And we should care what other fan bases think about Randle because? Most of those fans aren't even watching our games so they can't even make an honest assessment and I haven't seen many think Russell will be great and honestly I could care less. What they think is irrelevant.
Not talking about other fanbases but the main people on the net who aren't fans of a particular team and "assess" talents/potentials
Well again I don't think it matters either way. They aren't watching Julius each game like we all are. It's not like we're blind homers. Everyone here has pointed out the kid's weaknesses, but this guy missed his entire rookie season and is barely halfway through. If people were expecting Julius to just light up the entire league then they had unrealistic expectations of a number seven pick. Show me the list of rookie power forwards who are averaging a double double. It's a pretty short list and Julius is already going that basically. If it makes me a blind homer to think Julius can and will grow into a great player because of the fact he's already been very productive despite having an awful coach and being so raw and still having so much to learn and improve well okay then. I don't see it that way at all. He had his little rookie wall that everyone has and he's played very well the last three or four games. He's gonna be just fine. The kid has some great attributes for a player as powerful as him. The ability to run the break, the handles, the athleticism and motor, and ability to gobel up rebounds, running the court and the break, and as we saw in pre-season going up against a great player in Draymond Green he has confidence in himself as a player. He is a hard worker. He is gonna get better. Once he's in a system where he's put in better positions to succeed like running actual sets to free him up. Getting him closer to the bucket. Running screen and roll with him. Big to big actions between himself and Larry. His efficiency and overall effectiveness will go up. Hell it took a guy like Zach Randolph who Julius has been compared to three years until he averaged a double double. As Laker fans we have to learn patience with some of these guys. Yeah I know it's difficult and frustrating, but what else are we gonna do give up on a kid who has played half a season in the NBA?
I'm just saying his lack of length , awkward/ball stopper 1 on 1 game are legit concerns . It's easy to say he'll be fine because he's a rookie ... There is no point of talking ball then because if it was the case , every high prospect would have became very good players. Numbers on a terrible matter little
Randolph didn't have length and was a black hole early in his career. Then he matured and became a very good team player. I don't see why Randle can't do the same. Yes they're legit concerns, but it's so early in the kid's career. Time is on his side here. Bad team or not a rookie averaging a double double despite not even starting is impressive.
sorta OT, but Randolph's grizzlies were a legit contender a few years ago with him as a major piece. I thought they had some tough officiating in game 7 losses to lac and okc. that said, I've never really understood the randle/Randolph comparison. their games are literally nothing alike. zbo has great touch, likes to play around the basket on offense, and has slow feet. randle's got zero touch, likes to attack from the perimeter, and has really quick feet for a big. randle's offensive game reminds me of young blake griffin, minus the dunking. can't shoot, has trouble finishing over length. griffin still struggles to finish over length if it's not a lob/break, but he developed at least a respectable midrange jumper (which promptly left him when he needed it most in the last two games of the playoffs), and that opened things up for him. anyway, I'm in the "how about we wait until the end of NEXT year to start writing off a 20 year old" camp. the biggest development often happens between the first and second year, and I really consider this to be his first. guards sometimes take a little longer (see curry and conley as recent later bloomers), but we should know if randle's going to be an allstar, starter, or bench player after his second full season. I don't think it's knowable now.
The only thing I would say to this is these kids need the right coach to develop him specifically Randle. I'll take a look at a guy like Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green. Guys who didn't blow the world away, but they worked hard, developed correctly and turned into impact players. I'm not looking for Randle to turn into an All-Star. I want him to mirror Draymond's game and impact the game with his defense, passing, ball-handling, become a better pick in roll threat, and eventually stretch the floor with his shooting.
Draymond also spoke highly of Randle recently. 2 garbage players speaking highly of another garbage player
Of course he could. The Grizzlies have been contenders every year since 2011. They haven't been able to win it because of a lack of shooting, but that's not been his fault.
my only concern here is that green's hoop iq was present from day one--the question is whether it was present at randle's level of experience (green was a 4-year guy at MSU, again iirc). if so, we probably can't hope for randle to get there. but green's three point shot definitely wasn't there, so i think at the very least, we can hope that randle develops a decent standing jumpshot. this alone might be enough to make him a 10 year nba starter.
Gotcha. Reportedly, he's training with Green in the off-season, so let's hope that some of Green rubs off on Randle.
Julius' knowledge of the game hasn't progressed as much as it should by this time. Some of it is on him and some of it is on Byron. I think it's clear that Byron is not a good X's and O's guy. He's not good at implementing an offensive system that fits with his team (or the modern NBA for that matter). He's not a good communicator at all. He's not a good motivator, actually creating more frustration and resentment than motivation. No wonder he "isn't learning".
This is why is becomes increasingly imperative that we make a change at head coach. If this 'core' is apart of your future, you move heaven and earth to develop them properly and place them in positions to succeed on the basketball court .
Maybe the Lakers feel the young core isn't good enough. That they need one more young piece like Simmons or Ingram to start a full on rebuild.
I have lowered my expectations substantially for Randle. My biggest concern is the lack of touch around the rim. We all knew that he's terrible at finishing with his right but he's pretty bad with his left hand too. If he had soft hands like Pau or Zach he'd be a monster but I'm not sure anymore.
lol it's unbelievable to me how many people had ridiculous, unrealistic expectations for the kid. He was the seventh pick not the first or second. In a weak draft no less which is pretty telling. If he was a guy who was expected to come out right out of the gate and dominate he would've been drafted in the top two or three picks. Julius still has great potential, but it's clear he's a long ways away just like D'Angelo is.
Encouraging Tweets at right: Julius stayed after practice, worked on his shot, and Worthy and Tracy Murray were there.
