D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

exactly

i think its little things like that which made mitch & co draft him over okafor

from watching okafor in the past 3-4 games he's played he reminds me of an al jefferson jj hickson or even carlos boozer type of player, he'll prob get you 20 & 10 but they're pretty much empty stats because they dont make the team any better in any other areas. basically one dimensional

seeing russell play, even thru his struggles (bad passes, turnovers) i've noticed little things like talking to the other guys during timeouts or when a ball is out of bounds, reminds me of kobe in a way, taking charge and being vocal despite your struggles.

huge contrast to okafor he played well got his points but didnt make a difference anywhere else, no leadership and his team lost the game.

 

Russell's passing ability is rare. It is so advanced that most people wouldn't even imagine some passes getting to them.

 

especially the opposition...

I kid...

sort of.


he had a couple really nice looks that didn't lead anywhere. I think he was right that he's having trouble deciding when to pick his spots and go for the score.

it's easy to forget that polished for a 19 year old is not polished. the summer league flop might be a good lesson for him.

 

Yeah, way too many mistakes. Agreed. He needs to take better care of the ball. He's aware of it. He needs to apply it now...

 

to quote ray zalinsky: "good, you've pinpointed it. the next step is washing it off."

 

He needs to study the tape of Nash and Curry till the training camp starts. And also hit the gym.

 

I was worried about his strength prior to the draft. I think that can change, though. Clarkson looks much stronger just a year later. the bigger issue is that if the lakers are serious about competing this year, doing so with a 19 year old rookie at pg is...dubious.

 

It's easier to get rid of the bad passes than it is to learn the great passes.

 

Averaging over 6 TO a game is not too good. The types of turnovers he makes are somewhat troubling. A PG leaving his feet in no position to shoot isn't really a good thing. A lot of the stupid turnover come from that. Forcing things is something he needs to work on as well.

WTS a couple of his turnovers tonight should have been on Black and Randle for not looking for passes.

It takes PG's a while at this level. It took Wall a few years to understand ball security. Russell seems to make some easy passes hard by not using 2 hands when he can. Tonight was his worst game by a pretty good margin and it may have been because Clarkson was off and he was pressing even more. I would also add that NY was playing very good defense overall. They looked like they've been together for 3 months out there as a unit. By far the best defensive effort in the first 3 quarters of Summer league that I've seen.

 

Clarkson was in the same boat last year, he had around 5 TO/game last Summer League. They're just trying to adjust to the pace and style of the NBA. The passes he makes in the NCAA aren't going to cut it in the NBA, but the talen and vision is there.

Chemistry also allows Russell to know where guys will be instead trying to lead them into a pass when they aren't looking.

The fact we haven't run anything with any real execution doesn't help his cause. Hopefully guys like Hibbert and Bass are a little more in tune in the pick and roll. Black, Upshaw, and Randle are just not PnR guys.

 

I agree with this for the most part. He's at a harder position that Clarkson to learn and his expectations are much higher coming in. The Lakers decided this was the guy over a front court guy who looks like he will pay immediate dividends.

Summer league isn't for playing in an offensive scheme. It's for some basic evaluations of what is needed. He seems fairly complete with a few fundamental issues here and there but for his age he's about as complete as you could expect. He will have a lot of bad games this year but if he can overcome the mental pressure he will most likely improve later in the year like Clarkson did.

 

ARE THESE REALLY ALL HIS FAULT?

 

^ Hmm.... with the exception of that pass to Black, everything else is his fault IMHO

 

Yes.

Control is what comes to mind for me. Like I said above, he needs to adjust to the pace of the game and have set plays to make those passes and plays effective. Clarkson looked the exact same last year.

He's not going to look as ready as guys like Okafor or Mudiay or Porzingis, who are more natural scorers and aren't necessarily relied upon to initiate the offense, they just go score. As someone is supposed to lead and run the offense, that takes a tremendous amount of development and chemistry to get things flowing.

His skills are evident and his play doesn't worry me one bit. His passes are crisp and intentions are really smart, his shot is smooth and he has a great knack for getting off a good shot, and his defense is better than expected.

 

It's pretty simple really.

He has a much larger role and set of responsibilities than any other top rookie. PG vs C/C/SG/PF/...

It's night and day in adjustment. The only PGs, mostly, that do good in their first year are shoot first ones, again
because it's a simpler adjustment - "look for a shot or drive, if none - drive and kick".

Russel is way above this in his approach, which will slow him down at first, but if successful, will make him much more
valuable player than, say, Lillard.

 

At least D'Angelo is not alone. Looking at KAT's stats, he hasn't exactly been that great either.

KAT: 11.7 ppg/ 33% FG%/ 7.3 rpg/ 2.3 apg/ 3.67 to/ and 7.3 fouls
DAR: 10.0 ppg/ 33% FG%/ 5.3 rpg/ 3.3 apg/ 6.67 to/ and 4.0 fouls

I am not sure if the other teams doubled KAT like we did but it looks like the top 2 picks need a little more time that we hoped. And I saw Chris Paul's and Derrick Rose's summer league stats and they struggled as well. So we just got to keep reminding ourselves that it is just summer league.

 

My problem with him is that he is not cutting into the basket AT ALL. didn't see one move going for the most simple shot in the game. stop trying to impress with your passes, run the team and shoot your jumpers. it's such an easy game and he and Randle make it hard.
I think Russel is a project that will take 2-3 years. Whats bothering me is that he has big talk to the media and nothing to showcase to prove it. Clarkson was all quiet last year and just worked hard - and look where he is. . if you say "i'm the best player in the draft" thats more than OK, IF YOU ARE THE BEST PLAYER. and right now i can think of 3-4 players in the draft that are playing better than him. don't talk, play.

I think he will grow up to be an awesome player. but i'm thinking the FO, for example, could have brought Okafor and Deron Williams instead of him and Hibbert, and we would probably had a better team for the next 3 years. Unless Hibbert goes all star cazy

 

So, we're really going to go in full blown panic mode over the summer league? Come on guys.