No I'm with you, I'm just saying there's some gaps in his game that will take a summer to fix and there's some that'll take maybe years to fix. This summer he can learn a ton by practicing. Sensing when and where to take chances on passes might not come out until he has a less strict coach though. Yesterday Draymond Green had a bunch of turnovers, but he tried more often than not to get the easy shot. That's what I want from Julius. I've seen it, so he can't pretend he can't do it.
You're right. Per 36 rebound leaders..... 1 Andre Drummond 5.4 10.9 16.2 2 Boban Marjanovic 5.5 9.5 14.9 3 DeAndre Jordan 3.9 11 14.9 4 Hassan Whiteside 4 10.6 14.6 5 Joakim Noah 4.9 9.5 14.5 6 Thomas Robinson 4.9 9.3 14.2 7 Enes Kanter 4.9 8.3 13.3 8 JaVale McGee 5.2 8 13.2 9 Dwight Howard 3.9 9.3 13.2 10 Julius Randle 2.9 10.3 13.1 Julius is basically the best rebounding PF in the league (counting out Thomas Robinson, who averages 11.3 mpg... very doubtful he can produce similar numbers in bigger role)
It's certainly an elite talent but two thing stand out to me: 1. His offensive rebounding numbers are super low. Given that Kobe misses a lot and our guards shoot a lot in general, he should have more offensive boards. A lot of times he's out of position and I'm not sure if that's by design or not. He's not a tremendous defender against the fast break, so I don't think it is. I think he just ends up floating on offense in plays that aren't designed for him. 2. I'd prefer if he had less defensive rebounds and more steals/blocks. He can make up the difference in rebounds on the offensive end. Right now he's focused on getting the rebound when he should really be focused on being in the right spot defensively to contest shots. A lot of times he grabs a board that he should have sent away as a block. Still, how many other 21 year olds have rebounded at this level? A lot of prospects come in without an elite talent and never develop one and don't stick in the league. If nothing else: Julius Randle can rebound the basketball with the best the NBA has to offer.
This is not to take a jab at Julius, but I have been wondering of late to what extent his great rebounging numbers are related to the fact that our starting center is probably the worst rebounder amongst all starting big men in the entire league. If we had a decent rebounder at that position, I expect that Randle's number would suffer some. Are there some advanced stats that would show his rebounding numbers depending on the C he's playing with?
If there are such stats they'd probably be on 82games.com but I don't know how to find them... I don't know if what you're saying is true though. Sure, having another strong rebounder would affect his numbers but isn't that true of any stat? If we had another guard on the team who shot well, would D'Angelo be scoring as many points? Probably not, but that doesn't mean he's not good at it. Also, most of Julius's rebounds come on the defensive glass with some hard work put into it. He earns his boards pretty well.
now one is as bad a big man rebounder as Brook Lopez is. Roy is up there, but not as good (errr. Bad) as Brook at not rebounding the ball despite his great size.
I'm not worried about his offensive rebounding numbers. The other guys are legit 7 foot centers except for Dwight Howard. But even then Dwight howard has really long arms. So the other guys have an advantage and can get offensive rebounds without being in that great of a position by reaching over people while our alligator-armed power forward has to be in great position to get those rebounds. The fact that he's top 10 is great.
Randle did a great job tonight reading the defense. He dominated Gordon without having to just overpower him. He's clearly maturing in his understanding of how to attack and read defenses. His man defense was solid as well. His work on the boards is pretty terrific for a rookie. Not sure why the nit picking. Yes you'd like to see more offensive boards, but he's a rookie. We should he happy with the fact that he's already a double double machine.
He really impressed me tonight. A lot more patience and control, many grown man moves. Using his right a lot more. Hustling as always. Still want that jumper to come along, but damn he is a stud.
Beast mode in full effect tonight. 23 and 11. I could get used to this. Yet another double double. And over 50% shooting. The two moves with his right were very sweet. The coast to coast move was my favorite although I also loved it when he broke the dudes ankles on the baseline.
I'm seeing improvement, even if little by little. He's a rookie, he's figuring it out, I look forward to watching his continued progress very much. He is very quick off the dribble, and he's starting to use some smart fundamental moves as well, and I love how if he can dunk on a finish, he's gonna dunk. We're seeing a lot less of the layups that spin out with too much english, because he's going up to dunk. Maybe he's learning that from Bass, I hope so, because that's how you want to go to the hoop, strong. Don't get cute with it like Stu loves to say.
I haven't seen the second half yet, but randle made two moves to his right that looked much more natural than most of his other moves that way have looked throughout the season. one shot was a bit wild, but the other dropped in cleanly. I thought Gordon was playing good defense, too. as for the rebounding question--I think I asked something similar several pages back, and someone dug up the data. my question was whether the team rebounded better with him on the floor, and I believe they do. this likely means that he isn't just gobbling up boards that they were going to get anyway.
(LA) Double Double Leaders by Season (Last Six) 2012-13 Dwight Howard 48 2010-11 Pau Gasol 43 2011-12 Pau Gasol 42 2013-14 Pau Gasol 30 2015-16 Julius Randle 28 2014-15 Jordan Hill 22 Dang.
