If Randle ever gets a jump shot and improves his footwork I definitely see him being a 20/10 guy, but a guy who can make plays as well. Not just a rebounder and a low post scorer. Basically a more consistent Lamar Odom.
his on-ball d is pretty good to my eye. he just has very little court awareness on d. he doesn't have a ton of it on offense, either. really, he's a streetballer at this point. whether he settles in as a bench scorer (like a super charged luis scola) or a bona fide top-tier pf (like a blake griffin) hinges upon his ability to shore up the finer points of the game. I'm not going to lie; I'd like him to be further ahead right now. but the tools are most certainly there, which is a crucial precondition.
I mean to be fair he simply doesn't have that much experience right now. He may look like a veteran, but this is essentially his rookie season.
yeah, but compare him with towns or Anthony davis (I know, not fair given their draft position). they just have a better feel for the team game. randle knows how to beat his man and how to stop the man in front of him. he can kick after breaking down the defense, but I've yet to see him make a good pass from a stationary position (this is the difference between LeBron and even kobe as passers vs. wade and monta ellis types). he also struggles to find easy baskets for himself--though he has done so a couple times in the halfcourt recently. I guess my thought is that some of these things start happening earlier than in the pros. look at footage of randle now all the way back to hs and you see a dude who's a physical specimen and knows how to use it. but you don't see a lot of headiness to his game (another departure from Zach Randolph). contrast this with Russell, who shows none of Julius's (completely badass) alpha mojo, but tons and tons of good ol' basketball horse sense. I don't mean to sound down on randle--I'm super pumped the lakers got him in the draft and think he could be really good. maybe I'm just expecting him to be a bit further along in the learning curve.
Julius should be called out for his weak off-ball play no doubt. On the other hand he's clocked 9 games in the NBA and has been working for only a short time with Metta. I'm sure he's made a concentrated effort on his strong points just to be a somewhat effective player in the nba coming out of the gate. He seems like the type that will be self-motivated enough to shore up the holes in his game, regardless of what signs he flashes on court atm.
Just my opinion, but I think people are being way too harsh on Julius. I mean this kid missed all of his rookie season, suffered a horrific injury, and really based off what we've seen so far I think he's been about as good as anyone could expect. We knew he was raw offensively, but he's still shown an ability to drive the ball, to run the court, to be physical inside. He needs to rebound better and his defense overall is pretty bad right now, but again that's true for a lot of rookies. He'll improve.
I don't know about his man defense either, tbh. For whatever reason, he kept playing off of Bosh whenever they were matched up. Was there no scouting report, or what?
I don't think I'm being rough on Randle. Maybe others are. I see him as a fixture here for years to come, and he'll be a worthy starter soon. He's already at 12/8. Even 10/7 is a pretty select club - 42 players this season. 11/7 is 37 players. 11/8 is 28 players.
yeah, that was great, but it was on-ball and involved clever use of his physical gifts. i'll be just as excited when roy challenges a driving guy and julius drops down to swipe the dump off or kick out. as for the other night in miami, i don't think anyone could have stopped bosh. he was on fire from the perimeter. i don't remember thinking: "why isn't julius doing more?" I remember thinking: "crap. you're going to lose at miami when bosh is on like that."
I don't like his attitude when things aren't going well. Teams are figuring him out, he needs to add new tricks to his arsenal and make refine his old ones.
the lakers ran a screen and roll play with bass last night that got him a dunk. I'd be curious to know if they just don't run those with randle, or if randle won't roll hard because he's still not sure how to attack the basket without dancing. in any case, the mavs clearly had a better plan this time for him.
The key there is the mavs clearly had a better plan to handle Randle. Without seeing practice I am just guessing but I see no evidence of game planning or even that we practice standard defensive rotations. The guys play hard but it is not a coordinated effort. We look like the most confused team out there every night for a reason. We are.
The Mavs may not have the personnel to compete in the upper echelon of the West, but they will be above .500 even in a down year because they have a system they are executing and know what they are trying to accomplish. I feel like every time down the floor is our first time playing pickup basketball. Scramble, scramble, pass, horrible shot. It's disappointing to watch as a fan of basketball. I found myself watching the Mavs offensive movement with wanderlust.
I'm beginning to wonder if Byron even talks during practice. He probably just stand there with his arms crossed and says nothing. He is showing them how to man up.
Oh Crap, I think we've all been misinterpreting his message.......... NOW I understand... He was giving ADVICE on PE He's angling for endorsement deals for after getting fired from his final NBA coaching gig.
