I'm really eager to see what type of season Randle has. When you look at his splits, his % really tanked in the two months where he was benched. Also had solid percentages in his two preseasons. He's likely closer to being a legit 45% guy which is respectable and I can see him jumping as high as 48% now that he'll be properly utilized on offense as well as having a summer to work on his shooting and finishing. The team as a whole was not as bad as they looked last year, just grossly misused and we'll see what amounts to a drastic improvement but is really just natural progression from the lot of them. _________________ It was reminiscent of one of those Most Interesting Man in the World advertisements: "I don't always shoot 6-for-28 from the field, but when I do, I become the youngest player in league history to score 28,000 career points."
I'm really eager to see what type of season Randle has. When you look at his splits, his % really tanked in the two months where he was benched. Also had solid percentages in his two preseasons. He's likely closer to being a legit 45% guy which is respectable and I can see him jumping as high as 48% now that he'll be properly utilized on offense as well as having a summer to work on his shooting and finishing. The team as a whole was not as bad as they looked last year, just grossly misused and we'll see what amounts to a drastic improvement but is really just natural progression from the lot of them.
Is there a serious possibility that Randle/Nance may split the PF minutes close to 50/50 (and not even accounting for Deng playing some minutes there too)? _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
Clarkson's probably the most accurate of all the players I've seen yet. Especially the lower body, he's got very realistic looking thin legs. They were always way too thick in past 2K's.
Sometimes I get the feeling like Randle could become the best player on our team, and no one would see it coming, till they went back and watched the clips of years prior.
I can't wait for the start of the season. So many questions to be answered. Biggest one for this year imo is his stamina, if that looks improved then my projection for him goes up a lot - that opens up the potential for him to become a dynamic defender/screener/fast break runner and handler. That's a lot of key facets
I'd say, after a full season of the NBA under his belt, his stamina should for all intents and purposes be improved.
Hmm.That's an optimistic take, considering he's always had stamina issues.. Honestly don't know how much it can improve , but I'm hoping it makes solid strides the next two years. Just off of motor alone (if he had a good motor outside of rebounding) he could be a beast flying around the court with his athleticism and strength, my goodness - he could be everywhere, including pushing the ball EVERY TIME in transition - and I for sure think he has the potential to be dynamic doing that, easily.
I thought he could be our best player as well, before last season. If he can make decent strides the next 3 seasons, then in his prime he could be an irreplaceable player. I mean, the ball handling is just ridiculously special (I agree with Dirk) and I also think that Luke will make his passing special.
If he could improve over the next 3 years to either have an above average off-ball motor or jumpshot - then he's an Allstar. Saying that! - I just think those two facets are tough to improve, man. He's bottom of the barrel at both, how much will he improve.....
I'd say, after a full season of the NBA under his belt, his stamina should for all intents and purposes be improved.
Hmm.That's an optimistic take, considering he's always had stamina issues.. Honestly don't know how much it can improve , but I'm hoping it makes solid strides the next two years. Just off of motor alone (if he had a good motor outside of rebounding) he could be a beast flying around the court with his athleticism and strength, my goodness - he could be everywhere, including pushing the ball EVERY TIME in transition - and I for sure think he has the potential to be dynamic doing that, easily.
I thought he could be our best player as well, before last season. If he can make decent strides the next 3 seasons, then in his prime he could be an irreplaceable player. I mean, the ball handling is just ridiculously special (I agree with Dirk) and I also think that Luke will make his passing special.
If he could improve over the next 3 years to either have an above average off-ball motor or jumpshot - then he's an Allstar. Saying that! - I just think those two facets are tough to improve, man. He's bottom of the barrel at both, how much will he improve.....
The scary prospect is that despite all that, in a structured offense he's at the very least 4-5 points better with the more open and opportunistic looks the offense provides him. Which would make him a 16-17/11 player his 2nd year.
The scarier prospect is that with a consistent mid(not even counting the 3) on top of that he's a 19/12 player.
So despite all this stuff, and stamina stuff, those two aspects of his game, one he is in control of and the other he isn't, would essentially make him a 19/12 player, add 3 assists to that which isn't out of his reach in the least(considering he averaged 2 a game in Byron's crappy offense). He statistically already would be an irreplaceable player.
Heck, if Randle was only 4-5 points better next season because of a structured offense and was a 16/11/4 player. That's a scary prospect in general for what he could be by 25 if he's doing that at 21.
Pretty tremendous upside for someone whom some worry about or question the stamina of.
I'd say, after a full season of the NBA under his belt, his stamina should for all intents and purposes be improved.
Hmm.That's an optimistic take, considering he's always had stamina issues.. Honestly don't know how much it can improve , but I'm hoping it makes solid strides the next two years. Just off of motor alone (if he had a good motor outside of rebounding) he could be a beast flying around the court with his athleticism and strength, my goodness - he could be everywhere, including pushing the ball EVERY TIME in transition - and I for sure think he has the potential to be dynamic doing that, easily.
I thought he could be our best player as well, before last season. If he can make decent strides the next 3 seasons, then in his prime he could be an irreplaceable player. I mean, the ball handling is just ridiculously special (I agree with Dirk) and I also think that Luke will make his passing special.
