Julius Randle and his Nightmare Start to the Season
Manhattan, New York (PSF) — It has not been a pretty start to two-time all-star and two-time All-NBA forward Julius Randle’s season.
Highlighted by poor shooting, turnovers, and unacceptable defense, many debate whether his low effort levels or poor basketball performance has been more frustrating and detrimental to The Knicks.
Unfortunately, there is no “lesser of two evils” in this case. Both of these issues are equally alarming, and equally as frustrating.
On the basketball side, Randle’s unchecked confidence and decisions have enabled him to shot-chuck as much as he wants. As a 117 million player with all-stars and all-NBA selections to his name, Head Coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t going to give him quick hooks because, in theory, he is one of their two best players.
It’s safe to say that enabling Randle to play the game the way has not worked out for the Knicks.
He is shooting an absolutely ghastly 27.1% from the field this season, the worst among qualified NBA players, yet he still has shot 96 field goals this year (Statmuse), which is 16th in the league. Even when ice-cold, Randle keeps on shooting, to the point where he verges on shooting the Knicks out of the game.
Take a look at this clip here.
Randle, with 13 seconds on the shot clock, tries to drive with his off-hand on Giannis, who is one of the rangiest and most athletic defenders in the league, not to mention a former DPOY. When Randle can’t turn the corner on him, he settles for a fading midrange jumper over last year’s runner-up for DPOY Brook Lopez (who had 8 blocks).
He proceeds to brick the bank shot and stand there while his 6’4” teammate Josh Hart hauls in the offensive rebound. Then, he immediately runs to the three-point line and takes the catch-and-shoot three with 13 seconds on the shot clock: and bricks yet again.
The last shot at the end is self-explanatory. Dribbling yourself into multiple defenders and then taking a fadeaway jumper over those multiple defenders is just not good basketball.
He plays a huge role in disrupting the Knicks’ offensive on this possession — except he plays the Knicks. These kinds of offensive possessions are inexcusable, especially since he has had a historically bad start shooting the ball. When the shot is not falling, what the Knicks really need is for him to move the ball, create opportunities for others, and provide value other than scoring.
Granted, he did have 5 assists against the Bucks, and is averaging 5.2 assists per game. But if for every assist, you get a handful of missed shots as well, it’s hard to feel hopeful about the assist numbers. Teams gravitate towards him as a threat offensively, so you’d like to see him hit open guys more when teams swarm him on offense. He does that, but needs to do it with more frequency.
Interestingly enough, Randle’s defensive rating of 104.7 would be the best of his career. It’s safe to wonder whether that is the product of his teammates carrying him to that number, or whether he has improved as a defender.
You have clips and stats that prove he is an effective defender, such as this:
But you also have clips like this:
Not only does he just stand there and give a halfhearted block attempt at the end, he also has some words for Mitchell Robinson, even though Robinson hustled back to the paint after closing out on the perimeter, while Randle just stood there.
That’s being a bad teammate on all facets.
While Randle is an effective player when he is 100% focused on the team and the game itself, once his personal feelings and issues get in the way, that is when the detrimental basketball begins to show.
That detrimental basketball is really highlighted when he doesn’t get what he wants. When Julius Randle doesn’t get what he wants, he’ll give up on the team as a response.
That low effort level when things don’t go his way is backbreaking for a team that needs him at his best. There are 15 players on an NBA roster and 4 others that you share the court with, one of them being another star in Jalen Brunson. Randle cannot let his frustrations on the court be a detriment to his teammates, yet that is exactly what is happening.
Take a look at this clip. Warning: it might make you very frustrated.
Down 1, Brunson takes a contested midrange that probably wasn’t the best decision, and Randle’s frustration with the shot is quite visible but valid. However, Brunson also had 40+ points at that time, while Randle was shooting under 30%. Randle must consider these facts when determining which player deserves to take that final shot. Instead, he got frustrated and jealous that he didn’t get to take the crunch-time shot.
To punish the team for letting that happen, he coasts back on defense on a critical defensive possession, lets Damian Lillard extend the Bucks’ lead to three as he watches him drive to the hoop, then chirps at Brunson when the Knicks call timeout.
That attitude is not a winning attitude. Brunson had carried the Knicks all game. Randle’s tendency to defer to the me-first attitude and openly criticize his teammates without accountability is frustrating for all, and I would imagine none find it more frustrating than The Knicks themselves.
This is not an outlier either. Refer back to the other defensive clip above against the Cavaliers. When Randle is frustrated, he just gives up and makes his teammates look bad, then voices them directly at them. That’s fine to do in a private space in the locker room, but on the court where your shortcomings as visible, and problematic in both a basketball and chemistry sense, that is absolutely unacceptable.
This is the same player where when Knicks fans felt he wasn’t trying, and were unhappy with the team overall, Randle gave them a thumbs down as a sign of disapproval to them. He let the fans get to his emotions and voiced his frustrations at them directly. While he is human, and it’s understandable that the fan booing and reactions are frustrating, the best way you can quell them is to prove them wrong and play better.
Something has to change.
Whether it’s cutting the amount of shots he’s allowed to take, having a team meeting where voices can be communicated and he can gain some perspective from his teammates, or just a flat-out reduction in minutes until he fixes it, Randle just simply needs to be better. Obviously, there will be some positive regression to the mean, and he won’t be this bad always.
But the fact of the matter is that right now, he has been this bad. He’s not making shots. He’s turning the ball over. He’s been a questionable teammate and the effort reflects that. Sooner or later, the Knicks are going to have to address this issue of Julius Randle’s play if it continues to persist.
If they leave him unchecked while he’s like this, it could be a long stretch of games until he regains his form.
