Today, the Timberwolves beat the Pistons 111:101, but some careful fans discovered that the team's point guard Russell appeared on the bench, which surprised many people.
Russell is a scorer averaging about 20 points per game in the past two seasons, a former All-Star and leader. With an annual salary of more than 30 million U.S. dollars, but now he is on the bench. What is the unexpected and even special meaning behind this?
In this game, Russell could only appear on the bench because of the late nucleic acid submission time. He started in the second half, which was no small accident. If there is no such accident, Russell will still appear in the starting lineup. After all, the cooperation between him and Towns is already very familiar, and the relationship between the two is very good. If he doesn't start the game, perhaps Towns will not agree.
But from a certain point of view, if Russell appears on the bench, it will help the team. We choose two angles. First, Russell is an offensive player with the ball. His off-ball ability is very average. This was pointed out in the Warriors period.
And we all know that the core of the Timberwolves' offense is Towns, and Towns has more and more offensive possessions in recent years. He can attack from the low post or shoot from the outside with the ball, which is very rare. If he and Russell are on the court at the same time, then the two will inevitably have the ball and sacrifice. If today’s starting Rubio and Towns are paired together, then the team’s passing and distribution of ball rights may be more reasonable. Because in terms of passing, Rubio is far better than Russell.
is followed by defensive issues. Russell's current defense has been stagnant and there is no obvious improvement. Last season, his number of steals was only 1.2. Two years ago, his number of steals was as low as 0.8. Russell's sense of fighting is very mediocre, and he is unwilling to fight for every ball. Rubio, on the contrary, understands the importance of defense and likes to put down his body to fight for every floor ball.
Of course, Russell will never be on the bench for a long time in the future, but letting Russell try to be on the bench for a period of time may not be a bad decision. Because the Timberwolves have been stronger than offense and weaker than defense in the past few seasons. What they have to do now is to increase the intensity of the defense, and keep the ball on the offensive end to maintain the full continuity of the offense.
Let’s not forget, the team also has a champion Edwards, who also needs the offensive ball. Therefore, Russell appeared on the bench today, in addition to the accident mentioned above, it is more of a coordination and regulation between the lineups. The Timberwolves are looking for the most suitable system for the team to maximize the talent and strength of the team.
Finally, Russell himself needs to adjust slowly. Today he scored 18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, but his shooting percentage was just over 40%. Whether he is a starter or a substitute, he needs to improve his efficiency. This is what Russell needs to improve in the future.
