I think that's just a little more telling of the Ju's makeup. From a physical profile, he's a beast. But mentally, he's just quite a leader on the court and doesn't make those around him better. But, I think he will be a huge beneficiary to ZoBall and we'll get a lot more production from him that way.
That's nothing we didn't already know though. Julius isn't the guy going to lead the team into the future, but that isn't inherently a bad thing. Julius was the #7 pick, not the #1 or #2 pick. Obviously with a lotto pick you want a guy to change the world, but Julius can still have the Draymond-like "heart" of the team while someone else does the leading.
Of course, I mean, I was still holding out based on his potential and talent. My gripe every year with him is rather his motor and constant drive. He doesn't necessarily need to be a leader, but he needs to put in the work on every play.
That's where his conditioning comes into play. This season is his big shot. If he figures it out, we're talking about a different kind of kid. If he doesn't, he probably won't be here next season. All that said: Luke has made it clear that Ju and Larry are fighting for the starting PF spot.
Aggressive on offense. But not in a good way. He's a ball stopper. Lazy on defense. Although he shot a high percent and was 2nd in scoring, I was really frustrated with him and I think it'll be that way all year. He just holds onto the ball too long for me and for what I think Luke wants to do with the offense.
Randle definitely felt more comfortable with the outside shot. Had some moments of being out of control but I think every time did to a certain extent because of this being game 1 of preseason. Way to early to be critical of Randle's play.
At least he hit some jump shots, which is more than i can say for nance, that shotnis actually uglier than Zo
the threes looked as bad as ever (or worse). and that fade against the shot clock....yikes... but he had some comfortable makes and two right-handed finishes that definitely wouldn't have happened in the past. the mental issues looked the same.
I thought he tried too hard once it was clear we had no half-court offense. I liked his energy out there, but he hasn't put it all together yet. His three point shot came up extremely short twice, but his mid-range was absolute cash. Strange considering he spent all summer shooting threes, no? Defensively I thought he was okay, but it still seems like he doesn't know where to be. If I had to pick a starting PF for the year, I want Kuzma right now.
Not sure if we were watching the same game, but I thought Randle and Kuzma kept us in the game last night. Ball-stopper? Ingram and Clarkson were the blackholes, not Randle. And his defense on KAT was good also. Some miscues but nothing horrible for the 1st game of the preseason. Much better than the rest of the team imo.
I wouldn't say he was much better than the rest of the team, but I do agree he's getting a little more blame than he should. I still think he didn't do nearly enough to solidify his role as a starter on the team though. I thought Kuzma's offensive production was worth more than what either Nance or Julius showed. If Julius wants to keep being a starter, he has to either give us a defensive lift or knock down threes, preferably the former.
I thought Ingram did fine to solidify his spot in the starting rotation, but Pope was one of the more disappointing guys last night. Didn't seem like he knew where he was most of the time.
You're saying Ingram who was a blackhole/garbage on offense and toyed by Wiggins on defense was better than Randle yesterday?
