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Golden State Warriors: 3 ways to mask D’Angelo Russell’s defensive woes

By Connor Littler

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 18: D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after a call in the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers during game three of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center on April 18, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 18: D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after a call in the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers during game three of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center on April 18, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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D'Angelo Russell
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 18: D’Angelo Russell #1 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after a call in the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers during game three of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center on April 18, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Golden State Warriors D’Angelo Russell (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Much has been said about the problems the Golden State Warriors will face by playing D’Angelo Russell in the backcourt alongside Stephen Curry.

Replacing Klay Thompson at the shooting guard spot is a huge downgrade defensively for the Golden State Warriors while giving them a different look offensively (not necessarily a downgrade).

Just looking at the stats alone, it is hard to discern the vast gap in defensive quality between the two players. In fact, it looks as though D’Angelo Russell is clearly better.

The most common advanced measures we have for assessing a player’s defense are Defensive Player Impact Plus-Minus (DPIPM), Defensive Rating (DEF RTG), Defensive Win Shares Per 48 (DWS/48), and Defensive Box Plus-Minus (DBPM).

Stat Thompson Russell
DPIPM -1.7 -0.8
DEF RTG 108.5 107.9
DWS/48 0.101 0.096
DBPM -2.0 -0.5
  • DPIPM = Estimate of a player’s defensive value to his team over the course of a season.
  • DEF RTG = Number of points allowed by opponent per 100 possessions.
  • DWS/48 = Estimate of number of wins contributed by a player because of his/her defense per 48 minutes.
  • DBPM = Estimate of defensive points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league-average defender

Russell is better than Thompson in DPIPM, DEF RTG, and DBPM. Thompson is just slightly better than Russell in DWS. All of these stats were from the 2018-19 season.

The reason for these bizarre statistics can be put down to the fact that on a nightly basis, Thompson would be assigned the best guard on the opposing team, whereas Russell would usually be hidden defensively by his coach.

Simply watching Russell play you can tell that he is obviously a below-average defender.

Steve Kerr will have to do all he can to hide Russell’s defensive flaws. Luckily he has access to one of the best defenders of all time in Draymond Green to help him with this.

Along with Green, he has a defensive scheme which has worked excellently for several years to hide Stephen Curry. Here are some ways in which they can use the same concepts to hide Russell.

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