I'm ok with what you're saying Vash. I don't think anyone is advocating for 30 minutes a game for Randle. We just want him to play more when the game is in the balance. The prior game Nance was in at the end vs. the Clippers and he gave up the two winning layups from Lou Williams on switches. When Randle switched on Lou earlier in the game he actually ended up being our best Lou stopper of the night. He should have been in there with the game on the line because his D was just better. Some people were justifying Nance's play by saying he was good against Biff, and I'm not arguing against that, just that Biff was out of the game at the end and Nance's switches were bad. They cost us the game. Last night Luke wised up and used Randle who had been great all night on D when the game came down the stretch. That's what I want to see more of. I would've liked to see Randle get some time starting at PF to see how he would do but I've basically given up hope on that one. At least I got to see Kuz in there with the starters for a while. Larry isn't a legit starter at all to me. And he hurts the offense greatly out there with them at the start of the game. 20 minutes a game for Randle is pretty inexcusable though. 25 sure. But 20 or under is underutilizing him.
I don't think you can put the Clip loss solely on Nance in those Lou switches. Lou eats up most NBA players. The way Randle plays, Lou probably goes to the line and gets his points there. Nance switching onto Lou on a dribble drive is not really on Nance either, since the next line needs to help slow Lou from going downhill. Think of what Dray did in rotating over to help Klay on BI for that game winner last night. Nance got beat on the switch, so he needed help coming over to bottle up Lou. Its actually on the guards and even Kuz/BI (wing player) to hedge onto Lou during the switch in order to prevent him from going downhill right away. That being said, Randle is avg. 22 mins per game and in that time getting 3.5 fouls. He was averaging just about that last season in 29 mins per. So limiting Randle's minutes allows him to play full throttle, especially on the defensive end. You really want that foul buffer since good defense will result to that ref being eager to blow the whistle, especially on a younger team and a younger player. I actually like a Randle, Nance, BI frontline more than a Randle, Kuz, BI frontline since its better for us defensively. So for this team, Nance makes a whole lot of a sense as a starter. However if BLo continues to struggle offensively, I can see Randle getting more minutes with a starting frontline of Randle, Nance, BI to open up games. Obviously Nance isn't a starter in the traditional sense, but for this team and its current makeup, I do understand why Luke is doing it.
To prevent Randle from fouling out in case we go into OT. Again, if our defense is going to switch everything, then man defense makes no difference. On the switch, a wing player should have hedged Lou off the roll. Nance isn't devoid of any guilt, but its not entirely on him when you're running a team defensive scheme.
Nope. Nance was out there at the end of the game because Luke concluded unfortunately that he was the best player on the floor (despite being -18) and favored him over Randle. It's not entirely on Nance that Lou scored on both those possessions, he did what he could. He just shouldn't have been in there at that time when Randle all night was switching brilliantly on Lou as the team D concept dictates (they switch on everything by design as per Luke's post game discussion). Randle is just better at switching on guards. Nance is better suited to banging away with bigs. It did in fact cost us the game. Last game was a lot better with Randle continuing to stay out there. I'm belaboring a point here, but the bottom line is we are advocating for smart lineups down the stretch that help us win close games when we say Randle should play more minutes, particularly if he's having success defensively. Now if Nance is having a great fourth quarter and he gives up the best chance to win I'm cool with him staying in too. Subbing in just to sub in has been a proven losing situation for Walton this year. He's been better when he goes with the hot hands down the stretch. Obviously we see that Lopez hasn't been in there lately down the stretch and we've been better for it. Now the game against Philly? At some point we needed to acknowledge that Randle was getting destroyed on the block by the bigger Embiid and it should have been Lopez out there. Granted, Luke is learning too.
if they went to OT in that gm, guranteed Nance still plays all of ot n they were having problems scoring, ingram was also in foul trouble i didnt see him getting benched to "preserve" for ot..... who coaches like that? you coach to win, who worries bout ot?
