GustavBahler wrote:martin wrote:GustavBahler wrote:martin wrote:GustavBahler wrote:martin wrote:BigRedDog wrote:martin wrote:This game clearly shows why Randle is a solid #2 or more realistically a #3 on a very good team IMHO. He just doesn’t have that killer, clutch sense about him. He is more workhorse type dude. RJ probably same but not as talented.
I think Randle also doesn't have the offensive repertoire that he needs to go one on one especially late in a game. His offense is better suited to get during the flow of a game. Randles isolation offense is plain ugly.
YES
Having a guy like Brunson on team has taken ball out of Randle's/RJ's hands, super good thing.
Need one more guy to be a bigger Alpha to remove the ISO Randle at critical junctures.
Wow, that was "heresy" a few days ago lol. Ive maintained that its going to be hard to do without moving Randle. Not impossible, but difficult. Would have to be through some clever cap mgmt, I imagine.
Respectfully disagree with both of you on this one. When Randle is in the zone. Which I mean to be that he's pitch perfect with his shot selection. Not necesarily hitting them all. He's one of the best scorers in the league. Which I believe he became when he cut out the "spinovers" (credit to crush for that one) and became a threat from everywhere.
The only difference I see in the 4th quarter too often, is that Randle looks flustered. Ive havent doubted Randle's skills, except one. Being a consistent 4th quarter threat.
Delivering in crunch time would be great. But I'd be happy as a fan to see more 4th quarter scoring. Not necessarily in crunch time. To keep us from going to crunch time.
I guess I don't understand what you are disagreeing with.
Is it your supposition that Randle is good enough to be a closer on a high level team?
Cause that's the level I'm referring to.
You're agreeing with BRD's contention that Randle doesnt have the "offensive repertoire" to be the go to guy in the 4th. Im saying you're both wrong, that the problem is mental, nothing to do with his game.
You can either do it or you flub it, and for me mental is a critical part of the game, and Randle does not have it IMHO, not at the level necessary to carry a team consistently.
You can certainly grow it with experience but Randle's decision-making process is not as high as someone like Brunson and a ton of other guys. He is a second tier guy at best; that's his ceiling right now.
Of course, I agree with what you wrote, and the value of being clutch. What I disagreed with was Randle not having the "repertoire" to be a closer. That usually refers to what a player can do with the ball. 3pt shooting, post game, etc. Randle has it all except the closer part. Not consistently anyway.
Not trying to sound flip, but many pro ahtletes see sports a psychologist when they hit a slump, or have trouble in crunch time. Might help Randle, and dealing with the stressors of being a pro athlete.
In the meantime, I agree we need another closer alongside Brunson. The young guys are getting there, but they arent there yet.
Or fire Randles whisperer and hire a better one. We need to babysit Randle more. We need to make sure we have the right players around him. We need to watch his mins so he’s not Burnt out in the 4th. We need to do a lot for Randle to play at an all star level.
I don’t know about other star players but I’m so glad we DONT have to babysit JB. Love his game and his fire. I still think he’s more of a scorer than a passer but he’s probably perfect for this team the way it’s constructed.
Am I a big fan of Randle? Nope. Never was. But that doesn’t mean I’m not happy for him and how he’s been playing and how his play helps us win. But as we saw, his play can also help us lose.
He’ll bounce back next game, not worried about that. My worry is more long term. Every bad game reminds me of the playoff Randle from the ATL series. That’s the growth I would like to see and it starts in crunch time during regular season games. And so far he has some work to do.
I was a fan of Thibs when we hired him, but that slowly slipped away when I saw some of his flaws, mainly his rigid approach, lack of in game adaptability and how he manages Randle. And for the most part when we lose, all my fears for both comes out. When we win, seems like Randle is on and Thibs is making the right moves. So I’ll wait and see how thibs and Randle rebounds from this.
“Playing EF zero mins in the 3rd and 9 mins in the 4th? 🤦♂️ “
“Randle started out bricking in the 1st and failed to perform in the 4th.”
So if Randle doesn’t have it early, and we know he struggles late, seems like that’s all you need to see in order to determine a win vs a loss. Each win rest on Randles shoulders. Maybe RJ will help. But damn, another double digit blown lead? How many is that? We gotta be top 3 on the league for blown leads. This is crazy.
