As the Los Angeles Lakers have lost five of their last six games, a theme has begun to emerge of a lack of trust amongst the starters. Rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell believes that starts with him.
Plenty of the recent games have seen the bench squad outplay the starters and sometimes the only reason the game is close is because of huge runs by the reserves.
After the Lakers loss to the Phoenix Suns, Russell put the blame squarely on himself in regards to the lack of trust according to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
D'Angelo blamed himself for lack of trust on the floor, said as the point he needs to do a better job bringing everyone together (on TWCSN)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 24, 2016
Russell would go on to expound upon his thoughts, via Winters:
D'Angelo continuing: “I blame myself a lot for not making it (the offense) more organized. It just becomes chaotic at times." (on TWCSN)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 24, 2016
If there is something positive to take from this it is that Russell is accepting responsibility for something that likely falls on more shoulders than just his own. The Lakers will need someone to take on that leadership responsibility once Kobe Bryant retires and Russell sounds willing to take that on.
The next step for the Lakers is now solving the problem that they have identified. The team had only 13 assists on 39 baskets against the Suns and Russell has totaled only 12 assists in the last five games combined. Fixing this issue now would pay huge dividends for the team going forward into the summer and next season.
