D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

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

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  1. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    Sorry if already posted...
     
    ElginTheGreat, Feb 29, 2016
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  2. Savory Griddles

    Savory Griddles Moderator Staff Member

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    That picture of Mitch looks like John Malkovich.
     
    Savory Griddles, Feb 29, 2016
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  3. Weezy

    Weezy Moderator Staff Member

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    Agree with the article, but I sorta feel bad for Okafor at the same time. Philly is a D-League team with no structure or vets. If he's drafted to a team like the Spurs like Duncan was (who he was compared to a lot in college), I think they know how to use him and get the best out of him. It's true the best players find a way to make it work even in the worst situations, but Philly is beyond bad. I still think the Lakers made the right pick though, guards like Russ are more valuable now than slow bigs.
     
    Weezy, Feb 29, 2016
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  4. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    Yeah it's pretty unfair to judge Okafor too negatively for going to Philadelphia. That is by far the worst franchise for a young player to be in. They're nothing but chum for "the next" kid. It's really too bad.

    I agree 1000% that if Okafor ended up being drafted by SA, he'd look completely different. Seems like the kind of kid who needs structure desperately. That being said, he apparently wasn't all that impressive in workouts which did not bode well for him. He didn't have enough competitive fire despite his clear talent and that kept him from being a Laker.
     
    therealdeal, Feb 29, 2016
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  5. JSM

    JSM - Lakers Legend -

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    JSM, Feb 29, 2016
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  6. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    I wanted okafor before the draft, and he's looked about as I expected. but i'll trust the FO and the whispers about his investment in the game. he really looks like a tim Duncan starter kit on offense, but Duncan was always a great defender--from day one in college. okafor didn't/doesn't have that. that's the difference between an al Jefferson and a tim Duncan.

    towns looks like a near Duncan-level prospect. really sad we missed out on that one. but I like Russell more than okafor right now, despite the stats. I have concerns over whether Russell loves the game enough to be a super duper star, too, but I think he looks more likely to improve than okafor at this point.
     
    abeer3, Feb 29, 2016
    #3586
  7. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    russmud.png
     
    sirronstuff, Feb 29, 2016
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  8. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    Mudiay definitely looks more like a natural PG than Russell. That doesn't mean better player, don't get me wrong. It just means that I think Russell isn't necessarily a "PG", he's just an old school guard. He has PG vision, but a SG game. Mudiay looks more like a pass-first PG type even if he's been inefficient at times as a rookie.

    In retrospect I think I was wrong and I'd rather have Russell than Mudiay, but I don't hate Mudiay the way some do.
     
    therealdeal, Feb 29, 2016
    #3588
  9. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    Open the door
    And let the lady in
    His last name is really Moody
    And he's a Canadian

    Get it? :Crazyartest:[​IMG]
     
    sirronstuff, Feb 29, 2016
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  10. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    eh, sometimes "pass first" is just a nice way of saying someone can't shoot. this may be the case here. Russell's a much more gifted passer, imo. the stats don't bear it out because of the system and his teammates.

    the only thing I've seen mudiay do better than Russell is fight through screens. that's literally it.
     
    abeer3, Feb 29, 2016
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  11. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    [​IMG]

    Mudiay's FG% by Distance

    0-3 Feet.........47.1%
    3-10 Feet.......25.0%
    10-16 Feet.....30.4%
    16:h:.............31.3%
    3PT................26.8%

    Mudiay by Play Type

    Play Type...........PPP.........Frequency.......NBA Percentile

    Pick & Roll...........0.60...........44.1%.................18th
    Spot Up..............0.63...........12.6%...................6th
    Isolation..............0.48............8.0%...................6th
    Handoff...............1.00............4.5%..................75th
    Off Screen...........0.97............4.1%..................56th
    Post Up...............0.32............2.5%....................1st
    Cut.....................1.00............2.4%..................16th
    _________________

    Got this on LG from GT...
     
    LaVarBallsDad, Feb 29, 2016
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  12. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    Okafor by Play Type

    Play Type...........PPP.........Frequency.......NBA Percentile

    Post Up................0.86...........32.6%.................55th
    Isolation...............0.82...........18.8%.................49th
    Pick & Roll............1.02...........13.2%.................54th
    Cut......................0.87...........11.3%..................7th
    Putback................1.30.............8.7%.................90th
    Spot Up................0.88.............4.3%.................37th

    GT from LG...also on NBA.com
    _________________

    In terms of his overall skill-set, Jahlil is basically a 6'11 Carmelo Anthony. He's as good a pure scorer as has come in the league in a long time and he can roll out of bed and get you 20-10 without breaking a sweat. He's going to score a ton of points over his career - the question is whether they are going to be meaningful numbers or empty stats on a bad team. Like Carmelo, how good Jahlil's team is going to be is going to depend on how good he is as a passer and a defender. The better he is, the better his team is going to be. If Jahlil becomes a plus passer and a plus defender, he'll be on one of the best teams in the league because he'll be making everyone better on both sides of the ball. If he's a minus passer and minus defender, he'll be on one of the worst because he'll be making everyone worse. There's a good chance that he puts it all together and is on one of the best teams in the league when he's 28. The problem is that he's 20.

    When you go to the 76ers page, what jumps out is that pretty much all of their worst 2 man combinations have Jahlil in them. He's in 6 of their bottom 7.

    Jahlil + Jerami Grant: -20.4
    Jahlil + Nerlens Noel: -19.1
    Jahlil + TJ McConnell: -19.0
    Jahlil + Nik Stauskas: -18.6
    Jahlil + Robert Covington: -14.9
    Jahlil + Isaiah Canaan: -13.3

    http://patternofbasketball.blogspot.com/2016/02/76ers.html

    Again, if I had to do it over again, I'm selecting Russell by a wide margin, and it's not even close, IMO. The only other player I take is Towns, and rightfully so. He's outstanding...
     
