Game 11, Emergency GT: Lakers(6-4) at Wolvez(2-6), November 13th, 4 PM PT

[Kilroy]

All in all, Russell has been super disappointing so far

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Really not fond of the way he's playing since the New Orleans game, his defense especially has fallen off a cliff.

Yeah, I don't really understand it... He looked good at team usa and over the summer, but during the season so far, he's shown the least visible improvement in his game out of all the young guys, (ingram and Zubacca don't count as rookies)...
RIght now, he's kinda got a little of that Swaggy P 2015 vibe going with the big plays here and there, the showmanship, but not really engaged for the full 28 or so minutes he's on the court.
Another poster said his stats were basically empty... Not really a fan of that concept, but he does seem to do the most damage when the pressure is off.
Luke does his thing, but it might be about time for a coaching decision on him...

[one]

Meh, maybe I just dislike Wiggins cause of the hype but I don't see a star wing player in him. His all around game sucks way too much for that and his handle is not great. He cooked us because he got bailed out going to the rim every time. It's not hard when the other team knows they can't touch u without getting a whistle blown

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I think you being annoyed by the hype is def the biggest factor. 21 year old scoring 26 ppg on great percentages and instantly some of us have to wonder why he isn't on the same career trajectory as LeBron or Wade with the assists and rebounds (Wade actually played there years of college, which helped meat out his game a bit before the NBA too). God forbid he might have to be the ripe old age of 24 before he is a 27/6/5 type player (who knows how his stats will project specifically with other potential stars around him). By all accounts a ready and willing learner too. Dribbling will improve as it always does if you work hard enough at it.

Hype makes observers biased. But it goes both ways.

[NBAWestFan]

The Lakers need better Defenders

DLO cannot guard Wiggins,

Lou is too short.

Ingram has to learn to be a better perimeter defender and not foul.
He needs to be quicker and stronger if he is playing the 1 and guarding Wiggins.

Clarkson is the best bet but Wiggins is 6'-8" and a hard guard.

Wiggins confidence just went up thanks to tired Lakers.

Beside that and Towns and the guy from Europe Nemanja Bljelica was lights out.

I would try to find out when his contract is up. He is a great shooter and
and has a great offensive feel for the game.

[lamscott]

Russell... Lets not talk about offense. But his defense.... jeezus. Its horrible.

[LesGrossman]

You guys need to understand the fundamental difference from a Wolves' perspective. Due to Lavine's injury everyone moved one position down and Wiggins, who is naturally a 2 and is forced to play 3, suddenly wasnt overmatched physically and got to take all of Lavine's attempts on top of his own (yes Boxscore says 22 but all of those ft resulted from additional attempts). Same for Bjelica: instead of PF off the bench he was for the first time allowed to play SF as a starter and it worked out like a miracle. But most of all, even if not often recognized, its Rubios play on both ends that made a huge difference even before the Wiggins slaughter took off. Your PG's didnt really slow him much down.

And to say that of all teams in the league, the wolves get ref help, is thte funniest thing i've read in a while. The whistle was tight - both got touch or even no touch calls - and noone managed to stay in front of wiggins so they kept reaching and hacking and didnt adjust to the calls. Lou, Swaggy have days like this, Kobe had them. I dont recall anyone complaining about that on your board.

[Ckay]

Russell... Lets not talk about offense. But his defense.... jeezus. Its horrible.

Harden's level on defense.

[BEazy]

The last time we had a crazy differential of freethrows is when we played Jazz at Utah. Lakers had 29 fouls, while Utah only 18, which resulted in a loss.

We play Twolves at Minnesota the numbers are a staggering 31 fouls for the Lakers and Twolves got only 19 fouls.

To back up that crazy differential by saying Wiggins was on fire is a bunch of BS.

[RingsDontLie]

The last time we had a crazy differential of freethrows is when we played Jazz at Utah. Lakers had 29 fouls, while Utah only 18, which resulted in a loss.

We play Twolves at Minnesota the numbers are a staggering 31 fouls for the Lakers and Twolves got only 19 fouls.

To back up that crazy differential by saying Wiggins was on fire is a bunch of BS.

There were fouls replayed in slow motion where literally no one touched wiggins. There was a ref in particular that had a hard on for Wiggins. It was one of the worst called games I've ever seen. Surprised Luke was calm enough not to get a tech.

But Russell's play as of late is uninspired and down right crap. It's sad because everyone though he was going to break out and be something special. Offensively he is ok I suppose for an average player in his 2nd year. But he is a #2 pick...he's not playing like a #2 pick in his 2nd season. Clarkson is playing like a #2 pick in his 2nd season.

