NBA coach John Lucas is counseling JaMarcus Russell, according to league sources. Lucas has a history of successfully counseling troubled players. Lucas has Russell at the track each weekday morning by 7 a.m. Whereas Russell struggled to finish 400-yard dashes in the past, he now is ripping off three of them in a row. He is running sprints, lifting weights, doing what he can to get in the best shape possible. Russell appears to be taking his work more seriously than he did in Oakland. He is said to be in a better physical and mental spot than he was until the Raiders cut him during the offseason. Russell was arrested in July for alleged possession of codeine. He told ESPN's Colleen Dominguez that he that he tested positive for codeine after the Raiders selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft but that he has not used codeine in three years. Former NBA Players Association executive director Charles Grantham helped bring the two men together.