Official D'Angelo Russell Thread

[Indomitable]

Levert and Russell will make a great backcourt in time. The both can handle and shoot. I loved Levert coming out and his injuries are scary but he has game.

Your GM has done a great job of getting legit young assets. You will have money next year. You guys could be a nice turn around story in 2019.

[MrDollarBills]

This sucks. You guys officially got yourselves a young stud. Idgaf what anyone else says..Watched every single game this kid has played in since he was drafted. He has his down moments no doubt. There are times when his energy level and body language aren't great but I think you can attribute that to a couple things. First, the situation he was in was toxic. Second, he's 20 years old. I spend so much time watching other young players around the league and it's just part of growing pains. Towns, Porzingis, Booker, all of them have their up and down moments. Part of being young.

Make no mistake, the kid is going to be a star. He's also a gamer. We didn't have alot of meaningful games in the 2 seasons he played with us but every time we played on Espn or Tnt the kid raised his level of play. Go back and watch the last game he played in Phoenix against Booker on Tnt. He played that game with a chip on his shoulder and the only thing you take away from watching him that night is this kid is not doubt going to be a stud. That's just one game. There is also the Cavs game where he dropped 40 on Shump and J.R.

Whatever, now I'm rambling. Unfortunately I will have to pay for League pass now and I will probably be spending more time on your board. Congrats

This kid came into our building this season and kicked our asses all the way from the back yard straight to the front door. I nearly crashed my car when I heard the trade news.

[MrDollarBills]

Nets Fans, How's your coaching staff? Do you guys have faith in Atkinson.
I admit I didn't spend much time watching you guys last season but do you guys have any pieces with potential? Any Shooters?

Thanks

Kenny Atkinson walks on water, cleanses lepers, and turns tap water into finely aged wine. D'Angelo Russell is in great hands.

[J_LA]

Nets Fans, How's your coaching staff? Do you guys have faith in Atkinson.
I admit I didn't spend much time watching you guys last season but do you guys have any pieces with potential? Any Shooters?

Thanks

Kenny Atkinson walks on water, cleanses lepers, and turns tap water into finely aged wine. D'Angelo Russell is in great hands.

That's Great. I want this kid to be put in the best situation possible for him to reach his full potential. Go Nets!

[Paradise]

Nets Fans, How's your coaching staff? Do you guys have faith in Atkinson.
I admit I didn't spend much time watching you guys last season but do you guys have any pieces with potential? Any Shooters?

Thanks

Caris LeVert emerged as a rising star prospect for us. He was a little better statically than Ingram after rehabbing a foot injury and coming on mid-season.

Watch on YouTube

Isaiah Whitehead is a hometown kid that plays hard nosed D and is a crafty scorer. He's like a Marcus Smart / Pat Beverley type of guard.

Watch on YouTube

Rondae is a skilled athlete that can finish, rebound, handle, pass and defend very well. Draws similarities to MKG due to a broken shot but he found his role at PF towards the end of the season.

Watch on YouTube

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[Hank7]

... i love that we got Lopez. He's solid and will bring maturity and leadership to our team (and we need that).

... i was never sold on Russell ... not because of talent, but because he is at this time, a selfish low IQ player with a bad attitude. Hopefully for the Nets, he'll mature under Atkinson. JLin should also be a + influence over him. Good luck.

[J_LA]

... i love that we got Lopez. He's solid and will bring maturity and leadership to our team (and we need that).

... i was never sold on Russell ... not because of talent, but because he is at this time, a selfish low IQ player with a bad attitude. Hopefully for the Nets, he'll mature under Atkinson. JLin should also be a + influence over him. Good luck.

Low IQ? Say what you want about his attitude. Calling him a low IQ player show you don't really understand what your'e watching.
How can someone with his lack of speed and athleticism have a low IQ? That's one of the main things he's got going for him, his feel and understanding of the game. Don't believe me, go ahead and listen to Zach Lowe's latest podcast.

There is a reason some of the best basketball minds in the business are so high on Russell, and it's not because of his athleticism.

[J_LA]

Nets Fans, How's your coaching staff? Do you guys have faith in Atkinson.
I admit I didn't spend much time watching you guys last season but do you guys have any pieces with potential? Any Shooters?

