i've been begging for randle to become a better off-ball offensive player since day one. very little progress there. i agree with purp on the "change of pace" view of his playmaking. if he happens to catch in an advantageous position, then by all means, but he's not good enough to operate this way out of a normal set (with a set defense in front of him). the problem is that he clearly doesn't like catching on the move. i recognize it because i didn't either when i played. i was a pg, and i felt less comfortable making cuts, even though i knew which ones to make and when. someone needs to be working with julius on this, non-stop, but i've never heard mention of any work like this. some of it would just be film, of course, but i think there are probably some drills you could run that target this specific skillset (catching at full-speed and making quick reads/attacks).
Yeah to me the presence of Lonzo or Fox helps Julius mostly in transition. Julius is at his best when he's pushing the ball because he's incredibly fast for a guy his size. Having four players in the lineup that can grab the rebound and push the break is one of the things that makes Golden State so dangerous. Ball is particularly great at grabbing and either pushing hard or moving the ball up the court. I can already picture him pushing the ball up to Ingram along the sideline who looks for Randle down the middle with Russell and Ball looking to step into a three. Fox is great at pushing the ball himself up the floor with his electric speed which would be great too. In half-court sets, I think Julius showed progress towards the end of the year just like everyone else, but it's not what it should be. Again, a guy like Ball who moves the ball around quickly will help, but the key to Julius sticking with our vision of the future will be how he shoots the ball. Ball and Russell are going to command a lot of attention with their ability to find people. It's going to be imperative that Julius figure out his best spots to attack. Julius is a pretty good passer so hopefully we see more of that. Julius will have a lot to learn and he'll bring some good things and some bad things to what the team will be trying to do. We'll see if he makes himself fit or if we end up moving him at the deadline.
I agree with both your points @abeer3 and @therealdeal Julius has some work to do. We need to be patient though. He's too talented and disciplined to not figure it out eventually. It's exciting that every one of our players can initiate different sets. Each bring a different dynamic to the offense. Even the GSW team from a couple of years ago had guys like Barnes and Klay who aren't known for creating for others. When everything starts to click we are going to be near impossible to stop.
Make or break year for Julius next year. With an even better surrounding cast and year two of the system, I'm hoping to make strides and re evaluate in 2018 if he's gonna be a part of the future.
Everybody question his Bball IQ, and he does do dumb s*** in court like Dlo but what I question is his heart and focus, he seems to give up after the other team gets big leads.
Julius will have to be consistent game in game out. That's what he's missing. Until he gets thst, his potential will be just that.
All balance work, core work, leg strengthening workouts. I dig it. He definitely looks leaner. I wonder what that means for his bully ball.
What does it say about me that I just can't be bothered to care about this? I sort of expect that this is normal off-season routine for pro ball players making millions. Like good for him, but his problem is between the ears not in his abs.
I mean it is news. We've been celebrating the other kids who are working out. And it's news because Shaq didnt workout. There are a lot of guys who don't do this stuff. I agree they all should though.
I'm just wondering out loud what it says about me that I see this and it does nothing for me. Randle was who I wanted in 2014, I couldn't believe he fell to us at 7. I'm wondering if he's lost me though with his lax effort and attitude game to game, and that sort of sucks, I want to root for these kids.
Pretty clear Julius wants to remain a Laker. Fear of being dealt put into him by Magic and Rob. This is why none of these "top" picks of ours should be traded off until we see who comes back with what come pre-season and start of the season this next year.
I think on this board there's some anti-Randle sentiment, but more impactful I think is that we're all sort of sick of this type of optimism. It feels like we've only had workouts to be excited about for years and those workouts haven't translated to wins. At what stage do we say it's not good enough and demand, Not just production, but wins. I hope he hasn't lost you. I hope none of the kids has. I feel the same way about Russell at times, but I can't help but get excited about hard work. It might be the trainer side of me, but I love seeing athletes training and getting in better shape. We are hard on our kids but there's plenty of slackers and fatties out there so I like knowing they're doing at least something right.
