He got himself a number of easy looks that didn't get converted and the finishing will get better. Hopefully.
He definitely needs to work on that jumper. Utah were giving him the shot all night. He needs to realize he can't always just muscle his way in and toss up a shot like in college, needs to be more in control.
Thing is we've read all week he is constantly working on the jumper, but for some reason he cannot hit them in games. Brick city.
Thing is, he is doing what he did in summer league, bullying defenders and missing chippies. There is no improvement. It might be nerves or pressure but Clyde Frazier might be right, he is just not that good.
Playing time and a few easy buckets he will look much better.. His game experience is extremely limited.
Yeah, I didn't see much change from preseason, other than the rebounding and defense. I'll take that for now though, some hustle blocks he got were impressive, he got UP there. I'm going to give him the entire season before I judge though, same as Clarkson got.
The weird thing is that, maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought he looked a lot more in control during LAST year's summer league and pre-season.
He did, but I believe it was only by the last or maybe last 2 preseason games. Just when he started looking like he was finding his way a bit last season, he got injured. So he's pretty much starting over, broken leg, couldn't play ball for forever. Because of that I think we definitely need to give him time. If he doesn't pan out, we'll find out, but it's going to be a while, he's only 20. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just trying to be patient, because where Clarkson was at the start of last season and at the end was miles apart. We don't know until he's got playing time under his belt.
I feel the same way too. He felt more natural then. Now he catches the ball and and drives straight into the defense cause they are sitting back waiting. Idk, it's weird.
Julius has got a long way to go from what I saw tonight. Like others, I feel like he has regressed significantly from last year's preseason. After all the positive talk and news we kept hearing, I expected more than we got...first preseason game or not.
I hate to say something after a loss because people might think its the emotions but thats probably true. And I don't give a rats a** about a loss in pre-season. But quite frankly, I was never that high on Randle and I have said several times that I don't see star potential in him. His drives are out of control, he can't hit jumpers with any consistency, he doesn't have a feel for the game, he doesn't have a lot of go to moves either. Not a good defender, cannot block shots and is an ok rebounder. Right now you can say he is 20 and has a lot of room to grow. He is a genuinly nice kid who desperately wants to be successful. I really really hope he becomes as great as possible...with that said, he just isn't that good right now and thats a fact. Great or good players bring it every night. I don't think Randle will ever bring it every night.
I think everyone needs to chill. The guy will get better I guarantee it! Hes only 20 years old!!! He has evolved physically as an individual. He just needs to get in game shape which he will. Judge him after a 82 game season. Not summer league or preseason... Come on
As a Randle fan, this is what I fear but I can't refute with what I've seen..i hope he gives us something soon
Wow. Chill. Serge Ibaka was terrible in summer league and his entire first season. Deandre Jordan same, Marcin Gortat same, Nicolas Batum was terrible until the end of his rookie season etc, ad infinitum. JR's learning curve just got a lot steeper, what matters is if he can step up and adjust but it may be some time, especially for a big.
^ Marcin Gortat is a SCRUB. He just plays tough and is lucky to have great PG's on his teams As for Randle, let's wait and see. I think he has a better chance of being an average playes than an all star though.
i'm not closing the book on randle's future, but his present is pretty meh. as others have said, he looked almost the same as he did in summer league on offense. he still doesn't trust that jumper, no matter what he says, and i'm pretty sure he's right not to. the one positive was that he actually grabbed some boards. with his strength and quickness, that should be a given, and he hasn't been a fantastic rebounder in his early limited action. anyway, someone needs to get in his ear about moving himself and the ball. at this point, that's either bad coaching or he's not taking advice, and neither is a good thing.
How quickly everything can turn after one preseason game haha ... I mean Byron is running guys into the ground, they have two-a-days. I will judgde Randle, Russell etc. after a few weeks into the season - not right now.
oh, he certainly improved as preseason went on last year. my concern is that the way he approaches the game hasn't changed. he's a ballstopper and a stationary player. these things don't help him or others score. if he shot 2-10 on quicker trigger jumpers or less contested shots around the basket, i would have been more encouraged.