If he could improve over the next 3 years to either have an above average off-ball motor or jumpshot - then he's an Allstar. Saying that! - I just think those two facets are tough to improve, man. He's bottom of the barrel at both, how much will he improve.....
The scary prospect is that despite all that, in a structured offense he's at the very least 4-5 points better with the more open and opportunistic looks the offense provides him. Which would make him a 16-17/11 player his 2nd year.
The scarier prospect is that with a consistent mid(not even counting the 3) on top of that he's a 19/12 player.
So despite all this stuff, and stamina stuff, those two aspects of his game, one he is in control of and the other he isn't, would essentially make him a 19/12 player, add 3 assists to that which isn't out of his reach in the least(considering he averaged 2 a game in Byron's crappy offense). He statistically already would be an irreplaceable player.
Heck, if Randle was only 4-5 points better next season because of a structured offense and was a 16/11/4 player. That's a scary prospect in general for what he could be by 25 if he's doing that at 21.
Pretty tremendous upside for someone whom some worry about or question the stamina of.
Ah, I don't think it's that cut & dry man .. Who else is projecting Randle to go for 15-16 next year? Not many pundits, or Laker bloggers..
How many shots near the rim is he going to get next year from a bit more P/R and more structure ? .. Idk how many shots Randle is going to get up next year, but if he's not making shots, I'm not sure he's going to be encouraged to shoot them (not sure with Luke in that regard next year)
11.3 ppg last year, I'd just hope for 12-13 with a better FG% this year .
Optimistically, think of what some increased vert would do for his finishing, I'm looking for that next year, excitedly.
Hopefully the jumper looks almost semi consistent , that'd be improvement that we'd all love.
And we can't forget about the other half of the game, especially when we talk about stamina - and that's defense. He was a more embarrassing defender than Harden last year . Less effort than him. That's just, something that can't be overstated, and it goes without being mentioned here - you bring up his potential without mentioning that. And then factor in that Lukes offense is 20x more fast paced than Byron's. And he'll need to set more screens. All of that is draining. And so I am very curious to see his stamina next year. Ehhhhhh....
I think from what I've seen of his jumper thus far, at Team USA camps and otherwise.
That his improvement should be in his stand stills and spot ups. However he still rushes and reverts back to old form on his pull ups or off the dribble attempts.
Which means I expect he should do relatively ok off the pick and pop from mid, but if he were to hold the ball in his hands, and try that step back dribble, it wouldn't have the form or consistency.
The other thing about Randle is his willingness to execute whatever the coach tells him. This goes all the way back from High School through Kentucky to even the Lakers. What the coach asks from Randle, he does his best to execute without backlash. Because he wants to win or do what's necessary.
The problem is, when you have a coach that doesn't lay or map out any kind of plan, that's precisely what you get. One of the things that makes Randle's eyes light up when discussing Luke is the fact he's learning, but also being told what the gameplan is for him.
This is evident with how he's approached the off-season, particularly with Luke already in his ear.
Then you got him working with Popovich in Team USA where Popovich "taught" him "how to play the game of basketball.". He's very much a sponge like Russell is and has a willingness to do so. The problem is, Byron was the kind of coach that didn't give them anything to absorb. Luke and more importantly his staff is the opposite of that.
As Russell said, when you make mistakes, it becomes an opportunity to teach, and they work on that weakness and such. Instead of punish.
Case in point, if Randle was setting bad screens and it wasn't opening up the play right, it immediately gets worked on by the staff, if he's late on an assignment during a play, it's immediately scouted and worked on by the staff. Under Byron, he and the players more likely just be made to run wind sprints, and told "figure it out" if he asked what he did wrong.
I think people are going to realize just how much "this is your job / focus." "This is where you need work." "this is the opening I need you to attack / matchup I need you to watch for." helps Randle's game more than "figure it out."
This staff makes you excited about learning, Byron made you afraid to ask questions. And never rewarded the players if they did.
Ya that's why this season is going to be soooo damn fun to watch with him. We'll actually get an accurate assessment of where he is as a player!
We'll get to see how doing the mandatory things effects his overall game. There's just so many ways in which I don't know how he's guna look.
I do think that every coach has asked him to play defense as well, but he never has. Not in high school , and at UK - Calipari coincidentally used zone defense the year Julius was with him - and Cal didn't before, and has always been against using zone. Look up articles, WCS was known to have stamina issues back then ( and still does!!!) and now we can gather that Randle does as well.
I do think Randle is 1) a nice kid with a good head on his shoulders, and 2) something of a sponge, like you mention ---- But , don't get asking questions and nodding his head like a little teachers pet, confused with actually being willing to implement those things on court. He got some instruction last year, and didn't make the most of it - he coasted as muchhhh as he could. That's voiding the most important trait related to being a sponge - trying your best to be better. !
Man, it's like, Randle's true mindset is great , but what he showed on the court last year effort wise - is so polar opposite to an admirable mindset, it's perplexing as (bleep). That's why I have to believe that stamina caused a good grip of that laziness (aside from just seeing the video, and seeing a dude walking and huffing and puffing and bent over all over the court) , Randle's mentality is another reason why I know that being tired is what made a poon out of him - and there's a great quote by a great coach - saying that being tired makes a poon out of all of us.
I can't wait to see every facet of his game. From screening to overall stamina, to the J. Dude, every facet will be so intriguing to watch. Cannot wait
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