they're both strong and left-handed, but the similarities end there. zbo was a skilled player from day one, but has never been mobile. randle has unusual body control and ballhandling ability for a guy his size and strength. that was a lazy comparison, imo. blake griffin remains the most similar player to me. yes, he dunked more, but aside from that, rookie randle looks like rookie griffin to me, right down to the inability to shoot outside of 5 ft.
I mentioned before he should make a point every game early to shoot at least 3 of them. They are already dropping here and there and are a whole hell of a lot easier than some of the awkward stuff he throws up in those "china shop" demolitions.
i actually like his china shop stuff, they tend to produce more offensive rebounding opportunities for him and others, too. the long jumpers just clang off the back iron and are more likely to lead to run-outs. i like mucking things up in the paint as a general rule.
Well one thing I see huge potential for is when Randle drives he draws at least two defenders, usually the guy who is guarding Hibbert since he's closest. That leaves 7'2" Roy around the rim basically alone. The spacing isn't great, but that's on Byron to create better spacing. Randle/Hibbert have potential to be a great 4-5 punch.
Sure, but when he starts hitting those short gimme 2s it makes your preferred style of play from him that much easier and no reason he shouldn't be able to do that. It's what we have all been saying. Is something wrong with his stroke I'm not picking up on? I do think he makes it harder by usually 2nd guessing himself and delaying on letting them go. Not talking about long 2s BTW.
I'm not saying he shouldn't also work on the jumpers, just saying there's still great great value in his ability to get where he wants in the paint.
^ right. his game should always be about getting in the paint first, even if he does develop a solid jumper. as for what's wrong with his stroke...i think a few things, but one major issue is that he doesn't really shoot a true jumpshot, it's more of a set/push shot. in other words, i think he releases the ball as he's still elevating. ideally, you release at the peak of elevation, even if the elevation isn't that high. not doing so is going to lead to issues with replicability of stroke unless you're absolutely stationary upon the catch and shoot. one reason i prefer his little stepback in the paint is that it more closely resembles a standard jumpshot (oddly enough). but hey, i'm just some dude who played jv and watches hoops on my couch. they have shooting coaches working with him, so i'm sure they know better than me. to my eye, though, his shot is broke and without major adjustments will continue to be so. the good news is that he's been able to shoot fts, so this isn't just a gross motor control issue.
Agreed but against length and size (like on Sunday vs. the Knicks) he struggles. If he had that jumper and could at least knock it down with reasonable consistency, it'd open up the floor even more. Right now everyone knows his MO is to get to the basket and the defense is collapsing on him. I will say that he is a better passer than I anticipated and occasionally when he's going full steam he'll make the smart play and dish off to a teammate. Usually not though.
If he starts shooting 3 of those gimme 2s without hesitation every 1st half, his % will pick up real quick unlike Kobe doing the same with 6 3s every half. I can feel it.
It's no coincidence the games in which Randle struggles. Its always against teams with big/long centers/pfs. He has trouble finishing over them. Desperately needs that jumper.
I think defenders are figuring him out. We don't run plays for him, we give him the ball and clear out and expect him to make his own play. Thread only so many moves, it's not hard to defend the same play over and over. Thanks to Byron's creative offense, the ball moves so well and we really have defenses guessing. Sorry, bad sarcasm.
Kid can't shoot. Put him on the block. Don't make him have to drive it from 25 feet out. Makes it to easy to guard him because he can't finish with his right hand.
Lol c'mon he needs to be a vocal point of this offense. His defense is terrible right now no question, but part of it is defensive scheme making him be a help defender which he's not and probably will never be.
Hibbert is the primary help defender but someone had to help the helper and that is Randle. So many times Hibbert is able to mess with the ball handler but then the ball gets passed for an easy layup or Hibbert's man gets the rebound.
man, he shook deng twice last night. don't know if that means deng is just old and done or randle is that damn quick. deng gave him a 4 foot cushion and still couldn't recover after the jab step. nastiness. sorry, trying to find any and all positives. his off ball defense does in fact sadden the baby jesus.
Good experience last night for him. Bosh took his lunch money, but Bosh is an All-Star, a champion, and one of the top 10 players in this league when healthy. So, for Julius, he will bounce back tonight. He usually does after a bad performance. He's' been fairly consistent so far. The only other game I remember him underperforming is Sacramento. He's still struggling in some areas, but for such a young player, that's normal. He'll be fine.
