Clyde_Style wrote:socal74 wrote:cgmw wrote:Not to be subversively negative here, but we lose this game with healthy Randle. The hustle players made hustle plays and we needed all of them on the court at the same time.
Embiid to me has always had an air of negativity about him as a human being/personality, and I believe it’s a strong factor in why he folds year-in year-out when it matters. Just my opinion, but Randle has similar energy.
People cried when we lost Randle, but we are very lucky to have one season of the Nova Knicks. This feels more like ncaa March madness than the nba playoffs right now, and I’m loving it. Randle is the second best basketball player on our roster, but sometimes the sum of the parts does not equal the whole. This group is very special as is.
If Randle was healthy, you guys would have been up and Brunson probably isn't shooting like 2004 nba finals Kobe
You may not fully appreciate what CGMW is saying. Randle has never performed well in the two seasons we went into the playoffs with him. He gets the yips really bad and when that happens he pouts and shuts down emotionally. Like CGMW is saying, a despondent Randle is one of the most toxic clouds of despair we've ever seen on the court.
If Randle was active for these playoffs and not hitting his shots it would be much worse than Brunson being off these last two games. OTOH, with a functional and productive Randle in the playoffs we would have blown the Sixers out in the first two games. But Randle has never shown up in the playoffs so that is a question mark until he proves otherwise.
No, actually what I’m really saying is that I’m happy to watch the grit and chemistry of the current group — OG + the Nova 3 with Mitch/iHart and Deuce. Bogey bombs are fun too.
IMO this group is overachieving what we would have done with the role players playing lesser roles. Specifically, I think it’s a huge advantage to have OG, Josh, and either DDV or Deuce on the court at the same time which couldn’t happen if Randle were healthy. And, oh btw, likely won’t happen next season after Leon trades assets.
TL; Dr: Very much enjoying (and believing in) this current group, not sh*tting on Randle.
"Sell the team. Sell the team. Sell the team."
RIP mags