    LaVarBallsDad, Feb 29, 2016
    #3592
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  13. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    I underestimated both towns and Russell, but especially towns. I didn't see how smoothly he'd translate and wondered if he'd be a 4 or 5. answer: doesn't matter; he will kill you at either spot.

    I think the lakers got the right guy at 2, though. one could argue that zinger might end up better, but man, I wouldn't blame anyone for passing on him that high.

    Russell's improvement over the season has been very encouraging to me. I think that right now, we're likely looking at another dwill type player (pre-injury and complacency), which would be pretty huge.
     
    abeer3, Feb 29, 2016
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  14. fabfourlakers

    fabfourlakers - Lakers Starter -

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    I'm with you 100% abeer. Despite all the crap that DLoading has had to deal with this season being on a team with guys like Lou, Young and Kobe constantly jacking up shots, not to mention sometimes Clarkson and Randle sort of hogging the ball or stopping the ball movement...being in a crappy offense that doesn't suit his strengths at all....having a crappy coach that started him at first, then benched him for no reason, then berated him for no reason, and then proceeded to put him back in the starting lineup without even telling Russell why he was even benched in the first place....I think he has handled it as well as anybody could have if they were in the same situation.

    Towns is an absolute beast and Abeer, I recall you saying early on in the season that you're loving what you saw from Russell, but that 20 years from now, we're going to be looking at this draft, and thinking about how CLOSE we were to getting Karl Anthony Towns....and you are on pace to being very right about that notion. The man is a beast and could probably be a top 10 player by NEXT YEAR.

    Okafor? Huge MEH. I'm not impressed by him at all. Very glad we didn't pick him.

    Mudiay? Yeah, those Mudiay nut huggers are nowhere to be seen now....Russell is clearly the better player and WILL be the better player over the course of their careers.

    Yes, Porzingis is nice...but I still wouldn't pick him over Russell. I think KP, Towns and Russell are all going to have nice careers and be superstars in their own right. Okafor....he's gonna have an Al Jefferson type of career and maybe make all star team once......mudiay? He's a scrub. Not gonna be anything special...best case is Tyreke Evans and that's probably giving him too much credit....Evans was close to 20-5-5 in his ROOKE year.
     
    fabfourlakers, Feb 29, 2016
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  15. KB24

    KB24 Administrator Staff Member

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    With the knowledge of today, I still think Towns and Russell are rightfully the #1 and #2 pick.

    I also wanted Jahlil back then but his lack of rebounding and his off-court antics have definitely helped the case to appreciate Russell at #2. Especially given that Okafors offense has not been as efficient as advertised.

    Its amazing to me how Towns is having a more efficient offense than Okafor in their rookie season. Literally NOBODY expected this to be the case. Everybody was saying how great Okafor is on offense compared to the other rookies. But Towns man...has been as good but more efficient and with more range.
     
    KB24, Mar 1, 2016
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  16. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    Never denied that at all. I said in my post that I thought Russell was the better basketball player.

    I don't think Mudiay passes because he can't shoot. I think he passes because that's his personality as a player. He wants to get an assist. Mudiay is Rondo or Nash or something like that: the kind of guy who wants an assist even selfishly at times. That doesn't mean he's as good as those players, just his mentality. Russell does not have that mentality. Russell reminds me more of Jerry West: a guard who CAN pass the ball and can do it amazingly but can, will, and would rather shoot the ball most of the time.

    But again I don't really hate Mudiay like most people do. I'm not going to tear the kid down to build up Russell. I think both have their place in the NBA, but I'm glad to be wrong about Russell.

    I also was wrong about Towns. I didn't think he'd be this good this fast at all. I'm still concerned about his knees, but growing increasingly less concerned. He's been infinitely smarter in the NBA than he was in college and it's not close. He was a pretty reckless leaper in traffic in college, but he got to the NBA put some muscle on and has been much smarter. His effectiveness has been shocking.
     
    therealdeal, Mar 1, 2016
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  17. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    ElginTheGreat, Mar 1, 2016
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  18. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    I decided to check the month-to-month splits on both Mudiay and Russell and some interesting stuff comes up:

    - Russell has improved his 3PT% every single month. He went from 25% -> 32.1% -> 32.7% -> 34.4% -> 46.2%
    - Russell's usage actually dropped last month from 25 to 22%
    - Mudiay had his best Assist/TO ratio in February at 0.65 (72/111) which was just behind Russell's best month of November (44/67)
    - Russell's TS% ballooned last month to 58.3% (up from 52.4%). Mudiay has never been higher than 49.4% because he can't shoot threes or FTs.
    - Part of Russell's increased efficiency was a lower total of attempts. He took his fewest attempts this season in a full month by almost 50 shots.
    - Russell got to the line more in February than November and December combined.
    - Russell's Offensive Rating has been consistently better than Mudiay's jumping all the way to 116 in February to Mudiay's 88.
    - Mudiay's Defensive Rating has been overall better than Russell's with the exception of January and they tied in November. Feb: Mudiay was at 106, Russell at 120.

    Looking at the monthly splits, I'd say both of them are growing and developing, but Russell is growing a lot more. Mudiay's game will plateau very quickly if he doesn't develop a jump shot.
     
    therealdeal, Mar 1, 2016
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  19. OmarE

    OmarE - Lakers Starter -

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    The emergence of DANGERUSS!!!! 39 POINTS wow!!! #dloading complete
     
    OmarE, Mar 1, 2016
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  20. Lakers2015

    Lakers2015 - Lakers Starter -

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    SUPERSTAR IN THE MAKING.

    HE IS WHY IS I HAVE HOPE.
     
    Lakers2015, Mar 1, 2016
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