Brooklyn Nets: 2017-18 player grades for D’Angelo Russell
By Alec Liebsch
Weaknesses
“Flashes” is the key word. For every promising play DLo made, he followed it up with a boneheaded blunder. Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion fits Russell well: for every great action, there is an equal and opposing error.
Most of Russell’s mistakes stemmed from one cathartic flaw in his game: he is a subpar ball-handler. This might come as a surprise to some, because he is a guard, but he has a long way to go as a dribbler.
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Often DLo got stuck because he could not dribble his way out of a good defensive set, which led to copious amounts of erroneous plays. Due to his compromised ability to create space, plethoras of plays were over before they started.
As the initiator of the offense (and, quite frankly, as an NBA player), this is simply unacceptable. With diligence and hard work DLo can overcome this, but it will take a long time to fix.
Additionally, DLo needs a lot of work on defense, as do several players on the Nets. With elite size (6’5″), Russell has the potential to switch onto bigger players and stay in front of quicker players. However, he was seldom engaged on that end of the floor (only 0.8 steals per game), and it showed; the team ceded 4.8 points fewer points per 100 possessions without him.
The constant demand for two-way players will only increase in future years. If DLo continues to be a liability on that end, good players will roast him mercilessly, especially as the Nets try to be more competitive.