Julius Randle Discussion: Beast, Ox, Monster, Lotus Flower

having to learn to be under control is easily fixable. When you make the jump up a level its like someone hits the fast forward button. When I first hit college it was literally a blur on the court. The few times I have played with pros in practice or pick up it makes college ball look like slow mo. He will adjust. The important part is he is still getting to the rim.

 

Every time I see him I realize how lucky we got with him in this years draft. Before the draft I really wanted to have Marcus Smart on our team. Now I'm more than happy to get Julius. He's still very raw but he will help us a lot already this season if he continues to listen to Kobe, Booz etc. and keep working like he has so far.

 

But it’s Randle for whom Scott anticipates Bryant’s guidance could be the most helpful.

“He and I had a talk one day with Julius,” Scott said, “and I told him that if he has anywhere near the work ethic as Kobe, he’ll be an All-Star. If you don’t you’ll just be a good basketball player in the NBA one day.”

http://www.ocregister.com/lakers/lakers-638271-mentor-ontario.html

 

I think Randle may have been brought up with the whole "hype" mindset. That, since he's been nationally ranked and what not, that he's had that special attention and never really developed that work hard ethic that some players go through.

He's still young, and what might need to happen is that he needs to fail his rookie year. What works, what doesn't. How do I get better? How do I counter this, or how do I do better that. These are the things that thrusted Kobe into the elite level. His mindset of never being the best, always having something to improve or add on, is what separates some players from the rest. I say, let him fail, and let him learn from his mistakes because I don't think he's been given this much feedback and constructive criticism before.

 

Yeah, it's hard to measure anybody against Kobe's level of work ethic. The man is a cerebral machine.

I mean, we got our first taste of what Randle wanted when we first drafted him, that he thought he should've gone higher and wanted to make other teams feel sorry for passing up on him.

For most gifted players, it takes awhile for them to finally understand what they must do to get to the next level. Some never get there, they need a push. Having Kobe here will accelerate that for Julius. He'll hit his rookie wall, but I think with Kobe and Byron, they'll push him past it quicker than most. I see a lot more potential with Randle than I did before we drafted him. He's got so many skills that will make him a really talented franchise player if he really puts in the work. To have that size, strength, and handling ability, is lethal. Add a jumper some fundamental footwork, he'll be quite dominant.

 

We need a Julius Caesar

 

Haha, well said.

 

time for me to reign in my expectations...Randle will be a 3-4yr project before he becomes an impact player

 

I don't think so. I think he could be impactful as soon as this year, depending upon what we mean by that. he looks to be near nba rotation quality right now. some fairly mild improvement in areas that players have proven able to improve and he's a starting caliber player in year 2 or 3. that actually beats most guys drafted at that spot.

but yeah, he has a ways to go if he's going to fulfill his potential as projected about a year and a half ago.

 

I really hope so. Its been a while since the Lakers had a rookie make a significant impact in their first year. Is he going to average 20 pts and 10 rebs? No, but I'd like to something to be excited about for the future and Randle can provide that much. Give him a chance Byron!

 

We are only 3 games into preseason, so obviously everything needs to be taken with a grain of salt at this point. That being said though, my impression so far is that Ed Davis should be starting instead of Boozer. I would also be throwing Randle as many minutes as possible as the backup 4. There isn't any sense in giving major minutes to Boozer at this point, Davis and Randle are the future (hopefully we can hang onto Davis anyway) and are currently better players than he is.

 

Yeah that's impactful, but for the guy who was supposed to be one of the most NBA-ready of the draft those numbers seem a little low. It's looking like Smart is going to get minutes to grow in Boston, as will Payton, Parker, and Wiggins in their respective cities. Randle needs to be given every opportunity to blossom on the court, even if he won't be a starter. If given 25+ minutes a night I think 12 and 8 is realistic for Can't Handle.

 

Julius Caeser = Randle Marcus Crassus = Kobe (Without the defeat and death to parithia)


No Crassus, No Caeser.

 

Don't worry about that, worry about him developing into a great player. Rookie of the year is nice, but a playoff run would be a hell of a lot nicer! Byron Scott will play him exactly as much as he earns...

 

Having Boozer there actually works in favor of Randle because he's not going to be able to play 25-30 minutes a game straight away, over the course of a full 82 game season. He'll hit the rookie wall, and slowly build his conditioning over time.

Right now, I that's what he needs to focus on. That, and his jumper. If he can become consistent with that 10-15 foot jumper with that explosive first step and handling ability of his, he could very potent.