D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

I was giving some latitude with Byron a couple of weeks ago and said Russell will get more time as the season progresses. However, the way the season is trending, I'm all for playing the young core as much as we can. We're developing at this point. PO's are out of the picture, respectability is out of the picture, let's give them 30 plus minutes and see what we have...

 

agree with real, that lame backcourt violation deserves a benching. it's a long season; maybe sitting out means we never see that kind of play again.

byron's giving him more leeway as things go on (unravel?). i just hope he's communicating better with him--that's what troubled me early in the season.

 

^You know what's funny about that backcourt violation? It sparked a memory when I was watching a Lakers game years ago; back then I think it was 10 seconds you had to bring it up the court at that time. Kobe had the ball, bringing it up the court, and got called for a backcourt violation. Chick was calling the game and was so surprised that happened...Kobe was at least 2 or 3 years into the league at that point. Not really relevant, just sparked a memory...

 

Don't worry D'Angelo. Next year, you'll get a new coach, a new system, and maybe even a coach that can manage rotations. If you get really luck, you'll get a center who can roll too the hoop, catch your passes, and you know like finish around the rim.

 

I just don't see the point of benching Russell. Other than telling him if you make a couple of mistakes you're gonna get benched. You have to be absolutely perfect otherwise you can and will likely get pulled.

We're not winning anyway so what is the point of not having him out there? It's pretty evident this season we're much more fluid when D'Angelo is out there. Other rookies like Mudiay or Okafor are allowed to play through mistakes. Why shouldn't D'Angelo be able to?

We're not going anywhere anyway other than hopefully another lottery pick. Let the kid play through his mistakes. Benching him doesn't do anything other than likely result in tentative play because he's gonna worry he'll get pulled yet again.

 

He just needs to Man Up.

 

Nah... I am not buying it.

Where is the line? Backcourt violation is bench-worthy. What about a turnover? How about a to high of a pass?

You make mistakes in game of basketball. Some of them are more stupid than others. Unless you repeat the same mistake because you are being careless and irresponsible, a-la Kobe (or JR Smith) chucking, or Harden playing .efense, these are OK.

Don't understand what the message is. Is it "you've made a stupid mistake, I am benching you"?

If that's the case, I pity Byron's kids. If I punished my kid for every mistake he does inadvertently, or because he is 5 frigging years old...

To your question, @therealdeal

Yes. Absolutely, as long as these do not stem from:

1. being stupid on purpose
2. being lazy
3. being inattentive in practice, during timeout and disregarding coach directions
4. being disruptive to the teammates
5. being immature and spoiled, as well as irresponsible

 

Yeah, I just can't roll with it either. If you're going to pull people for mistakes then you need to pull everyone. There shouldn't be one set of rules for one group of guys and another set of rules for others. Singling out certain people and letting others slide is just another in a long list of examples of Byron's poor leadership and game management/rotation skills.

 

Mistake wise, I'd pull him for a quick second if he makes several I a row. Let him calm himself for a tad bit before going back out again. I wouldn't just pull him for a single mistake, let him play through it and see if he makes up for it.

 

So what now? If D'Angelo makes another couple of mistakes is he gonna get pulled again tonight? Again the only thing being taught to the kid is that everyone else has a longer leash than him because everyone else is allowed to make mistakes. It's ridiculous. Benching D'Angelo doesn't help us win and it doesn't help him develop either. If anything it further stunts his own development. I don't really care if he made a couple of mistakes. He could make a million so what? He's a rookie and rookies will make mistakes. Even veteran players make mistakes. If this season is supposably about player development then let these players play through those mistakes. Benching them does nothing. I don't care if it's a vet or a rookie you can't bench one and not that other. That sends an even worse message. Kobe and Lou and Bass are allowed to make a million mistakes and the rookies are the only one who'll get benched. Guys like Mudiay were turning the ball over to no end and he was still allowed to play through it. Why? Because Mike Malone is actually a compatent coach who knows he has to allow his young player to play through it and that if you're gonna bench him for every mistake you will lose that player and your job as well for not doing a good job with the new franchise player and developing him.

 

You have to defend it this much because it was a bullcrap move.

It's not binary. There are other options between "letting him play through it" and "benching him for the rest of the game or quarter". You can call a 20s timeout and talk to him on the side. You can pull him during FTs and point to a mistake.

Teaching by punishment, which is absolutely inline with the "man up" philosophy, doesn't work.

 

There's no accountability. There's no leadership. There's no method for what he does. Russell didn't deserve to be pulled last game. You let him play through his mistakes. We are not going anywhere this season.

Last year, he had no problem benchingL Lin and starting price who was a net negative. He had no problem with letting Clarkson play through his mistakes last year. He has no problem letting Randie play when he misses or has missed several defensive rotations. Or how about when Russell is clearly outplaying Lou and Byron takes Russell out? Makes no sense. Whatever. He's just here toa babysit Kobe, and he hasn't even done that right.

 

Phil has a notoriously short leash on rookies. However, he and Pop were usually working with championship rosters.

Porzingis is playing in New York, though. I don't think Phil has told Fisher to not play Porzingis as much as he can or take him out for idiotic reasoning. Phil knows they are rebuilding. So are we. He has enough common sense to play his rookie.