Official D'Angelo Russell Thread

[J_LA]

Russell coming off the bench is actually a thing here? For those actually throwing the idea out there try and imagine Booker coming off the bench in Phoenix. Or Porzingis coming off the bench in Ny. It really doesn't make much sense at all.

[13th Man]

He's not coming off the bench under any circumstance even if he does poorly on defense. Do you think the Nets priority is to win right now? They're in fact grooming Russell to be The Nets franchise player.

[MrDollarBills]

Russell coming off the bench is actually a thing here? For those actually throwing the idea out there try and imagine Booker coming off the bench in Phoenix. Or Porzingis coming off the bench in Ny. It really doesn't make much sense at all.

It's not a thing. The idea of him coming off the bench is either coming from skeptical fans who think the kid is a scrub or immature or feel that Jeremy Lin is somehow threatened by him being here.

Russell is the teams franchise player now. Not sure what it will take for this fact to register.

[Paradise]

Russell coming off the bench is actually a thing here? For those actually throwing the idea out there try and imagine Booker coming off the bench in Phoenix. Or Porzingis coming off the bench in Ny. It really doesn't make much sense at all.

It's not a thing. The idea of him coming off the bench is either coming from skeptical fans who think the kid is a scrub or immature or feel that Jeremy Lin is somehow threatened by him being here.

Russell is the teams franchise player now. Not sure what it will take for this fact to register.

Honesty, I get tired of reading these corny ass jokes by the media but then, it's worse when you come to the forum of that team you root for and we don't even support our own without an agenda. How can we expect other outlets to be non bias when this board cannot even grasp and accept the reality that Russell is the face of the franchise. Caris is a cornerstone, RHJ is a cornerstone and Allen is now a cornerstone.

Lin can be a Net for the rest of his career and he still will not be the face of the franchise nor future of the franchise. I'd love to see his run end with the Nets considering where it started but the man has only appeared in 32 games and didn't remotely scratch the surface.

Would we be sitting here debating if Markelle Fultz or Ball comes off the bench if we had the ability to controlled our picks??


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[MrDollarBills]

Probably. Wouldn't doubt it one bit. A 15 4 and 5 player at age 21 is being regarded as a bench player on a team that was dead last in the sport last season. Who knows how far folks will go.

[uballer]

Russell will be a starter for sure, but it's too early to claim he is the team's franchise player. He, like others, has to earn it. We shall see the result by end of the new season. Go Nets!

[13th Man]

Let's not overblow one guy's comment. We've seen enough comments lately about people wanting Lin gone after next season because the Nets no longer have a need for him.

Lets hope that both do well and the pieces will fall where they may.

[ChokeFasncists]

He's not coming off of the bench, the folks who keep praying for this are going to be seriously butthurt.

Hey, I'm not praying for him to come off the bench. I do think he'll start but I just don't think it should be handed to him. I hope he earns it. Prok said it should be whatever that is best for his development to be decided by Kenny. I agreed.

I had him penciled in as a starter but the Crab trade might have shaken things up a bit, who knows?

[ChokeFasncists]

Would we be sitting here debating if Markelle Fultz or Ball comes off the bench if we had the ability to controlled our picks??

Russell coming off the bench is actually a thing here? For those actually throwing the idea out there try and imagine Booker coming off the bench in Phoenix. Or Porzingis coming off the bench in Ny. It really doesn't make much sense at all.

Different situation. A high pick by a team is big investment. A high pick traded not as a centerpiece (Moz and capspace was) is a totally different story.

He's gotta earn it; or he should earn it.

One more thing this situation is different from the aforementioned is that, at his position, there are older guys who are very much capable but are also question marks. It could be understood as a situation between those and cases like Jaylen Brown, Nash (who only became a starter at age 24), Billups (who came off the bench a bit after switching teams at age 24), Kobe (who came off the bench his first two years).

[ChokeFasncists]

Russell coming off the bench is actually a thing here? For those actually throwing the idea out there try and imagine Booker coming off the bench in Phoenix. Or Porzingis coming off the bench in Ny. It really doesn't make much sense at all.

It's not a thing. The idea of him coming off the bench is either coming from skeptical fans who think the kid is a scrub or immature or feel that Jeremy Lin is somehow threatened by him being here.

I'm neither of the three. You can say I'm skeptical tho as in not absolutely believing. I tend to see it first and then believe rather than be starstruck and have total faith by name or what I hear.

Russell is the teams franchise player now. Not sure what it will take for this fact to register.

Maybe so, but it doesn't mean he can't come off the bench if Kenny thinks it's the right thing to do.

And it doesn't mean it can't change come training camp.

[ChokeFasncists]

He's not coming off the bench under any circumstance even if he does poorly on defense. Do you think the Nets priority is to win right now? They're in fact grooming Russell to be The Nets franchise player.

I dunno about that. It certainly doesn't sound like the Spurs model.

The Spurs are like, Manu comes off the bench, Parker was benched in favor of Speedy freaking Claxton in the Finals, Timmy GOAT Duncan was benched at the end of games according to matchups; things that are basically never done outside. The Big 3 stars are all totally coachable and committed to team needs and everyone else falls into place.

