Kizz Fastfists wrote:Russ has his lowest TS% since '09-'10 and his lowest WS/48 since '09-'10. He is clearly having his worst season since '13-'14. He has had multiple knee procedures. He is 29 which is past his physical prime. He is declining. You can argue the amount and how fast he will decline, but you can't claim his BBIQ will allow him to adjust and maintain his prime play because he has no BBIQ and his skill set is entirely based on his athleticism that is fading. Saying Russ is declining given his age, skills, play style and BBIQ is no different then saying a 19 year old rookie should improve.
i think it's a combination of things. decline perhaps one of them. but his season is such a sharp decline on some things i believe it has to be more than just age or natural erosion. his shot distribution just at a glance aside from the pull-up threes is ideal, more ideal than last year even. he's getting to the rim a lot.
i believe that there's a difference on how teams are playing him. it anecdotally appears to me that he's being given a lot more space on the perimeter than before.
