gota say I was a fan when we drafted him then all the nay sayers kind turned me off but he has proven everyone wrong IMO. He does all the little things now to help team win, he doesn't go running into the paint like a wild animal anymore. So much more controlled.
Yeah.. Playing under control is the biggest improvement I see in JR's game.. He was a bit spastic on his drives before... Looking real good so far.
His limited performance over the course of a full season is what soured me on him. Glad to be proven wrong if things continue.
Has to be his formulas. As much we'll take 11-10 etc, we're greedy and we want more. Just act like this is Julius' second season along with Russell and take things one game at a time
I take it you're being serious, so I'll answer seriously: He shot below 43% on the season. He for some reason took 36 threes, shooting below 30%. He had more TOs than assists. He was our worst big defender after Kelly. I've talked at length about the two gigantic problems with Julius's - he couldn't defend worth a damn, so he had to make up for it on O, but he was so limited on O because he couldn't hit a jumper AND he couldn't pass. Essentially, he had to be covered for on both sides of the court. None of my stats in there.
Randle's passing and overall effeciency improved over the course of the year and coming off missing his rookie season and averaging a double double playing for the worst coach in NBA history not sure how anyone could argue he didn't have a very solid rookie season. Yes his defense stunk, but so did everyone's and his limitations on offense were made even more apparent by the system.
He had 8 assists tonight. I am thinking we need to make hin more of a distributor and let Russell work off-ball more often. Thoughts or am I nuts?
I'm quite impressed right now. He does whatever is needed at the moment: scores, passes the ball, rebounds, brings the ball up... like Lamar used to do for us.
The Beast now has a Floater?? Of course he does. He always wanted to be Kobe, not Zack Randolph. :Headbang: His handles and speed and quickness and change of pace and sheer strength are looking pretty amazing out there for a guy his size.
I'm totally in line for this. Said a while back that the starters lack another ball handler/creator to help with Russ, he's stuck running the offense himself and that's a little daugnting for a 20 year old. If Randle can initiate in the half court to get Russ open shots, the starters will look better.
i think russell should bring the ball up the floor to initiate the offense, but after that, he's a scorer first. i think what's happened has been as much organic as designed--the times and spots where julius is getting the ball are creating opportunities for facilitation. the larger point is that you don't see high individual assist totals in true team-oriented offenses--you see them in james harden offenses, wherein one guy has the ball for 75% of possessions. i much prefer what the lakers are doing. so, i guess my response is that it's not nuts, but i think you just let the gameflow dictate who's scoring and who's passing. that seems to be what's happening thus far. players, coaches, and fans needn't get hung up on who's doing what until things clearly aren't working.
Julius has been kind of a revelation in Walton's offense as a distributor, set up man, and not just off the board and push which he was pretty natural at already. I love the hand offs and screens I've been seeing for the guards. I love the 2 beautiful give and go's I saw between he and Russell last night where Randle threaded the needle to a cutting DLO. He's really reading the floor well, getting his teammates involved, making the extra pass . . . he looks great. Got to say his D has been improving as well. I don't think he'll ever be the elite defender that Draymond is, but just seeing the improvements he's made already this season have been truly heartening. He's balling right now. This is only his second year playing in the NBA and he's grown in maturity and in many specific areas as well as his overall understanding of the game. I think his ceiling is going to be a lot higher than many here have been thinking.
Byron's method of trying to get Julius to perform better on defense: Sit on the pine. Learn from the Wood. Your defense needs improvement. Luke's approach: "I think Julius can become an elite defender" ***teaches him how*** Physical tools + Desire/mindset + Knowledge/coaching I loved watching him battle against Karl Anthony towns yesterday even though he was undersized and overmatched a few times. He definitely made him work for what he got.
