I’m happy to see Russ flourishing in his new role. Seems like he’s having fun out there again too.
TJae0120
He looks so much better off the bench. This is the formula
StoneColdAM
Ham is a genius for convincing him to play this role.
Danny_III
I was saying if they keep Westbrook, he has the most value between the first and last ~5 minutes. The problem with closing with the Lebron-AD-Westbrook lineup is most teams will happily give away a Westbrook 3 if it means having an extra guy to take away paint shots
Apart-Bad-5446
His defense is 10x better than it was last year. He actually did a decent job guarding Zion. I think more than shooting, Russ works best with guys who run the floor and cut to the basket. So many easy buckets initiated by Russ in that 2nd Q. Troy Brown and Russ had great chemistry all game as well so hopefully Ham and the coaching staff play them both more often.
WembanyamaToTheKings
6MOTY
Barn30barn
I genuinely think having the crowd on his side has been great for him
cousin_brian
Lav1on
Benchbrook is Beastbrook
Mister-Stiglitz
It’s like a controlled burn
william4534
We should also point out that he looks like one of our best defenders. Like he isnāt just ānot terribleā right now, heās actively very very good
yusbishyus
i think what should be bigger is the 42 points from the bench in the last 3 games. he’s really got that bench humming and productive. will be big as the season goes on for sure with such a top heavy team.
dvon1097
6MOTY LFG RUSS!
guyfromthepicture
He plays like this and then disappears in the post season. It does remove our desperation to move him which is real nice
Dumbo_Mutombo
While I still think a Russ trade is necessary to make this team a contender, it will be nice for this Russ Lakers experiment to be left off on good terms
ZestyItalian2
Itās a really small sample so I think we should all pump the brakes before getting too excited but if this is real what an incredible intervention. DHam will have literally saved the manās NBA career.
TorontoRaptors34
To me Russ otb is lowkey an all star hes playin hella efficient and he putting up near tripple double otb. Even 18 8 is all star numbers alone but he finding a way to be the russ of old in a positive way combined with his defense. If he keeps it up this might be his best season
opeth2310
There was a play in the second half where Russ did something I havenāt seen him do as a Laker. He was helping in the paint as he should be when the ball was on opposite corner of his man. The ball got swing quickly to the other corner and he sprinted like a mad man to close out and the guy couldnāt even get a shot off. It was a perfect close out
sylsau
And in addition, Ham has just proved to him that it does not involve a hamstring injury to come off the bench …
WellSE123
Coming off the bench was the only way!
youarepotato
So…last year when Russ averaged 18/7/7 on the season we didn’t care about stats, but now we do? Ooookay.
Gluticus
Glad to see Westbrook find his role. That said, I still wish he could adapt his game to actually not be a liability at the end of game/OT.
I think the best case scenario is he has improved his trade stock enough to get us a better deal. Canāt have a player this expensive simply refuse to mesh with our best player in Lebron.
Emotional-Finger-272
It’s all we ever wanted from him. I get it he can’t help what was given up to get him but if he takes accountability for HIS poor play and finds a way to be a positive then people won’t show such vitriol.
23 Comments
I’m happy to see Russ flourishing in his new role. Seems like he’s having fun out there again too.
He looks so much better off the bench. This is the formula
Ham is a genius for convincing him to play this role.
I was saying if they keep Westbrook, he has the most value between the first and last ~5 minutes. The problem with closing with the Lebron-AD-Westbrook lineup is most teams will happily give away a Westbrook 3 if it means having an extra guy to take away paint shots
His defense is 10x better than it was last year. He actually did a decent job guarding Zion. I think more than shooting, Russ works best with guys who run the floor and cut to the basket. So many easy buckets initiated by Russ in that 2nd Q. Troy Brown and Russ had great chemistry all game as well so hopefully Ham and the coaching staff play them both more often.
6MOTY
I genuinely think having the crowd on his side has been great for him
Benchbrook is Beastbrook
It’s like a controlled burn
We should also point out that he looks like one of our best defenders. Like he isnāt just ānot terribleā right now, heās actively very very good
i think what should be bigger is the 42 points from the bench in the last 3 games. he’s really got that bench humming and productive. will be big as the season goes on for sure with such a top heavy team.
6MOTY LFG RUSS!
He plays like this and then disappears in the post season. It does remove our desperation to move him which is real nice
While I still think a Russ trade is necessary to make this team a contender, it will be nice for this Russ Lakers experiment to be left off on good terms
Itās a really small sample so I think we should all pump the brakes before getting too excited but if this is real what an incredible intervention. DHam will have literally saved the manās NBA career.
To me Russ otb is lowkey an all star hes playin hella efficient and he putting up near tripple double otb. Even 18 8 is all star numbers alone but he finding a way to be the russ of old in a positive way combined with his defense. If he keeps it up this might be his best season
There was a play in the second half where Russ did something I havenāt seen him do as a Laker. He was helping in the paint as he should be when the ball was on opposite corner of his man. The ball got swing quickly to the other corner and he sprinted like a mad man to close out and the guy couldnāt even get a shot off. It was a perfect close out
And in addition, Ham has just proved to him that it does not involve a hamstring injury to come off the bench …
Coming off the bench was the only way!
So…last year when Russ averaged 18/7/7 on the season we didn’t care about stats, but now we do? Ooookay.
Glad to see Westbrook find his role. That said, I still wish he could adapt his game to actually not be a liability at the end of game/OT.
I think the best case scenario is he has improved his trade stock enough to get us a better deal. Canāt have a player this expensive simply refuse to mesh with our best player in Lebron.
It’s all we ever wanted from him. I get it he can’t help what was given up to get him but if he takes accountability for HIS poor play and finds a way to be a positive then people won’t show such vitriol.