Wolves are still having a hard time, and D’Angelo Russell does not appear to be able to change the current dynamic of his team. The point guard, who had been a glitter (and All-Star) in Brooklyn in the 2018/19 season, has never quite regained his best since leaving the Eastern Conference, between his tasteless stopover at Golden State, and his lack of consistency since arriving in Minneapolis.
Everything suggested, however, that he was going to recover after having realized his dream by teaming up with his best friend, Karl-Anthony Towns. But he still seems to be struggling today, a year and a half after arriving, looking for the role he can fill alongside Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.
A preference for balloons that are already a little worn
To make matters worse, D’Angelo Russell in turn complained about the new ball introduced by the NBA, passed from Spalding to Wilson since the resumption. A new balloon that he cannot tame. Rather problematic when you are a basketball player.
“I am more concerned about the change of ball than the new rules”, he lamented. “It makes a big difference to us when the ball isn’t worn out already. Before, a new ball always reacted a little differently from a ball already “broken in”. It’s a fit for everyone ”.
Problem: with the coating of the Wilson ball and this new appearance, the leader is struggling to find his marks.
“Even an ‘old’ ball doesn’t look like it’s worn out. It always feels like the texture is so fine that it doesn’t wear out. I think that was probably a goal, to probably want to keep the balls like new, to allow the material to withstand time and not wear out ”.
Shooting percentages down sharply
Even if he added that this reason could not totally justify his current awkwardness in shooting, it is clear that D’Angelo Russell has never shot so badly in his career, he who has never turned under 40% of shooting success over a season, and today peaks painfully at 38.4% overall skill.
It’s not really better by far with 34% all round, barely more than a successful basket on three attempts, again one of his worst career averages.
In line with his previous outings on this point last night (6/15 shooting including 1/6 from distance), D’Angelo Russell was able to console himself by his activity in the final, his 6 points and 3 assists having contributed to the victory of his Wolves against the Kings (107-97) also in bad shape.
| D’Angelo Russell | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2015-16 | LAL | 80 | 28 | 41.0 | 35.1 | 73.7 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 13.2 |
| 2016-17 | LAL | 63 | 29 | 40.5 | 35.2 | 78.2 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 15.6 |
| 2017-18 | BRK | 48 | 26 | 41.4 | 32.4 | 74.0 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 15.5 |
| 2018-19 | BRK | 81 | 30 | 43.4 | 36.9 | 78.0 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 7.0 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 0.3 | 21.1 |
| 2019-20 * | All Teams | 45 | 32 | 42.6 | 36.7 | 80.9 | 0.4 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 6.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 23.1 |
| 2019-20 * | GOS | 33 | 32 | 43.0 | 37.4 | 78.5 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 6.2 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 0.3 | 23.6 |
| 2019-20 * | MIN | 12 | 33 | 41.2 | 34.5 | 87.3 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 6.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 0.3 | 21.7 |
| 2020-21 | MIN | 42 | 29 | 43.1 | 38.7 | 76.5 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 19.0 |
| 2021-22 | MIN | 11 | 31 | 38.4 | 34.0 | 84.6 | 0.1 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 17.8 |
| Total | 370 | 29 | 42.0 | 35.9 | 77.3 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 17.6 | |
