At first, Russ couldn’t really shoot. That made it easy to corral him. I knew where he wanted to go with the ball and could cut off his angles. As his jumper became more consistent, he became more of a problem. At that point, I would try to frustrate him as much as possible. I would pick at him. Arms, elbows, little grabs here, holds there. Here, I’m locking up his right arm off of the dribble. If he picks up the ball, I’m going to yank at his arm a little bit but enough for him to feel it. Tricks of the trade that the ref can’t see. Then, his battle would be with the officials instead of with me.

Also, when he was young, Russell was really streaky. I used to play?off?of him, make him think it was a good idea to take shots against?me. Later, when he started hitting them consistently, he forced me?to mix it up. At that point, I really had to contemplate how best to?guard him. I’d try to disrupt his rhythm. For instance, when he was?barreling down the court, contemplating pulling up for a jumper, I’d?feign a jab at him. That would change his mind and make him think?he could drive all the way to the basket, except I could then back up?and take away his rhythm.

It was hard, though, especially when he was coming at full speed.?Like LeBron, when Russ got a head of steam it was a problem, so I?had to jam him up as soon as our team shot the ball. It really?became a fun game of cat-and-mouse.

Russell continues to evolve; he is a constant learner. This past year,?when he was 29, he came to Orange County, and we would work?out for a few hours at 5 AM. At that age, most guys in the league?think they know it all. He wanted to work on his post game, on?footwork in the post. He realized that was the next step in his?evolution and the key to his longevity.

That’s the money right there, that thirst and quest for information?and improvement. So, we spent quite a bit of time working on that,?and I saw him use some of the lessons we worked on in game action?as soon as the season started.