Julius Randle Discussion: MIP

I think you have the wrong person.

 

- Agree with you assessment with DAR. He'll be the best player out of our young core. Within 2-3 seasons, he'll one of the better players at his position. No doubt about it.

- JC does need a lot of work defensively. He doesn't have the length or size to guard SG's right now. He's better off guarding PG's and once Russell gets some size, he's better off guarding the SG's, IMO. I need to see them in a different system to see how they co-exist, though.

- Nance is a steal. I believe he has starter potential.

- I think Julius can be a key cog on a good team. He needs a different coach, different system, and he needs to make improvements to his game. If you want some perspective, take a look at what Draymond did his rookie year and what Julius is doing. I say that because I think that's who Julius should be molding his game after...

 

I think it's utterly ridiculous how people are writing Julius off when he's not even at the half way point in his rookie season. He's already a terrific rebounder which is obviously one of the most important attributes for any big man. Yes he's very unpolished offensively and he needs to get better, but even with that in a better system where we didn't strictly ask him to isolate all the time he'd be getting easier opportunities. He's already basically a double double guy and he still has so much room to grow. No he hasn't been efficient, but neither has D'Angelo. Both of these young guys have a lot of growth that needs to take place, but they've both shown plenty of promise and if we surround them with the right pieces and get the right coach with a system in place I fully believe they're both capable of being big time players in this league.

 

yeah, it's easy to pile on when he's in a really bad shooting funk. he boards, and he scores in the paint. he has the potential to do a lot more, and i think that's why people get upset. gotta have some patience. let's see if he's still making all these same mistakes come next November.

 

Love that third question she asked.

 

It's a "guess/prediction" from me ... Hopefully I'm wrong .

Of course they're both very young and will get better ... but everybody could say this about every high prospect coming into the league .

 

It's just that we've already seem glimpses of Randle's talent here and there. He may have regressed recently, but he also made some adjustments in the beginning of the season, e.g. seemed to have added a nice little fadeaway to his arsenal. He stopped using it in games for some reason, but he also seemes to have good work ethic, and you just cannot denny his unique physical abbilities. Those things combined with his already elite rebounding numbers should be enough to be at the very least optimistic about his future.

Talent+work ethic+chip on his shoulders+alpha dor mentality+already great rebounding+still very young = he's going to be good to great IMHO. The only thing hat really concerns me with Randle at this point in time is his attitude - he seemes to easily get frustrated out there if things are not going his way.

 

His offensive game looks "awkward" ... not smooth/fluid at all .

This is why I'm concerned about him going forward .

He's like a young Griffin ... but without the jumping abilities

 

Funny thing is, Randle does have the jumping abilities. He had the same vertical as Blake in the combines. The difference is within their game.

The thing with Randle is that he creates the contact. I think somewhere down the line in his development, he found it advantageous for his defender to bear his weight to make up for his shorter reach. So instead of using his vertical, he opted to use his strength and size for a more bully ball type of game.

Unfortunately, Randle's strength game is not translating to the NBA because 1. people are scouting how to defend him, making him take jumpers 2. NBA level players are just as strong as he is. Randle's biggest weapon is his first step and handling ability. I know a jumpshot open loads of avenues for him offensively, but to simplify things for him, he just needs to work on control, footwork, and going straight to the basket rather than initiating contact.

 

thanks for that rodge, interesting stuff.

i think if brown doesn't dramatically improve his set shooting (to "cannot leave him open under any circumstances"), he's not going to stick in the league. brewer and patterson were much better athletes and more versatile defensively. and even they were limited to bit parts for most of their careers due to their shooting issues. danny green's obviously the hope, though i view him as more athletic as well. it did take a while for him to develop, though.

randle as boozer seems right to me, in terms of impact. the manner in which the impact occurs just looks much different. but prime boozer could score inside the arc and rebound. he was a marginal defender, and a complementary scorer (as opposed to a #1 option). the question is whether randle can adjust his ball-dominant style to something more opportunistic and efficient.

if clarkson ends up as mobley, that would be fantastic, imo. it's hard to find a good analog for his playing style, though. jamal crawford isn't that far off, imo. clarkson seems to have fewer physical tools, but a better work ethic.

never would have considered the nance/humphries connection, but that makes sense. nance is smarter, but humphries is a little bigger and slightly more skilled. i don't think he'll ever be strong enough to muck it up in the paint like b. grant did, though.

finally, i think i'd seen the roy/russell comparisons during draft time. and they do make some sense. i'm still hoping russell's more of a pg, but the truth is that scoring ball-dominant guards have had more success than passing ball-dominant guards for...almost forever. but to do that, russell has to become a MUCH stronger finisher in the paint. my highest hope for him is sort of a curry/ginobili hybrid.

 

I'll be disappointed if Randle is like Boozer. He was a very good player, but always came up small in the postseason. I hope Julius is different in that sense. Boozer was great in the post and in pick and pop, but I don't think he has the same ability that Randle has in taking guys off the dribble.

As for Russell if he's like Brandon Roy i'd love that because he to me was on the verge of being one of the game's elite players until those injuries hit and derailed his career.

 

He's played better the last 2 games. He's just getting by on raw talent. Once we get a better coach and system, his game will take off