D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

I don't know what it'll take to make Randle shoot more. He came into the year looking at least more confident in it, then it all faded as the year went on. He's absolutely got to shoot the ball even if he doesn't make it. You can't improve without working on it in games. Hell he's made probably 5x as many right handed layups this year as he's made the last two. Same logic applies.

I agree the Mozgov/Randle front court is just murder on D'Angelo. Mozgov's hands aren't as bad as Hibbert's, but they're still bad and it's like Mozgov is never ready for a pass. Meanwhile Randle crashes into the lane too and now we've got five defenders all within 15 feet of the ball. Then because we suck defensively nobody gets back and we give up easy transition opportunities. Terrible. If Randle continues to refuse to shoot, he needs to be moved either to the bench or another team.

As for D'Angelo he takes two steps forward and one back. He needs to learn that every possession is important in a game. You can't have missed opportunities. There was a stretch in the 2nd and 3rd where he was extraordinarily careless with the ball and on top of that continued running the same plays that weren't working. I think there were 3-4 times where we'd run a pick and roll into the lane and then jump pass into a turnover. That's unacceptable.

Magic brought up a good point: it's okay to yell at your teammate. It's okay to get mad at each other and challenge each other. For D'Angelo to take that next step he's got to be able to tell guys, even veterans, that they're doing the wrong things.

 

Not easy when you're 20 years old. I'm not sure if that's his personality either. For the good of the team, I hope he can, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

I agree it's not easy, but it's got to be done. If not by him, then somebody. I appreciate Luke's kumbaya approach, but at the same time you've got to hold each other accountable.

 

I'll post my PF contract value rankings later today.

 

This is the kind of pass that got him Magic comparisons in the draft. It's not about the flash necessarily, but about seeing an angle on a pass that defenders can't anticipate. Magic made passes like this a routine.

 

He's played only five such games:

In his 5 games w/out Randle starting:
32.0 MPG
33-83 FGs
12-38 3PT
13-18 FT
91 PTS (16.2)
37 AST (7.4)
26 REB (5.2)
7 STL (1.4)
4 BLK (0.8)
20 TO (4.0)

I don't see anything that stands out - except what's driven by the last three games, where's he been excellent.

 

Even adjusted for minutes, his assist rate is up nicely

 

I think it's possible that Russ is still trying to be everyone's buddy after being reportedly frozen out by the whole team after the Nick Young accident last season. It would have been one thing for a 20 year old to be a vocal leader and yell at guys out there (especially when he turns the ball over so much), but it has to add to his fear of doing so that he may lose the entire team. He's got to be walking on egg shells still a little bit sadly.

 

Read in the LA Times Sports section on how Russell wants the coaching staff and his backups (nee: Huertas/Calderon) to keep talking to him about his play. Of how he is open to Mermuys setting pre-game/practice routines for/with him. At least it shows Russell IS coachable. Now, he has Johnson to lean on too.