Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

What a mf

My hate for him grows everytime I hear him talk or read transcripts. God

 

Have you watched the games? Where do you see Russ effort? He makes turnovers and doesn't get back, that's like his special. He's terrible off ball. He never boxes out.

We can make a game. Next game we count the number of times Russ hurts the team just for not trying (giving freebies on the meme elbow Js, missed layups, dumb TOs and so on). How many do you need to see to change your opinion?

 

yeah, can't get on board with the idea that russ has been all out. just no evidence i've seen.

 

Oh, there is no way, the guy stands there and watches his man waltz to the rim, Turns it over and looks to the ref. He positions well for boards and penetrates and dishes well (when he can hold on to the ball) and why is he out there running around on the perimeter? No one cares. All-out effort? Hooey.

 

This is the most pathetic Laker season ever, with plenty of talent to have a better record.

 

Inexplicable

 

Whataboutism is not a good way to argue. We were not talking about Lebron or AD. You said Westbrook had effort. I said no and explained why. LeBron and AD's effort is independent of Russ's effort.

I understand if you haven't been watching the games, we all have other stuff to do. No harm

 

I'm rooting for Russ to fall flat on his face and be out of here during the summer.

Yes, I'm that petty.

Bye bye Russ.

 

That cursed this season lol buffoon

 

This is a good take and I respect it.
I guess for me though what I see is a guy who cost the Lakers a ton of assets and yes the team shares the blame for this as they are the ones who traded for him but that was on the condition he would go all out and fit his role.

He hasn't done that: I see a bunch of players who have a hard time scoring when he is as defenses are literally begging him to shoot and try to take over the game. He is not willing to cut hard, move, or do anything that would counter this defense. On defense and the glass he doesn't box out and he's a terrible defender.

So we have a situation where you can't win with him and now because of the lack of talent you can't win without him

I'm praying for buyout of Cory Joseph and Gary Harris so we have at least NBA quality backcourt players and Russ is simply sent home. While a good guy from all accounts, he is a toxic player on the court that has demoralized this team with his lack of effort in the little parts of the game that a title contender needs

 

I think the decline of Iverson is a bit different given that he had the skill set to be a contributor, it's just that his ego wouldn't accept that he isn't a star.

While there is a personality aspect with WB, that's not the big reason why he is a has been at this point.

He made his pay day and career by basically relying on his athleticism, which is now dwindling and he can't blow by anyone constantly anymore. Combine that with a lack of other basketball skills, you have someone who's past it.

 

Bawhahahahahahahaha!!!
I was like, “what the hell was that for?!?!” Watching that move.
Such an appropriate analogy.

 

I’m not expecting Russ to change for the betterment of the team.
I am, however, expecting more drama between him and the coaching staff.
Goooo Lakers!!!!!

 

Now this is a discussion
I see my comment came out the wrong way I wanted, I agree it was not a good conversation starter. It was meant like bar talk, a rhetorical question because I believe it's blatantly visible his lack of effort. I was also being sarcastic. I don't think it did any good to have a healthy discussion and will have that in mind in the future.

I can see that you've been following and being a fan of Russ since college which explains your views and attachment to him.
I invite you to lock-in on him for periods of the game and watch all his movements for a few minutes straight each game. You'll be able to identify many situations where his failures are mostly to lack of effort, imo. I do that often with some players, specially new ones in the team, when I want to understand them better, that's why I love Reaves (or Caruso), because he almost always does the right thing and you can see he is fully connected to the game and everything that's happening. With Russ I get the opposite vibe, he just disconnects randomly for no reason. On rebounds is the worst. He only cares if he gets them, he absolutely doesn't care if our team rebounds. It pisses me off

I really stopped giving weight to his overall stats, because following a game I can see those stats don't impact the game. Just like Drummond. I don't think they reflect effort, imo, but rather the way he approaches the game that maximizes those kind of stats. This is really subjective so I understand different views, but I'm strongly confident that this is the true due to other available stats that measure that impact/value of PRA


I COMPLETELY agree with everything else you wrote in this and the following post. He is who he is, everyone knew that, he has made efforts to adjust and he's definitely just one of MANY reasons for this failed season. As I said before and will continue to say, this year was a bust because of Lebron's impact outside of the court.
However, with the lack of effort I've identified and the lack of self-awareness he's displayed lately, I really don't see how he can be a positive contributor to the success of our team when he has so many flaws on his game/fit to the team to work on