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Russell, Clarkson Show Well in Rising Stars Challenge

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The Rising Stars Challenge featured the Lakers’ backcourt of the future and both D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson represented themselves and the team well. The game did not feature a lot of defense and was mostly played at a tempo and intensity resembling a glorified scrimmage, but it was still nice to see both players do well.

Clarkson started out hot, hitting four of his first five three pointers looking like an early contender for MVP in the process. He wasn’t able to keep up that pace, but he looked smooth, athletic, and played a good game overall:

Russell, meanwhile, also showed the type of game fans can get excited about. From the range on his jumper to the passing skill and acumen, he looked like the type of lead guard who could thrive in a more wide open offense:

After the game, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton handed out grades and was nice to both Lakers, giving Clarkson a solid “B” and Russell an “A”. It should be noted that this type of game — wide open, not a lot of defense — is exactly the type of contest that favors the Lakers’ guards. Both aren’t yet the defensive players they need to be, but both can more than carry their own as scorers and playmakers offensively.

Those skills were on full display for all to see and their performances helped their team win the game. All in all, then, a pretty good night for the Lakers and their young backcourt duo.


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Comments

  3. Anonymous says

    This game does a decent job of proving that the Princeton offense is not ideal for this back court. Given the talent level and Scott’s inability to play to their strengths, this off season should be an easy decision for the laker brass to terminate the Byron Scott experiment. Scott’s best contribution is his ineptitude leading to bad record and a top 3 pick.

  4. J C says

    Russell showed what we knew he could. A sweet shooting stroke with great vision and passing.
    This kid’s confidence is awesome.

    How about Zachary Lavine and Aaron Gordon???
    Insane dunkfest. Great TV.

    Bring on Kobe for the weekend finale.

  5. LordMo says

    Huh….Randle? I’m not seeing what you guys are seeing in Randle.
    Nance stays and Randle will not be a long term Laker. Unless he changes his attitude and work habits. Point… He was hurt for a whole season and it’s pretty obvious that he did not spend that time working on his jumper. Also, Randle is a BIG defensive minus… Huge! Rated like the #88 forward in the league out of like 92 or something ridiculous like that. If we get Simmons … Bye bye Randle! Even if we don’t geBASICs Lakers need another big because I think the front office knows he is struggling to be a solid NBA starter right now.
    Liked the guards nice set I think the grading is reversed however… Clarkson A … Kid can flat out play! Russell B … DAR can shoot! Nice game and he looks good at both the 1 & 2. However, gets into trouble when he tries to do too much athletically especially against those more athletic than him. Keep thinking the Lakers got it twisted … Clarkson is the 1 and DAR looks better at the 2 where his pure shooting would be punctuated. But the Lakers could have a West/Goodrich thing developing here … Basically 2 combo guards on the floor at once. Detroit had 3 with Thomas, Dumars and Johnson they could rotate.
    Portzingis is a player! Wiggins is a beast and if he gets a consistent jumper … Watchout! I’m taking credit for Zach L. he is going to be really really good & I told you so! Some bright young stars looking forward to them becoming true stars in the league.
    I’m satisfied with our guys they represented well and I think both of them will be back for All Star weekends in the future! Nice job young fellas now back to work … Got some banners we going to be hanging in a few years!!!

  6. Josh says

    LOL that above post makes zero sense. Someone hasn’t watched the last month of Randle or noticed he’s averaging a double double in less than 30minsfor the season. Is ANYONE? else this season? I’m glad some of us are just fans lol. Since returning to the starting lineup and getting snubbed he’s been a beast. Pay attention.

  7. Josh says

    Zach LaVine still looks all flash and no substance to me. He’s amazing all-star weekend then returns to being Gerald Green in a pg’s body in the games that matter. Maybe he can learn to channel that athleticism like Westbrook but idk…his bbiq just seems extremely low.

  8. bleedpurplegold says

    AG got robbed…that under the legs over the mascot dunk might have been the most spectacular dunk i have ever seen….i did not see this coming 🙂

    I hope this stops the talk of having the 3pt shootout last, the dunk is still king!!!

  9. Fern says

    Nance stays and Randle will not be a long term Laker. Unless he changes his attitude and work habits.~~~~~~~~ What? Everyone from the FO to the players have praised his work ethic, attitude and drive during his rehab and during this his ROOKIE season he has been praised by opposing players as a potentially great player. His attitude? what attitude? he can be intense but it’s not disrespectful to anyone and dont back down from anyone in the court and during the last few weeks it’s been obvious he is been working on his two biggest deficiencies on offense, his jumpshot and using his right hand. About his defense, the entire team is horrible in defense and i dont think he will be an elite defender but he is not as bad as other people in the team. He does need another big that help him out and cover him in defense but that’s not either rare or is sonething that he can’t improve on. I guess 11 and 10 in less than 30 minutes as a rookie ain’t enough let’s trade him he sucks!!!!! SMFH

  10. Mikey says

    Got to pile on with the friendly criticism of Lord Mos comment. Not only is the statement about work ethic completely at odds from every account, but expecting Randle to work on his jumper during the same year he had two separate leg surgeries is just off base.

    Moreover, the statement about Randles defense is flat out false. His block and steal numbers are on the low side, but his man on man defense already rates as well above average according to sports vu, I think. I read this in an article on Randle about 3-4 weeks ago,. Shouldn’t be hard to find on Google.

    Not saying Randle will be great, or good, or not. But if you’re going to make an argument, it’s a good idea to have at least one of your three arguments based in fact.

