Official D'Angelo Russell Thread

[MrDollarBills]

I think the reason people are harder on Russell is because we all see that he has the highest potential compared to the rest of the roster. He can become borderline franchise player with some guidance. He's only 21 and has many years to improve so for me this season I'll just enjoy the ride and all the highs and lows that come with it. I can't remember the last time we had a young player with this much potential. It's been a very long time.

He's had 11 whole games Claud to get his act together and figure things out. ELEVEN. I've frankly seen enough. He won't amount to anything but an inefficient turnover machine. I seriously think it's time to explore what trade options are out there. Once Lin comes back and elevates us to god tier status we won't need him anyway.

[MGrand15]

Yes, it's totally Russell's fault that LeVert is a -47 on the court with him. I'll chalk LeVert's 8 PER rating and sub .000 shooting percentages to Russell too.

Opposing bigs dropping nearly 40 ppg nightly versus us is his fault too.

hopefully he can get these things, along with his turnovers cleaned up. otherwise I see him being nothing more than a bench player who averages 21 5 and 5.

I really don't see anyone saying anything remotely similar to this outside of the guy that wanted to "drag" Russell.

The numbers are just the numbers. No one is saying he's trash or that these numbers don't have context that needs to be taken into account. I'm just not ready to excuse all of his faults because his teammates aren't good. I want him to be great, not Rudy Gay. I'm just closely monitoring his progress.

...all of that is fine and true but it's also why i can't put much stock into those raw numbers. we play at a very high pace. SOMEONE has to get numbers. we're number 1 in pace by a mile.

The Nets play at a very fast pace but their players also play limited minutes which somewhat balances the pace inflation.

For arguments sake, Russell is currently averaging:

MPG: 27.2
PPG: 20.4
APG: 5.6
RPG: 4.6
TOV: 4.3
SPG: 1.2

If I pace adjust from 109.2 down to the league average of 101.2, Russell is averaging:

MPG: 27.2
PPG: 18.9
APG: 5.2
RPG: 4.3
TOV: 4.0
SPG: 1.1

If I now project those numbers out to "normal" starter minutes of say 32 minutes a night, Russell is averaging:

MPG: 32.0
PPG: 22.3
APG: 6.1
RPG: 5.0
TOV: 4.7
SPG: 1.3

Now don't get me wrong your point about looking at advanced stats still stands and does illustrate some problem areas (middling efficiency, weighed down by surprisingly bad 3PT and FT percentages, high turnovers, suspect defense) but I think we as a board need to hold our horses when it comes to touting pace inflation as a reason to throw out everyone's numbers...

Good post. Thanks for the info. I'm not throwing out his numbers based on pace but the minute thing is an interesting point. It was more just not getting too excited about it.

[MrDollarBills]

Yes, it's totally Russell's fault that LeVert is a -47 on the court with him. I'll chalk LeVert's 8 PER rating and sub .000 shooting percentages to Russell too.

Opposing bigs dropping nearly 40 ppg nightly versus us is his fault too.

hopefully he can get these things, along with his turnovers cleaned up. otherwise I see him being nothing more than a bench player who averages 21 5 and 5.

I really don't see anyone saying anything remotely similar to this outside of the guy that wanted to "drag" Russell.

The numbers are just the numbers. No one is saying he's trash or that these numbers don't have context that needs to be taken into account. I'm just not ready to excuse all of his faults because his teammates aren't good. I want him to be great, not Rudy Gay. I'm just closely monitoring his progress.

I know I'm just being a dick about it

He doesn't get a pass for poor play, btw. I just expect 21 year olds to deal with consistency issues so I don't get too down on him as long as he keeps working on improving some of the stuff that he can correct (defensive mental lapses, TOs that are his fault, shot selection).

[Prokorov]

another super clutch 4th quarter for DLO. he has willed us to 4 of our 5 wins with clutch play late

[IceManBK1]

another super clutch 4th quarter for DLO. he has willed us to 4 of our 5 wins with clutch play late

that's what superstars do..they have the ability to be cold the whole game then show up and take over when it comes.

[moonpie]

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[SpeedyG]

Nice game tonight by Russ. He didn't shoot well early on but he didn't take a lot of bad shots. Only 1 maybe 2 careless TO. and of course he closed this game offensively

[kamaze]

another super clutch 4th quarter for DLO. he has willed us to 4 of our 5 wins with clutch play late

Only 2 turnovers. Taking over games is his thing he's a scorer, I'm more impressed with him running the team and getting a win.

[bws94]

Kid rocked tonight. Took a big step late in the game by making sweet feeds and trusting his teammates. Kid doesn't always have to make all the shots, making the big plays is a big part of it. He was poised, engaged, made his length and presence known defensively, and made mostly great decisions. I'll excuse the missed late FT for tonight, lol.

[Paradise]

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[MrDollarBills]

Bench player for sure.

Notice how after games like this the trolls are nowhere to be found.

[sprost]

Bench player for sure.

Notice how after games like this the trolls are nowhere to be found.

This "troll" is right here, watched the game late and came to comment the following as a fan of the team before seeing your comment.

DLo played like an absolute winner last night, the type of game that suggests he does have clear potential to be an elite or perhaps all star PG, elite players do THAT in the fourth qtr when needed... more confident yes, ready for prime time and destined to be one of the NBA's elite PGs now, jury's definitely still out and hoping the numbers mentioned yesterday just working out new team/system/coaching-control etc.... but that 4th qtr, hardenesqe.

[sprost]

...and by the way, anyone else think Atkinson is loosening up a bit with the mechanical rotations and playing the hot hand/pulling the cold hand more?

[sprost]

.

[Paradise]

4th quarter PPG:

1. Lebron James - 9.3
2. Kristaps Porzingis - 8.8
3. Damian Lillard - 8.3
4. DeMarcus Cousins - 7.6
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo - 7.4
6. D'angelo Russell - 7.2

[steady]

Another thing elite players do is come back quickly after terriblr games. Just excellent job by DAngelo doing that last night - especially on road against good team. Really proud of him. I credit Kenny, coaching staff and other players for role they probably played in this too. Shout out to DMC.

This is big deal particularly given some of the talk out of LA that this was an issue sometimes

[steady]

“ It’s growing pains. He’ll learn. He’ll definitely be better." DMC on Russell after Nuggets game

This should be our motto for Russell this year

"Knowing other players and coaches have your back through good and bad days... because there will be both. It’s something he didn’t have enough of in Los Angeles; something that can mess with a young player’s head." -- nice quote from article about Russell

[MrDollarBills]

Bench player for sure.

Notice how after games like this the trolls are nowhere to be found.

This "troll" is right here, watched the game late and came to comment the following as a fan of the team before seeing your comment.

DLo played like an absolute winner last night, the type of game that suggests he does have clear potential to be an elite or perhaps all star PG, elite players do THAT in the fourth qtr when needed... more confident yes, ready for prime time and destined to be one of the NBA's elite PGs now, jury's definitely still out and hoping the numbers mentioned yesterday just working out new team/system/coaching-control etc.... but that 4th qtr, hardenesqe.

[Lamak]

I like how Kenny is trying to make him look for teammates and shoot less in the early quarters and takeover the 4th. Season is young so I'm mainly just looking to see for development from his shot selection and turnovers. I want to see him go to the rim more often and draw contact or use his midrange/floater.

[iamworthy]

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