The key to a great PG without great athletisism

B-Scott · Post #1 » by **B-Scott** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 3:38 pm

Some NOT ALL, basketball fans think athletic ability and having a 40 inch vertical is one of the key's to a great PG

No it's not. There are many way's to get past a defender with good speed, but not exceptional

Ball handling: If you can cross-over with your left and right hand, stop and go moves such as pretending like your gonna cross with your left, but keep the ball in same hand and keep going. (Hesitation Move) Once you got that down, the step back jumper will be wide open. Chris Paul was never extremely athletic, but his ball handling is why he got past defenders and once he got that jumper down, he became one of best point guards in the league . Ball handling can make players look quicker than they really are

Court Vision and basketball IQ. Understanding who is hot and who is not. For example if Nick Young is shooting a ton of 35 foot bricks, as a PG i'm not going to pass you the basketball, because your hurting the team

Vocal. Offensively and on defensive end. Don't be to shy to tell a guy to stop jacking up dumb shots or let him know to stop being so lazy on close outs on defense.

D'Angelo Russell, is not as unathletic as people think. He just plays a smooth style. Kinda like Chauncey Billups, but when he decides to change pace, he gets past his defender easy and ive never seen a defender contest his jumper. Also at 6'5 you don't have to play like a 5'9 guard such as Isiah Thomas. Isiah, has to to play quick all game because he lacks size. Russell, can pick and choose when to play slow or play quick. Because of his height he can simply shoot over you. Dribble hard left and the defender will backpeddle. Step back jumper is wide open.

Mirjalovic · Post #2 » by **Mirjalovic** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 4:04 pm

B-Scott wrote: ive never seen a defender contest his jumper.

his ability to get separation is great. one of the best in the game, if not the best to be honest. That's why really critical on him, because he often miss those open shots after he creates those bad-ass separations. He also has a good post move for his age and it's nearly unstoppable. He will only grow and grow. His FT% shooting improvement appreciated too.

B-Scott wrote:Chris Paul was never extremely athletic

Chris Paul before injury was blazing fast. the quickest PG in the league.

Post #3 » by **Slava** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 4:24 pm

Over the past few games he's shown the ability to stop on a dime, create separation with body contact and make jumpers from mid range. That's another skill from the James Harden arsenal that he needs to use more to become a complete scorer.

In general he's learning to use his size advantage even against dudes like bledsoe who is strong as an ox.

B-Scott · Post #4 » by **B-Scott** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 5:37 pm

Great point bruh. The stop on the dime jumper. He has fundamentals. I want to see Russell, shoot 500 shots a day in the gym. Shoot stop on the dime jumpers all summer and he will be a All Star. He just needs to get that shot more consistent

XXBKXX · Post #5 » by **XXBKXX** » Sat Mar 11, 2017 1:18 am

It's not so much that he's not athletic, it's moreso that he's not quick. He naturally plays at a much slower tempo than everyone else. And it's extremely noticeable when he's out there with everyone. Having a young slow-footed point guard is rare in the NBA. Normally, slow pgs in the NBA are older because they lost their foot speed as they've aged. On top of that, D'Angelo's handles are extremely loose so he has to heavily rely on pick and rolls to get space. Without a screen he's practically useless.

Best roll for D'Angelo is to draft a quicker PG (like Dennis Smith Jr) and move DLo to the 2 and pray his shot from three pt range gets more consistent.

Otherwise, we should trade him before the rest of the league figures out that he's not that good.

Mitch and Jim blew this pick. Our future would have been so much brighter if we had Porzingis.

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Princeinrevolt · Post #6 » by **Princeinrevolt** » Sat Mar 11, 2017 1:36 am

XXBKXX wrote:It's not so much that he's not athletic, it's moreso that he's not quick. He naturally plays at a much slower tempo than everyone else. And it's extremely noticeable when he's out there with everyone. Having a young slow-footed point guard is rare in the NBA. Normally, slow pgs in the NBA are older because they lost their foot speed as they've aged. On top of that, D'Angelo's handles are extremely loose so he has to heavily rely on pick and rolls to get space. Without a screen he's practically useless.