Thanks

Caris LeVert emerged as a rising star prospect for us. He was a little better statically than Ingram after rehabbing a foot injury and coming on mid-season.

Watch on YouTube

Isaiah Whitehead is a hometown kid that plays hard nosed D and is a crafty scorer. He's like a Marcus Smart / Pat Beverley type of guard.

Watch on YouTube

Rondae is a skilled athlete that can finish, rebound, handle, pass and defend very well. Draws similarities to MKG due to a broken shot but he found his role at PF towards the end of the season.

Watch on YouTube

Iv'e been doing some research. Looks like the only reason LeVert slipped in the draft is because of his foot injuries..
Hopefully that's behind him.

Seems like the only thing RHJ is missing is an outside shot. Based on everything I've read he kind of reminds me of Randle minus the defense.





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[Ror1997]

This kid is already bringing in fans for the nets.

And all those Laker fans in NYC....marks could've just got them to lean towards the Nets instead of Knicks.

This trade just keeps getting better. Marks knocked this out of the park

[Paradise]

This kid is already bringing in fans for the nets.

And all those Laker fans in NYC....marks could've just got them to lean towards the Nets instead of Knicks.

This trade just keeps getting better. Marks knocked this out of the park

Russell was popular for awhile. He's got 2.1 million followers on Instagram. Him, KAT and Booker have been the most marketable prospects out of the 2015 class.


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[shakendfries]

Harden at 21 - 12.2 PPG, 2.1 ASTS, 3.1 REBs, 1.1 STLs.

43.6% FG / 34.9 3pt% / 51.4 2PT% / 16.4 PER / 59.8 TS%


Russell at 20 - 15.6 PPG, 4.8 ASTs, 3.5 REBs, 1.4 STLs.
40.5% FG / 35.2% 3pt% / 44.7 2pt% / 15.3 PER / 51.8 TS%.





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[624]

Watch on YouTube

This is why I loved him coming out 2 years ago. You don't just lose that king of playmaking/passing. He can definitely be a point in the right environment with the right coaching. That Lakers situation playing with a bunch of blackhole chuckers (Kobe, Nick Young, Lou, etc) hurt him.

[spaceballer]

Nets Fans, How's your coaching staff? Do you guys have faith in Atkinson.
I admit I didn't spend much time watching you guys last season but do you guys have any pieces with potential? Any Shooters?

Thanks

Atkinson has been amazing. Nothing like Byron Scott, and I know Kenny will do a better job with DLo compared to Byron. Kenny Atkinson is the opposite of Byron Scott.

The coaches get the players to buy in by out-working them. You see Kenny on the floor sweating and playing together with the players in practice. He is up at 4am in the morning, peddling on his stationary bicycle while he reviews tape from the previous night's game displayed on a laptop lashed onto the handlebars of his exercise bike. He forms deep attachments to his players and keeps coaching keepsakes. Kenny is a humble hardworker who can be embarassed by the spotlight or praise, being very self-effacing and modest, but he has an extreme passion for basketball and is growing into a great headcoach. He admits that he is still learning as a new Headcoach and is focused on getting better, just like the players. When he made coaching mistakes, he publicly owned up to them.

His background is in player development, credited with helping JLin during Linsanity, adding a 3pt shot to Horford in Atlanta, developing Bazemore, Carroll, Teague, etc. Now that he is Headcoach, he has branched out and shown a good ability to create timeout plays, and most importantly have the trust of the players and get them to never quit or slack off even in a losing season.

The Nets culture is humble, hardworking, unselfish, hard-nosed effort no matter what the talent level. They play with ten times the intensity in order to try to use effort level to bridge the talent gap. No matter what the score, they will never ease off on the intensity and effort even late in a losing game.

In contrast to the previous Billy King era with publicity stunts and spectacles like "the blueprint" billboard ad opposite MSG, the new Markinson era is a humble low-key publicity approach adopted by the public relations guys that Sean Marks brought over from San Antonio. So it is a big market NYC team with a small market Spurs culture, organization, and approach focused on character and family. Instead of DLo sending inappropriate Nick Young infidelity tidbits, the Nets have the players' parents, siblings, wives, and 5yr old children travel on the team plane during roadtrips, and hire babysitters for their kids, arrange group dinners for the wives and girlfriends to support each other when the team is out of town, expanded the medical staff so that players can do rehab at home surrounded by family instead of trekking into the team facilities, and splurged on a million dollars worth of renovations just for a family lounge (complete with a kitchenette) so that wives, children, and family can be nearby during practice and games. And the Nets have a new kickass Brooklyn practice facility with a glass-walled panorama of the city skyline, as well as a rooftop players lounge.