Towns isn't looking that great either especially in this game...he shot 30% from the field to get 18 points. Pretty lame for a big man.

[Landsberger]

All in all, Russell has been super disappointing so far

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Really not fond of the way he's playing since the New Orleans game, his defense especially has fallen off a cliff.

Yeah, I don't really understand it... He looked good at team usa and over the summer, but during the season so far, he's shown the least visible improvement in his game out of all the young guys, (ingram and Zubacca don't count as rookies)...
RIght now, he's kinda got a little of that Swaggy P 2015 vibe going with the big plays here and there, the showmanship, but not really engaged for the full 28 or so minutes he's on the court.
Another poster said his stats were basically empty... Not really a fan of that concept, but he does seem to do the most damage when the pressure is off.
Luke does his thing, but it might be about time for a coaching decision on him...

Russell is having some issues with being a little exposed in the offensive system. His athletic and ball handling issues are more exposed in this type of offense. Defensively and when he doesn't have the ball he seems to just check out. Completely not engaged at times.

As for the empty stats comment. Alan Iverson's career was empty stats. You can be considered one of the top players in the game and still not have a net positive effect on a team. Not that Iverson wasn't fun to watch... he was amazing from an individual perspective, however he never motivated some pretty decent teams to follow him.

I think Russell can adjust to the offense and notch up his scoring and efficiency a little but the mental aspect is the one that is troubling. Improving that at this stage is not like practicing jumpers. It's more of an innate issue.

Luke will be having his first difficult decision with him unless he turns things around.

[ALL HAIL]

All in all, Russell has been super disappointing so far

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using RealGM mobile app

Really not fond of the way he's playing since the New Orleans game, his defense especially has fallen off a cliff.

Yeah, I don't really understand it... He looked good at team usa and over the summer, but during the season so far, he's shown the least visible improvement in his game out of all the young guys, (ingram and Zubacca don't count as rookies)...
RIght now, he's kinda got a little of that Swaggy P 2015 vibe going with the big plays here and there, the showmanship, but not really engaged for the full 28 or so minutes he's on the court.
Another poster said his stats were basically empty... Not really a fan of that concept, but he does seem to do the most damage when the pressure is off.
Luke does his thing, but it might be about time for a coaching decision on him...

It ain't really hard to tell. He needs to to play substantially more off the ball.

He's a two-guard who has good vision, but he's not best utilized as a facilitator yet (I'll keep saying it, he reminds me of Steve Smith and Jamal Crawford, who both entered the league with good vision, dribbling, and shooting ability but were both also miscast as PGs in the earlier parts of their careers).

It doesn't matter though. The Lakers are invested in making him a PG this season. They won't change the formula with him this season unless something drastically negative occurs.

[Crooked-I]

Really not fond of the way he's playing since the New Orleans game, his defense especially has fallen off a cliff.

Yeah, I don't really understand it... He looked good at team usa and over the summer, but during the season so far, he's shown the least visible improvement in his game out of all the young guys, (ingram and Zubacca don't count as rookies)...
RIght now, he's kinda got a little of that Swaggy P 2015 vibe going with the big plays here and there, the showmanship, but not really engaged for the full 28 or so minutes he's on the court.
Another poster said his stats were basically empty... Not really a fan of that concept, but he does seem to do the most damage when the pressure is off.
Luke does his thing, but it might be about time for a coaching decision on him...

It ain't really hard to tell. He needs to to play substantially more off the ball.

He's a two-guard who has good vision, but he's not best utilized as a facilitator yet (I'll keep saying it, he reminds me of Steve Smith and Jamal Crawford, who both entered the league with good vision, dribbling, and shooting ability but were both also miscast as PGs in the earlier parts of their careers).

It doesn't matter though. The Lakers are invested in making him a PG this season. They won't change the formula with him this season unless something drastically negative occurs.

Yeah, got to give him time to figure it out. If by the end of the season he's still playing like crap then this PG experiment should probably end. I think he'll figure it out though and once he does, we might be able to make a strong push for that 8th seed at the end of the season.

[Kilroy]

Don't see it as a PG/SG issue...
Russell, even playing like crap, is leading the team in assists... He can play PG (as much as anybody will in this system... Curry isn't really a pure PG either), he just isn't putting in the effort on both ends of the floor... With all the switching they're doing on Defense, it really doesn't matter if he's playing 1 or 2... And with how much we give the ball to Randle or Ingram on Offense, it isn't as critical for him to be Chris Paul on that end of the court either...
He's a little too much of a show-pony right now and I think needs to get a little more edge to his game... Curry is an assassin that has fun... I get the feeling Russell doesn't care that much about killing the other team as he does being the hero... That's probably just maturity, but they have an opportunity right now to shock the league, and they can't do it without a fully engaged Russell...
He just looks like he's thinking about something else out there right now until he's in an iso 30' from the basket.

