Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

His play off the bench, and more importantly his ACCEPTANCE of that role, makes me not so much in a rush to trade him as I once was. I'll trade him for the right package but I'm not as desperate to do something like attach both the '27 and '29 pick with him.

 

Beverly does look much worse starting. I'm hoping Coach Ham fixes that next. The difference with Beverly and Russ is Beverly can't lead a second unit like Russ did. That was explosive and fun to watch. Your right the young guys did respond. Russ made some good passes but just the energy and movement was something we don't see often. From a personal note if Russ keeps playing like this I can feel much better about being one of the few glad we got him. I'm putting on my crash helmet and calling for Russ as sixth man of the year.

 

We are working on it, I think it's just a matter of time, before these guys can develop some chemistry on the court. Lonnie was right, when he said that this team is learning to play with each other, while being judged against teams that already have that chemistry, from having their cores in place already. Specifically on Beverley, he's a niche player, not really a PG, or SG but he's scrappy on defense, and has this knack for being able to guard bigger players for a stretch. I don't consider him to be worthy of 30 min a game though. Staggering Lebron and Russ helps Russ more than Lebron, but it's good for the young guys because he's going to get them the ball. That makes it good for the team.

 

5 games wasn't a big enough sample to say we're the worst team in the league, and 2 games isn't a big enough sample to say the russ problem is solved. my position is unchanged currently--i'm not moving picks to get off russ.

 

We HAVE to get rid of him. There's no question about it.
It's great he played better in the last 2 games and hopefully will continue to do so. But he's still a terrible fit to our roster and undermining our potential to be better

Shout-out to Ham for the work he has done with him so far

 

What exactly is this theoretical fit with our roster? I mean it's Lebron and AD as the foundation of the team, are there only a certain type of player that can play with them?

 

he's a less terrible fit, in theory, when his minutes are staggered away from lebron and AD. we'll at least get a chance to see it here for a bit.

 

It's Lebron not AD IMO. I never thought this would work without AD in the first place. Lebron is the PG on his teams, he doesn't work well with another PG. 37 isn't 27 though, I assumed that AD would have taken the reigns by now, after we won the chip. We'll see this season because the King can't carry the load anymore IMO, the stamina is lacking, which is why I thought he would embrace another high level facilitator.

 

right. but with both lebron and AD out there, you have a minimum of three guys that the opposition isn't afraid of beating them from the perimeter (lebron goes on streaks but still isn't a feared shooter) and would much rather beat you in in the paint. you also get the social loafing effects on defense from the three stars.

many of us have wanted to see russ play some extended time off the bench for several reasons. i'm glad we'll get a look at it before he's traded, because if it works, it could save us from a trade that causes future damage for limited current impact. if it doesn't work, at least you know you exhausted options.

 

One thing that I like is I'm more excited to see Russ play with the young guys than I am the starting line up. If he can come anywhere close to repeating that performance for an extended period of time the trajectory for our season goes way up.

 

Exactly, All three of the big 3 are paint scorers. If the paint is packed they all have to shoot jumpshots (AD + Russ are top 5 worst jump shooters in the NBA). Staggering them gets way better spacing and if Russ is playing well he gets a shot at closing.

 

Darvin is imprinting his team so far...I'm expecting us to improve as we go. He's gotten them to buy in on D and has already gained Russ's trust.

Russell Westbrook’s new bench role for the Lakers underscores his need for “rhythm” - Silver Screen and Roll

 

The real test will come if Russ's performance level drops back off, when on the floor playing as he wants to and team needs him to be decently good at (compared to his better days when younger) ..... and he starts hurting the team (again). In any of the areas that he's just as capable of doing that as he is capable of helping them. Off ball defense, such poor shooting and still willingness to keep shooting from outside while defenses sag off him in yards, brain farts and costly turnovers. Then how does Ham respond to it? He probably will, like Vogel, let him continue to play the bigger minutes than he should, while hoping Russ can work out of it. But if he can't work out of it and then Ham has to correspondingly cut his minutes and/or minutes in crunch time ..... does he lose Russ's goodwill toward him and buy in?

Really hoping for Russ and for Ham and for the Lakers it not only continues trending well but he just goes on a season long tear. Forget the 3s and jump shots any night if they're not dropping, early. Attack the basket and MAKE the damn % of those layups he should make once he gets right THERE. And the occasional old school thunderous Westbrook dunks.

 

Dude is 1st ballot HOF for a reason though, and it's not because of his shooting. I could be wrong, but I think Lebron is the only one on this team, that's going to get a bit of a pass on defense. Go hard, attack the basket and get your teammates involved, those are the elements of his game we need to see consistently. Aggressive guys are going to have some turnovers, non-shooters are going to miss shots, if he brings those three things though, it's going to work itself out IMO. He needs to bring that FT% back up closer to 80% too, for a guy like him, AND 1's are better than 3 pointers. We'll see how it goes, but after the way things went last season, and the new HC makes it a point to step right into the noise, and say that I believe in this guy, and I have a plan for him. I just don't see Russ not giving it his all, if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, but it won't be for lack of effort.

 

Westbrook had quite a few good games last year and some great stats. But the question becomes, can he actually impact winning for us off the bench?

Otherwise it’s just empty calories that make you feel good.

 

People said the same with AI. We saw how that ended.

 

I would not be surprised if we look back at the end of the year and feel Russ was our best player for this season.

And I would not be surprised if he got traded. But this version of Westbrook is highly beneficial to the team if he can find a way to keep it up.

 

Goddamn.... WTH was that? Literally every single play was the right one. No forced shots. Extra passes. Defense.

Where the hell this was last season? Or even to begin this one?

There is still half a game left, but still.

 

I blame coach. He never talked to me. Ever.

--- RW (Probably)