D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

I'd be ecstatic if he's in the convo for all rookie first team. As long as Scott keeps letting him go he has a good chance.

 

As of right now, he's definitely First team all rookie....who exactly has played better than him at his position? Mudiay has fallen off a cliff...played 12 minutes last night in an OVERTIME game. 2 pts, 2 rebounds, 1/5 shooting. The nuggets have been significantly better with Mudiay off the court.

 

Against MIN Kobe benched himself so that Russell and Randle could blossom. Last night at SAS he took 12 shots (his 2nd lowest of the season) while Russell took a team high 23. It really feels as though Byron benched the rooks and Kobe is fixing it by letting them take over more. He coached Russell and Randle through the 4th and OT against MIN, and looks so genuinely thrilled whenever Russell make a big play.

Hope this "mentor Kobe" that we are seeing on the court is here to stay.

 

I've only caught bits and pieces of the last two games, plus chook's highlights and I've noticed a little more pnr run for Russell. Is there a significant increase or only barely marginal?

 

I'm really excited about D'angelo right now so I don't want to sound negative, but honest question: Why isn't he getting the assist numbers that you'd expect from someone hailed as an elite passer/facilitater? Last night he had 6 assists, which was actually his career high. He's only surpassed it once in the pre-season with 11 assists against non-NBA competition. I don't think he was racking up many assists during the summer league either. He also only averaged around 5 assists in college too.

I don't think it's really a problem. Part of it is having guys miss shots, part of it is not having the personnel that can/want to run the type of P&R offense that he likes. Again, not a bad thing, but really I'm just surprised that his passing/playmaking is still a little raw while his scoring seems to be coming along so well. I'm wondering if he even really has to become a traditional PG that can average 10 assists a game? His offensive skillset just might be better suited to focus on being a score-first guard. I'm kind of starting to see the Harden comparisons.

 

Well it's enough of an increase that I've noticed it too. The problem is that it's been guys like Hibbert and Sacre on the roll. Russell seems to be getting them in good positions/cutting lanes and delivering good passes, but these guys can barely catch a hot pass in traffic let alone finish in the paint while moving. I would still like to see it more with D'angelo and Julius.

 

This is also a reason Russell's assists are low.

 

Hard to average high assist numbers when your centers can't catch or finish. Sacre and Hibbert are both terrible finishers. Which is why it boggles my mind why Black doesn't play more. If Russell is gonna play off the bench then that's a big who can catch and finish especially on a screen and roll.

The shooting isn't there right now around Russell. If we could ever spread the floor with four shooters like Golden State does I have no doubt his assist numbers would sky rocket. It's just not there right now.

In all honesty I'm not sure I want him to be a 10 assist guy though for his entire career. That usually means the ball is being dominated by the point guard. Look at guys like Paul and Westbrook. They dominate the basketball sometimes to the detriment of their team. Obviously you want the ball in his hands, but not all the time. That's too much pressure on the young fella.

Right now while he's still young and learning I want the ball in his hands because the kid is a special play maker, but at some point I wanna get a ball moving system similar to that of Golden State so we have a fluid offense and don't just ask Russ to make every play. Curry I think only averages 5 assists.

 

Guys not finishing aren't isolated events. Happens way too often.

 

Ed Davis would've been fun to watch with D'Angelo.

 

It does happen too often. Either way, we'll have $65 million next year to start building this team with finishers and shooters. We need decent screen setters, roll men, and guys who can pick in pop. Oh, and a different system. If we do a semi-decent job in free agency, switch out coaches, and add to our current youth, we'll make some noise next season.