Q12543 wrote:Harden seems a lot more powerfully built than Russell, so I'm not sure that's a realistic comparison. He goes something in the 220-225 range, which is huge for a SG.
The thing that bugs the hell out of me about Harden is his foul hunting. He's worse than Martin in the way he does unnatural things with his shot and body to draw contact. It does force the officials to make calls and they are probably technically correct to blow the whistle, but man, I'd love someone to just hammer Harden and show him what a real foul feels like instead of the B.S. he's always manufacturing. Where is Bill Laimbeer when you need him?
The comparison isn't physical, it is more just what a great shooting/passing/ball-handling guard can do for a team. Harden is totally unique, but if Russell lives up to his potential that I can see now I think he will be a unique talent as well.
I agree Doper that Russell would give us another playmaker that can also shoot.
I've said this before, but our roster still has holes all over the place, to the point where it's really tough to rule out anyone currently in the top 6 or 7 on most mocks:
We need big man depth and a future insurance policy for Pek - Towns, Okafor, WCS
We need shooters - Russell, Henzonja
We need additional playmakers - Mudiay, Russell
We need defenders - Stanley Johnson, WCS
Mudiay would probably be the hardest one to find a long-term fit for, because it's hard to see Mudiay playing off the ball next to Rubio (he's not a good shooter, similar to Rubio). That's why Russell is ideal, because he can play the 2 and offload Rubio from always being the sole playmaker. LaVine theoretically could fill this role too, but he seems like more of an unknown right now than Russell. We've literally learned nothing about LaVine's long-term fit on this team. I'm not suggesting we give up on the kid, but I certainly wouldn't let his presence on the roster dictate who we draft.
Q12543 wrote:I agree Doper that Russell would give us another playmaker that can also shoot.
I've said this before, but our roster still has holes all over the place, to the point where it's really tough to rule out anyone currently in the top 6 or 7 on most mocks:
We need big man depth and a future insurance policy for Pek - Towns, Okafor, WCS
We need shooters - Russell, Henzonja
We need additional playmakers - Mudiay, Russell
We need defenders - Stanley Johnson, WCS
Mudiay would probably be the hardest one to find a long-term fit for, because it's hard to see Mudiay playing off the ball next to Rubio (he's not a good shooter, similar to Rubio). That's why Russell is ideal, because he can play the 2 and offload Rubio from always being the sole playmaker. LaVine theoretically could fill this role too, but he seems like more of an unknown right now than Russell. We've literally learned nothing about LaVine's long-term fit on this team. I'm not suggesting we give up on the kid, but I certainly wouldn't let his presence on the roster dictate who we draft.
I agree that Lavine is a conundrum. But certainly we are better having him as an x factor for now. He seems to have the talent to be a great player with no certain tangible nba skills (other than jumping out of the building), which may ultimately be why Lavine never played much at UCLA. Where as Russell has the fundamental factors you mention. I have no problem having Lavine and Russell on the team. A top 3 guard rotation of Rubio, Lavine, and Russell moving forward excites me.
CoolBreeze44 wrote:Fun to watch Harden and Wiggins go at it. But Drew, Ricky and Kmart had 16 turnovers between them. Ouch
Those turnovers were killers. Protect the ball and the Wolves might have won in spite of their horrendous shooting. But can't overlook the poor shooting either.
Rubio had 5 turnovers, but he's our PG and is the only bona fide ball-handler in our offense. He also compensated for those turnovers with 4 steals and 9 rebounds. Martin's turnovers were particularly unacceptable. He had 6 of them, which is totally unacceptable from a SG who doesn't have substantial ball-handling responsibilities. He had only 1 steal and 1 rebound. Yes, he had 21 points, but those points came on 28% shooting from the field. We need Martin's shooting, but he has to do a much better job protecting the ball.
Martin has more ball handling responsibility than you are saying there are times when he is in there with Lavine he is playing PG or initiation at the very least. Just sayin. The TOs were killer and Martin and Rubio were probably the biggest problem there because they both had some terrible decisions which shouldn't happen for players of their status. And as someone else said Martin took some questionable shots. Quite frankly it's amazing the Wolves had a legit shot at this game but it's fun going directly from watching games from a month ago to the last 2 games. Wiggins affect on the court is different in a good way and Rubio makes such a massive difference.
