yes he is 21...and in 1 month he will be 22. The thing is that I believe Julius worked really hard this summer. At some point though the NBA isn't all about work but also talent. with Julius you just don't know if he can get over the hump. He will never be garbage because he is already a solid player who can average a double double. But lets not forget he was a potential #1 pick and fell because of his foot issues. Still almost nobody expected him to fall to 7. The expectation here is that he becomes a core player. But if his defense remains terrible and his offense also remain terrible then his rebounding and physical attributes to push the ball cannot bail him out and he will be a net negative.
When is the right time to determine "at some point" and "not knowing if he can get over the hump?" After a year of NBA experience? No one is claiming that his rebounding and ability to push the ball is enough for him to stick. But he possesses unique skillsets in two, maybe even three (face-up game) distinct domains. That is a strong foundation for a young player. He's already added a better right hand and better control in traffic. There's no denying that he's very raw, and I agree that he still has some glaring holes in his game, but I question why many are expecting him to develop into a complete player overnight. Some players have a wider range of basketball skills out of the gate, like Nance, who's a team player that plays within his boundaries. But I could also point out that he has no elite skill. And developing an elite skill can arguably be harder than broadening one's game. Everyone loves a generalist, and specialists are often undervalued and flagged because they are considered high-risk high-return. It's worth taking that risk with an unique talent like Julius, who's hard-working and willing to learn. Patience is more than a virtue with Julius; it's a strategy.
i'd like to hear more from rodg on whether rebounding as an elite skill is valuable in terms of wins. i thought i remembered reading something recently that the stat guys are souring on it. i know conventional wisdom has been that rebounding is really important.
To quote Pat Riley: "No rebounds, no rings." But really, I do think that Randle's ability to board and push is going to be important for this team and this system. That's clearly his strength (other than boards in general). It will help us to get out and up the tempo with a young team and score some easy baskets. Now he's got to get his outside shot together of course. If he can make that mid-range or even stretch it to long range he's going to be a real tough player to handle offensively. And he needs to get better on help D. His man on isn't bad.
He has a knack for rebounding but he needs to be boxing out, especially when Luke uses him as the small ball 5.
No. The only players I'd consider with the benefit of hindsight are like LaVine and Hood. Maybe McDermott. In the monent though, Randle was the best available.
For the record I wouldn't rather have Vonleh, I've always been desperate for Randle to succeed. Trying to gauge how low the opinion of Randle has fallen around here Out of all of those names I would consider Hood over Randle though.
I'm not worried about Randle's shooting, to me. He shown his shot near the end of last season, I think right now its more taking the correct shots and not taking a bad one, or just not feeling comfortable when he receives the ball to pull up even when he is open. What I'm more concerned of is his reaction of having a 2nd or 3rd move after he gets in the paint if he can draw another defender after pumping or use his pivot foot to do some moves it will definitely clear up our shooters and and open up lanes. Luke is a smart dude even when we used to call him puuuke, I want to see some half court sets with randle in the post, of course in this day and age its not going to be a go to play, but we need to be versatile and I wanna see him use his speed and smaller size against bigger 4's and 5's because he definitely has the ability. Run when we see the opportunity and play half court when we need to make smart plays. I haven't been able to watch many NBA games outside of laker games, during the 1st half of last years season, how was Luke when he was drawing up plays for a clutch/crucial moment?
probably not. and more importantly, i didn't on draft night. i was one of the few that would have considered aaron gordon, and i liked smart almost as much. i thought hood was good, but a reach at 7. oops. anyway, vonleh has looked better this preseason, but he's also been dropped by his first team already, and he's done less with his opportunities thus far. this is an important year for randle, though. the bad coach excuse is gone; the kobe excuse is gone; the rookie excuse is gone. time for growth.
I like the positive mindset, but I'm not so sure here... Randle shot 45.3% post ASG. He did shoot 46.7% and 47.9% in February and March, but he also shot 36.2% in 7 April games. His BEST month is good, his second best month is so-so (PFs shooting under 47% from the floor?). 81 qualified PFs shot >47% last season. 39 of them had 3+ Win Shares, and 13 had 6+ Win Shares. 108 shot below, but, honestly, many of them are scrubs. Only 33 had a WS score of 3+, and only 12 had 6+. So, 16% of the better shooters were 6+ WS players and 48% of them were 3+. Among the poor shooters, only 30% were 3+ and only 11% were 6+ WS. And that's taking Randle's two BEST months. Using his Post ASG stat, things are more bleak: 97 PFs shot below 46% last season. Only 26 (27%) were 3+ WS players and only 7 (7%) were 6+ WS players.
No, Randle has more talent and potential. Didn't Vonleh get dropped by the team that drafted him? I would want LaVine though but thats cause he's a fellow Bruin.
Yeah, the 2014 NBA Draft was probably one of the weakest. Wiggins and Parker haven't really made significant impacts as their positions implied. Wiggins isn't an alpha and Parker's injury slowed him down when he's already a low athleticism player. Embiid hasn't been able to stay healthy, though he's still showing a bit of promise. Aaron Gordon is probably not even as good as Larry Nance. Exum has remained injured and hasn't shown much. Smart's strong suit is his defense, but just lacks any sort of other skill. Vonleh's development has been stuck behind Boogie and Cauley-Stein. The crazy thing is, I know some one would argue Wiggins is the best player in the draft, I just think he had free reign on the Wolves as they tried to build around him before KAT, but Jordan Clarkson might currently just be the best player in the 2014 Draft.
