In the latest chapter of "As the Lakers Freefall Continues," guard D'Angelo Russell added a chilling admission to an already-disturbing season.
The No. 2 overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft, whose confidence was a big reason Los Angeles took him over Duke big man Jahlil Okafor, now seems to be losing that very confidence that gave him a wow factor in the Lakers' eyes.
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"I [still] feel confident," Russell said, according to The Los Angeles Times. "We've just got to do something different. Something's not working, we've got to do something different as a team. We can't just keep doing the thing if it's not working.
"I feel like I was improving. Now I feel like it's ... not really as much."
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To the credit of Russell and head coach Byron Scott, the guard had improved in December and early January. If he is regressing now, Russell bears some blame, but the responsibility falls on the head coach.
"Since his coach (Byron Scott) pulled him out of the game against the Dallas Mavericks and called him out publicly for 'trying to make the big shots,' Russell hasn't even taken the little ones," silverscreenandroll.com reported. "The rookie guard has taken 4 less shots per game since the late benching, resulting in his usage rate dropping from 23.5 to 19.1. He has also been less accurate, shooting just 31.8% in those three contests, down from 41.3% on the year. The percentage of Russell's teammates baskets on which he assists while on the floor has bumped up from 18.8% to 22.6%, but so has his turnover ratio, from 13.8% to 22.6%."
Los Angeles lost its franchise-record 10th straight game, bowing to the Hornets on Sunday and leaving Russell searching for answers.
The 76ers retain the league's worst record at 7-41 while the Lakers are 9-41. But while Philadelphia is showing signs of life, as it erased a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to the Warriors before Harrison Barnes' last-second shot sunk them, the Lakers seem to be regressing.
It's clear Russell is not flourishing in Scott's system, so Los Angeles faces an offseason of soul-searching on who's to blame for their possible record-setting mark in futility in 2015-16.
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