Here is an article about Kenny getting up at 4am to review the previous night's game tape.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18848217/all-backfires-how-brooklyn-nets-rebuilding-nothing

All of the players Kenny develop speak highly of him. Here is an article on how tightly he bonds with JLin, one such player, including keeping a drawer full of coaching keepsakes.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2672061-linsanity-a-memory-nets-offering-second-act-for-jeremy-lin-and-kenny-atkinson

And here is a tribute video that a bunch of Lin fans made thanking Kenny Atkinson.

Watch on YouTube

And here is a piece on the new family room.
https://www.netsdaily.com/2017/2/6/14511232/little-things-mean-a-lot-department-the-nets-family-lounge

And about family, spouses, children on the team plane as part of the road games. (Imagine how different the Lakers culture would be if Kobe's children or Swaggy's then fiancee Iggy or Clarkson's parents were on the team plane during roadgames to be a supportive and moderating influence. The Spurs culture that Marks is trying to import to NYC focuses on families.)
https://www.netsdaily.com/2017/3/7/14839958/flying-the-family-along-with-the-team

Here are some pictures of the new practice facility on the 8th floor, and rooftop lounge




Believe it or not, this past season was the first season with the Nets fully in NYC. With the opening of the new HSS Training Center practice facility in Brooklyn, and the closing of the old one in New Jersey last summer, the Nets are actually now more "New York" than the Knicks. The Nets play in NYC (Barclay) and train in NYC(HSSTC) and live in NYC (players like to live near the practice facility, so when that shifted from Jersey to Brooklyn, so did the players. They went from 2 players in NYC to 13 players living in Brooklyn). The Knicks play in NYC, but don't train in NYC (their practice facility is out in Westchester).

The giant picture they recently installed to reinforce the focus on culture is not of accolades or individual achievements, not of a thrilling threepoint shot or game winner or dunk or block. It is of a bunch of teammates rushing to help someone fallen. Stressing teamwork pulling each other up, the tight-knit bond of the many reaching out to the one, willingness to do the dirty work and get on the ground, effort, and the humility that even a team leader needs to be helped up and trust in his teammates. The motto is even etched into the glass of the war room used by the FO and coaching staff in HSSTC (HSS stands for Hospital for Special Surgery, who co-brand the Nets training center, and have a special partnership with the Nets and is where some Nets team doctors moonlight. Kevin Durant traveled from OKC to NYC to be operated on by the Nets foot specialist).

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson have done a phenomenal job turning the culture around from the Billy King era. The Markinson era looks bright so far.

Hopefully that gives you a short primer on some Nets info.

Since you've followed him in LA, do you think DLo would fit into this humble, unselfish, high character, low-key publicity, hardworking, blue-collar, no nonsense, family first culture modeled after the Spurs (a third of the new hires that Sean Marks brought in with him have a Spurs background)? I'm hoping the change in culture can help him mature. But it is worrying that his issues persisted across two coaches so we can't just blame Byron Scott if he was like this under Luke Walton as well. Hopefully getting traded is a wakeup call and he grows up with a fresh start. He has a lot of promise.

[kobe808lak]

What an absolute steal for the Nets, congrats.

[Hank7]

... i love that we got Lopez. He's solid and will bring maturity and leadership to our team (and we need that).

... i was never sold on Russell ... not because of talent, but because he is at this time, a selfish low IQ player with a bad attitude. Hopefully for the Nets, he'll mature under Atkinson. JLin should also be a + influence over him. Good luck.

Low IQ? Say what you want about his attitude. Calling him a low IQ player show you don't really understand what your'e watching.
How can someone with his lack of speed and athleticism have a low IQ? That's one of the main things he's got going for him, his feel and understanding of the game. Don't believe me, go ahead and listen to Zach Lowe's latest podcast.

There is a reason some of the best basketball minds in the business are so high on Russell, and it's not because of his athleticism.

