http://dailythunder.com/2014/12/russell-westbrook-says-he-needs-to-shoot-fewer-3s/

Part of what’s made Russell Westbrook season thus far so exceptional, is he’s picking his spots maybe better than ever. He’s shooting a career-high from the field, because he’s shooting better shots.

He’s taking fewer long 2s, he’s attacking the basket more often (and finishing), he’s getting to the free throw line, and he’s taking fewer 3s.

But he still wants to sharpen his shot selection up even more. In a rare moment of self-awareness, Westbrook admitted Monday at practice he wants to trim down his 3-point attempts.

“I need to stop taking as many as I’m taking, to tell you the truth,” he said. “I’m going to take those down as the season goes along.”

Westbrook, who has actually reduced the number of 3s he’s attempting this season to 3.4 per game down from a career-high 4.7 last season, said despite lowering his 3-point shots already, he wants to be more selective with them.

“It’s not always a great shot for myself or my team. So I’ve got to do a better job of taking those out,” he said. “My advantage is attacking, regardless of who’s in front of me. That’s my advantage. And I’ve got to use my advantage to help my team and help myself.”

Relevant: Westbrook’s first 11 games this season, he took a total of 31 3s, hitting 11 of them. His last three games, he’s taken 17, hitting just three. He’s lost grip on his shot selection a bit, getting carried away to fire away from deep. Some have been good looks he’s missed. Others have been completely forced.

“I thought he took maybe two or three too many last night,” Scott Brooks said. “The ones when his feet are set, those are ones all our guys can make. The ones behind screens off the dribble, those are tough shots.

“But his shot selection for the month of December since he’s been back has been good. He’s been shooting at a high percentage.”

Last season, I talked to Westbrook about why he was taking more, and this is what he said:

“If somebody goes under, I’ll shoot it. Gotta make ‘em honest,” Westbrook said. “Obviously they’d rather me do that than drive to the basket, but if they keep doing that, they’re gonna learn.

“There’s no need to take long 2s,” he said. “If you’re going to take a 2, you might as well take a step back and shoot a 3. It’s a better percentage if you just back up a step or if you go in a step instead of taking a long 2. It’s a bad shot.”

In terms of long 2s, Westbrook has cut those out almost entirely. This season, he’s taken only one — ONE! — shot longer than 20 feet that wasn’t a 3. From mid-range, he’s been spectacular, hitting 52 percent (26-of-50) of his shots between 16 and 24 feet. Essentially, Westbrook is at his best either getting to the rim, or backing his defender off enough to pull up from the free throw line extended.

Still: What about the final four minutes against the Pelicans where he literally didn’t pass a single time and went 0-of-6 from the floor, which included three 3s. Westbrook still didn’t want to discuss what went wrong saying after watching film is was about “execution,” but did admit there were possibly some quick shots in there.

He also gave an unusual long answer when asked about what factors into his decision-making down the stretch. Let the tape roll:

“Depends how the game is going, he said. “Depends what’s working, depends on what’s worked throughout the game. You have to see the flow of the game. You have to actually watch the game and know what’s going on, know what sets is being ran, know what plays is being ran, know who’s guarding who, know who’s a bad defender, know who’s not a bad defender, know who’s slow, know who’s fast, know who’s not smart. There’s a lot of things you have to take into consideration.

“And I think it’s very important people understand the game, not just the stats,” he continued. “You have to honestly understand the game, understand what’s going on throughout the game. Lotta people don’t watch the game unless it’s on TV. So if you don’t watch our games, you don’t know what’s exactly what’s going on. You may turn the game on in the fourth quarter and say, ‘Oh, shit, what’s going on?’ Make sure you watch the first quarter and see what’s working for us. Watch the second quarter. Watch the third quarter. If you don’t know personnel, you don’t know anything. So I think it’s very important people know exactly each individual player what’s going on throughout the game.”

Westbrook said a lot to really say very little there. I think he’s trying to pull a “WATCH THE GAMES” thing here, but he clearly is not over the he-didn’t-pass theme from last night. Westbrook was combative as usual, giving terse answers about who the Blazers might guard him with, about his quarter-by-quarter production and basically whatever else he was asked about.

Either way, Westbrook has been splendid so far this season, and seems to realize what’s got him there. He may not have passed, and he may have taken some bad shots. But he’s aware of it all, at least. And willing to change.