D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by The Original 81, Jun 25, 2015.

  1. SFGOLDRUSHER

    SFGOLDRUSHER - Lakers Starter -

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    Lol nah, he ain't serious

    Maybe the reasoning is he didn't even stretch before the interview doe! Duhhh.
     
  2. Helljumper

    Helljumper - Lakers All Star -

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    I'm actually kind of glad to see him struggle in a game like this. Some of us were prematurely crowning him as our savior, but he still has a lot of work in front of him and I'm sure he knows it.

    When his shot is cold, he has a lot of work to do to become a true PG. At a certain point, we can't just keep saying, "Well he's such a great passer that his weak teammates don't expect his passes." After being lauded as one of the best passers of his generation, he averaged 3 assists as a rookie. He didn't average much more during his college season. He's not averaging much more now.

    He has a natural talent for using his ball handling to score the ball. He has great passing skills. He does not yet know how to efficiently probe a defense to set his teammates up for positions that they can easily score.

    He'll get there, but he has a lot of work to do.
     
  3. KareemtheGreat33

    KareemtheGreat33 - Lakers MVP -

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    Can you say shooting guard?
     
  4. trodgers

    trodgers Administrator Staff Member

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    Why doesn't Russell pass the ball? He obviously can.
     
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  5. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    the weird thing is that his teammates, unprompted, all claim he's a great passer and credit him with making the game easier for them. must be in practice? he's the sasha of passing?
     
  6. trodgers

    trodgers Administrator Staff Member

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    Yeah; I don't get it at all.
     
  7. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    his low assist numbers didn't concern me last year, but it's becoming a trend. i wonder if he or one of the coaches will speak about it eventually. maybe they have some insight as to why his obvious court vision doesn't translate into buckets for others. especially given his proven ability to score, even in regular nba games.
     
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  8. OmarE

    OmarE - Lakers Starter -

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    I feel like Russell is being more aggressive offensively to make a point that he can score at will. I'm sure his shooting decisions will be corrected by preseason. As far as his passing goes he's still trying to adapt from sg to pg. Give him time. He has all the tools, this is why Luke's offense will speed up the process.
     
  9. JLaker17

    JLaker17 - Lakers Starter -

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    Would probably get better shot looks if he passed more.
     
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  10. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    I wasn't responding to you. :D
     
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  11. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    I said it in the Gameday Thread but remember when he was being compared to Magic Johnson coming out of college? They said he had the best vision of anyone we've had on the team since Magic. He had that fancy bounce pass with the spin on it that was featured on Sports Science. I've seen almost no evidence of that vision. I know he's out here in SL to prove a point, but hopefully the coaching staff can find ways to encourage his passing game.
     
  12. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

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    I too was thinking of that happy sports science stuff last night. Only thing I can think of is his buddy Simmons stole it all from him. Who needs friends like that?

    :SadPau2:
     
  13. trodgers

    trodgers Administrator Staff Member

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    It's one thing for Summer League - these dudes don't have the skills of NBA players, and he's obviously working on his comfort level with his scoring. I'm totally fine with that. He didn't pass well last season, either, and I'm seeing the concern that some others are, too.
     
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  14. Jaguar

    Jaguar - Lakers 6th Man -

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    He's a tweener that leans more shooting guard than point guard. Wade could "play" point, but he is really a shooting guard. Dlo can get away with playing point guard if he is not under heavy pressure, at which point he becomes an attacking shooting guard.

    I don't see Russell long term on this team as a point guard. But maybe with Luke's system it won't matter.
     
  15. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    In Luke's system it shouldn't matter. Curry isn't really a PG either, but he was a better passer coming out of college. Curry was also a couple years older than D'Angelo so there's still plenty of time. The only thing that bothers me is that it's there. It's available to him and we've seen him do it. There's nothing more frustrating to me than an athlete that CAN do something great and doesn't do it consistently. He and Clarkson are the only ones I've seen really vibe offensively. He had a couple moments with Tarik Black too, but I haven't seen him vibe with anyone on a consistent basis.

    Remember when I told ya'll Simmons had better vision than D'Angelo? I was serious! I think D'Angelo can be a 15/5/5 guy this year though and that's probably what we should expect.
     
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  16. Daloyalfan18-Brandon

    Daloyalfan18-Brandon - Rookie -

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    If people thought the division among Laker fans would die when Kobe retired they were sorely mistaken. Dlo truly is the new Kobe in that regard (moreso at LG than here, it's a mad house over there lol).
     
  17. trodgers

    trodgers Administrator Staff Member

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    [​IMG]

    HIS

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I hope I'm doing it right.
     
  18. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

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  19. Daloyalfan18-Brandon

    Daloyalfan18-Brandon - Rookie -

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    *Kobe Voice* We're talking about Jason Kidd Russell Westbrook. Lol
     
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  20. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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