D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

Kid is smart.

 

Well I don't want a Green clone from Randle, but yeah I also don't want him playing Center... ever... He's undersized for a Power Forward let alone a Center.

 

Great stats.

I believe the pick and roll has, and always will be, the most difficult play to defend. Pick your poison.

 

A few things from that video...

1. Remember the word association questions from grade school? ____ is to _____, as _____ is to _____? Well Vision is to Russell, as Post Game is to Okafor. Meaning that his most transferable attribute from college to the NBA is professional-level court vision. I finally saw in that video (obviously it's a highlight reel) a lot of the arguments for him patiently creating shots for his teammates. A lot of those were on the fast break where it's 2-1 or 3-2 so he has an inherent advantage, but even so he was great at waiting for the defense to make their move, then putting his teammate in a great position to score. I think he'll be able to do that early and often in the NBA, especially on the fast break.

2. I think the inherent trait that the Lakers saw in him was leadership. Maybe Okafor wasn't commanding enough up close, because the fact that Russell was directing traffic as an 18 year old straight out of high school is impressive. Even more than the talent, just the ability to get older guys to buy into what he's saying and actually listen to him in those clips. If you're a senior it can't be easy to just listen to some kid coming in as a freshman and telling you where to go; and if it IS easy then that kid must have a magnetism in him that people will inherently follow. That HAS to be what the Lakers saw and maybe didn't see enough of from Okafor. Honestly even if Okafor is Tim Duncan, does Tim have that quality? I think so, but not as strong as say a Kobe or a Magic. Maybe that's where the comparisons to the greats come from: getting guys to follow you. Tim follows by example and gets guys to fall in line with his calm in the face of the storm. Guys like Kobe and Magic and Michael were vocal leaders that people gravitated towards. Obviously I'm not saying Russell has their abilities, but just that trait is a good start. For instance I think Chauncey Billups had that trait too.

3. His team was really bad. Some of those missed layups... whoa doggie.

4. When this guy is able to pass and handle with his right hand, he'll be far more dangerous. I'm still not convinced he's a guy who will be able to create easily on his own from the perimeter, especially not in his first year or two. I DO think that he can be proficient out of the pick and roll right away though, especially if he can hit a pull up mid-range shot.

5. Every now and then he throws a pass that I see the comparison to Magic that Resillo or whoever it was threw out there. I don't think he's got Magic's vision. Magic was 6'9" so he saw things most PGs literally cannot see, even D'Angelo who is tall for a PG. Magic saw passes that nobody has ever seen and we haven't seen since, BUT D'Angelo definitely has plus court vision. I think he and Clarkson will make a terrifically dynamic PG/SG combo.

 

Well he's got a long way to go to get there, but it could be. I definitely saw the Chris Paul comparisons though that Byron made. He's got a long way to go especially with his handles. He does most everything left handed, very Harden-esque in that way. The other thing is Paul is one of the quickest guards in the league, I'm not sure I see that from Russell athletically. Hopefully he can get into the paint in craftier ways that Paul eventually.

I see the makings of a great young Point Guard though and that's something! A few weeks ago (heck days even) I didn't see it... I want to believe though.

 

I think Russell will be actually better off the ball at first which is something completely different than Paul. Paul has not shown much proficiency as an off guard both in size and ability.

Russell has the capacity to be a very good floor spacer as well as creator. I think the vision for the FO is less Clippers than having a hybrid Clippers/Golden State team. The Clippers are too dependent on a PG that can't win on the biggest stage. We'll borrow that idea and couple it with a versatile lineup like the Warriors. Clarkson and Russell are different but should hopefully be able to switch and rotate effectively on offense and defense. I also think Randle might not be better than Griffin, but he might be more able to create his own shot meaning we're not depending on a pick and roll late in games.