Jason Kidd (Age 38) locks down Russell Westbrook - 2011 NBA WCF

Dallas had Kidd coast on defense for the opening minutes of the game by matching him up with Sefalosha, but Kidd would often guard Westbrook and/or Durant for full quarters in the remainder of each game, not just for a few isolated possessions. Jason Kidd's defense in the 2011 WCF was phenomenal as both Westbrook and Durant struggled to find consistent success against him.
Jason Kidd's off-ball defense on Durant played a key role in limiting Durant's opportunities or forcing him to catch the ball in more difficult positions away from the basket. Kidd stripped Durant several times in the series and did an excellent job of keeping him out the paint and contesting most of Durant's shot attempts.
Westbrook found some success against Kidd in the beginning of the series, but Kidd's defense on Westbrook continued to improve as the series progressed. Westbrook did beat Kidd from time to time with his speed and explosion, but more often than not Kidd's timing and lateral movement was enough to stay in front of Westbrook and force him into reckless shots and turnovers.
Westbrook and Durant may have still been young at the time, but Durant was a 2-time scoring champion by 2011 and Jason Kidd was much further away from his prime at age 38.
Articles on Kidd taking on Kobe, Durant, and Westbrook in the 2011 Playoffs
- 1. www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/5/3...
- 2. www.espn.com/dallas/nba/column...

[@FunGuy02626]

I remember this series when kidd had a matchup with KD. KD thought he had the advantage but man he had a hard time with kidd. Kidd definitely is one of the smartest players I've ever known.

[@SwayTheBeast]

Mavs zone defense that year was legendary beat harden, westbrook, kd, wade, lebron, bosh, brandon roy, aldridge, kobe, gasol

[@jonathanriojas2177]

Never understood why both home team crowds were wearing blue while the team itself was wearing white.

[@KS-jn7bs]

Great to see you still making videos. As for this one, Kidd was magical during that '11 run for Dallas. Outside of Wade, he pretty much locked down everyone else from Kobe to KD to Westbrook to LeBron. My honest top 5 perimeter defenders ever: 1. Payton 2. Jordan 3. Detroit Rodman 4. Pippen 5. Kidd HM - Moncrief, Artest, Leonard, Wade, Bryant, Allen.

[@nobodytouchesmj9780]

Kidd's 2011 Playoffs is probably the best display of perimeter defense by anyone at a comparable age. Jordan was playing that level of defense in the first half of 2001/02 but unfortunately he could not maintain it after the knee injury. I was looking up some DPOY voting information a while ago and Gary Payton was 2nd place in 1997 and 1998 DPOY behind Mutombo after winning in 1996. No other PG has come 2nd place in DPOY nor won it like Payton has. PGs who were 3rd place in DPOY are - Mo Cheeks in 1983 - Dennis Johnson in 1984 - Derek Harper in 1990 - Mookie Blaylock in 1997 - Gary Payton in 1999 Some other cool facts I found on DPOY voting Mutombo has the records for - most DPOY awards - 4 with Ben Wallace - most times top 2 in DPOY - 5 with Ben Wallace - most times top 3 in DPOY - 9 times from 1994-2002 Tim Duncan was never even 2nd place in DPOY, though I think he should have won in 2007 over Camby. Here are the stats I found if you want to take a look. - plus.google.com/116878108877439774717/posts/GYY8m9j4e6d

[@slimmee22]

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[@slimmee22]

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[@JohnnyRodgers3]

id put kc jones, Walt Frazier and kawhi in my top 5 if were talking perimeter defense and steals than jerry west also cracks top 5 as he is probably the greatest pick pocket of all time

[@lootpack7744]

Vintage Westbrick

[@jssj9587]

Joseph Kony Dumbass, ur missing entire the point. Ur original argument was that Kidd had more experience so that was the reason why Russell lost to him, now Donnovan had much less experience than Russell, and Thunders STILL FUCKING LOST. Make up your mind, u can't have it both ways.

[@jssj9587]

"Westbrook destroyed rookie with 23 pts comeback" And what shooting percentage did Westbrook have.....? I'll wait.

[@JoeBro915]

Joseph Kony - child kidnapper WarLord Prophet y u copy and paste this comment on multiple threads?