Best roll for D'Angelo is to draft a quicker PG (like Dennis Smith Jr) and move DLo to the 2 and pray his shot from three pt range gets more consistent.

Otherwise, we should trade him before the rest of the league figures out that he's not that good.

Mitch and Jim blew this pick. Our future would have been so much brighter if we had Porzingis.

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you dont know ****.

Michael Lucky · Post #7 » by **Michael Lucky** » Sat Mar 11, 2017 2:30 am

Not sure why people still bring up Porzingis. He's having a bad second half this season. Would not be surprised if Russell ends up having a better overall season.

Prozingis Rookie Year - PER 17.9
Porzingis Sophmore Year - PER 17.3

Russell Rookie Year - PER 13.2
Russell Sophmore Year - PER 16.4

While Russell is clearly improving, Porzingis has at best been the same player this year.

iamworthy · Post #8 » by **iamworthy** » Sat Mar 11, 2017 3:18 am

Michael Lucky wrote:Not sure why people still bring up Porzingis. He's having a bad second half this season. Would not be surprised if Russell ends up having a better overall season.

Prozingis Rookie Year - PER 17.9
Porzingis Sophmore Year - PER 17.3

Russell Rookie Year - PER 13.2
Russell Sophmore Year - PER 16.4

While Russell is clearly improving, Porzingis has at best been the same player this year.

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Princeinrevolt · Post #9 » by **Princeinrevolt** » Sat Mar 11, 2017 4:38 am

B-Scott you also forgot to say that we have no one that can stretch the floor other than Young. Russell can easily get into the paint with his ballhandling, its just no one is going to contest a Randle/Nance jumpshot.

john248 · Post #10 » by **john248** » Sun Mar 12, 2017 2:44 am

Russell has good handles, but it needs to be elite in terms of being able to go where ever he wants, mixing up speeds, knowing angles, using screens, etc. He needs to be at least a 40% shooter where this will improve through practice and can improve simply by having better teammates (or really a another good ball handler/passer) on the floor. Decision making will come with experience but to be a great offensive player in general comes down to being able to score and pass no matter the position.

BEazy · Post #11 » by **BEazy** » Sun Mar 12, 2017 5:39 am

Lol, I get tired of hearing people say we should of drafted Porzingis. Most of the fan base would be on suicide alert if that even happened on draft night.

The 76ers even passed on Porzingis, and they are true veterans when it comes to drafting. So it's no where near Jim and Mitch's fault for drafting Dlo instead of Porzingis.

Simply put, Knicks got LUCKY.

danfantastk32 · Post #12 » by **danfantastk32** » Sun Mar 12, 2017 6:18 am

ScHoolBoy B wrote:Lol, I get tired of hearing people say we should of drafted Porzingis. Most of the fan base would be on suicide alert if that even happened on draft night.

The 76ers even passed on Porzingis, and they are true veterans when it comes to drafting. So it's no where near Jim and Mitch's fault for drafting Dlo instead of Porzingis.

Simply put, Knicks got LUCKY.

I don't know about lucky. Porzingis looked pretty damn good. I really wanted him. But I will admit, there are many decisions in life that are not that simple. Had D'angelo turned out to be a bust, Jim/Mitch would have survived that (you know....assuming they were "ok" at running things), but I don't think you survive Porzingis being a bust, and having passed on all the "conventional" picks.

Could I have done it in real life?? I'm not sure. I did want to though.

The Knicks "luck"....if you wanna call it that....Is that they didn't have to make the decision. The 3 top "conventional" guys were already taken. I think that made the choice/risk MUCH MUCH easier for the Knicks.

XXBKXX · Post #13 » by **XXBKXX** » Sun Mar 12, 2017 6:23 am

ScHoolBoy B wrote:Lol, I get tired of hearing people say we should of drafted Porzingis. Most of the fan base would be on suicide alert if that even happened on draft night.

The 76ers even passed on Porzingis, and they are true veterans when it comes to drafting. So it's no where near Jim and Mitch's fault for drafting Dlo instead of Porzingis.

