When Julius pushes the ball himself after a defensive rebound, he's getting better at staying under control, and slowing down at the end of a drive, so he doesn't commit a charge. This is essential for his game.
Yeah that blond kid I think it was, found out what was said about Julius in his first Summer League by an NBA type in the stands, "you could get hurt guarding him". Kid got in his way at the end of a drive and was flattened and didn't even get the charging call. Pretty shaken up at first. Will think twice about that next time.
Really like his impression of Odom out there, grabbing the rebound and pushing the ball but still under control.
Well considering last year he was coming off the injury and the team was being cautious, he's probably played much more.
I've been fine with Randle through all of training camp and think some people are pushing him down a little too early. But last night one things that was frustrating me was there were a lot of times when he would have the wide open drive or shot and instead of being aggressive and showing off his shot which he has put in a tremendous amount of work in, Randle would be passive and look away from the hoop on a handoff for one of the guards. Be aggressive and take what the defense is giving you. I don't care if he misses those shots, but you gotta take them.
Randle's is playing within the Walton's offense and making sure everyone is involved which is likely the reason. Yes, he has to be aggressive yet he has to pick his spots. It will happen... What I find encouraging about our young core is that they are all coachable who want to do the right thing.
I love what I've seen from Randle the past couple games, just as I feel for DLO as well. They've both looked so much better than the first game to me. Last night he was our leading assist man with 5! That drop off in the lane to Zubac was beautiful. I think he is giving what the d is giving him for the most part. He's just not great yet with knocking down the outside J. It's going to be a work in progress for a while I think. But I love the other things he's doing, pushing the ball, going hard to the hole and finishing, getting others involved. I agree with allam1108, he reminds me a great deal of Odom - both in strengths and weaknesses. Grabbing the board, pushing and taking it strong or dishing is right in his wheelhouse. Unreliability in the outside jumper, sketchy right hand, and no true go to move are still shortcomings that he shares with Odom. But Odom didn't have the drive to succeed that I see in Randle. Hopefully he can be as good or maybe, just maybe he could be even better.
Randle has a bigger, more forceful frame than Odom though the latter had a smoother overall game not to mention a better feel for it. Randle plays with brute strength...does needs more refinement. He's playing for a patient staff that takes the time to teach so it is up to him. I flash back to the Washington game last year where Randle took over after suffering through bad losses. I would think there's more of that this season...
On Randle's last 2 drives from last night I found myself laughing because the two defenders he ran into ended up on the ground and Randle was just jogging back to the bench because of the timeout. Haha dude is strong!
You can already see the improvements, he'll only get better with this coaching staff. I do wish they will focus a little on his screen setting, sometimes he makes so contact with the defender at all.
the play where he bumped off faried, then knocked down a little 12 ft bankshot...MOAR PLZ. this and that little fade he shot in the lane some last year--he can get those shots any time he wants. perfect them, and you're a 15+ppg scorer without a jumpshot or a right hand.
I'm a lil worried about Julius. I love he's having the Kobe mentality to him but he's acting a lil too cocky and we haven't seen that type production for him to act that way and he simply considered confident. I hope he has just enough time to find his groove for the opener.
He looks like he's irritated that people are bothering him during interviews. I think it would be best for him in the long run if he can learn to relax a little on that front. Otherwise, when the media turns on him, they will be merciless. That eventually turn on just about everybody, so might as will chill out now.
yeah, kobe should have proven that no matter what you accomplish on the court, the media will mitigate it if they want. some really nasty folks in that business with big stages.