[@mushy18100]

😂😂😂

[@jrthegoatsmith712]

Joseph Kony - child kidnapper WarLord Prophet At least Lebron doesn’t lose in the first round, what’s Westbrook’s excuse Westbrook stannie? 😂 Westbrook had Paul George, Carmelo, and Steven Adams, but lost to a Jazz team with only Mitchell and Ingles as the consistent scorers. You know why Westbrook doesn’t win? Because he steals rebounds from his big men, chucks up contested 3s even though he is barely 30% from that range his entire career, and shot the ball like 30-40 times a game that series.

[@carrolltoncomicscards8602]

After Harden fouled out in game four, after the game Harden said never again. and that was the last time Harden attempted to play any defense. rip hardens sixth foul.

[@nomooon]

that was when harden realized it is much easier to create fouls on offense than avoiding fouls on defense. On that day, flopden was born.

[@qleeson]

He had really good defensive effort in his early days too

[@slimmee22]

I remember this year, j kidd lock up Kobe to previous round

[@TheSands83]

I had a guy on comments arguing with me saying players today could smoke guys from Jordan era.. he literally said could u imagine Westbrook having Jason Kidd on him? He would score every time!! I directed him to this video n he also said John wall was a better athlete than jordan

[@marvinmagic5397]

Damn and i thought westbrook couldn't shoot in 2018 but turns out back in 2011 he was practically Ben Simmons when it came to shooting the ball, how has he improved his jumpshot so little over 7 years?

[@anthonydunkley7844]

Because there's a talent to jump shooting

[@jelorer]

that was good team defense. not the greatest one on one defense. although he did position pretty well and didnt give up much. he couldnt keep up with westbrooks speed alot of the time but chandler was always there to meet him at the rim. also it was westbrook being westbrook. taking very bad shots. driving to the rim recklessly

[@guabagotjuice]

Justin Ejimah that’s the thing about locking someone up you force him into his uncomfortable spots or into his help defense/ rim protectors he played him perfectly on every fastbreak. he even walked away from his threes or didn’t contest because he knows his matchup. jkidd 💯

[@LaMarcGasoldridge]

@@guabagotjuice Do you think Kawhi Locked down Lebron in 2014?

[@guabagotjuice]

Fish_Stix69 i wouldn’t say locked down he just made it difficult for him to score and obviously an all time great coach had the schemes to help kawhi it wasn’t just one on one defense

[@LaMarcGasoldridge]

@@guabagotjuice isn't it the same situation for Kawhi tho?

[@guabagotjuice]

Fish_Stix69 what do you mean?

[@emonibates3987]

After re-watching multiple videos of young Durant and Westbrook, I don’t blame Durant for leaving westbrick. For Pete’s sack he shot 29% from 3 this past season smh

[@lowdistortion]

Yeah no doubt but don't go to the warriors you too good for that Kd

[@spurs_7798]

Nobody is blaming Durant for leaving Westbrook.. its the fact that he JOINED a 73 win team after he blew a 3-1 lead against them in the playoffs. Thats the issue.

[@infinitymixtapes9562]

I think we all knew KD was leaving

[@atsbobice1525]

@@deletedchannel9945 I thought I was the only one who saw that LOL

[@teejayquia4415]

They should keep harden rather than wesbrick. They could won multiple championships

[@mushy18100]

Then the lockout season began a year later (2012)

[@CB-gs6ud]

Harden and Kd were the best players for OKC this series

[@ithelpdeskguy3920]

This is one of the great team matchups. Vintage persistence Mavs vs Young talented OKC

[@erichdurst9917]

The fact that people compared this Westbrook to DRose at the time is beyond me... Rose was dropping 44 on the Hawks and 35 on the Heat at this time when Westbrook was choking and scoring 17 points it’s crazy

[@RenzaissanceTV]

Wtf you talkin bout Russ and Rose both avg literally the same numbers in both there Conference Finals, Russ literally dropped a 40 ball just the series before the Mavs against the grizzlies, so idk why you’re tryna make it seem like russ wasn’t ballin

[@youraverageguy5746]

2:52 idk if this was through a coach planned play or player play but its crazy how Harden's confidence transformed. He would've handled the ball on that one today.

[@j.monroe9146]

Not a Westbrook fan at all, but to be fair this was baby Brodie. He wasn't dynamic/game changing until about the 14-15 season. In this season and series, he still was in KD's shadow and not his number 2. You could see it in his game, no structure, just attack. He still plays like this lol, but he's a leader now.