Simply put, Knicks got LUCKY.

I've mentioned this before on realgm but I don't buy that excuse that Mitch and Jim get a pass on the Porzingis miss because no one else thought he would of been this good. I understand why no one here on realgm could have seen how good Porzingis is as we are not scouts and all we have to go by are YouTube videos. Mitch and Jim on the other hand I expect to get the pick right. No matter what.

Especially seeing how crucial this pick is. Mitch and Jim needed to have the forward vision and player evaluation skills to be able to get this pick right. They have a bunch of scouts at their disposal. They worked out Porzingis personally and got a chance to evaluate him up close. But they are dinosaurs still stuck running off a playbook from the 80s. I believe this is one of the main reasons why they had to get removed. Theyre dinosaurs and can't look around the corner to see how Porzingis could be a stud in today's NBA.

I didn't let them off the hook and I'm glad they're gone. It all comes down to accountability and we Laker fans expect our GM to get this high draft pick right. No matter what.

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danfantastk32 · Post #14 » by **danfantastk32** » Sun Mar 12, 2017 6:30 am

XXBKXX wrote:I didn't let them off the hook and I'm glad they're gone. It all comes down to accountability and we Laker fans expect our GM to get this high draft pick right. No matter what.

Totally 1000% agree with you, BUT....Do you think D'angelo was a bad choice?

Personally, I wouldn't put the "Russel signing" down as a reason they had to go. That's just me though.

dAdo dA dEvil · Post #15 » by **dAdo dA dEvil** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 1:45 pm

Not totally sold on DLo right now. Was even leaning towards Okafor during the draft day because we still have Kobe that year and I feel we need a big more than another guard but having DLo now I can say that it feels better than having Okafor especially that we got Zubac and it seems that Okafor's off court issues are worse than DLo's. Regarding Kristaps, no way you pick him over DLo on the draft day. Have you guys saw the reaction of the Knick's fans when they picked him? Picking Kristaps at number 2 is a reach on that draft day. It is good to see Kristaps performing well today but I don't regret not picking him over DLo. DLo / Okafor was the right pick on that very moment. I'm not sold on DLo right now but I'm not giving up on him yet. Maybe another 2 more years ??? One more year as a PG under Luke then if it's still not working then another year as a SG. But I feel he'll thrive more as a SG.

myersia · Post #16 » by **myersia** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 1:54 pm

Russell reminds me of a hybrid of Jamal Tinsley, Deron Williams, and Kendall Marshall. Obviously he doesn't have Deron's explosiveness he used to have or his shot. I am hoping Russell has the motivation to put the time in as needed to get better. That's the biggest thing I fear about Russell. I question his motivation to get better and his motivation to win and play hard every game. But I am willing to be patient unless we get a trade we can't deny. I also think Russell becomes expendable if we draft Ball who I believe is the better prospect.

warren weel im · Post #17 » by **warren weel im** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 2:29 pm

DAR needs to learn to fish fouls, and shoot 6-8 FTAs along with shooting 45% from the field and 40% or higher from three.

Ideal vision: 9/20 FG, 2/5 from three, 5/6 FT. That's 25ppg.

john248 · Post #18 » by **john248** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 11:44 pm

myersia wrote:Russell reminds me of a hybrid of Jamal Tinsley, Deron Williams, and Kendall Marshall. Obviously he doesn't have Deron's explosiveness he used to have or his shot. I am hoping Russell has the motivation to put the time in as needed to get better. That's the biggest thing I fear about Russell. I question his motivation to get better and his motivation to win and play hard every game. But I am willing to be patient unless we get a trade we can't deny. I also think Russell becomes expendable if we draft Ball who I believe is the better prospect.

Russell has been spending time with Walton after practice to shoot more jumpers, so he is showing signs of wanting to be better. Even if Ball is drafted, Russell is not expendable. There are no shooters on this team.

danfantastk32 · Post #19 » by **danfantastk32** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 4:53 am

dAdo dA dEvil wrote:I'm not sold on DLo right now but I'm not giving up on him yet. Maybe another 2 more years ??? One more year as a PG under Luke then if it's still not working then another year as a SG. But I feel he'll thrive more as a SG.

