I love Julius like realdeal does and have been on that train since we drafted him. I'm a huge fan of the forward position, too. I'm a tweener myself and like to go at the glass as well as score. It's my favorite position to watch so I've got a soft spot for Randle. Personally I think his ceiling is probably Millsap, but that's a pretty strong endorsement, IMO. Nothing wrong with a scoring and boarding PF who can also lead the break at times. No he won't have the mid-range jumper of Millsap any time soon, but he'll find other ways to score in the paint and hopefully improve that three pointer. Seriously though, the kid averaged a double double in his first year of play in limited minutes under the Boron regime, showed a lot of heart (are you forgetting his exchange with Garnett?) and was the 9th leading rebounder in the whole league. That's pretty great, albeit raw stuff to work with. His right hand improved over the course of the year, he learned how to set some hard screens by the end of the season (are you forgetting what he did for Kobe in his last game?), and his long distance form looked decent. Yes, his D leaves a LOT to be desired. But his man on was good (with room to improve) and his switches on smaller guards was pretty impressive. His help D is godawful. But hopefully that will improve somewhat with a new coaching staff and a better system, not to mention help from the likes of Mozgov, Zubac, Ingram and Deng - all very competent folks in that department. I have to admit I don't really get why he's so unpopular here. RE: the comparisons to Griffin - no he's not the talent that Griffin is. We're talking about a number one pick, monster athlete versus a number 7 pick who doesn't have the same kind of athleticism. But he's thankfully not the jerk that Griffin is either.
If Russell and Ingram turn out to be who we think they will, Paul Milsap type production out of Randle will be a great fit.
I still think the Randolph comparison is more apt. Rugged rebounder...physical presence. Randolph has better touch though Randle is quicker afoot. As he continue to adjust both physically and mentally, Randle will incorporate more of an "old man game" to go with his more lively body. I can't harp on it enough that last season was really his first not to mention with a very chaotic environment too. Walton will find ways to utilize Randle's talents. It will be Russell's task to get him involved.
The major difference though is Randle's ability to grab and go. He's Randolph's size, but he's able to move so much smoother. I still think Julius is a match-up nightmare, but it'll be up to Luke to find ways to exploit that.
Reports are that Walton and staff want Randle to push the ball after snatching it off the glass... If Mozgov stays on the floor for key minutes to muscle the opposing front court with his mass, it should give Randle more space to operate something which was lacking with the glacially slow Hibbert. Randle may not have Nance's high fly act but he will bounce defenders off him. He has a bit more of a power game...
Absolutely. One thing I'm hoping Julius works on is grabbing the ball, pushing the break, and then passing the ball forward. He's extraordinarily fast for his size, but he's not faster than the ball. In our starting lineup (which I'm assuming for now is Deng) we should have four guys capable of grabbing the ball and starting the fast break. It should be easy to do.
...the 24 Effect. The best part about our young ones is that they really put in the work. Russell...Clarkson...Nance. Twiggy and Zu to follow.
I wished he was less pumped when pushing the ball in transition or shooting jumpshots and more pumped on defense.
Good question. First time I noticed that. Is it happening anywhere else? http://lakergifs.com/wp-content/uploads/juliusOK.gif The file itself doesn't have an issue.... Hmm.
