Rhode Island Basketball: Why Fatts Russell returning to Rams is right move

Best part of Russell’s game

The thing that I love the most about Russell’s game offensively, is how he plays with tremendous pace. Other guards may allow their defenders to dictate how fast they play, but Russell makes sure that when he has the ball in his hands, he decides when he wants to speed things up, and when he wants to slow things down. Additionally, he is a very decisive offensive player, and instead of wasting time trying to set defenders up, Russell gets straight into his moves and fearlessly drives to the basket when he can.

As far as Russell’s go-to moves, I think that defenders will continue to have a hard time stopping them if they don’t beat him to the spots he wants to get to. He likes to keep things simple, and often comes to a complete stop, before quickly going between his legs, and changing direction. He also likes to execute a quick in-and-out crossover, before exploding past his defenders.

Russell’s patience when he is coming off screens is an aspect of his game that is extremely underrated. Instead of coming off one screen, and panicking because he does not have an open look, he stays calm and asks for another screen, so that he has a chance to attempt a high percentage shot. He also does a good job of realizing when defenders are too worried about whether or not they should fight over screens or go under them, and he sometimes elects to refuse them, so that he can use his speed to force defenders to try and play catch up.