The million $$ issue is time. I think most people had hoped D'Lo would have made bigger strides this year. He did improve....and that's your selling point. Right now there's still a ton of mystery/hope with him. But you wait till next year, and I think everyone will know what he is. It could be really good. There is always that. But the Lakers (should) know better than anyone else at this point what he's got upstairs.....how truly committed to defense he is. Is he REALLY staying late? What's he like in locker room? Does anyone respect him? Does he even care/want to lead? If the Lakers do feel like they may have a "dud" (btw....he's not a dud. The guy is at the very worst, a good player. I just can't think of a better word, but you know what I mean) then they might want to shop him while the getting's good. Cause if he doesn't make strides next year, your gonna see the value plummet on him.

I'm like you. I see the potential, but I'm not sold. I had hoped to see a bigger step this season. I'd like to see him get another year, but once he does....your stuck with him. That could be great....could be "ok"....could be a bummer, and you'd wished you'd packaged him off for goodies while his stock was still pretty high. I think it's already taken a hit. He kinda messed things up last year with the Young scandal...but I'd still be willing to bet that you coulda traded him for more last year than this year.

I'd hesitate to call his growth this year "disappointing"....but whatever that word is that's one step less. He's that. "lackluster"? I think you kinda see that genral vibe in the NBA with him. I think people thought they were gonna see a little more.

dAdo dA dEvil · Post #20 » by **dAdo dA dEvil** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:11 pm

danfantastk32 wrote:
dAdo dA dEvil wrote:I'm not sold on DLo right now but I'm not giving up on him yet. Maybe another 2 more years ??? One more year as a PG under Luke then if it's still not working then another year as a SG. But I feel he'll thrive more as a SG.

The million $$ issue is time. I think most people had hoped D'Lo would have made bigger strides this year. He did improve....and that's your selling point. Right now there's still a ton of mystery/hope with him. But you wait till next year, and I think everyone will know what he is. It could be really good. There is always that. But the Lakers (should) know better than anyone else at this point what he's got upstairs.....how truly committed to defense he is. Is he REALLY staying late? What's he like in locker room? Does anyone respect him? Does he even care/want to lead? If the Lakers do feel like they may have a "dud" (btw....he's not a dud. The guy is at the very worst, a good player. I just can't think of a better word, but you know what I mean) then they might want to shop him while the getting's good. Cause if he doesn't make strides next year, your gonna see the value plummet on him.

I'm like you. I see the potential, but I'm not sold. I had hoped to see a bigger step this season. I'd like to see him get another year, but once he does....your stuck with him. That could be great....could be "ok"....could be a bummer, and you'd wished you'd packaged him off for goodies while his stock was still pretty high. I think it's already taken a hit. He kinda messed things up last year with the Young scandal...but I'd still be willing to bet that you coulda traded him for more last year than this year.

I'd hesitate to call his growth this year "disappointing"....but whatever that word is that's one step less. He's that. "lackluster"? I think you kinda see that genral vibe in the NBA with him. I think people thought they were gonna see a little more.

Yeah, I think we're kinda the same. I just try to be more patient with our young rosters. Especially that our youngsters were drafted as teens. So typically I give them the time until their rookie contract is up. Until then I won't advocate trading them, but if we are getting a legit star in a trade I will strongly consider trading DLo and Randle. Not that I don't like them, but let's be realistic, the other team will ask for them as they have the best trade value in our team right now. Right now for me Ingram and Zubac are untouchables. Yeah, I know for some people here Ingram is under achieving but I still keep my hopes high on him (as what I've said I'm patient with our youngsters) the tools are there I'm just betting that he still needs a little more time. I liked Zubac from the start especially because he really wants to be a Laker. I even wanted him to start from the get go. Considering their age and abilities and skills at this point this two could be very dangerous in years to come. I still hope DLo somehow plays a SG role so we can see what he can do in that spot. So we could somehow evaluate in what guard position he excels more.