If anyone has shown he should be playing 35 minutes a night, it's Jordan Clarkson. There is ZERO reason to try to be holding this guy back. Unless there is a tank in progress, but I don't believe there is. Yet.
Russell makes me nervous though because he's just not as decisive as Jordan. Jordan rarely gets a bad shot because he hesitated or waited too long to read the defense. Russell may be good, but I feel he misses a lot of opportunities due to hesitation. I think that will change with experience in the NBA.
There is no excuse for russell and Clarkson to not both be playing at least 30 mins a night. None. What lou gives you by drawing fouls, he gives up by being an absolute black hole on offense and non existent defense.
While you have Byron putting the blame on them.... New plan: Fire Byron Metta and Kobe head coach by committee.
I know this is a big ask of the kid, but if he could be one of the few guards with a back to the basket game, he'd be unguardable. Right not catching it too far in the post is his one offensive weakness. I mean, the one thing in a typical guard's arsenal he couldn't really do last season was shoot 3's, and now he's shooting them at a 43% clip for the season. Impressive.
If he was playing PG, having a post game would be amazing but against SGs they are usually a little bigger than him. The Klays, Jimmy Butler, Hardens of the world.
D'Angelo is the one who I think needs a post game more because of his size and the fact he's got a good three or four inches on most point guards.
Yeah I don't need a post game out of Jordan. I love the way he picks and chooses his spots. It's brilliant for a kid his age. I only want two things from him as he continues to grow: keep that three pointer consistent and bring defensive energy. After seeing how well D'Angelo was able to use his length and size defensively in Summer League I started getting visions of him and Clarkson being able to fly around the perimeter, switch screens easily, and disrupt passing lanes. I still see that potential and I love it.
