I'm in the minority, but I like Randle more than either KAT or Okafor. I'm really, really high on him.
I don't think KAT is going to be a superstar, but he's going to be something close to it. Like 18/11 with great shooting. Julius has the potential to be a superstar.
if he does that as a center in the nba. he will be a big man superstar. Big's that can score like that dont exist in the nba. dont count old man tim either. Especially if he plays defense to boot. Thats like a prime brook lopez with defense in a league of no bigs.
Randle is more talented the Towns. It's a close call between him and Okafor.
Athletically yes.
Skill-wise? Towns is the better passer, shooter, shot blocker, defensive rebounder.
Towns is not a better passer. And, lets wait to see how Randle shoots next year before saying Towns is a better shooter. Randle is also a better ball handler, a better post player, and, as of now, a better offensive player by a fair margin as far as I can tell. Defensively, obviously Towns is more advanced.
I get though that you see 3 to 4 players in this draft as Randle's superior, so clearly we disagree on Randle's value.
I'm going by the frame of mind of how Randle looked at the end of his last year in Kentucky and Towns this season.
I think Towns is a better passer. He has better court awareness and does a better job finding the open shooter. Nearly matched Randle's assist average in nearly 10 less minutes per game on nearly 1 less turnover.
In terms of perimeter shooting, it took Randle a month in the preseason to start knocking down mid-range Js.
Karl Towns was doing that all season.
Better ball-handler I can buy.
Better post player? Randle had more advanced moves, but Towns skyrocketed his FG% from 48% to 56% late in the season by working the paint too. The moves may be more basic, but it's effective.
Randle was 51.7% from 2pt. range.
Julius Randle.
Karl Towns.
If Towns was in Randle's draft, he'd arguably go #3 behind Jabari Parker and ahead of perceived injury prone Embiid.
Difference was that Randle was easily the go to guy on that team and was double, tripled teamed. Towns did not nearly see the type of defensive attention Randle did so I would hope that Towns has a higher field goal percentage.
That said, I do think Towns and Okafor go before Randle. But if we are talking about Randle's freshman year versus anyone else in the draft? I'd take him 3rd or 4th this year.
The upside to Randle over them is, I believe he's all heart when he plays. Clarkson and Randle are fierce competitors. Okafor has some natural gifts, but never on Duke seemed to be the guy who HAD to win (Winslow was). Same thing with Towns... Looking at roughly similar Kentucky teams, Randle you could see was leaving it all out there when he played. Not picking up stupid ticky tack fouls, but gearing up and focusing. I'm not sure Towns or Okafor could match him on that front. Russel probably could, but the only way I go for Russ if I'm the lakers is if some big man's agent like a DeAndre Jordan gave me a call and said, "Hey he wants to be a Laker".
You might be able to get Greg Monroe to commit to that, but he's not in that class that you'd likely want to go small. However, while I prefer going for one of the two bigs... because this FA class is somewhat an anomaly... in that it's center deep (Heck even LA could play C against most the guys in the NBA) - I wouldn't absolutely freak if the Lakers went with Russ. _________________ How can I get a copy of a Laker game played on Sunday, March 11, 2001 Sonics/Lakers? If you know PM me please
Randle is more talented the Towns. It's a close call between him and Okafor.
Athletically yes.
Skill-wise? Towns is the better passer, shooter, shot blocker, defensive rebounder.
And Randle is the better ball handler, in the open court and finisher.
Towns has a better defensive upside and length, but both he and Randle have quick lateral movement that allows them both to be capable of defending multiple positions which is why they compliment each other.
As far as Randle vs Okafor. Randle played 1-5 in high school, could defend and play multiple position, had a reliable jump shot and averaged 33/22 his senior season in comparison to Okafor's 21/11 and in college despite not using all of his game due to how Cal played him and Okafor being the focal point of everything Duke was doing down to their spacing just for him only averaged 2 more points than Randle and had 3 less rebounds.
So Randle above Okafor and Towns is considered the better upside. But Randle with his mid range game back(which he also stretched out to 3 in high school reliably) would be about as unguardable as Towns would be with a more polished post game.
So both of them are high end and high upside players.
You watch how Randle controls the game from both a playmaking aspect and a scoring aspect vs Okafor and you see why Randle was and is so highly rated and by many has been unjustly underrated due to the new kids on the block in this draft.
But it doesn't hurt having both on your team. Be it Randle and Towns or Randle and Okafor.
Joined: 03 Mar 2012 Posts: 2808 Location: Upland, California
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 1:46 am Post subject:
Either way, we'll likely have two strong candidates for ROY on the same team. It would be awesome to see Randle and the #2 pick go head to head for it.
Either way, we'll likely have two strong candidates for ROY on the same team. It would be awesome to see Randle and the #2 pick go head to head for it.