Luke puts in the 100 3 point make system if you choose to shoot them in the game. Randle shoots a 3 in the closing minutes of a close game. Kuz is queued up to sub in for Randle on the next dead ball. That's why Randle gets subbed out for the final 48 seconds of the game coming out of a timeout where we just scored and were ready to play defense. Kuz doesn't hold a candle to Randle in terms of defense, yet Luke made that substitution. And I'm sure some of you guys will point to Luke's stupidity and his affinity to Nance, but its not that. If you're trying to create a culture, then I can see why Luke did it, especially since Randle is a young player himself and needs that direction. Randle has no business taking a 3ball (not of a bailout variety) in a close game. Randle played solid D paired up with Nance down the stretch of that game....so why get yanked for the final 48 seconds and why do it when we didn't need Kuz for an offensive possession? You don't become a top 10 defensive team after being dead last for the last few years, off of a fluke. You got to build that mentality and culture.
Broken record here. Huge Julius fan and want to keep him. His skills are obvious but I like the toughness and attitude. We have such a unique blend of young talent I want to see them grow together. We let Julius go we will regret it. Along with that he is fun to watch.
We can keep going on this forever, but the fact that Luke subbed out Randle when he needed his defense was costly . . . as in costing the game costly. Yanking Randle for taking a three, which granted wasn't the best possession, makes little sense though. Lonzo was one for 6 from three on the night and he shouldn't have been in there at the end of the game instead of Clarkson who was playing well and gave us our best chance to win. So Lonzo can chuck the hell out of those threes when he's shooting that poorly and still come in the game at the end for well playing Clarkson but Randle who rarely takes a three but is still shooting them better than Lonzo (30% on the year vs. 25%) gets pulled? Luke's substitutions were a huge reason why we lost that Clipper game and his treatment of Randle's playing time is questionable. He doesn't need thirty a game when we are three deep at 4 and 3 or 4 deep at 5 but he's been tremendously successful and he should be out there at the end of games if we want our best chance to win. Now if Nance, Lopez or Kuz is in there in his stead, having a great game and contributing to an obvious W then for sure ride the hot hand. That's what I'm arguing for regarding Randle.
Here's a little gif diary of Julius's night. I wanted to highlight some of his defensive plays. I'm going to start here though: The paint is wide, wide open and once KCP gets cut off, Julius recognizes this immediately. Everyone is tight, so Julius goes to the quick, deep seal in the paint. Clarkson finds him with a good entry pass and Julius finishes with the textbook right hand. Note- Lonzo sees this developing before it happens. Watch him glance in, see the advantage, and he flashes out towards Clarkson drawing Thompson with him and further opening the floor for Julius. The kid sees things differently on the floor. Now for his defense. Keep in mind I'm working off of what the great @CaCHooKa Man offers up so some plays won't make the cut. I remember at least 3 plays that Julius challenged around the rim and forced misses that frustrated the Warriors. This first play was just a great challenge and block by Julius. Looney didn't have quite enough pop and Julius got him. Then Julius did a great job of keeping the ball out of Looney's hands. This play resulted in a KCP layup. This was a bad idea from Draymond and Julius is just too strong for it. Clarkson also does a good job of rebounding because Draymond would have been in a good position for a put-back. Play resulted in a KCP layup again. The most impressive defensive stance by far on the night. He accepts the switch and maybe the second best ball handler in the league just can't get past him. This isn't a fluke. Julius did this to John Wall as well. The most important defensive possession of the game. Durant has nowhere to go on this and Julius challenges the shot perfectly.
For sure. Was gonna say post that. Clearly thriving and has improved in his new role. Another great post my man. Vasashi for prez!
Also wanted to point out i DO love Julius skill set VS the Warriors. 2 All stars and retaining Julius would be a good move IMO. Can always flip Randle down the road especially if we get a good deal.
Causation/correlation. You can’t say that benching was the reason, as we are yet to see how he’d play as a starter or even with consistent starter level minutes.
