The 19 year old 6 foot 5 inch second over-all draft pick of LA Lakers, D'Angelo Russell, seems to be having some problem living up the expectations of his coach, team and fans. Russell was perceived to be one of the best rookie point-guard in the league; however with his current performance even Coach Byron Scott seems to be having some doubts about it.
A testament to this would perhaps be the declining minutes or game exposure of D'Angelo Russell. During their match against the Miami Heat, Russell only played 21 minutes of the ball game, making it as "the lowest of any of the team's starters," said realgm. And according to deadspin Coach Scott already warned him about such scenario, any signs of lack of improvement would eventually lead to decrease playing time. As a foretaste of the said previous warning, Russell during the fourth quarter of the Miami-Lakers game was not able to play. He was pulled out on the third quarter with 4:52 time remaining.
On a twitter post of Baxter Holmes via deadspin, he stated that Russell was left hanging for the exact reason behind the pullout. In details, Holmes shared that, "D'Angelo Russell on playing late in games: I've got to figure out what I'm doing wrong so I can correct it. Byron explain why? 'No.'"
Now the tactic of Scott is somehow puzzling, for if he want his young players to improve, then more minutes should be given. The likes of Russell, Clarkson and Randle should see more playing time especially during "fourth quarter of blowouts, and also the fourth quarter of close games," said deadspin.
With this on-going struggle of Lakers and their rookie point-guard, one but cannot help but recall the words of Byron Scott when he somehow belittled other rookies like Kristaps Porzingis and Emmanuel Mudiay.
It can be remembered that Scott told the reporters that Porzingis "it was going to take him some time [to develop]." Scott also expressed his opinion about Mudiay, saying that, "I didn't think he was a true point guard. I didn't think he was a guy who made great decisions when we saw him and had him here. I thought that was something he would have to learn to do to run that position." However, in contrast to his unlikely guess, both rookies are having a good time and plays in their respective teams.
