D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

Byron stunts the growth of our young guys. There are players like Kobe or KG ane then there's Russ, Pau, LO and so on. Coach with bad inluance can realy mess up and set back a player. Im talking from a personal experience btw .

 

I disagree. Russell is averaging 10, 4, and 3 despite being reduced to being just a jump shooter. Yes he needs to be more aggressive, but when the ball is in his hands he's shown he can make phenomenal plays. If he had a coach who put the ball in his hands more and let him run the show like Mudiay I have no doubt he'd be putting up big numbers.

Per 36 he averages 14, 6, and 4 and that doesn't take into account playing with Kobe and Clarkson and not being a primary ball handler. Byron deserves a lot of the blame here. You don't take a true PG like Russell and just make him into a spot up shooter. That's a waste of his talents. Clearly it's not about winning games because he continues to play Lou Williams at backup PG even though he's been struggling and he's clearly not nor will he ever be a point guard and playing a 6"6 dude at center.

We've seen this kid attack the basket relentlessly at Ohio State. He was never relegated to what he's been now. We've seen him turn the switch on and start attacking the basket like he did against Phoenix. He's clearly capable of doing it, but seeing how tentative he is at the start of games that's a direct result of not knowing if he'll get pulled by Byron for one or two bad plays. At the end of the games in garbage time if you leave him in there he can be a lot looser and not being worried about being taken out.

 

Comparing him to any other coach at this point is unfair..

 

I think the perception of a leash is there, and very strongly, whether or not Byron has truly given him the green light. To me, that's on Byron. It's the coaches job to communicate expectations effectively to players, and while doing so, instilling confidence and trust in their relationship. We know Byron is an old-school hard-a** with his players, using tactics like "suck it up, just do it, you should know this, just work harder, etc or I'll bench your a**!" That's one side of his mouth, and out the other is supposed to be "I believe in you D'Angelo, be you and take control of the offense." One, that's confusing intellectually and psychologically, in the sense that he's not sure where he stands in his relationship with his coach. Two, it seems obvious that Byron's a bad teacher and communicator. Guys aren't understanding the offense or defense he wants to run. If he can't communicate x's and o's, maybe he can't communicate the finer subtleties of relationship dynamics and expectations.

I also don't think it is fair to use someone's behavior in spite of certain factors as the barometer for what they should be doing. The factors are the real problem, not what someone is sometimes able to do in spite of them. The question I'd ask myself as your football coach is: "You showed me how great you can be briefly. What have I been doing wrong and what can I do differently to get you to show me this always?"

Here's my analysis of the relationship dynamic between Russell and Byron. Byron is known to be extremely stubborn. It's his way or the highway, clinging to his views despite new info or contrary info. Russell is a confident and competitive kid and a leader, but in a go with the flow Tim Duncan way. He's going to try to fit in and be compliant to what Byron's asking of the team. But at the same time Byron's allegedly asking him to break free and do his own thing. In other words, Byron's conveying the message: "Try to ignore how I treat the team (stubborn harda**) and go ahead and do your own thing. Trust me, I won't bench you." That would work for a young Kobe, but not for a personality like Russell's. Being an inflexible coach 90% of the time totally negates the 10% you're trying to allow someone to be free, especially when that someone is a quiet, try to fit in leader. That 90/10 inflexible/free confusing crap is the problem, IMO. Russell is frustrated, confused, insecure, and over-thinking instead of playing with his beautiful instincts. We can't ask Russell to not feel that way. We need to ask the coach to stop making him feel that way.

Now, why is Russell sometimes rarely able to embrace that 10% and be himself? I don't know. Maybe he's angry at Byron and is playing like "F-it"? Maybe there was something we the fans didn't see in the timeout huddle or pregame that made that perceived leash less apparent to him?

Do you think a stubborn, poor communicating coach, running an offense ill suited to your strengths is more or less likely to result in you going completely against your go-with-the-flow/fit-in personality to run your own offense that's contradictory to his, even though he's telling you it's ok? IDK, man. I can only imagine Russell with a more modern and flexible coach that embraced his style of play. He'd still be somewhat timid due to adjusting to the nba, but he'd be miles more confident than we're seeing, don't ya think?

 

When I watch this team I see a bunch of black holes and Russell is the only guy who seems to try and set up his teammates and run an offense. We have no identity on offense and I think the play of our young guys is a direct reflection of that. When they just say "f' it" and go for theirs then we see the flashes of greatness.

I think there is a lot D'Angelo has to work on and he is far from a finished product. But I do think he will instantly improve when we get a new coach.

 

Completely agreed!

It seems your question is: "What happened to your confidence, D'Angelo?"
My question is: "What can you do differently, Byron to improve D'Angelo's confidence?"

Not sure if this applies, or if it does, if it's a stretch to apply it to this situation. A child's view of himself is completely dependent upon how he perceives/feels (consciously and unconsciously) his value in his parents' eyes (through their actions and words). A child feels good about himself if he feels his parents feel good about him. A coach is a father figure to a 19 year old young man. If Byron's stubborn personality, confusing system, and poor teaching style are negatively affecting Russell's inner self, it's up to the adult figure to change, not the child.

 

Well, I wasn't saying to coddle the dude, lol. I just mean that Byron's clearly negatively tapping into an aspect of Russell's psyche (inner child) and no amount of trying harder can remedy that. Despite what cognitive bulls*** psychology tries to teach us in tv and movies, how we feel and act isn't about trying harder to feel and act differently. Sometimes environmental factors (specifically certain relationships) trigger something in us that we have little to no control over.

 

^ if he pulls a stunt lika that, he'll get benched for a week. Tough love .

 

Oh I know that you meant that. I don't think he can try harder to do that ^^. Something about Byron is eliciting a block in D'Angelo's ability to do the underlined.

 

Don't even want to hear it. Someone with a calmer demeanor, please sum it up for me...

 

Summary: blah blah blah, generic generalities, blah blah blah

 

two words... Man the f*** up! Mathematical genius Byron Scott

 

I understood, from someone on LG posting a sort of recap on this ish, that the words "leash" and "Russel" were used.
In the sense that there is one.