D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

Great points all around. It's very early in this. Russ has shown flashes, so has Mudiay. Early on Mudiay was showing a lot, then when we first played them I noticed how terrible a shooter he was, but still he's athletic and he was racking up the assists. Maybe he is more like Rondo if he doesn't fix that shot, and that's ok.

What I did agree with in this discussion is that there is a very big difference between 31% and 40% shooting, and 4 turnovers to 2.3. For rookie numbers those are much better for Russ at the moment. 2.3 turnovers is not a lot for a rookie PG, Russ is decent in that area, I wouldn't call him careless with the ball, even with the occasional lazy or bad passes.

 

Curry struggled? I remember being crucified at cl for saying I'd trade Gasol for him in year two. He was already obviously that good.

 

I think he meant a few games ago when Klay and Barnes were both out injured. Boston made that a very difficult game for the Warriors to win.

 

Did Mudiay even start well?

In his first 10 games, he had one game where he shot 50+%. All but two were 33% or lower. He had 11 turnovers in his first game. He had 4 or more turnovers in 6 of them.

Yes, he did have numerous 10+ point games, but does that mean he's playing well? To me, all that means is that he was given more of an opportunity to fail / succeed...and he failed. When you consistently have more field goal attempts than points, you are failing. I can give Tony Allen 15 shots per game, and even he can string together games of 10+ points. Even Sacre can average 10+ points if you give him enough attempts.

We all know he has no jumper, but he can't finish in the lane either. He's one of the least efficient players at any spot on the floor.

Things can change, but I have not been impressed with him at any point in this season. His court vision seems pretty good though.

 

Not disagreeing at all. My only point is it's very early to be throwing bust around at anybody.

 

One of my favorite parts of Russell's game is that he makes few mistakes. The problems he usually makes are adjustable over time. At times he'll go to the bounce pass too much in the pick and roll and the defenders will sit on it. Got to change up the delivery there.

One of the things about Mudiay coming into the NBA was a concern about his turnover ratio. He seems to get a one-track mind and decide where he's going before things develop. He's sloppy and not nearly as focused as D'Angelo is on the floor. Tyreke Evans might be a very good comparison and that was one that was made on draft night I believe.

 

Fixed...

 

I sometimes think and am thankful that Kobe didn't have those 4 airballs in this day in age. With Facebook, twitter, and the media uprising, can you imagine the criticism.

 

This says a lot. What do our kids do after getting home from the longest road trip of the season? They go to the gym that same night to support our guys.

Awesome... they love to be around the game is what it tells me.

 

Russell has that poise and is cerebral on the floor. No wasted motion...no theatrics. Kid's smooth, unflappable. Good to see him and his future back court mate supporting their teammates on the D-League as opposed to punching up clowns in the street.

 

I agree with all this. I was being fair in my comment and counting "starting well" as summer league and preseason, where he was getting talked about all the time and impressing people.