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G D'Angelo Russell (Unanimous 1st Team All-American, All-Star, Los Angeles Lakers)

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Dryden said:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-air-occupied-by-james-harden-and-steph-curry

...

Ellis Myles, Russell’s former AAU coach, is on the phone, and he’s trying to come up with a comparison for the freshman star. The names of Curry or Harden have not come up yet, but those are the first two suggestions he throws out.

He’s then told about the offensive rating stat that ties the three players together.

“I was just throwing those two guys out as a comparison,” Myles says, laughing. “Wow.”

...

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Hadn't seen the article or the stats, but to me even more so than the numbers (which I'm glad validate my thoughts) its a style-istic comparison. Russell reminds me so much of Steph in that:
  • he's a decent but certainly not great athlete with a pretty slight build (although he's got a couple inches on Steph)
  • he makes up for his lack of athleticism with an unbelievable tight handle that allows him to create space
  • he's a pretty good finisher in the lane despite his slightness
  • he's got range and the ability to hit the off-the-dribble three at an extremely high rate, which is rare even in the NBA
  • both are going to enter the NBA as scorers with questions about their ability to play a true point at a really high level, although Steph's transition will help D'Angelo here
The differences that I see are:
  • I'm not sure that D'Angelo is quite as quick as Steph, and I think even a very minor decrease in footspeed eliminates a lot of the windows that get Steph open
  • D'Angelo is a better passer than Steph showed, his court vision is what made me originally compare him to Manu, definitely makes a lot of risky decisions but he sees things that no one else does and then tries them (Manu is a freaking savant)
  • his off-the-dribble game is probably a little more reminiscent of Harden than it is Curry in that he's more willing to shoot that elbow jumper that CP3 has made a living off of than Steph is, and he's more adept at drawing contact like Harden, whereas Curry avoids the contact and scores on drives with beautiful touch off the backboard. He's also got an array of hesitation dribbles that's very Harden-esque.
All-in-all, his ceiling to me is still basically Steph (although his fully mature game is more of a combo of Steph and Harden), but his floor is also very high, which is why he's going to go Top 5 for sure. Worst case scenario is a 15ppg/5apg combo guard who isn't able to adapt to the point well enough to truly elevate a team... but when your ceiling is a combo of two leading MVP candidates in the NBA and your floor is still that, you're going Top 5 for sure.
 
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I wouldn't say I feel sorry for Russell. He is getting the whole team built around him, and that's what he signed up for, to be the featured player - if he had gone to Kentucky for instance, he was not going to get quite the same opportunities with more competition for minutes and less stuff run to help him get shots. I'm sure he could come back if he really wanted to be on better college teams than the Buckeyes this season.
 
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I did not think that he would be first-team All-American. This is quite an honor.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's still not 100 percent fact that Ohio State freshman D'Angelo Russell will be a top-five pick in this year's NBA Draft.

Here's what is fact: Russell is a first-team All-American, as he was included on the list released by the USBWA on Monday. And that's usually a prerequisite for a bright future.

Joining Russell as first-team All-Americans are Wisconsin forward Frank Kaminsky, Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant, Kentucky forward Willie Cauley-Stein and Duke center Jahlil Okafor.
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more at http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2015/03/ohio_state_basketball_freshman.html#incart_river
 
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Matta mentioned on his call in show tonight that he was frustrated with Russell a few times in the MSU game where Russell did not do what he was supposed to defensively on switches, and then on offense there were times he wasn't running the play he was supposed to. Putting up stats is nice but big wins are nicer.
 
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Why did D'Angelo Russell leave Kentucky for Ohio State? Buckeyes star opens up about self-reliance, his recruitment and the NBA

From the article:
Initially, Ohio State envisioned Russell would be a two-year guy -- "I don't think anyone had a one-and-done approach with him," Boals said -- but he's quickly acclimated to being a dominant force.

"There's something to be said about being given the green light to do whatever he wants," said NBA Draft expert Aran Smith, who has Russell the No. 2 overall pick on NBADraft.net. "I think if he would have ended up at a place like Kentucky, it would have held him back. I think at Ohio State, he has the luxury to take over and be the leader of the team and really show what he can do as a focal point."
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This article is a very good read. Matta and Russell clicked immediately and he wanted to commit even earlier than he did.
 
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