D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

I wouldn't say Luke is more lenient in terms of the offense, because Luke actually has a system he wants to run and get people involved. Byron didn't really have a handle on Russell and his offense.

I'm in the contention that he is being asked to be the distributor of the offense, but it's not working. He's much better being the combo SG/PG and being aggressive.

Maybe Luke challenged D'Angelo to get at least 6-7 apg before he gives him the green light again. But the forced passing, the turnovers, the low shot count is really dampening his stock right now.

Another thing I noticed with the starters is the spacing is atrocious.

Black and Randle are non-existent outside of 10 feet, and Ingram is just getting his legs under him. That really just leaves Nick, who if cut off, really leaves no other options for the type of offense Luke wants to run.

I'd rather have Ingram running point and Russell and Nick playing off ball. And as much as I love Tarik, he's too undersized to be a Center, especially if he can't space the floor.

 

pretty much agree with all this. i'll add that he's buddies with booker, and he's seen the crazy green light he's got and knows he could be putting up gaudy numbers in the same situation. but his organization is asking him to play a different way. long term, i think the lakers are right and the suns are wrong, but as we've seen on this very forum, it's hard to take that view.

the draft picks haven't "worked out", but that's just relative to what they lakers need: a superstar. they've been fine, relative to expected value of a draft pick. this is why people should stop obsessing about tanking, btw.

 

I'm beyond disappointed with Russell. He had our hopes up before the season, talking like he was going to be our clearcut #1 option. He's shown up for maybe 4 or 5 games this year? He's actually our 4th best guard. It's disgusting that our #2 pick was wasted, but ship his arse out before his value hits rock bottom.

 

Whoa .... Whoa ....

 

i think he's our best guard overall (i suppose one could make an argument for lou, though he mostly just scores). i wouldn't trade him for anything short of a star.

but for a star, ship his a** out. and pretty much everyone else.

 

Luke, DAR and the 4th quarter against Sac Town .....

http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/...russell-fourth-quarter-minutes-stats-analysis

 

He likes to party. He loves the L.A. lifestyle. I have a feeling he's partied before the night before games as well, but I'm just speculating.

I don't mind him enjoying the city and the lifestyle; just take care of your business on the court first, young man. As Magic just said, "when you're winning, the endorsements, the money, the lifestyle all come with it.'

Russell doesn't get that part yet. He either gets it 'now' or in a Indiana when we trade him for Paul George. (Don't I wish).

 

I've got to ask if you're serious. Nick has been better offensively and defensively. He's carried us countless times this season. There's a reason why he's competing in the 3 pt contest. Maybe Jordan is equal to Dlo. They've both been horrible.

 

No need. Just look at the numbers with and without DAR on the floor. I am sure @trodgers can get some...

If I recall correctly, before the latest woes (which I attribute to Magic "talk" -- screw that dude, if so), he added like 10 in ORtg and 5 in DRtg or some such...

 

Oh, and before anyone goes all Magic-defender on me... some more fuel..

I have below zero confidence in Magic coaching aptitude of any kind, pep talk included.

 

Those +/- stats mean squat in losses IMO.

 

I just checked their ORtg and DRtg, and Nick has him beat across the board. Am I missing something?

 

Yeah, and the game last night could have swung either way, which is encouraging. But we're playing better with Dlo and Julius on the bench. That's quite disappointing.

 

That's only because when he's not being PG it's Lou who is more of an offensive player or Clarkson who is the same way. It's not that he's so great, any decent passing PG can get those +/- on this team as well. DLO has been beyond disappointing, he's finishing games on the bench for a reason.

 

You sure? It's been a season-long thing, but whenever Lou comes in for Dlo it's been a sigh of relief for me. Same could be said for Nance and Julius recently, but at least Julius had a 20 game stretch to start the season where he was absolutely killing it.

 

Lou going scorched earth =\= the team is playing better with DAR/Randle on the bench. The JC/Lou combo has been absolutely atrocious in terms of the TEAM playing better.

Randle/DAR at least attempt to move the ball and run offense, the other two pound the rock and dribble backwards until 7 seconds left on the clock and then it's full steam ahead.

Last night and the game previous has taken so many steps backwards, those two have brought the team back to ISO chucking. Which doesn't equate to much these days. Not to mention JC has completely shut it down on defense, last night was the worst defense from him I've ever seen. It was bad. But hey he earned those minutes so who am I to judge....