Brooks still trusts Russ at FT line despite alarming struggles originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Perhaps the most unexpected development from Russell Westbrook's first season as a Wizard has come at the free-throw line.
A career 80% shooter at the line, Westbrook is shooting below 60% on his free throws, which is by far the worst mark of his career. It's become a bit of an issue for the Wizards in close games when opposing teams are in a position where they have to foul Washington to stay in the game.
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Down six points with 46 seconds to go Thursday night, the Clippers intentionally fouled Westbrook several times in an attempt to make a miracle comeback. Westbrook went 1-for-2 on the first trip, made both 10 seconds later and then split a pair with less than 20 seconds to go to open the door for L.A. to force overtime.
Westbrook ended up helping the Wizards secure a game-winning rebound off a missed free throw by Rui Hachimura, so all is forgiven for now. But the free throws continue to be an issue, as he's now shooting 58.2% from the line entering the All-Star break.
Despite his struggles, head coach Scott Brooks trusts his point guard in those late-game situations.
"Russell has not shot the ball well from the free-throw line," Brooks said. "You can't run from that and I don't run from it. I still trust him."
The main source of Brooks' trust stems from eight years of experience coaching Westbrook in Oklahoma City and the work he's putting in behind the scenes to fix his problem at the charity stripe.
"I've seen enough of him, and he's working on it. We're going to get it back, he's gonna be back in the mid-to-high 70s. I want him to make them, he wants to make them, his teammates want him to make them and that's all I care about. He's not going out there trying to miss, he does so many great things for us. The professionalism he brings, I would take that 1,000 times over a missed free throw here and there."
Brooks went on to joke that he'd even take Westbrook's intangible contributions over a few more made free throws, but not too many.
"Even five free throws I'd take him," Brooks said. "Maybe not eight, but five for sure."
The good news for Brooks and Westbrook is the Wizards enter the break on a high note and are in striking distance of a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. A locked-in playoff spot isn't out of the question either, as they're 2.5 games behind the Hornets for the sixth seed in the East.
Westbrook can just use his week off to continue to rest and work on his free-throw routine.