[lake_show]

Don't see it as a PG/SG issue...
Russell, even playing like crap, is leading the team in assists... He can play PG (as much as anybody will in this system... Curry isn't really a pure PG either), he just isn't putting in the effort on both ends of the floor... With all the switching they're doing on Defense, it really doesn't matter if he's playing 1 or 2... And with how much we give the ball to Randle or Ingram on Offense, it isn't as critical for him to be Chris Paul on that end of the court either...
He's a little too much of a show-pony right now and I think needs to get a little more edge to his game... Curry is an assassin that has fun... I get the feeling Russell doesn't care that much about killing the other team as he does being the hero... That's probably just maturity, but they have an opportunity right now to shock the league, and they can't do it without a fully engaged Russell...
He just looks like he's thinking about something else out there right now until he's in an iso 30' from the basket.

Yup. He's been about average on defensive switches. Where he struggles is when his guy tries to take him off the dribble. He seems like he can't keep his guy in front of him, and he's always looking for a bail out when there's no one behind him. He's never in a proper defensive stance thinking that someone behind him is gonna pick up his guy. He needs to check his man period. If he gets beat, then hopefully there's someone back there to help out. His focus should be his man tho. NOT - looking for a bail out. Which he does a lot of.

We are asking a lot from him but I don't think it's too much to ask (Play Good D, Learn the Offense, Run the Offense, Lead this team, Be a top scorer - even tho youre only 20). He's gonna have some bad games. As well as some good. It aint gonna be easy but he just needs time to figure it all out. If he's this bad in 3 months then we have an issue. He's got alot more responsibilities than any of our other youngsters tho.

[ALL HAIL]

Don't see it as a PG/SG issue...
Russell, even playing like crap, is leading the team in assists... He can play PG (as much as anybody will in this system... Curry isn't really a pure PG either), he just isn't putting in the effort on both ends of the floor... With all the switching they're doing on Defense, it really doesn't matter if he's playing 1 or 2... And with how much we give the ball to Randle or Ingram on Offense, it isn't as critical for him to be Chris Paul on that end of the court either...
He's a little too much of a show-pony right now and I think needs to get a little more edge to his game... Curry is an assassin that has fun... I get the feeling Russell doesn't care that much about killing the other team as he does being the hero... That's probably just maturity, but they have an opportunity right now to shock the league, and they can't do it without a fully engaged Russell...
He just looks like he's thinking about something else out there right now until he's in an iso 30' from the basket.

The issue is and always has been who or what type of guard should he play with.

Does he need a Rubio next to him to flourish, or does he need a Klay Thompson?

As of right now, I'm pretty sure Russell's game would be more accentuated with a Rubio-type guard than a Klay Thompson-type guard.

I've never cared about labels/positions. I care about roles, and Russell just hasn't shown me he's a primary initiator yet. Trust me, he doesn't have to be Chris Paul. He just needs to be comfortable getting the team "into" their offense, and he -- with all his pseudo leader hand waving and pointing -- looks pretty "awkward" doing it.

And you all need to stop with the "Curry's not a PG" retort whenever someone questions Russell's PG skills. Russell ain't the shooter that Curry is, doesn't have nearly the same pedigree, and Curry has Green, Livingston, and Iguodala, who are all excellent two way initiators in their own right. Curry isn't currently being asked to run an offense like Russell is. He was, but not anymore.

[lamscott]

I think we can argue his offense forever. Lets focus on his basic principles that he utterly lacks.

Speed
Dribbling
Defense
Help Defense
Vertical

He can improve Defense first and foremost. But it looks like if he doesn't even try.

[Kilroy]

Don't see it as a PG/SG issue...
Russell, even playing like crap, is leading the team in assists... He can play PG (as much as anybody will in this system... Curry isn't really a pure PG either), he just isn't putting in the effort on both ends of the floor... With all the switching they're doing on Defense, it really doesn't matter if he's playing 1 or 2... And with how much we give the ball to Randle or Ingram on Offense, it isn't as critical for him to be Chris Paul on that end of the court either...
He's a little too much of a show-pony right now and I think needs to get a little more edge to his game... Curry is an assassin that has fun... I get the feeling Russell doesn't care that much about killing the other team as he does being the hero... That's probably just maturity, but they have an opportunity right now to shock the league, and they can't do it without a fully engaged Russell...
He just looks like he's thinking about something else out there right now until he's in an iso 30' from the basket.

The issue is and always has been who or what type of guard should he play with.

Does he need a Rubio next to him to flourish, or does he need a Klay Thompson?