Let me say this then ... I agree with Magic that he ain't got enough IQ to be a part of the Laker rebuild.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Great article on the Ringer about how Russell was in a bad situation in LA and how the Nets could help him succeed.

https://theringer.com/brooklyn-nets-dangelo-russell-centerpiece-24173cfdef2f

I tend to agree with this. His rookie year he was just forced into a vanity project for Kobe Bryant, and his second year he was part of a full blown tank job.

I think Atkinson can get the most out of him in our system.

[J_LA]

... i love that we got Lopez. He's solid and will bring maturity and leadership to our team (and we need that).

... i was never sold on Russell ... not because of talent, but because he is at this time, a selfish low IQ player with a bad attitude. Hopefully for the Nets, he'll mature under Atkinson. JLin should also be a + influence over him. Good luck.

Low IQ? Say what you want about his attitude. Calling him a low IQ player show you don't really understand what your'e watching.
How can someone with his lack of speed and athleticism have a low IQ? That's one of the main things he's got going for him, his feel and understanding of the game. Don't believe me, go ahead and listen to Zach Lowe's latest podcast.

There is a reason some of the best basketball minds in the business are so high on Russell, and it's not because of his athleticism.

Let me say this then ... I agree with Magic that he ain't got enough IQ to be a part of the Laker rebuild.

Magic can barely speak English

[Fo-Real]

Good trade fellas, was hoping we could have paired him with Booker in Phx somehow.

[J_LA]

Nets Fans, How's your coaching staff? Do you guys have faith in Atkinson.
I admit I didn't spend much time watching you guys last season but do you guys have any pieces with potential? Any Shooters?

Thanks

Atkinson has been amazing. Nothing like Byron Scott, and I know Kenny will do a better job with DLo compared to Byron. Kenny Atkinson is the opposite of Byron Scott.

The coaches get the players to buy in by out-working them. You see Kenny on the floor sweating and playing together with the players in practice. He is up at 4am in the morning, peddling on his stationary bicycle while he reviews tape from the previous nights game displayed on a laptop lashed onto the handlebars of his exercise bike. He forms deep attachments to his players and keeps coaching keepsakes. Kenny is a humble hardworker who can be embarassed by the spotlight or praise, being very self-effacing and modest, but he has an extreme passion for basketball and is growing into a great headcoach. He admits that he is still learning as a new Headcoach and is focused on getting better just like the players. When he made coaching mistakes, he publicly owns up to them.

His background is in player development, credited with helping JLin during Linsanity, adding a 3pt shot to Horford in Atlanta, developing Bazemore, Carroll, Teague, etc. Now that he is Headcoach, he has branched out and shown a good ability to create timeout plays, and most importantly have the trust of the players and get them to never quit or slack off in even in a losing season.

The Nets culture is humble, hardworking, unselfish, hard-nosed effort no matter what the talent level. They play with ten times the intensity in order to try to use effort level to bridge the talent gap. No matter what the score, they will never ease off on the intensity and effort even late in a losing game.

In contrast to the previous Billy King era with publicity spectacles like "the blueprint" billboard ad opposite MSG, the new Markinson era is a humble low-key publicity approach adopted by the public relations guys that Sean Marks brought over from San Antonio. So it is a big market NYC team with a small market Spurs culture, organization, and approach focused on character and family. Instead of DLo sending inappropriate Nick Young infidelity tidbits, the Nets have the players' parents, siblings, wives, and 5yr old children travel on the team plane during roadtrips, and hire babysitters for their kids, arrange group dinners for the wives and girlfriends to support each other when the team is out of town, expanded the medical staff so that players can do rehab at home surrounded by family instead of trekking into the team facilities, and splurged on a million dollars worth of renovations just for a family lounge (complete with a kitchenette) so that wives, children, and family can be nearby during practice and games. And the Nets have a new kickass Brooklyn practice facility with a glass-walled panorama of the city skyline, as well as a rooftop players lounge.

Here is an article about Kenny getting up at 4am to review the previous night's game tape.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18848217/all-backfires-how-brooklyn-nets-rebuilding-nothing

All of the players Kenny develop speak highly of him. Here is an article on how tightly he bonds with JLin, one such player, including keeping a drawer full of coaching keepsakes.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2672061-linsanity-a-memory-nets-offering-second-act-for-jeremy-lin-and-kenny-atkinson

And here is a tribute video that a bunch of Lin fans made thanking Kenny Atkinson.

