Russell, who returned to the team, really mastered the secret of the game. In the past, people liked to call Russell WaterLad, but now few people call him that. Because friends who have watched Russell's game know that he is no longer the same water puller he used to be. At least at this stage, Russell's performance is worthy of everyone's praise. Some people may say that Russell's average score per game was more than 20 points before, and when he was a Warrior, his average points per game even reached 23.3 points, and this year he only had 18.5 points. Why do you say that Russell deserves everyone's praise? In particular, the current Timberwolves and Downs, the fierce man, Russell will only become a little bleak around Towns, right?
In fact, Russell's average score per game decreased because of his own active choices. Unlike many players, Russell doesn't want to brush up on the numbers, but really wants to win the game. In other words, Russell sacrificed data, but in exchange for the improvement of the quality of the team's environment. Especially in this season when Downs has more outstanding ability, Russell has made the whole team better.
Truth be told, since Russell led the team to the playoffs with the Nets, his perception of the game has taken to a new level. So Russell at this stage has essentially entered the second stage of his career. He brings a lot of victories to the team and makes his teammates better because of him, and that's what a point guard should have. Russell in the Nets season really entered the highlight of his career, and the 22nd season was the beginning of Russell's first integration of all his technical means. This season, Russell ranked 12th in the league in assists, averaging 7.1 assists per game, a career-high. Meanwhile, for every assist Russell delivers, there's more than a 32 percent chance of helping his teammates score. And this ability value has not appeared in any previous season. You can understand that Russell's assist quality this season is much higher than ever. It's no exaggeration to say that Russell is now the league's top fifteen offensive tactics initiators.
Because of his excellent offensive sense of smell and assists, Russell is becoming the most important catalyst for the Timberwolves' entire team. Basically, most of the Timberwolves' offense came from Russell's deployment. He's becoming the brain of the team, helping the team win games in a smoother way. Initially, timberwolves management thought that after they got Russell, Downs wouldn't leave the Timberwolves. So from the start, the Timberwolves management didn't think Russell would chemically change the team. Because even Butler has verified before, the atmosphere inside the Timberwolves team is really not good. Unexpectedly, Russell actually injected new vitality, which was an unexpected surprise.
In addition to being a good player in attacking, Russell's understanding of offense has also become more mature, which is one of Russell's more significant changes this season. He's becoming a good finisher, a change that's especially easy to show in key moments in the game. Russell knows what to focus on on the field, so when there is a scorching situation in the game against the opponent, Russell will give priority to observing his teammates standing in the distance. It's a smart thing to do because Russell knows that when everyone is focused on a ball, teammates standing in the open position have the best time to score. So you can often see Russell's imaginative crosses this season followed by a beautiful final scoring. For the grasp of the vacancy, this season's promotion has been enough to help the team to lay the foundation for victory in many cases.
Russell's organization does not rely on excessive ball holding, but can achieve a multi-point pass in cooperation with teammates. This ability also relies on another important factor that we need to talk about, a player's ability to have no ball help the team organize. Quite simply, Russell prioritizes finding players in the arc-top area as he advances with the ball. First give the ball to your teammates to attack, then a no-ball cover. At this time, the player in charge of defending Russell will inevitably have a problem of out-of-position due to a no-ball cover, and this opportunity will be used by Russell to shake off the space. Of course, this space is not used to attack on their own, but to create opportunities for bottom-line teammates who are not noticed. Everyone thought Russell would start attacking at the top of the arc, but russell had already set his sights on the bottom line players. This season, more than 30% of assists have been given to the bottom line, which shows that Russell does have a good big picture view and knows that the efficient scoring of his teammates takes precedence over his own scoring behavior. It's one of the most important signs of a point guard's maturity, and Russell is really team-oriented.
It is worth mentioning that Russell is one of the players who control his mistakes best at this stage, averaging only 2.6 times per game, ranking 32nd in the league. All the players who have assists above him have more turnovers than Russell. What is even more rare is that the current average number of errors per game is actually the least number of errors per game for Russell since he entered the league in season 15. You know, in the rookie season, Russell averaged only 3.3 assists per game, and now the number of assists this season has more than doubled than before, and he can control the number of food in such a low range, which is one of his abilities, and resolutely grasp every opportunity to attack and assist, which can make his offense more valuable. This philosophy has been implemented by Russell in many games, even in some fast-attack rounds, the team does not have the advantage, Russell can seize the opportunity to give the teammates who have vacant seats. This ability to find opportunities between marches is rarely seen in most modern defenders.
Russell may not be able to deliver more assists like other players, but his every assist is a lower risk of turnovers. For a team like the Timberwolves that needs to take chances often, this probability is an optimal solution. This is also one of the values that the management values Russell most value at this stage, there are many commanders, and there are very few good commanders who can sacrifice their own data and give all their teammates the opportunity to improve. The Timberwolves of these two seasons have shown everyone what a talented, willing to advance team looks like. Russell also let everyone know that he is no longer the water puller he used to be!