D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

Yeah, but at some point you have to look at the player and kind of compare them to other players you saw that were that "skilled" at 19 and had "IT". They don't necessarily come together in the packages the great ones come in.

 

Wait. being 19 is a con and he was "tired". If you can't play ball twice in a day at 19 something is wrong. 19 and nerves I believe but tired?

I think he's going to take a while. PG in this league is a pretty technical position if played right. College to the pros typically takes a few percentage points off the shooting numbers for a few years. I'm not expecting much over 40% for a year or two. This is a huge jump in competition and playing against man defenses all the time is a change from college.

His "risk taking" will need to be curtailed at this level a little. The level of competition is raised significantly and passes that were amazing in college are more than likely turnovers at this level.

I'd actually like to see an uptempo offense with him. An contrary to a lot here I don't want to see him primarily in pick and roll. I'd rather he learn the entire game over just playing to what his strengths are at the moment. You know... develop him beyond the Brandon Jennings of the world.

 

Really hope Nash comes and helps Russell and even JC some more, they would benefit a lot from him. Russell especially, if he drives and theres not a pass open then he looks stuck out there.

 

It's going to be an adjustment period, I for one knew that he would need time, especially more so than the polished Okafor.

 

Clarkson wasn't made in Summer League y'all.

I think being the number 2 pick, we as Lakers fans are putting WAY too much expectations from him.

College ball and NBA ball are two very different levels. The thing with Russ is that he's learning right now what can and cannot fly. Trials and tribulations. Right now, he's finding that he can go around a pick and usually get a nice midrange jumper. He's finding that some of those slick passes aren't going to make it sometimes.

It's quite apparent that Okafor is definitely NBA ready from the get go, BUT the I do see that his ceiling is lowering a bit for me. Russell is showing that he has A TON of potential in my eyes. He doesn't quit. He doesn't get his head down. He keeps playing despite his mistakes. That right there is a "Kobe-like" mindset. Failure leads to a lesson for him, and he can only go up from here.

I love it.

 

not gonna lie, watching Okafor go to work yesterday made me a tiny bit salty...

 

Games actually expend less energy than a properly run practice. No bench time in practice, no TV timeouts and no standing around while people shoot free throws etc.

I coach AAU basketball and have for years and there is a method (90-90) to not allowing any more than 90 seconds of stopping during a practice. My kids (15 to 17) after a game are not nearly as tired as they are after a practice. If they suck it up in the game we will have a practice after the game. Sometimes we have 4 games a week intertwined with at least 3 full practices. No one is "dead" after a game. A game is full on for 30 minutes or so and even then there are 8 to 10 minute rests and a half time. Practice is 90 minutes of go with one stop for 5 minutes followed with a walkthrough and live running of the O&D sets for another 30 minutes.

At 19 and carrying what? 180lbs, he shouldn't be tired to the point of it affecting his game. I believe it's more of a nerves thing and adjusting to a higher level of competition. Black and Nance didn't look tired. Clarkson definitely didn't look tired. I actually didn't see any signs of fatigue rather he seemed unsure of what he was doing and what what going on around him. Most of his misses were not short or "short armed" either.

A bunch of guys thrown together a week ago will look confused. Toss in the media hype and expectations playing against Okafor and I believe the kid was pressing more than he was tired.

 

@bonk sorry but you can't compare AAU basketball to NBA basketball. These are professional athletes that have unbelievable conditioning (not kids going to school eating burgers) and yet they get "tired legs" all the time.

 

And your experience in this come from.....

You know how many top college and NBA players have come out of the AAU leagues in the greater DC area? You made my point. If one of my "burger eating" (Kobe eats a lot of burgers doesn't he?) "kids" can play 4 games and have 3 full practices in a week without getting tired then these unbelievably conditioned NBA guys should be able to do it and jog home after the game.

 

Re watched for his TOs.

1 - Shot clock violation, was not aware of time.

2 - Stepped out of bounds on JC pass on the wing.

3 - Tried to get fancy with a no look and threw it directly to defender

4 - Bad outlet pass to Brown

5 - Lost the ball in transition off his foot

6 - Pass to Black that Black wasn't prepared for. Great pass, this wasn't on him.

7 - Stumbled off screen, out of control throws ball straight to defender

8 - Drives, ball stripped, off his leg. Frustration apparent after that one, pressing in crunch time.

Mixture of mental and careless plays.

Otherwise his defense was superb and a majority of his shots were all very good looks that he created, just didn't get them to go.