Game 55: Los Angeles Lakers (18-36) @ Detroit Pistons (24-28) - 7:30 PM ET

[Landsberger]

There you go... There's a game for the "Russell should play off the ball" crew. And Guess what?... It was horrible.

For all the criticism that guy gets he's the best facilitator on this team. And, I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but Ingram is even worse at getting around his guy. He's got hight, so he can shoot over his guy... Doesn't change the fact that those are contested shots vs wide open shots by D'Lo.

Let's stop plaing this dumb cat and mouse game... Give the guy the ball and let him play already.

He was great in the last game while only shooting 4 times. To be fair here I want a D3 point guard and have Russell off the ball... not Ingram as a PG. Russell shot more than anyone for a 3 game stretch and we lost. His stats looked better but we still lost. Somewhere in the middle is a better place with this current group. It's not like he's lights out shooting those "wide open" shots either.

[Crooked-I]

Didn't watch the game(glad I didn't) but access sportsnet just broke down JC's game and how he missed the open man multiple times. Made him look really bad.

And what's with D'lo only shooting twice. Dude needs to shoot more and be aggressive. None of this passive BS. No excuse for him not to get 10 shots up.

[lake_show]

There you go... There's a game for the "Russell should play off the ball" crew. And Guess what?... It was horrible.

For all the criticism that guy gets he's the best facilitator on this team. And, I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but Ingram is even worse at getting around his guy. He's got hight, so he can shoot over his guy... Doesn't change the fact that those are contested shots vs wide open shots by D'Lo.

Let's stop plaing this dumb cat and mouse game... Give the guy the ball and let him play already.

He was great in the last game while only shooting 4 times. To be fair here I want a D3 point guard and have Russell off the ball... not Ingram as a PG. Russell shot more than anyone for a 3 game stretch and we lost. His stats looked better but we still lost. Somewhere in the middle is a better place with this current group. It's not like he's lights out shooting those "wide open" shots either.

Well to be fair... we lose almost every game so that's kind of unfair to put on one guy. He only shot 4 times in the last game but from all accounts he ran the offense really well. He shot 17 times in the Denver game and we didn't lose that game. So there's that. Plus, I'm talking about him playing "off the ball" vs "on the ball". On this team right now, he's the best facilitator. Period.

Should they get a D3 point guard... I don't know. Could be. But, right now at this moment, he should have the ball in his hands no matter what.

Offense looked horrible out there with D'Lo off the ball, and we never made an adjustment. Not sure why we keep trying to force D'Lo into something he's not. Oh wait... Sorry, we did make an adjustment in the second half to deal with the horrible offense we were running... We put Huertas in. C'mon Luke. Really?

[Princeinrevolt]

In the two games since being told publicly he earned more minutes, Russell has played 20 and 23 minutes. Those mixed messages are tough. Luke Walton is kinda dumb... I dont understand what is happening... Why would he rather have two ballhogs in clarkson and williams?? I dont get it, i really dont get it...


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[TyCobb]

Back to growing pains with Russ and his mentality.

[lake_show]

Didn't watch the game(glad I didn't) but access sportsnet just broke down JC's game and how he missed the open man multiple times. Made him look really bad.

And what's with D'lo only shooting twice. Dude needs to shoot more and be aggressive. None of this passive BS. No excuse for him not to get 10 shots up.

We decided to play D'Lo off the ball today and have Randle, Ingram, and Swaggy run the offense... Yes, I said Swaggy.

Surprisingly we took a lot of quick contested shots and D'Lo stood in the corner, or set a lot of picks that led to nothing for most of his time on the floor.

A lot of: Randle hands off to Swaggy, who passes back to Randle, who hands off to Swaggy again, who passes back to Randle again, who then hands off back to Swaggy for a contested 3.

It was horrible... You're lucky you didn't watch it.

[Princeinrevolt]

Didn't watch the game(glad I didn't) but access sportsnet just broke down JC's game and how he missed the open man multiple times. Made him look really bad.

And what's with D'lo only shooting twice. Dude needs to shoot more and be aggressive. None of this passive BS. No excuse for him not to get 10 shots up.

We decided to play D'Lo off the ball today and have Randle, Ingram, and Swaggy run the offense... Yes, I said Swaggy.

Surprisingly we took a lot of quick contested shots and D'Lo stood in the corner, or set a lot of picks that led to nothing for most of his time on the floor.

A lot of: Randle hands off to Swaggy, who passes back to Randle, who hands off to Swaggy again, who passes back to Randle again, who then hands off back to Swaggy for a contested 3.

It was horrible... You're lucky you didn't watch it.

How is Luke accepting this tho???


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[Vesper]

Think Luke is experimenting now, knowing the season is over....

[Kilroy]

Didn't watch the game(glad I didn't) but access sportsnet just broke down JC's game and how he missed the open man multiple times. Made him look really bad.

And what's with D'lo only shooting twice. Dude needs to shoot more and be aggressive. None of this passive BS. No excuse for him not to get 10 shots up.

And guys wonder why he "only played 23 min"...

[Landsberger]

There you go... There's a game for the "Russell should play off the ball" crew. And Guess what?... It was horrible.

For all the criticism that guy gets he's the best facilitator on this team. And, I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but Ingram is even worse at getting around his guy. He's got hight, so he can shoot over his guy... Doesn't change the fact that those are contested shots vs wide open shots by D'Lo.

