Stephon Castle recorded his fifth career triple-double in the San Antonio Spurs' most recent win, and he sounded like Russell Westbrook as he broke down his mindset.
Say what you will about Russell Westbrook, but he's a legendary NBA player. Sure, there are the inefficiencies, the ugly stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the fact that he never won a title.
Despite all that, he's the NBA's all-time triple-double leader, one of the most explosive guards ever, and a complete offensive player who was one of the faces of a generation.
The San Antonio Spurs are built around Victor Wembanyama, but Stephon Castle--like Westbrook--is their engine. In their most recent 115-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Castle took over, recording his fifth career triple-double. He will never pass Westbrook's mark of 209, but his competitive mindset is similar.
Stephon Castle Breaks Down Individual Success
Castle and the Spurs like to play fast. They rank 11th in pace and are 10th in fastbreak points per game. Castle believes his rebounding helps get the Spurs out and running, and when he's not crashing the boards, he's positioning himself to beat the defense down the court.
"Just trying to make my impact on the game early, help our guys rebound, keep our pace," summed up Castle on his all-around effort. "I feel like when our guards are rebounding, our pace is at its highest, and that's when we're playing our best. So just trying to impose my will on that end, and then just playing free, just letting the game come to me."
While Westbrook was gifted some easy defensive rebounds in his quest for triple-doubles, he made a name for himself by leading a fast break and taking the ball basket to basket, through crowds of defenders.
Castle plays with a similar vigor, and he thinks both De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper have a similar mindset, all about pushing the tempo and getting to the rim.
"I just think we're three guards that can touch the paint whenever, against anybody, and create an advantage for either ourselves or our teammates," he added. "And I think we're all pretty unselfish. So it makes the game a lot easier on ourselves. To be able to get our teammates open shots and force the defense to do something different, I think, is a very high skill of ours."
Castle, Harper, and Fox are three of the best finishers in the NBA, and with any one of them capable of leading a break (or Wemby able to fire a pass down court), the Spurs have run plenty of opponents out of the building this season.