  11. Anonymous says

    Why does the FO want Kobe in the lineup every day? From an ESPN article:

    ‘But the Lakers are playing a bigger game than stanching the ratings bleeding. At the top of the 2016 draft is LSU freshman phenom Ben Simmons, a once-in-a-decade player. To give themselves the best shot to land him on May 17, the night of the draft lottery, the Lakers have to lose. A lot — as much as the very publicly tanking 76ers. Viewed in this light, Bryant’s terrible play against the league-worst Sixers was, actually, excellent for business. That’s the greatest irony of his daily ordeal. Bryant’s desire to keep playing and keep shooting — cast as the selfish acts of an egoist who can’t let go — ensures defeat, and thus helps the team.’

    • KO says

      Wrong wrong wrong.

      Giving them way to much credit

      Its about filling seats on road and home. Its about a contract with Time Warner.

      Go back and look at rating plung last year with no Kobe. Spong Bob Squirepants would get better rating if Kobe sat the bench.

      No one is handing Jim and Jeannie membership cards to a mensa club. Assune the lowest denominator. MONEY

  12. KenOak says

    This is hilarious! Clarkson is looking out for DAR as a question is asked that could potentially be seen as a referendum on Byron Scott’s coaching. Clarkson mutters “don’t say nothing crazy” under his breath.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Z9xY3GACg&feature=youtu.be&t=4m9s

    These guys really seem like they can’t stand Scott. I must admit that I was 100% wrong. MDA wasn’t the problem here in any way shape or form. And, although I wasn’t a standard bearer for Scott, I did say that he wouldn’t be a “terrible” hire. I was wrong on both accounts. The only silver lining is that we may get to keep our pick this year to get another young possible superstar.

  15. LordMo says

    Lol thanks guys for the friendly piling on. I’m hope I’m wrong about and I will be if he keeps working and accepts the coaching which he has done lately hence the improved play. The benching got his attention so give BScott some credit. But the articles are pretty dead on regarding the holes in his game.

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2601825-julius-randles-struggle-off-the-bench-is-troublesome-for-los-angeles-lakers

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2001982-is-julius-randle-the-most-overrated-top-2014-nba-draft-prospect

    http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/239972/Lakers-Working-On-Improving-Julius-Randles-Jumper

  16. Marques says

    Hard to tell what any of these guys are, it’s going to take years of losing just to tell.

    Can Randle get rebounds next to a true rebounding center, unlike Hibbert who doesn’t move?

    Can Clarkson stay under control against starters when games are close.

    is Russell a pick and roll point guard, can he be Chris Paul or Even Isaiah Thomas?

    How much can they really improve on defense, right now we are at zero, can another coach get them to play hard on defense, especially given that the coach will probably be an offensive coach.

    all star games and even our current season games mean nothing.

    What can they be on a winning team? That’s what we have to find out.

    We will probably go through 3 coaches before we know.

  17. rr says

    MDA wasn’t the problem here in any way shape or form.
    —
    This came up a few weeks ago, and I have talked about Scott’s track record many times. D’Antoni in many ways didn’t fit the team that he was hired to coach; many of us including me expressed that concern then. I backed the hire because I saw the logic with Nash being here and because I thought MDA would adjust his approach more than he did. Didn’t work out, and part of that was that D’Antoni didn’t connect with any of the Lakers’ veteran bigs. That obviously wasn’t all MDA’s fault, but he was part of the problem.

    Similarly, Scott is not the guy you want developing young guys or dealing with overlapping rotation options. His success has come with veteran teams with clearly-defined roles. And I think Mike Brown was hired with the idea that he would have Chris Paul, and when that didn’t happen, Brown had some issues as well (Although the team actually did fine the year Brown was here. That team was a bit lucky).

    I believe firmly that roster>coach, but the FO needs to get the next coaching hire right.

  18. rr says

    Randle: His % at the rim has been going up; it is up to .552 now. But his percentage from mid-range is still awful–.174. He is also taking 28.1% of his shots from 3-10 feet and is making 37% of them. He is going to have to get some of those numbers up. There is still of course plenty of time.
    As to his rebounding, his DRB rate is now 31.2. But his ORB rate is still very pedestrian—8.3. Kenneth Faried as a rookie shot .686 at the rim and had an ORB% of 16.5. As to D, I have not looked up any detailed data, but the eye test does not impress me. As noted, he doesn’t get a lot of steals or blocks.
    Randle is fast and strong, he can score some, and he gets a lot of defensive rebounds, so he looks pretty good in the box score and to the casual eye test. But he is going to have to make specific improvements to be a good player. I think the prevailing notion in the Lakers blogosphere is that Randle and Russell, and to some extent Clarkson, are being severely held back by Byron Scott, and between that and how young they are, they will all be very good. I hope that is the case.

  19. bluehill says

    I don’t how far Randle will go, but just glancing at his stats for this year he compares favorably to other PFs available at the time such as Vonleh, Payne, Capella who are in their second years while Randle is essentially in his rookie year.

    He also seems to be playing more consistently since he was inserted back into the starting line up. He’s a little less reckless and a little more patient. Yes he has holes in his game, but given the players available with the #7 pick and the FO not embracing a complete rebuild, I’m not sure who else would have been a better pick. Dwight Powell is putting up better numbers than Randle, so maybe him. However, he was picked 45th right before our 46th pick of Clarkson, who with the benefit of hindsight, I would have now made the 7th pick.

  21. BigCitySid says

    -@ Anonymous, your post at 8:22am is so obvious at this point evfn Kobe’s biggest backers can no longer argue against it.

    -It’s also why there is no point knocking Scott. He’s simply following ownership’s mandate. Don’t forget how long it took the Lakers to hire a coach, they had to find someone who agreed to do it their way this season.

  22. Vasheed says

    @LordMo,

    I’m probably one of Randle’s harsher critics. I have zero issues with his effort level. That is not a problem with him. I agree with almost every other criticism of Randle though.