Let's stop plaing this dumb cat and mouse game... Give the guy the ball and let him play already.

He was great in the last game while only shooting 4 times. To be fair here I want a D3 point guard and have Russell off the ball... not Ingram as a PG. Russell shot more than anyone for a 3 game stretch and we lost. His stats looked better but we still lost. Somewhere in the middle is a better place with this current group. It's not like he's lights out shooting those "wide open" shots either.

Well to be fair... we lose almost every game so that's kind of unfair to put on one guy. He only shot 4 times in the last game but from all accounts he ran the offense really well. He shot 17 times in the Denver game and we didn't lose that game. So there's that. Plus, I'm talking about him playing "off the ball" vs "on the ball". On this team right now, he's the best facilitator. Period.

Should they get a D3 point guard... I don't know. Could be. But, right now at this moment, he should have the ball in his hands no matter what.

Offense looked horrible out there with D'Lo off the ball, and we never made an adjustment. Not sure why we keep trying to force D'Lo into something he's not. Oh wait... Sorry, we did make an adjustment in the second half to deal with the horrible offense we were running... We put Huertas in. C'mon Luke. Really?

Oh I wasn't putting any loss on him. Just noting he was 20-52 in 3 games then in the next 2 he shoots 5 times. Our offense was not good at all. Not all on him. His difference in shooting numbers has coincided with Randles return. Randle, Ingram and Russell all facilitating isn't good. This is what I mean by this teams youth not being cohesive or complementary. No balance in that line up.

I wonder if he's hurting. He went from being very active to being passive. He wasn't moving with purpose tonight. If not something is effecting his focus it seems.

[Landsberger]

Think Luke is experimenting now, knowing the season is over....

I hope he's figuring out who can play together and who can't. Coincidence that it's going on before the deadline?

[Princeinrevolt]

He was great in the last game while only shooting 4 times. To be fair here I want a D3 point guard and have Russell off the ball... not Ingram as a PG. Russell shot more than anyone for a 3 game stretch and we lost. His stats looked better but we still lost. Somewhere in the middle is a better place with this current group. It's not like he's lights out shooting those "wide open" shots either.

Well to be fair... we lose almost every game so that's kind of unfair to put on one guy. He only shot 4 times in the last game but from all accounts he ran the offense really well. He shot 17 times in the Denver game and we didn't lose that game. So there's that. Plus, I'm talking about him playing "off the ball" vs "on the ball". On this team right now, he's the best facilitator. Period.

Should they get a D3 point guard... I don't know. Could be. But, right now at this moment, he should have the ball in his hands no matter what.

Offense looked horrible out there with D'Lo off the ball, and we never made an adjustment. Not sure why we keep trying to force D'Lo into something he's not. Oh wait... Sorry, we did make an adjustment in the second half to deal with the horrible offense we were running... We put Huertas in. C'mon Luke. Really?

Oh I wasn't putting any loss on him. Just noting he was 20-52 in 3 games then in the next 2 he shoots 5 times. Our offense was not good at all. Not all on him. His difference in shooting numbers has coincided with Randles return. Randle, Ingram and Russell all facilitating isn't good. This is what I mean by this teams youth not being cohesive or complementary. No balance in that line up.

I wonder if he's hurting. He went from being very active to being passive. He wasn't moving with purpose tonight. If not something is effecting his focus it seems.

Yeah we have too many playmakers, i'd bench either Ingram or Randle... Probably Randle for Deng... Now that Deng is on the bench rotation, there are zero playmakers off the bench so its pretty bad there too.


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[MrWaffles]

Think Luke is experimenting now, knowing the season is over....

Which we should've been doing since the opening night.

[Vesper]

Luke said Russell was tired...

Hence, his passive nature. Russell is not in good shape. Another reason why I want to shut him down

[magicbesteva]

It's so hard rooting for D'angelo when he plays that bad. Yes I know he was trying to run the offense and get everyone involved but he was way too passive. The frustration is not just from this game. We are half way through his second season and we are still waiting for him to step up??? Are we going to hear the same excuses next year when he still doesn't play good? I just don't see that fire in D'angelo. If the Lakers keep their pick I hope they take a pg

[TJM217]

Luke said Russell was tired...

Hence, his passive nature. Russell is not in good shape. Another reason why I want to shut him down

Wait so why would you want to shut him down? If anything I would think you want to play him more so he can get into shape.

[Slava]

Luke said Russell was tired...

Hence, his passive nature. Russell is not in good shape. Another reason why I want to shut him down

Among the many awful ideas I read on a daily basis on RealGM, this one takes the cake.

[Vesper]

Luke said Russell was tired...

Hence, his passive nature. Russell is not in good shape. Another reason why I want to shut him down

Wait so why would you want to shut him down? If anything I would think you want to play him more so he can get into shape.

Needs to be serious with his training outside of basketball...

Also, without Russ we are a lock for a top pick next season unless the ping pong balls f us over...

[Vesper]

Luke said Russell was tired...

Hence, his passive nature. Russell is not in good shape. Another reason why I want to shut him down

Among the many awful ideas I read on a daily basis on RealGM, this one takes the cake.

Yeap. Awful ideas.. Hence, why he plays injured all the time and doesnt have the fitness to play that many minutes....

I guess that's like the idea of having Randle and nance as our center...