D'Angelo Russell Discussion: Adopting A Professional Attitude

Ball/DLO would have been a dumpster fire on the defensive end. KCP allows ball to do his thing and develop while KCP takes on tougher matchups. Plus KCP has his moments scoring wise.

 

not sure about all that. at least he can put the ball in the basket. right now, we have zero such players at positions 1-4.

also:

um, ball/kcp is a dumpster fire on the defensive end thus far. you can't just add one defender and hope everything changes. more than ever, defense is a team issue. one incredibly weak link (lonzo, randle, clarkson, nance at center, take your pick really...) and the thing falls apart.

might as well score.

 

like i've said before, the KCP is move is a step in the right direction but this team is still absolutely awful on defense and has been for years now

the KCP signing showed that the FO finally realizes this but there needs to be more done to address this issue that's just going to hold this team back. sure, they can go out and score 110 every night but what's the point if they're constantly giving up 120?

 

we have a lot more data than that on russell. and most of it indicates he can score.

 

20 year-old pgs don't tend to be consistent. and nobody on our roster is, either. not sure of the point.

 

score 30 points?

 

It has been bad, but it would be worse with DLO at the 2. As the season progresses KCP will have impactful defensive plays.

 

Random thought because he's really tall for the position and probably not as prototypically quick as a conventional 2 guard, but if you were forced to pick Kuzma to play the 2 for the Lakers with Lonzo at the point..... or DLO at the 2 with Lonzo ..... who would be the all around better choice? Is Russell any quicker or more athletic than Kuzma? Could Russell be a better defender just because he's 3 or 4" shorter? How about consistency on offense IF Kuzma is who he is giving indications he is ....a taller, equally or more coordinated player than Russell, and who has the larger offensive repertoire? Mismatches? Edge to Kuzma.

Again just a random thought. But between these two particular players I am taking Kyle over DLO even at the 2.


LOL where's Savory? Both hands on the keyboard during this post.

 

wow. the kuzma hype train has really hit maximum velocity. this could be an ugly crash, given what's happened to his predecessors around here...

 

It was an honest and I think interesting (because it was mine ) hypothetical. If you had to pick one of DLO or Kuzma for the Lakers to try at the 2 alongside Lonzo. Who might wind up the better player there, if you could not keep the other player?

Have you already forgotten Kuzma "smoking" DAR in the poll I did a couple months ago about who would have been the better player for the Lakers to go forward with?

Sure .... weird to ask about at the 2 position but do you think DAR could play consistently better defence there than Kuzma just because he is shorter? Why? What are his obvious advantages?

On offense DAR has obvious advantage of better handles. But at the 2 with how he has played the game on offense with his repertoire ..... how much does it matter vs Kyle with his offensive repertoire and height advantage?

 

Probably not, but I bet in a pinch if needed he could spend some minutes there. Maybe better than BI and maybe or even likely if you only got to keep one, "all around" better than DAR?

 

Yeah. I really like him but I'm not looking forward to the reaction when he inevitably has a rough stretch.

 

DAR the better defender at the 2? With consistency and willingness to stay at it? You'd give up Kuz from the roster? It's hypothetical.