Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton praised the team's point guard D'Angelo Russell after his big performance on Sunday. Russell scored a career-high of 40 points in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on 14-of-22 shooting from the field. According to the coach, the guard was making some good decision which ultimately led to him being that effective on the offensive end.
''Yeah. We know he (Russell) has got that skillset, Walton told reporters during Monday's practice, when asked if that was a reminder of what Russell is capable of. ''But, to me it's when he's engaged, and he's doing other things that allows him to make those type of shots because you're in rhytm.
And then, when you get those open looks in my experience they tend to go in a lot more when you are doing all the other parts of the game the right way.''
Keep that routine, D'Angelo
D'Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers came to Lakers practice facility to shoot some hoops after the match against Cleveland. Coach Luke Walton was more then pleased when he heard that, and has encouraged his point guard to keep that routine. Except that, the coach says Russell wasn't shy about putting in work this season.
''Yes, someone had told me that." I mean, obviously I love that if he was here doing that -- I love that. We are all about developing habits right now. So, you know, if that's something he's doing -- let's do it all the time.
Good game, bad game, make that part of our routine. Like I've said, the whole year he's done a great job of working. You know, he's been putting in the extra time before and after practice. If he wants to come back to the gym at midnight -- then, I'm all for it.''
It will get better as time goes on
Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton thinks that D'Angelo Russell tends to shut down a bit if he is not having a great day on offense.
Yet that's nothing unusual to see as Russell is just 21-years-old, and he should be able to improve that as he gets more experienced every day. The guard has struggled with his consistency at times during the season, but he has shown improvement in his game this campaign.
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