Julius Randle Discussion: Beast, Ox, Monster, Lotus Flower

He'll have to play a little more in control.

Clarkson was the same way last season, just running into people and getting off balance shots. If he just gets his footwork right, and slows down just a hair, he'll have an open layup every time instead of needing to initiate contact first.

In terms of minutes, it was his first game back and they're being cautious. Hence the no b2b game.

Once he starts getting his legs under him and more comfortable, they'll ramp up his minutes.

 

NBA stat keepers are the worst

 

he also had a clean rip that they called a foul...4stls...not bad

 

There's a quote a few pages back that says he still has a chip on his shoulder from going down to the second.

 

Was thinking same thing (re Clarkson). Look at how far Jordan has come (summer league 2015 vs. 2014). Imagine how A--Mazing Randle is going to be once he has 1/2 year of NBA experience under his belt..."S" "C" "A" "R" "Y".

 

What I fear the most with Randle is pressure. I think the expectations of many fans(especially casual fans) is for him to come out and have a season that would put him in the running for Rookie of the Year if he was eligible.

I'm afraid Randle will buy into that and possibly implode if he gets off to a slow start. Especially with a late pick like JC balling and Russell probably having a strong rookie season.

I don't expect to see consistently impressive play from Randle until we near the end of the regular season, if at all this season. And that's perfectly fine. We saw Clarkson step up majorly towards the end of last season, we saw Tarik get better as last season went on, we see both of them outclassing the rookies in the summer league right now. JR just needs to stay confident without believing his own hype, keep his head down and keep working his tail off. The results will follow.

 

To me he's a lot like Favors. Not is style or game but in level of development. Favors came in with the physical tools but little feel or understanding of the game. The stuff that worked in College didn't in the pros. He's found his way and is now fulfilling his promise but it's taken a few years. I could see Randle having that kind of growth curve. He's got the tools but he also has got a lot of growing he needs to do to adjust to the NBA. The gap in talent always affects the front court guys the most.

 

I think it's too early to project how long it'll take JR to find his way/find out what type of player he can be in this league, but as I alluded to in my previous post, I hope the pressure of so many thinking he's going to be an AllStar or even our Franchise Player doesn't lead to him beating himself mentally if he gets off to a slow start. Sometimes guys with such lofty expectations get in their own head/let the fans get in their head and never reach their potential or want a new team/situation to get out of that spotlight. Most of the posters here are knowledgeable enough about the game to understand that a below average or even bad rookie season doesn't mean a player can't become very good a year or 2 down the line, but not everyone is that knowledgeable. Remember when Kobe wanted Mitch to "ship Bynum's *** out"? Many impatient fans wanted the same. Bynum didn't let it break him, he kept working hard because his end goal was as much $ as he could squeeze out of his 7 foot frame, but Randle seems so confident in becoming a Star already. I could see him taking it really hard if he starts being called a bust and hearing talk about how we should trade him.

 

Randle didn't do squat tonight. It was like he wasn't even there.

 

I know. Didn't look happy either. Cancer? Is it too early to be worried about that?

 

By...the...way. Byron gave away his thoughts on who he' s going to start, during that interview while the game was going on last night, when he was commenting on Bass, and mentioned him "coming off the bench".

 

To me, Randle is clearly our go-to guy.

Clarkson has some nice moves too, but Randle has the physical tools to be unstoppable.

 

I think I'm going to let these guys succeed in the regular season and playoffs before bestowing on them the fate of the best franchise on earth.

 

You remember Kobe is still on the team right?

Kobe will be our leading scorer followed by either Clarkson or Williams, then most likely Russell or Swaggy and maybe Randle. I don't see him as a "go to" guy until he's proven at least as much as Clarkson has.