I dunno how committed the Nets FO is to the Spurs model. Or maybe there's a new owner that says fork all that, we want Knicks culture!

[13th Man]

He's not coming off the bench under any circumstance even if he does poorly on defense. Do you think the Nets priority is to win right now? They're in fact grooming Russell to be The Nets franchise player.

I dunno about that. It certainly doesn't sound like the Spurs model.

The Spurs are like, Manu comes off the bench, Parker was benched in favor of Speedy freaking Claxton in the Finals, Timmy GOAT Duncan was benched at the end of games according to matchups; things that are basically never done outside. The Big 3 stars are all totally coachable and committed to team needs and everyone else falls into place.

I dunno how committed the Nets FO is to the Spurs model. Or maybe there's a new owner that says fork all that, we want Knicks culture!

Totally different situations/scenarios. The Spurs were trying to win and Pops was just making temporary adjustments. The Nets are trying to build up Russell to become a leader and the face of the franchise, what type of message would that send if they were to bench him? His already fragile ego (from his Lakers experience) would be asking for a trade in 2 seconds.

Very good teams with 2 all-star players in the starting lineup can afford to have a dedicated 6th man, the Nets are nowhere near the position to swing this.

The Nets are not trying to adopt any other team's model, especially the Spurs where they've always relied on very good veteran players which we don't have. Why don't every team just adopt the 90s Bulls, 80's Lakers/Celtics model? Phil Jackson tried to force the triangle upon the Knicks and we know how that turned out. Let's not stop there, why don't we just adopt the Golden State Warriors model, then we'd be able to face them in the finals. I'm sorry but this almost seems like I'm responding to a troll post it's just silly imo.

Lastly, coming into a dedicated D'Angelo Russell thread and suggesting that he could/should be benched is disrespectful, similar to posters going into a Lin thread discussing future trade propositions for him. None of which are on the horizon.

[MrDollarBills]

He's not coming off the bench under any circumstance even if he does poorly on defense. Do you think the Nets priority is to win right now? They're in fact grooming Russell to be The Nets franchise player.

I dunno about that. It certainly doesn't sound like the Spurs model.

The Spurs are like, Manu comes off the bench, Parker was benched in favor of Speedy freaking Claxton in the Finals, Timmy GOAT Duncan was benched at the end of games according to matchups; things that are basically never done outside. The Big 3 stars are all totally coachable and committed to team needs and everyone else falls into place.

I dunno how committed the Nets FO is to the Spurs model. Or maybe there's a new owner that says fork all that, we want Knicks culture!

We aren't the Spurs, nor is Russell coming off of the bench.

This was the worst team in the league last season. You think that they're going to bench their most talented player?

Russell is more talented and has higher upside than Lin, LeVert, Crabbe, and anyone else in the backcourt. To come on here and act like he's some kind of scrub is ludicrous.

And this idea that Russell not being benched = Knicks culture is a bit much.

[J_LA]

Would we be sitting here debating if Markelle Fultz or Ball comes off the bench if we had the ability to controlled our picks??

Russell coming off the bench is actually a thing here? For those actually throwing the idea out there try and imagine Booker coming off the bench in Phoenix. Or Porzingis coming off the bench in Ny. It really doesn't make much sense at all.

Different situation. A high pick by a team is big investment. A high pick traded not as a centerpiece (Moz and capspace was) is a totally different story.

He's gotta earn it; or he should earn it.

One more thing this situation is different from the aforementioned is that, at his position, there are older guys who are very much capable but are also question marks. It could be understood as a situation between those and cases like Jaylen Brown, Nash (who only became a starter at age 24), Billups (who came off the bench a bit after switching teams at age 24), Kobe (who came off the bench his first two years).

Magic and Rob's incompetence to go along with their dream of signing Lebron doesn't diminish Russell's talent. There is a reason fans were shocked by the trade. Most people who watched him close enough will take him over Booker and Porzingis. I'm guessing after some game action in a Nets uniform the doubters will start to understand.

As far as the Jaylen Brown, Nash, Billups, Kobe examples. I get all that. The only difference is none of those guys were the best player on the team when they came off the bench. That's the major difference.

[J_LA]

He's not coming off the bench under any circumstance even if he does poorly on defense. Do you think the Nets priority is to win right now? They're in fact grooming Russell to be The Nets franchise player.

I agree with this 100%. Nets aren't in win now mode. Even if you don't like what you see in Russell at the beginning you don't bring him off the bench until your'e absolutely sure he's not your guy. That's when you can consider the experiment a failure. Until then, he starting.
Think of Mudiay in Denver. Mike Malone stayed with him through his struggles even though Jameer was probably a better option. And it was the right thing to do Imo. There was too much invested in the kid to bring him off the bench.

[steady]

He's not coming off the bench under any circumstance even if he does poorly on defense. Do you think the Nets priority is to win right now? They're in fact grooming Russell to be The Nets franchise player.

