2 of the 3 years Bron been in LA been a failure. Russ shown he can play with anyone. This is on Bron to make this work
AD NEED AN MD & LESS SCRUBS IN LA’S ANATOMY: THE 2021 LAKERS OFFSEASON THREAD
- Thread starter Sccit
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Voice of Reason
Veteran
So KD, Harden, Beal & George did not have some of their best seasons playing with him?
He's shown that he can stat pad with anyone
I don't want to hate on Russ but how
If last season was a failure, Russ has had 4 of his last 5 years end the same way. He's advanced beyond the first round once since KD left and that's despite playing alongside PG for two seasons and Beal and Harden for one season each.
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Russ is not fukkin Lebron lolI don't want to hate on Russ but how
If last season was a failure, Russ has had 4 of his last 5 years end the same way. He's advanced passed the first round once since KD left and that's despite playing alongside PG for two seasons and Beal and Harden for one season each.
Russ 1st season without KD a lot of people had them missing the playoffs
PG was banged up both OKC playoff runs
Houston lost to the champs in the 2nd round
Wizards finally made the playoffs after like 3 or 4 years
he had no squad those 5 years. Now he do
Beal only won 1 playoff game with him.
Oladipo only won 1 playoff game with him.
Harden only won 3 playoff games with him.
PG13 only won 3 playoff games in 2 years with him.
KD left OKC to get away from him after blowing a 3-1 lead against the GSW and it's been a decade since KD/Russ/Harden/Ibaka managed to win 1 Finals game together.
Westbrook has now lost 24 of his last 32 playoff games going back to 2016 WCF.
Last 8 postseasons:
FG% are 41%, 42%, 40%, 39%, 40%, 36%, 42%, and 33%.
3pt %'s are 22%, 28%, 32%, 26%, 36%, 32%, 24%, and 25%.
Turnovers are 4.0, 4.4, 4.3, 6.0, 5.2, 4.6, 3.8, and 4.2.
So basically, playoff Russ since that '12 Finals run is 39% shooting and 28% from 3pt with 4.5 turnovers/game and shytty defense.
Idgaf about no stats lol.
dame b2b first round losses
Kyrie ain’t did shyt since he left cle
Curry ain’t been to the playoffs in 2 years
Russ got a squad now.
It can work, we just don't know "how" it will work yet. They got talent on this team, it's just some very weird fits. I still haven't heard anyone say what Westbrook's specific role is going to be late when he doesn't play defense, can't shoot for shyt, and doesn't make good decisions. At best late in the game he's a poor man's Bron with the drive-and-kick, and why do you want that when you have the actual Bron?
You're playing with the sunk cost fallacy. Lakers should go with best lineup late no matter when it happens. Westbrook's #1 contributions should be to tax out and tire the other team's defense, create disruption so there are openings for Bron/AD and shooters, and run the opp into the ground while Bron is on the bench. Not to mention allow Bron to take games off during the regular season.
It's possible for Russ to make a very useful contribution for 30 minutes/game, and still have AD + Bron + defense/shooting be the ideal crunch time lineup.
Yeah, I can definitely see that being a realistic crunch time lineup. There's a chance Ellington/Carmelo if they're hot, but it's gonna be hard to take the defensive liability when you already have Russ there too (which is why I can imagine crunch lineups without Russ). THT should be motivated to work his ass off to belong but I just don't see it unless his shooting and defense both make big leaps.
An interesting option that isn't talked about much but which I don't think you can fully dismiss is Gasol in a crunch time lineup. His defense was still surprisingly solid last year, he makes the right passes on offense, and how many Lakers would you really trust to hit a 3pt over him right now?
Nunn (38% from 3pt last year and adequate defender)
Bazemore (41% from 3pt last year and above-average defender)
Bron (37% from 3pt last year and elite defender)
AD (elite defender)
Gasol (41% from 3pt last year and above-average defender)
Bron and Gasol are both elite distributors, Bron, AD, and Nunn can all create their own shot, everyone can shoot and there are no defensive weaknesses....no one has really been talking about that lineup but what weakness does it have? I think Gasol's contribution last year was mad underrated cause of how stiff he looks but the team is just plain better when he's on the court.
ALonelyDad
Veteran
Ask LeBron
Tbf to Russ, you can't pin that on him. Russ outperformed KD in that series imo and his playoff advanced stats from 2012-2016 are actually comparable to KD's. Russ playoff woes in recent years have been more pronounced because of injuries and declining athleticism but he was an impactful playoff performer in his prime.
Dame has led his team to 4 series wins including reaching a WCF. Russ has led his team to ZERO series wins while often having better sidekicks than Dame.
Curry led his team to a series win when he was just 24 and has proved himself in the playoffs repeatedly.
If you don't care that Russ shoots terribly in the playoffs, shoots 3pt terribly, turns the ball over a ton, doesn't play defense, and doesn't win games....what do you care about?
If Russ is in the crunch-time lineup in a playoff game, what's his role gonna be?
So u acknowledged Russ can adjust.
Russ has been to wcf 3 or 4 times and went to the finals
I think Russ has the skillset to adjust. I don't know if the mentality is there. And I don't see what his skill set is for late-game situations on this team. I'm still waiting for anyone to answer the question of what Russ's role would be late.
Russ has never once led his team past the 1st round and hasn't won more than 2 games in a series since 2016.
Peak Russ was '11/'12 when he knew his role most of the time and kept his game in check. Over time the Young Sabo in him has gotten worse and I don't know if he can pull it back.
Hell, if Russ can:
1. Play hard on defense
2. Average less than 6 defensive boards/game
3. Take less than 3 threes/game
I'm gonna be impressed with his adjustment and consider that he might have a chance.
Russ has been on top defenses 8/10 years. He can play defense
2021 Wizards' defense was 19th
2020 Rockets' defense was 14th
2019 Rockets' defense was 17th
2018 Thunder defense was 9th
2017 Thunder defense was 10th
2016 Thunder defense was 13th
2015 Thunder defense was 16th
Where are the top defenses you were claiming? Russ has played for middling defensive teams for 7 straight seasons and he's usually been one of the top 1-2 weakest links on defense. Russ's teams literally had to leave their shooters on the bench so they could start no-offense guys like Andre Roberson or Thabo Sefolosha next to Russ to cover his ass on defense. Surrounded by defenders like Capela, Tucker, PG13, Oladipo, Ibaka, etc. and teams still weren't performing defensively.