It was good to see Julius have a good game in front of his Mother. I bet he wouldn’t mind signing with the mavs. I could see them forcing the Lakers hand in the off-season by offering him max.
Just watched the game again. Shaking my head at the Randle hate here. Randle played good D down the stretch and stopped Harrison Barnes who was demolishing Kuzma late in the fourth. And he sealed the deal by grabbing that board and putting it in. Again, we don't have a big who plays D anywhere near Randle in terms of being able to switch on small guys. What he does for us is huge in that department. And tada is right, Ingram had a team high 7 turnovers the other night. Randle DOES make some of the same mistakes over and over and over. In fact a lot of our guys do. Kuzma does, Ingram does, Clarkson does, KCP does. It's a young team and they are all prone to mistakes. The guys who do the least of it are probably Larry Nance, Slowpez (but he is so slow that is a problem in itself and why he can't be out there at the end of games), and Lonzo. But even those guys make mistakes too. Not to mention our coach makes his own mistakes over and over as well. His inbounds plays are garbage and those rotations earlier in the year were just insane. Like realdeal mentioned, preferably I'd love to keep Randle as a small ball center to go alongside PG and Lebron. Not sure if the money will work out that way but it would be a dynamite lineup. I still feel like keeping Randle until the summer is in our best interest. We don't know what will happen in free agency and he could still be a good piece for us going forward. I feel like JC is more expendable at this point.
Great bounce back game from Randle, glad to see him take advantage of a relatively weak front court. But he's still making the same mistakes he always have been making. Hands don't go up on D, offensive fouls, turnovers. But yes, if we had more talent his mistakes can be hidden. I still don't know if I want to trade him, resign him or let him walk. Too many variables.
The TOV's of Ingram and Randle are quite similar from what I gather. The difference is that Ingram gets bounced around and loses the ball while driving, whereas Randle bounces the opponent around which leads to a offensive foul lol. Randle has an year of experience over Ingram so he's more consistent game to game, but the cause of their TOV's are equally as frustrating imo. And what about the games where Ingram is no where to be found for 2 quarters not being assertive enough? Is that not making the same mistake over and over again? I don't slam him for those games because I know he's still young and developing. It's the same thing with Randle. He's still 23, a good 3-4 years from hitting his prime. The single greatest improvement anyone has made on this roster from last year is Randle's defense. Is that not adjusting their game and improving in areas they need to?
Ingram barely turned 20 years old in September. Randle turned 23 in November. That’s basically a 3 year age gap. This is Randle’s 4th NBA season (he still got to be with the team, watch practice, work on his shot, etc while he was injured his first year), and this is Ingram’s second. When Ingram is 23, if he’s making the same preventable turnovers as he is now, or still having wildly inconsistent nights where he isn’t aggressive enough you can bet I will be calling him on it. That, is the difference here. I don’t hate Randle, I hate that he seems incapable of fixing the silly mistakes he should have learned to fix by year 2. Examples, the NBA doesn’t allow you to bully your way to the hoop/in the paint anymore, so adjust and work on your footwork, pump fakes, pivots. You are not the PG, when you get the ball, give it to Zo, JC, or someone more qualified to make decisions with the ball. Along the lines of that last point, stop being so selfish, when you give the ball to Zo you will get it back pretty often. When you give it to JC and set a good screen, you’ll also get it back a lot. Standing at the 3 point line, hands out calling for the ball isn’t helpful, move without it, or set good screens. That’s what is so frustrating, these are simple, simple fixes. If he did these things on a consistent basis we wouldn’t even be discussing trading him or not re-signing him, it would be a no-brainer. His scoring, rebounding, and defense aren’t the issue here, it’s the little things that hold a good player back from that next level.
Julius goes for 23 and 15, we snap a fourteen game losing streak to the Mavs, and we’re still not happy with him? Tough crowd in here.
the lakers won that game in large part by dominating the glass, imo, and randle was a big driver of that. but dallas (who plays small and has no real rim protector) is an ideal matchup for randle. neither this game nor the previous changed any opinions i have of randle's overall game. i don't share tada's optimism about his approaching prime. my opinion is that he's going to have a nice 10-12 year career as a backup utility big. he's never going to have much of a skill game (we'd have seen more progress by now), and his preferred style of play on offense is anachronistic (imagine him in 1992!). all that said, i'd be fine with keeping him in la long term, provided his cost is in the clarkson ballpark. i'm opposed to simply dumping him (savings aren't big enough to make a difference). if a trade comes up that returns a decent asset (mid-first round pick OR player who better fits our roster), i'm listening, but i'm not burning up the phone lines trying to move him.
