Taller more athletic, less girthy danny fortson? if anyone remember him. He was a rebounding machine, you wouldnt think it when you saw how big and slow he looked
good call on tisdale, though i only have vague memories of his game at this point. i think i mentioned the reggie evans comp a while back, too. that's how unpolished randle's offensive game was last year. it's hard to think of a player with randle's game/physical profile, though. that could be a good or a bad thing. we'll know within a couple years.
I think Randle is way more talented than Evans. He can dribble, he can pass and he can absorb contact, even though he is not efficient finishing. Randle's problem is the feel for the game. He doesn't seem to make good decisions with the ball and is always in a rush. That problem is very hard to overcome. I would say ZBo did overcome this to a degree after his Portland days. But Z-Bo was smooth, Randle is clumsy. We will see how far his work ethic takes him. I can't wait to see if his 2 a day summer practices really do make a difference this upcoming season.
^ Exactly. Randle's athletic profile is different from his appearance. He's got the profile of Zach Randolph, but he moves like Charles Barkley. He really doesn't have a great comparison, but he definitely has a lot of trouble recognizing things that are happening on the floor. He has trouble with weak side help because he doesn't see the play developing quickly enough. He has trouble with the offense in general because he doesn't see the play ahead of time. If he does see these things, he doesn't see it fast enough. He doesn't have the same natural feel that Ingram and Russell have for example. Still, the little we've seen in USA Select practices have been encouraging. He passes the ball early and often and moves well. I would still like him to be more engaging off the ball though. Same with Ingram incidentally.
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160720/lakers-julius-randle-relishing-heavy-offseason-workload Great read on Julius.
I don't see a bigger Reggie Evans at all, but we're entitled to different opinions, obviously. . Either way, I don't think I phrase what or conveyed what I wanted to do clearly; this is what I meant: with the type of system we're implementing where we'll emphasize a 'space and pace' type of system, I like how Diaw produced in that system and made an impact. It was off pick in roll, filling the wing on the break, and post-ups. Later on down the line, he developed a jumper from the 3-point line that helped him; especially with SAS. While not the shooter that Diaw was during that time, I think Randle can pick the same spots and provide an impact, IMO. He's an underrated passer, he can develop his skills off the pick in roll by doing one of two things: rolling hard to the hoop after he sets the pick or we have recently seen facilitating it. We seen that in footage where Russell set a screen for Julius, Julius broke down his man got into the lane and kicked it out for a corner three; the shot was missed but it was a high percentage shot. If he can develop his jumper, he can also pop on this pick in rolls, but I'd like to see a more consistent jumper at that point. Hope that makes sense.
odd piece in parts, right? he provides no detail as to who randle's been working with or how exactly he's altering his mechanics. and i guess that's fine if randle wants to keep it a secret, but as as writer, i'm not positive there's enough for an article here. he also refers to a bucket list (?) and uses the phrase "model emulate" (i'm guessing that's an editing mistake). maybe medina's been hitting the sauce too much in vegas? anyway, working against cousins is good for randle. he needs to figure out how to score and defend in the absence of tremendous physical advantage. he won't be able to get that in practice much once the season starts.
Yeah it felt like he had half a story there or really just a poorly written mystery story. I mean if you don't have all the facts, play up that you don't have all the facts. Shoddy workmanship there. Still, I liked hearing about Randle's work ethic. I dig the kid's desire to get out there and improve. The way he talks (and that's the end of the comparison I'm making) sounds like Kobe talking. Enjoying the process, letting the game do the talking, attention to detail and so forth. I dig it.
From the Mark Medina article about Randle: http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160720/lakers-julius-randle-relishing-heavy-offseason-workload I didn't know about this secret shooting coach/mentor. Keeping stuff close to the chest. I like that. I also liked hearing this.
I told ya'all they suck, don't take direction, don't retain coaching, and the only thing that will work is the bench. I don't even think they've ever been in a fist fight.
