Julius was clutch tonight. I loved his drive that basically sealed the game. Loved that he had the confidence to make that type of move in a big moment. His rebounding and energy continues to be top notch. This is big for him knowing he contributed and playing a huge role in the comeback victory.
The Bass injury last night was a bummer, especially considering how he's been playing of late. But that being said, a silver lining that came out of it is that Byron was forced to put Julius and Nance on the court at the same time in the 4th, which was nice to finally see.
We finally saw Randle/Nance Jr. out there and I love it. I absolutely love the potential there. This summer if we can get Nance Jr. in the gym knocking down even a good 19-17 footer, I think there's potential there for a great small-ball lineup. The other thing it does is FORCE Julius to work on his help defense. If we rely on him as our rim protector, it MAKES Julius pay attention down low and challenge shots at the rim. He did it a couple of times last night and while he had mixed results it was the first time I saw back-to-back efforts as a help defender. It was brilliant. I know the lineup was kind of forced on Byron, but I think it's got a TON of potential and it really could spark the next stage in development for Julius and for Larry. A lineup in the future of D'angelo/Jordan/Derozan?/Julius/Nance Jr. could really work for stretches and could really really work for small-ball teams. All five of those guys can move around defensively and switch for short periods. There's a TON of potential for that team to create turnovers and get out on an explosive fast break.
My favorite part is after the game was over and the clock hit zero he untucked his jersey and walked straight to the locker room. Everyone was celebrating and he didn't want to talk to the media or Mike Trudell at all. We've got bigger things ahead of us. Good win but move on type of mindset.
He'll be pissed at Byron for 2/3's of the offseason. That's ok, I would be too. Means he gives a crap. Top picks all come from winning programs. They shouldn't accept losing lightly.
he's gotta chill out. last night it seemed like the only shots he took were gimmes that his teammates fed him and incredibly difficult ones, with maybe a couple jumpshots. i think that he tries to do those quick dribble moves to often and needs to work more fluidly through the team.
And those moves are scary ....LOL....looks like his handle is going to be lost any nanosecond. Though he's not a turnover machine. Julius! Cup the g-damned ball in either your left OR your right hand and wrist .....(not hard to do Einstein).... and finish like a f****** man around the basket with one arm. Jeezus his hands have to be as big as Kobe's, right? Bryant was a dunk monster. Hit the damn short Js as well and then more opportunities to blow by guys and then take tighter angles and jam the ball. Early in the morning in scheduled shoot arounds on the road, and certainly on practice days in L.A. ..... put more time in. Be like Kobe. That's what he always did to fix slumps. Shot more. Dunk like Kobe! Step your game up Julius.
Master of the unnecessary-double-clutch-that-makes-me-miss-what-would-normally-be-a-fairly-straightforward-shot.
YES!! That's what I mean. He has a mental thing going because he doesn't trust his right hand and does everything he can it seems to keep from going there. Which causes the crap you're talking about.
Why isn't Worthy in his ear about dunking technique with one hand? How about Metta... he was a bit of a "cupper" too in his prime days? How exponentially easier the game at this level would be if he knew he had an angle and was going to throw it down one armed.
This young guy is unbelievably strong at his age. He'll be tough to stop once he acquires that veteran guile that goes with experience.
True. But right now I am questioning his smarts because of not figuring out how to dunk and finish better with both hands/arms each on their own, and that he's not improving with his short Js to be able to open the whole game up for himself.
That was a nice touch pass. Thrown from the same kind of sideways motion that Russell himself uses often.
Times players age 21 or younger, 750+ rebounds, in the past 50 seasons: 22. Julius: on pace for nearly 800.
Yeah... he is, without doubt, an elite rebounder. Per 36 is 12.9 That's crazy. He needs to get a shot and he is a 20/10 player THAT VERY MOMENT, not being able to finish and all...
You got that right and now you need to man up and put it out there with a tweet to all the Lakers F.O. types why isn't one of all these ex player geniuses around the team these days ..... teaching Julius how to cup the ball and start jamming it like a man with EITHER arm? Why is no one talking about this? He has the hops. He's got Blake Griffin strength upper body and he's coordinated as hell. Look at all the clumsy s*** he is able to pull off because of that coordination. Earn your gig Worthy and Scott for crissakes ....just recognize it and ask Kobe to help him. Who better?????? Please, and any way you want to word it. When in the mood. Who doesn't think Julius becomes a monster immediately (with still all his other areas to get better) ..... when he starts picking angles and exploding for one armed dunks. If required. Two's okay. Stop being a puss about the right hand Julius.