I agree with this 100%. Nets aren't in win now mode. Even if you don't like what you see in Russell at the beginning you don't bring him off the bench until your'e absolutely sure he's not your guy. That's when you can consider the experiment a failure. Until then, he starting.
Think of Mudiay in Denver. Mike Malone stayed with him through his struggles even though Jameer was probably a better option. And it was the right thing to do Imo. There was too much invested in the kid to bring him off the bench.

Putting him on the bench I think would only occur in situation where Atkinson felt DAR was not putting in necessary effort on defense or not playing the right way otherwise . Putting him on bench is not necessarily deciding he is not their guy.

Different players need different things, Mudiay may have needed a coach who believed in him and showed him confidence.

DAR does not strike me as needing to have his confidence shored up, but rather (like most very talented young players) more a player who needs to be pushed to develop in the right ways to become the best player he can be

Promising a player like that a starting spot is not acting in his best interests . Making him earn it and making him earn his teammates respect is what is in DARs best interest.

The Nets are going to let DAR play through his struggles. Remember Atkinson is known as gifted player development coach. But DAR will have to show effort -- the team's culture is to play with maximum effort . It's the first thing Sean Marks wants - and he won't be any exception

[J_LA]

He's not coming off the bench under any circumstance even if he does poorly on defense. Do you think the Nets priority is to win right now? They're in fact grooming Russell to be The Nets franchise player.

I agree with this 100%. Nets aren't in win now mode. Even if you don't like what you see in Russell at the beginning you don't bring him off the bench until your'e absolutely sure he's not your guy. That's when you can consider the experiment a failure. Until then, he starting.
Think of Mudiay in Denver. Mike Malone stayed with him through his struggles even though Jameer was probably a better option. And it was the right thing to do Imo. There was too much invested in the kid to bring him off the bench.

Putting him on the bench I think would only occur in situation where Atkinson felt DAR was not putting in necessary effort on defense or not playing the right way otherwise . Putting him on bench is not necessarily deciding he is not their guy.

Different players need different things, Mudiay may have needed a coach who believed in him and showed him confidence.

DAR does not strike me as needing to have his confidence shored up, but rather (like most very talented young players) more a player who needs to be pushed to develop in the right ways to become the best player he can be

Promising a player like that a starting spot is not acting in his best interests . Making him earn it and making him earn his teammates respect is what is in DARs best interest.

The Nets are going to let DAR play through his struggles. Remember Atkinson is known as gifted player development coach. But DAR will have to show effort -- the team's culture is to play with maximum effort . It's the first thing Sean Marks wants - and he won't be any exception

Good Post. I agree with most of it. The only thing I will say is that there is a fine line between pushing a player/making sure he earns it, and benching him but avoiding him losing confidence. It can't be an easy decision for a coach.

Russell is a very confident player, but there were times he didn't react well to being tested. There were also times he was tested and came back and responded the way you would have hoped.
I would like to think its all part of the maturation process. We shall see

[MGrand15]

Russell coming off the bench is actually a thing here? For those actually throwing the idea out there try and imagine Booker coming off the bench in Phoenix. Or Porzingis coming off the bench in Ny. It really doesn't make much sense at all.

It's not a thing. The idea of him coming off the bench is either coming from skeptical fans who think the kid is a scrub or immature or feel that Jeremy Lin is somehow threatened by him being here.

Russell is the teams franchise player now. Not sure what it will take for this fact to register.

It also came from Zach Lowe. Hes unbiased and has sources on the team. I Don't agree with it at all but it's not some out of this world stupid or bitter idea. Atkinson plays the 2nd unit a ton and Russell taking care of ball handling / play making while Lin is on the bench isn't some major demotion. He'd still get 28+ minutes.

I don't think it's realistic though.

[Paradise]

He wasn't being tested. He was being flat out misused by Byron Scott who is an awfully toxic coach for young players. I don't recall him ever having a defined bench role with Walton for any reason other than injury.

Kenny Atkinson is seriously not going to let a kid that put up 40 on Kyrie in March, 28 on John Wall, 28 on Mike Conley come off the bench unless he misses practice, flips off an assistant.

We started Randy Foye despite it not working, we had Bojan at SG who can't defend or dribble, Skil can score but can't do much else but we had to start him a lot.

We've seen ALOT worse here before Russell so it would be a poor gesture to just bring him off the bench because he's in a new city, new team with different culture standards. He's not a felon or an emotional man child like Cousins. So, he would rightfully be upset about a move like that without any context (slump, insubordination, etc). He's never shown any of that to the point where it costed him his starting role consistently. I highly doubt it would now.

Considering we thought we would be only signing Milos Teodosic or overpaying for George Hill. I think we don't even attempt to bring him off the bench once this season baring good health.

This roster is all in an "earn it" stage. Even Kenny.


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[J_LA]

I was referring to Luke, Not Byron. I don't consider Byron an Nba level coach

He was benched by Luke towards the end of the season as a "test." Ended up resulting in probably 2 of his worst games as a pro at Denver and at Houston.
Then was put back into the starting lineup and dropped 40 on the champs.