I've been on record saying that Ingram only gets a pass for half of this season. So his time is up and I'm going to expect consistency out of him from this point forward. I just rewatched the game. 1st quarter 1st TOV - Barnes pokes ball away in post. More of good defense than bad offense IMO. 2nd quarter 2nd TOV - Charge, lowering his shoulder --- this he needs to cut down on, I agree 3rd TOV - Entry pass to Ingram stolen. Bad pass but Ingram should have established better post position on a smaller Ferrell. 3rd quarter 4th TOV - Stripped by Mathews below basket after pump fake. Again, good defense. 5th TOV - Bad pass to Kuzma on fast break. The ball probably slipped out of his hands as it was a wild pass. 4th quarter 6th TOV - Great hussle for offensive board and goes up for basket, but gets poked and the ball hits his leg. OT 7th TOV - He gets the ball with 3 seconds on the shot clock. Moves fast but unfortunately charge. Aside from the 2nd TOV, I really don't see the bone-headed plays you guys are talking about. I was more impressed that he BEASTED in OT by making crucial baskets while stopping Barnes on multiple possessions. No one else on our team is capable of what Julius can do on BOTH ENDS of the court.
On record or not, that’s a pretty arbitrary point to start judging a player like that. I’m guessing you didn’t do the same for Randle or you’d have given up on him. Most rookies get a “pass” from me for almost their entire rookie contract, unless they are absolutely awful and show no improvement at all year to year. Again, Ingram will be 20 this entire season, Randle will be 23, not fair to me to judge the much younger one the same as the older one. Kids take time to develop, even the special ones. Where my line of expecting more comes in, cleaning up old mistakes and bad habits, is when the rookie contract is about to be up and we will have to pay the guy big bucks to keep him. That’s where we are with Randle right now, and currently I am not for giving him big bucks, simple as that. I get that you really like him, but we just disagree on his value and ceiling.
Well a 2nd pick in the draft is expected to have a different growth trajectory from a 7th pick, no? Julius is coming along just fine for where he was drafted. Ingram is too. But I'm going to judge them on different standards. Just as the vast majority of the basketball world will. Justifiably so I think.
Fair or not, this is where I base my expectations. 1. Ben Simmons 2. Brandon Ingram 3. Jaylen Brown 6. Marcus Smart 7. Julius Randle 8. Nik Stauskus
Or he’ll outplay that all-star talent and help us win the game. Both statements have shown to be equally true.
Can't outplay all stars when your brain and fundamentals have lapses at least 4 or 5 times a game. Sure, a couple hustle plays in the right moments work, but there is a reason in NBA basketball, the best players always seem to pull it out more often than not at the end of big games.
He has outplayed all-stars on multiple occasions despite his brain lapses. I'm not saying he's better than those all-stars, but the point all season has been that Julius has consistently been one of our top 3 players despite his dumb moments. You said when playing better talent that his "stupidness is exposed greatly" and that's just simply not true.
You arent following me here. Julius Randle has never played ONE significant game in his 3+ years of being in the league. He has been on a .300 team his whole pro career. I am talking about when the games become legit and seeds and playoff spots and series wins are on the line.
And what evidence do you have to show Julius gets exposed in games with meaning? I’m following you, but you’re not making a valid argument
You said he gets outplayed in big games. You then proceed to say he’s never played in one big game in his entire career. No need for a lawyer.
There’s no need in comparing Julius to another player, like Ingram. Just assess him on his own merit. The criticism of him points to the same mind numbing repetitive errors he keeps making, as Weezy listed. That gives you the sort of head scratching feeling you get when you here Draymon kicked yet another player in the nuts. You have to wonder about the mentals at that point. Also, the small hands are an issue. He can’t help that per se, but I feel toward him like I used to feel toward Elden Campbell and Kwame Brown. Physically brawn, could probably dominate, but for the Achilles heel that you can slap the ball out of their hands at any time. (Caveat, Jordan screwed up Kwame’s head.)