As of right now, I'm pretty sure Russell's game would be more accentuated with a Rubio-type guard than a Klay Thompson-type guard.

I've never cared about labels/positions. I care about roles, and Russell just hasn't shown me he's a primary initiator yet. Trust me, he doesn't have to be Chris Paul. He just needs to be comfortable getting the team "into" their offense, and he -- with all his pseudo leader hand waving and pointing -- looks pretty "awkward" doing it.

And you all need to stop with the "Curry's not a PG" retort whenever someone questions Russell's PG skills. Russell ain't the shooter that Curry is, doesn't have nearly the same pedigree, and Curry has Green, Livingston, and Iguodala, who are all excellent two way initiators in their own right. Curry isn't currently being asked to run an offense like Russell is. He was, but not anymore.

I mean you do get the clear difference between the role a player plays and the actual player himself, right? Curry's role is not that of a traditional PG like a CP3... He's a hybrid guard that's more SG than PG but runs the offense much of the time.
That's all anyone's saying about Russell... No one is suggesting he's actual Curry.

I agree he's more of a leader in the media right now than he is on the court... But I disagree that he can't be the initiator this team needs... We have Randle and Ingram to help in transition, so he doesn't need to do it all the time. But he's still leading the team in assists with Randle right behind... Yes, he's getting exposed right now, but I think his struggles have more to do with mentality and commitment than any physical limitations.

As to who he plays next to, I think right now it should be Lou Will... I think that takes some of the pressure off of him to score or drive... I think the SL should be Russell/Lou/Young/Randle/Mozgov... I think D'Lo needs to focus on the extra pass and defense right now because that's how he can most help this team.

[ALL HAIL]

Don't see it as a PG/SG issue...
Russell, even playing like crap, is leading the team in assists... He can play PG (as much as anybody will in this system... Curry isn't really a pure PG either), he just isn't putting in the effort on both ends of the floor... With all the switching they're doing on Defense, it really doesn't matter if he's playing 1 or 2... And with how much we give the ball to Randle or Ingram on Offense, it isn't as critical for him to be Chris Paul on that end of the court either...
He's a little too much of a show-pony right now and I think needs to get a little more edge to his game... Curry is an assassin that has fun... I get the feeling Russell doesn't care that much about killing the other team as he does being the hero... That's probably just maturity, but they have an opportunity right now to shock the league, and they can't do it without a fully engaged Russell...
He just looks like he's thinking about something else out there right now until he's in an iso 30' from the basket.

The issue is and always has been who or what type of guard should he play with.

Does he need a Rubio next to him to flourish, or does he need a Klay Thompson?

As of right now, I'm pretty sure Russell's game would be more accentuated with a Rubio-type guard than a Klay Thompson-type guard.

I've never cared about labels/positions. I care about roles, and Russell just hasn't shown me he's a primary initiator yet. Trust me, he doesn't have to be Chris Paul. He just needs to be comfortable getting the team "into" their offense, and he -- with all his pseudo leader hand waving and pointing -- looks pretty "awkward" doing it.

And you all need to stop with the "Curry's not a PG" retort whenever someone questions Russell's PG skills. Russell ain't the shooter that Curry is, doesn't have nearly the same pedigree, and Curry has Green, Livingston, and Iguodala, who are all excellent two way initiators in their own right. Curry isn't currently being asked to run an offense like Russell is. He was, but not anymore.

I mean you do get the clear difference between the role a player plays and the actual player himself, right? Curry's role is not that of a traditional PG like a CP3... He's a hybrid guard that's more SG than PG but runs the offense much of the time.
That's all anyone's saying about Russell... No one is suggesting he's actual Curry.

I agree he's more of a leader in the media right now than he is on the court... But I disagree that he can't be the initiator this team needs... We have Randle and Ingram to help in transition, so he doesn't need to do it all the time. But he's still leading the team in assists with Randle right behind... Yes, he's getting exposed right now, but I think his struggles have more to do with mentality and commitment than any physical limitations.

As to who he plays next to, I think right now it should be Lou Will... I think that takes some of the pressure off of him to score or drive... I think the SL should be Russell/Lou/Young/Randle/Mozgov... I think D'Lo needs to focus on the extra pass and defense right now because that's how he can most help this team.

Admittedly, I haven't watched much Warriors ball this year, but last year, Green was twice the point guard that Curry was.

That's my point. Curry doesn't seem to be the primary initiator like Russell is. They have different roles. Like I said before, Curry was a primary initiator but not anymore, so the comparison is weak in that regard.

Can Russell grow to excel in the primary initiator role? Of course. But, unfortunately, after watching him extensively in college and seeing him on the Lakers, I just don't think he's comfortable in that role.