Watch on YouTube

And here is a piece on the new family room.
https://www.netsdaily.com/2017/2/6/14511232/little-things-mean-a-lot-department-the-nets-family-lounge

And about family, spouses, children on the team plane as part of the road games. (Imagine how different the Lakers culture would be if Kobe's children or Swaggy's then fiancee Iggy or Clarkson's parents were on the team plane during roadgames to be a supportive and moderating influence. The Spurs culture that Marks is trying to import to NYC focuses on families.)
https://www.netsdaily.com/2017/3/7/14839958/flying-the-family-along-with-the-team

Here are some pictures of the new practice facility on the 8th floor, and rooftop lounge




Believe it or not, this past season was the first season with the Nets fully in NYC. With the opening of the new HSS Training Center practice facility in Brooklyn, and the closing of the old one in New Jersey last summer, the Nets are actually now more "New York" than the Knicks. The Nets play in NYC (Barclay) and train in NYC(HSSTC) and live in NYC (players like to live near the practice facility, so when that shifted from Jersey to Brooklyn, so did the players. They went from 2 players in NYC to 13 players living in Brooklyn). The Knicks play in NYC, but don't train in NYC (their practice facility is out in Westchester).

The giant picture they recently installed to reinforce the focus on culture is not of accolades or individual achievements, not of a thrilling threepoint shot or game winner or dunk or block. It is of a bunch of teammates rushing to help someone fallen. Stressing teamwork pulling each other up, the tight-knit bond of the many reaching out to the one, willingness to do the dirty work and get on the ground, effort, and the humility that even a team leader needs to be helped up and trust in his teammates. The motto is even etched into the glass of the war room used by the FO and coaching staff in HSSTC (HSS stands for Hospital for Special Surgery, who co-brand the Nets training center, and have a special partnership with the Nets and is where some Nets team doctors moonlight. Kevin Durant traveled from OKC to NYC to be operated on by the Nets foot specialist).

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson have done a phenomenal job turning the culture around from the Billy King era. The Markinson era looks bright so far.

Hopefully that gives you a short primer on some Nets info.

Since you've followed him in LA, do you think DLo would fit into this humble, unselfish, high character, low-key publicity, hardworking, blue-collar, no nonsense, family first culture modeled after the Spurs (a third of the new hires that Sean Marks brought in with him have a Spurs background)? I'm hoping the change in culture can help him mature. But it is worrying that his issues persisted across two coaches so we can't just blame Byron Scott if he was like this under Luke Walton as well. Hopefully getting traded is a wakeup call and he grows up with a fresh start. He has a lot of promise.

Lovely. Thanks for the feedback.

It's tough to say how he will fit in honestly. For us fans on the outside, we weren't aware of any of the issues behind the scenes.
All we saw was constant videos posted on the Lakers website of him working out daily with the other guys. Coach Walton kept a board with a tally of who had the most workouts from the start of the season to the end, and D'Angelo was 3rd behind Ingram and Zu. So any time someone would mention his work ethic it was hard for us to understand where it was coming from.

As far as immaturity, I would just ask how many mature 20 year old's are there. I know they exist, but not everybody matures the same way at the same time. With his talent level, you don't throw something like that away before your'e absolutely positive he will never get it. And you can never say your'e absolutely positive about a 21 year old never getting it. That't why this trade stinks imo.

[DartboardT]

The body type isn't a match but he's got a little bit of Paul Pierce in his game. Minimal elevation on the 3 ball, able to get by people without explosive acceleration, mid range pull ups and floaters. Will be fun to see how his game develops under Atkinson.

BOOM.

This is exactly what I've thought about him even before we traded for him (but i have repeatedly said, if we do a salary dump deal with LA, he has to be included).

he is slow and methodical with long arms, like paul pierce. just shorter, with a mean pull up j. one of those hard jumpers that go in at a good clip but hammers the back end of the rim before going down

this kid can play.

As in, a legit starting 2?

Nets could use one. After all, they didn't HAVE a real full-time SG (no offense, Foye) the entire season