D'Angelo Russell is rapidly losing his starting point guard position for the Minnesota Timberwolves, having been substituted for the final four minutes in Saturday's loss to the Grizzlies, and head coach Chris Fincher may already be thinking about making roster adjustments, such as putting Kyle Anderson in the starting lineup as a point forward and Jean as Russell.
Some people may think that it is a bit of an exaggeration to put a player with an annual salary of $31.3 million as a substitute, but look at Russell Westbrook of the Los Angeles Lakers next door, who has a whopping $47 million a year this season, but has to play as a bench because he does not fit into the Lakers' starting lineup. The same problem happened with Russell, who failed to form chemistry with Rudy Gobert, didn't play a clever blocking combination on the offensive end, and was largely useless on the defensive end.
By contrast, Anderson played as a point forward at UCLA before being drafted into the NBA at the age of 20, averaging 14.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, and Anderson also played the role of point forward in the second half of the game against the Grizzlies, with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes of playing time.
Since entering the NBA, Anderson has never been asked to take on more responsibility for possession, but that's largely because he's always played on a team with excellent point guards, playing with Tony Parker and Dejantay Murray for the San Antonio Spurs, and with Mike Conley and Ja Morant when he played for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Anderson is 2.06 meters tall and has excellent defense and rebounding, while Russell is completely absent from both abilities, which has caused a headache for the current 5-8 Timberwolves, and head coach Finch said after Saturday's game that the team's guards need help protecting rebounds to help eliminate secondary offensive opportunities from opponents, in which they allowed the Grizzlies to grab 15 offensive boards for 32 points.
Russell's starting lineup after changing to substitution:
Kyle Anderson, point forward
Anthony Edwards, two-rounder
Jaden McDaniels, small forward
Carl Anthony-Towns, power forward
Rudy Gobert, center
In this lineup, Anderson and Edwards are interchangeable, both holding the ball and controlling the team's offense. Anderson is also an advantage over Russell, with better rebounding, better defense, knows how to organize offense, and fewer shots will give Edwards and Towns more shots. In addition, Russell's 35.5% career three-point shooting is not much better than Anderson's 33.5%, while Anderson's three-point shooting rate this season is 36.4%, while Russell's three-point shooting rate this season is only 29.9%. Anderson also has the ability to shoot from mid-range and attack the basket, which is exactly what Fincher was looking for when he replaced Russell on Saturday.
Russell proved unsuited to point guard, the time he did well last season was Patrick Beverley as point guard, and he played mainly off the ball, he played as many as 45% of the time at shooting guard, and this season he played point guard 97% of the time, obviously not effective, do you think the Timberwolves should let Anderson replace him in the starting lineup? #头条创作挑战赛 #