I'm not basing it solely on this preseason. I remember last year saying the same thing. I also wondered out loud on this forum multiple times if Nance was a better player. He's missing something. Physically and even talent wise, it's all there. But there just seems to be a mental awareness that isn't there.
Come on, it's way too early to label him as the 2nd coming of JaVale Mcgee. - He's 21 with only 1 full season under his belt. - He's eager to learn/improve. - He's one of the better players on our team. - He's under a rookie contract for a couple more seasons. Honestly what's not to like?
I'll take a shot at this. It's not about what's not to like (directly with Julius). It's about being realistic about the type of player Julius Randle is. He's an amazing rebounder. He's not a good shooter, his passing is going to be put to the test this season (preseason indications are surprisingly positive), he's not a good defender, and he has little court awareness on both ends. That's like an $8M dollar a year player at best under the old CBA. He's definitely not a max player, so it becomes a question of how much $$ it's going to take to retain him vs. what he offers. He must be covered for, on offense and on defense, and that means that you're spending a bunch of money on a guy where you have to sign another guy to make up for his deficiencies. We'd need a C who can move and shoot when Randle is on the court, and we'd need a shot blocker and good help defenders, too. I don't like the ripples that are created by having on this team the Julius that I'm seeing so far.
totally agree, but i'm holding out hope that maybe we can have a clarkson type RFA situation with randle when the time comes--where we get to keep him at sixth man type salary while we see how it shakes out.
Hmmmm...from somebody who wanted to start Nance at the beginning of the season, I'm starting to come around on Julius. We'll see. He does need to eventually hit that jumper, though, consistently. We need a stretch 4 that can hit at least league average from the 3-point line.
Talent is there to maybe amount into a solid career, but not a star. When we were down big against the Warriors, his body language was bad and his effort on the boards and awareness on defense was just gone. I don't think I want that on my team.
C'mon Julius get your s*** together with the attitude thing. In games and with interviews. Maybe not as quick mentally as the others but work with your coaches on it. No excuse if body language out there is poor. Just because it isn't as easy as you thought it was going to be below doesn't mean you can't get there.
I feel like Randle probably excels in drills and 3 on 3 type situations in practice and that's why the coaches and staff speak so highly of him. But he gets out there 5 on 5 vs players he doesn't see every day and he can't process things on the fly. I make it sound like he's stupid which I do not think at all. He seems pretty smart in a traditional way, but on the court he doesn't get it. I'm not sure his defensive effort is even bad as much as he just doesn't know what he should do. Is he standing around cause he's lazy or because he is trying to figure out where he needs to be?
I still say ..... come on .... unless he is the uncool "t***" word .... Walton and Shaw and the rest of this great staff should be able to eventually get him up to relatively decent speed in the areas where he sucks now. Something Boron and his butt talking bench could never do. A big part of the reason why Julius is not further along this year than he is, with his own personal mental side of the game.
Well, it depends. Some guys just aren't wired that way and never get it. No matter how hard you train or how much film you watch, some people just can't develop instincts on the court. I do have some hope in that he has natural rebounding instincts.
draymond green had some really nice things to say about randle in a recent interview with medina, i think. he stressed his youth and mentioned that randle had managed to get by thus far on pure physical talent, but that he thought he could do more. hopefully, he's right.
He needs to eat some humble pie. He reminds me of me thinking he's better than he really is due to his natural talent. People do need to pump the breaks some with him because technically that was pretty much his rookie season and was coming back from surgery. I think he'd instantly be better in the east doe.
hopefully he can learn the Millsap approach. Be patient in the offensive end and let the game come to him and not force anything. On defense be aware of the rotation and not lose his man. Right now, he does not do these things.
Warriors' Draymond Green says Lakers' Julius Randle 'has potential' to be better than him LAS VEGAS – With the ball in his hands, Lakers forward Julius Randle stared straight ahead at one of his mentors, but he didn’t look intimidated by Draymond Green’s formidable presence. Instead, Randle charged past him. After drawing a foul on the Golden State Warriors’ All-Star forward, Randle shouted four words that quickly went viral. “He can’t guard me!,” Randle said, shaking his head dismissively. The Lakers play host to the Golden State Warriors in a preseason game Wednesday at San Diego Sports Arena nearly a year after that episode took place at the same venue. Randle acknowledged “there’s a little more juice when I compete against him” because of a relationship he described as both a “friendly rivalry and mentorship.” Yet, Randle expressed a foggy memory about the incident before saying “it’s in the past.” Green, though, has not forgotten. After seeing the video clip on Twitter shortly after it happened, Green said his respect for Randle deepened. Green believes Randle “can be real special,” raving about his length, athleticism and playmaking. Green also said he considers the comparisons between him and Randle “cool.” Those comparisons have been drawn more frequently with Randle’s expected emergence under new Lakers coach Luke Walton, who spent the previous two seasons as a Golden State assistant. See more..... Warriors' Draymond Green says Lakers' Julius Randle 'has potential' to be better than him - The Orange County Register
