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

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UNION, N.J. – With many eyes on the marquee battle between St. Joseph’s Karl Towns and Monteverde Academy’s Ben Simmons, D’Angelo Russell used the second half of Montverde’s 79-70 victory to leave his mark on the game and lead his team to a come-from-behind victory at the Metro Classic on Sunday night at Kean University.

Russell, the 6-foot-4 2014 Ohio State-commit, finished with 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a fantastic all-around performance that had to leave Ohio State head coach Thad Matta, who was in attendance, very excited about what Russell will bring to his Buckeyes next season.

With his team leading 64-62 in the fourth quarter, Russell took over by scoring seven unanswered points to increase Monteverde’s lead to nine points. He made and was fouled on a mid-range jumper and took two aggressive drives to the rim with acrobatic finishes that seemed to give his team all the momentum it needed to finish the game on top.

“I’ve got to get used to it now,” Russell told SNY.tv of what it was like playing in front of Matta, who was also there to watch 2015 Pope John XXIII forward Moustapha Diagne. “I’ve got to approach every game the same way. Like I said, it’s just a blessing to be able to play in front of your coach like that and we got the win so it was cool.”

When informed that Matta had reached his 14th straight season of winning 20 games or more after Saturday’s win over Illinois, Russell sounded very eager to be a part of it.
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http://zagsblog.com/articles/dangelo-russell-shows-out-at-metro-classic-ready-to-help-ohio-state/
 
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11Warriors - Thurs. Skull Session

D'ANGELO RUSSELL IS ON THE WAY. Five-star recruit and OSU signee D'Angelo Russell played in the McDonald's All-American game last night, and despite being subbed out early he got #bizzy with the time he had. (He finished with nine points on 4/6 shooting.)

If you aren't satisfied with the sampling size, Russell plays again tonight at 6 PM on ESPNU in the Dick's National High School Tournament.

But yes, Thad Matta has got himself a playmaker in young D'Angelo; he will probably be inserted into the starting lineup when he arrives on campus. But don't take my word for it:

The thing I liked most about watching him play... he's silky. Only a couple of things are more enjoyable in sports than watching a basketballer dominate a game effortlessly.

It will be a refreshing break from this past year, when Ohio State's offense had about as much grace as two teens hooking up in the back of one of their dad's 1993 Nissan Sentra.
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There are some tweets from observers that you'll have to follow the link to read.
 
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Rivals - McDonald's AA Game Practice notes

From the few practices before last nights game.

Though he won't play the point, Ohio State bound D'Angelo Russellhas been very steady. He is a very good catch and shoot guy, can put the ball on the floor some and doesn't seem to force any bad shots. Every now and then he plays a little too straight up and down and has to get into a better stance on defense but he has been very solid through Tuesday.
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Russell is going to start next season, he's able to stretch the defense with his shooting, has decent height but more importantly great length to make plays defensively at the 2, and his passing ability is underrated. Should really complement Scott well in the backcourt.
 
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I'm really looking forward to watching him again today against Huntington Prep (4:30 on ESPN2). Thing that impresses me most watching him with Montverde is that even when his shot isn't falling, he looks to get teammates involved and engaged. Some of the passes he threw yesterday were outstanding.
 
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Rivals (free) - Russell ready to contribute.

Where does Russell feel that he can be of most service? "Definitely scoring and as a playmaker," Russell said. "If you were to read the scouting report on them it would probably say that LaQuinton Ross, you have to keep your eye on him because he is more the guy who gets them going when they are struggling… and he is gone now so now who? I feel like I can definitely step in and bring that to the team." But even Russell knows that nothing will be given to him or any of his talented incoming teammates and there will be a lot of hard work coming up in the next several months before the team takes the court in the fall for its first game. Russell, as with all incoming players knows that the "next level" game is played at both ends of the court and that will be an adjustment. What did he see out of Ohio State that he needs to work on in the coming months? "Probably defense, they are probably one of the teams that I saw draw the most five second calls on defense," Russell said. "Just the will and the want to play defense is something that I need to bring to my game. When I am on defense I need to be like, 'Let's go, I want to play defense' instead of 'I can't wait until the shot goes up so I can get on offense', that is something I need to buy into." Russell will be a key player if Ohio State hopes to maintain its spot as one of the top teams in the Big Ten moving forward. There is no shortage of enthusiasm on Russell's side of things to be a contributor and he feels that he is entering a great situation with the Buckeyes. "I am ready to take my game to the next level," Russell said. "I feel that with coach Matta's coaching staff and the guys that he has already there, I feel like it can definitely progress in time." - See more at: https://ohiostate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1627779#sthash.21iXlop8.dpuf
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Yeah, he's a baller.

I usually try to come up with something better, but I'll go with the lazy comparison- James Harden. 6'5, lefty, pure scorers that can weave in and out of the defense, rebound and distribute well for their position, and can be lethal as a catch and shoot or a step back shooter. Harden obviously has some more weight/beef to him, but we're talking about an 18yo kid vs 24 (geez, Harden is only 24?).

This is top talent, no doubt.
 
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OHSportsFan said:
Yeah, he's a baller.

I usually try to come up with something better, but I'll go with the lazy comparison- James Harden. 6'5, lefty, pure scorers that can weave in and out of the defense, rebound and distribute well for their position, and can be lethal as a catch and shoot or a step back shooter. Harden obviously has some more weight/beef to him, but we're talking about an 18yo kid vs 24 (geez, Harden is only 24?).

This is top talent, no doubt.
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I mentioned this in the Kam Williams thread but I was wondering if Russell will have the ability to play some PG next year in relief of Scott. I know that it was mentioned when he signed with Ohio State that he said Matta told him that he might let him play like Turner and Turner played some PG to say the least.
 
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Much better ball handler and passer than I was expecting. He's going to be fun to watch next year.

I wish he could spend every day with Craft working on moving his feet on defense. He definitely has a lot of room to grow in that department, especially as a help defender.
 
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LitlBuck said:
I mentioned this in the Kam Williams thread but I was wondering if Russell will have the ability to play some PG next year in relief of Scott. I know that it was mentioned when he signed with Ohio State that he said Matta told him that he might let him play like Turner and Turner played some PG to say the least.
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D'Angelo can handle the rock. Brought the ball up for his team today. Has some quick moves with his left. Looks dangerous when he can rebound and bring the ball up himself in the open court. He should have no problem taking on ball-handling duties when needed.
 
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