Julius won't be a ROY candidate. At least not for now, since the NBA hasn't made any announcements.
lol! true, but okafor and towns haven't played a single NBA minute either. comparing them all as college players, i'd have to agree with the others ranking the two above randle. towns' footwork is so sweet, rarely seen in big men nowadays, and his length is a super bonus. okafor is very refined offensively, contributes on that end in a lot of ways without really being flashy, sort of like a bigger jabari parker. randle has a lot of rawness to his game and it is a question mark whether he can bull his way to success in the pros. definitely more athletic than zach randolph but their games are similar.
Joined: 15 Aug 2012 Posts: 588 Location: Los Angeles Center of the Universe
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 8:39 am Post subject:
I look at those eyes and I see a hungry junk yard dog who had his favorite food taken away from him. He lost 18ibs from the last time I heard of him. I think this guy will really surprise us next season but just depends if he is completely healthy. Our guys just needs to be healthy. The medical staff will work their magic.
This forum overrates Randle which is a given. I think both Okafor and KAT are far more valuable draft commodities than Randle. Okafor and KAT both go top 5 in last year's draft. One of them goes top 3. Who turns out to be better? I would put money on KAT and Okafor. I think Randle is in a category one step down from both.
I look at those eyes and I see a hungry junk yard dog who had his favorite food taken away from him. He lost 18ibs from the last time I heard of him. I think this guy will really surprise us next season but just depends if he is completely healthy. Our guys just needs to be healthy. The medical staff will work their magic.
Surprise? Most of this forum already has Randle pegged as a top 5 PF all time. I legit feel like he is Kobe and I am VLF, I don't get all the hype. I love his attitude and work ethic too..but I want to see production on the court before I declare him the saviour of this franchise and as a guy who is going to put up 20-9-3-55% his entire career.
He's got all the tools..but so have many others in the past.
Joined: 10 Apr 2001 Posts: 65135 Location: Orange County, CA
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 10:42 am Post subject:
Quote:
Difference was that Randle was easily the go to guy on that team and was double, tripled teamed. Towns did not nearly see the type of defensive attention Randle did so I would hope that Towns has a higher field goal percentage.
Towns was also the go-to-guy, especially late. He just wasn't doubled in the post. _________________ Resident Car Nut.
This forum overrates Randle which is a given. I think both Okafor and KAT are far more valuable draft commodities than Randle. Okafor and KAT both go top 5 in last year's draft. One of them goes top 3. Who turns out to be better? I would put money on KAT and Okafor. I think Randle is in a category one step down from both.
I'm a big fan of Randle, but he's not in the same class of prospect as Towns and Okafor. In any year's draft those two guys go ahead of Randle. Same with Embiid.
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 1755 Location: Whittier
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 10:58 am Post subject:
I think Okafor and Towns go first strictly because of their position. Good Centers are the unicorns of the NBA. But other than defensively, I think Randle is the most skilled of the three.
But yeah, two of those three are most likely going to be ours so this debate really doesn't matter much.
Just for the sake of complimentary skills, Towns/Randle is the pairing I really want.
I think that Randle is a real low post player and would actually cause some redundancy if Okafor were to fall to the Lakers. However I would still pick him, simply because that front line would be DOMINANT in the future.
Is Randle better than either or both of those players? I would have to say no, simply because he's 3" shorter and you can't make up for their size. BUT, Randle is possibly more athletic than Okafor and Towns. Randle has the ability to play SF and could possibly cover 3 positions on the floor, whereas Okafor and Towns are either 4/5s depending on the team and offense being ran.
Randle plays a slightly different game than Okafor. Randle likes the face up game where he can take you off the dribble with his great quickness. If Randle develops a consistent 15-20 perimeter shot he will be virtually unstoppable.
Okafor on the other hand has a nicely polished post up game he and Randle could be a handful against a lot of teams. Honestly just need the right system to make these two work and the sky is the limit.
Towns on the other hand has a little bit of everything so he could work fantastic also. His defense and athleticism would help tremendously. You cannot go wrong with either pick and I think they will work great with Randle. I think Randle can be just as good as these two draft picks.
Joined: 18 Apr 2004 Posts: 6345 Location: Virginia
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 1:19 pm Post subject:
definitely not, Julius Randle is way undersized and showed a limited jumper while struggling to beat his man off the dribble and finish around the rim.
definitely not, Julius Randle is way undersized and showed a limited jumper while struggling to beat his man off the dribble and finish around the rim.
definitely not, Julius Randle is way undersized and showed a limited jumper while struggling to beat his man off the dribble and finish around the rim.
You obviously didn't watch Randle in college.
He's not that undersized in today's game.
Most power forwards are around his size.
One of his biggest strengths is his ability to finish inside and beating his man of the dribble.
His jumper needs some work, but what rookie doesn't need to improve that?
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