Simply put, he's hit the right now. Just gotta keep shooting and keep hustling on D and your game will come back.
Why does he suck with setting screens, it's not rocket science. Seems like he never goes close enough and on top of it sets the screens (if you can call them that )..... half a**ed and at the wrong angle for his teammates to be able to peel off their defenders or force a switch.
He's struggling mightily now on the offensive end. He has to regain his confidence. Go back to basics. Might take a few games to get him back on track.
He's not even taking shots or looking for his own offense. I don't think he's struggling so much as he's not even trying to be the same offensive weapon he was earlier this year. He's trying to fit in and get his other teammates going. I dig that because it means fostering trust and believing in each other as teammates. But he really should be getting more opportunities than this.
He's gun shy. He thinks if he makes a couple bull-drives into the paint and misses, he'll get yanked right away. Byron is fostering a culture of fear.
eh, not EVERYTHING can be Byron's fault. I think teams quickly adjusted to his limitations, and he's having a hard time figuring out how to counter. maybe it will inspire him to work harder on the details of his game.
No one is saying Randle doesn't have room for improvement, but Byron doesn't have a clue how to use his people
Disagree. If Byron hadn't f***** him and DAR both with the demotion to 2nd string right in the middle of a run of games where they were both starting to figure it out and were playing relatively great, and Randle rebounding like the 2nd coming of Dennis Rodman (tongue in cheek) I'm of the strong opinion that NO way would Randle be struggling like this now. He would have continued with his progress. Boron the a-hole is in his head now with the fear of being yanked and losing even more of his already reduced minutes. And for what?? Give Nance a bunch of minutes to shine and show what he's got? Super but that could have been done with communication and keeping him as a player off the bench and not wrecking Randle's confidence. Still don't understand what point was trying to be achieved with DAR's benching. See if Lou Williams can become a player in the league? Russell needs the minutes too, and is showing they were far from empty words when he said he would "figure it out".
Problem is, Randle doesn't understand that not being a ball stopper, black hole on offense does not mean you don't look for your own offense. He thinks it means, just do everything else, and don't shoot.
I have to agree that Byron has very little to do with Randle's limitations. His struggles on defense, lack of jumpshot and right-hand were expected. I'm really surprised how bad he is at finishing around the rim. He's got a long ways to go.
And also playing him minutes. Leading up to his benching Randle was a double double machine and had five of them in six games IIRC. Not only did he go to the bench but his minutes got cut down to about 20 ppg. He still managed a couple near double doubles in that early stretch but he's clearly been frustrated by the demotion and it has hurt his production. He was playing well so just as I didn't understand the move, I'm sure Randle didn't either. As realdeal put it so well: he got benched and minutes cut while playing well, still produced and then got even less minutes. He wasn't given an explanation of how to get more minutes or get back into the starting lineup. And Byron Scott doesn't seem interested in doing either of those things, regardless. It's obvious that the arbitrariness of the situation messed with him. He also must have been instructed to "play more of a team game" or something too because he's not even really looking to score like he was earlier this year. But it's bad for his game. The one thing I liked most about him was his aggressiveness and now that's been squashed. I'll tell you, the way Byron has treated the kids was the final straw for me. He's not the right coach moving forward if we want to develop them, which we have to do. This on top of his terrible record, lack of offensive and defensive systems, overuse of Kobe early on, and horrific substitutions and lineups.
http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/14538047 Ford and Pelton with some in-depth analysis of Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. They compare Randle to Drew Gooden and Clarkson to Jerryd Bayless, and state "Russell is the only Lakers youngster with a good chance at becoming an above-average starter."
Yea I don't agree with those two player comparisons, but hey I'm not the one retrospectively changing my past draft boards either. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I see Randle's impact as being pretty different from Gooden's. Randle is averaging a double double in 26 minutes per game. He is a vastly superior rebounder. It's not even close. Just look at their 36 minute averages: 15.5/10.1 from Gooden; 14.4, 12.8 from Randle. And one of them is going to get better and better. I see Randle's impact as much closer to Boozer's. Boozer's career per 36: 18.7/11.0. Twice an All-Star. Not sure why Randle can't do that. I don't know that Bayless is a bad comparison for JC though. JC has started many more games already, but he's done so on awful teams. JC is at 13.1, 3.5, and 3.1 in his career, and he's at 17.0, 4.5, and 4.1 per 36. Bayless is at 8.5, 2.1, and 2.9 in his carerr, and he's at 14.7, 3.6, and 5.1 in his career per 36. JC does have a higher PER, and he seems to be a slightly better player than Bayless already, so I'm not sure why JC isn't on more of an Afflalo-type path (at least offensively).
Lol anyone surprised? It's ESPN. They hate the Lakers. I don't see why Clarkson can't be an above average starter at the very least from what we've seen so far. Randle we know is a long way to go, but he can still be special if he puts everything together. Clarkson is already a solid starter. His defense needs a lot of work, but offensively he's efficient and productive. He has improved immensely each of his first two seasons. His jump shot, his ability to finish in the paint, his mid range game and shot creating ability and play making. He's playing on a bad team that's not his fault and it's like he's just dominating the ball, padding stats, and chucking up poor shots. Why not mention of Larry Nance Jr? Mark Jackson said the other night he thinks Larry is a starting power forward in this league and I completely agree. His hustle, energy, his improvement with his jump shot, rebounding, athleticism, playing within his skill set, good P&R defender, and quick feet defensively. This is a young core four that is about as good as anyone's. Russell to me is the one guy I see as a future superstar and franchise type player. I think Randle has the ability to be a 20 & 10 player. Maybe not necessarily a star, but a guy who definitely can be a Carlos Boozer and Zach Randolph type player. A 2 or 3 time All Star. Clarkson and Nance likely won't be All Stars, but most teams don't have three or four All Stars anyway. I see them as solid starters going forward.
They actually did mention Nance, and weren't impressed: "I thought taking Nance in the first round was a stretch, and I'm not sure he has done anything to change that opinion. He has provided energy and high-percentage finishing but has been ineffective on the defensive glass and is rarely creating his own shot. I see Nance having an extended career, but primarily as a reserve."
Well there you go right there. They clearly aren't watching our games. Nance has been very impressive late first rounder or not. He hasn't created his own shot? Ugh okay since when do you have to create your own shot to be an effective NBA player? There's plenty of solid starting players who don't create their own shot.
