Lakers: D’Angelo Russell Still Has Room for Improvement

No Traditional Conditioning

I touched on this already in the shooting section of this slideshow, but conditioning will be key in D’Angelo Russell’s continued improvement.

Besides, giving him the chance to get more strength under his shots, being in better shape will also give Russell better physicality in other areas of his game.

For one, Russell hasn’t been a very willing driver so far this season. He’s been fairly successful with his mid-range shot coming out of the pick and roll, so it’s possible that some of this is just wanting to go to that since it’s been working for him. Still though, driving to the basket is a much more efficient scoring option than pulling up for mid-range shots. For one, it’s easier to get fouled when driving to the rim, and since D’Angelo is an average free-throw shooter that means a drive being successful isn’t just dependent on whether he makes his shot or not. Instead, you can also factor in that increased likelihood of being fouled, ergo better efficiency coming from drives.

Once D’Angelo gets into better shape — and when I say better shape obviously I just mean relative to other NBA players — he’ll be able to more easily get by both his defender and the help defender on his way to the bucket.

He’ll have a better chance of finishing through contact, while also protecting his body from becoming too beat up as a result of the increased physicality of taking the ball to the rim.

Lastly, better conditioning should help Russell really improve his defense. He’s already got elite length and height for a point-guard.

If he can add better athleticism to that, he would have all the tools to become a great NBA defender.

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