[@ZACKSTACK1204]

He became his #2 the following season. He became his own man and legit 1B to KD in the 14-15 season.

[@VVVY777]

Nah. The only thing different with Westbroke is he's holding the team hostage in exchange for stat-padding. He's even more selfish and cancerous now. Will never win anything other than individual counting stat awards.

[@randyp8849]

How many possessions does Russ pound the ball and jack up a shot without even passing the ball to one teammate.

[@kun229]

Westbrush is the best defender He defend KD and Harden in the same time Nobody can do that

[@alisalihue5220]

Second best defensive PG after Gary Payton.

[@kennyhill9238]

Ali Presents Duncan he did a pretty good job on Kobe the series before.

[@UncleJay27]

Ali Presents Duncan I agree!

[@christianpine2293]

Nah Stockton is the best defensive PG... smh Stockton is so underrated!!

[@jfietz3299]

@Throngdorr Mighty how many rings does Robert Horry have?

[@jssj9587]

Wtf does Robert Horry have to do with the discussion? He's not even a PG. Stick to the topic instead of bringing irrelevant material.

[@jonathanriojas2177]

Always funny seeing JJ defend KD

[@freshbossgarvin8781]

Kid did not stop him, mavs just clog the lanes he driving.

[@freshbossgarvin8781]

@Michel Relli I feel better now

[@guabagotjuice]

FRESH BOSS Garvin it’s called kidd leading him into his team’s defense so at the end of the day kidd still locked his ass up lol

[@freshbossgarvin8781]

@@guabagotjuice thanks I didn't saw it that way

[@mrblend]

But if Westbook scored 45... he would be dropping 45 on Kidd... but for defense its Team defense LOL okay....

[@zachwachs4058]

J kidd and John Stockton and Gary payton are the greatest defensive point guards in history.

[@grovestreetGTA9]

What is your method on defensive statistics as in assigning credit / blame on man defense and help defense?

[@FirstnameLastname-qb2bg]

It’s all about his agenda he has no method it depends on the person. He has different rules for people he likes vs. people he don't like.

[@RFlash-xc4lo]

That thunder team was loaded for several years and they just couldn't make it work. On paper this Mavs team shouldn't have made it out the first round, but this is a example of a TEAM. The whole team working together, trusting each other, and determined to beat a Superior team.

[@SethKasso]

Like the 04 Pistons and 14 Spurs. Unselfish, fundamental basketball

[@Lalambz]

Geeze.... Thunder even making plays? Who's the coach?

[@officialconch]

Dirk was hungry for that chip

[@boundlesshumanity1901]

Rip old okc

[@roy59535]

WB play with the same way 2022

[@Mektek19]

Westbrook was really bad as a point guard. He has gotten much better, but wow he was literally a big reason they lost in 11" abd 12".

[@weneedhim526]

or because heat were just better

[@jhaybasarte8791]

more on team defense . not an individual lock-down defense

[@johnparkfernando]

So sad seeing Harden underutilized

[@qleeson]

He was not the same harden as today lol

[@ruminating1596]

Lmao! Bait him to shoot 3's, if he doesn't just force him left, but cut him off before he can drive to the rim and he will miss literally every single shot. Now I need to look at Westbrook footage on the Lakers to see if he ever fixed these issues. I vaguely remember him going left and hitting the side of the backboard on a few shots.

[@damonsonnier34]

You know, now that I think about it, Jason Kidd and Russell Westbrook are very similar players. They both are always able to get triple doubles, and both their assist numbers were very high.

[@esotericguru7111]

Kidd better by far. He led teams to finals and got TD organically.

[@slonold3554]

How a team with Duran and Harden lost to any other team? The only common denominator is Westbrook!

[@ironplasticmachine2309]

Too bad they let Tyson Chandler go in the following season.

[@wallyosmond9204]

These lock down videos are ridiculous. Jason Kidd did this or Rick Carslile and the Mavs awesome D anchored by Tyson Chandler did?

[@rberka555]

Misleading title

[@tonydemasso3691]

& they try to say Steve Nash was better

[@kalbert009]

watch the jump of the sore locking down is doin it all night long. seems like this video is only showing what JKidd stoped russ

[@zacaznar6159]

Hea having a hard time scoring in a soft era hahaha i cant imagine jordan playing in this era 50 all day easy

[@qleeson]

Younginsw

[@ushermore6893]

Westbrook forever will be overrated