Should we start putting Randle at C?
Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 9:40 pm
If the goal is to replicate the Warriors offense, then Randle will ultimately have to play the Draymond Green role in our poor man's version of the Death Lineup. He played at C in a few stretches with very mixed results.
Take a look at the three highlighted rows.
http://imgur.com/24B1nzT
In the 1st lineup, he's paired with Larry Nance in the frontcourt but is taking more shots at an unsuccessful rate. Secondly his overall rebound and block rate are down. Not ideal for what we want at the 5. This could likely be due to poor conditioning. Doing too much to create his own shot on offense then taking plays off on defense.
In the 2nd lineup, he's the only big in the frontcourt. But again, shot attempts are up and efficiency is down. Rebound and block rate is down as well. So from what we've seen, it does not serve us well to have him be the only big in the frontcourt.
In the 3rd lineup, we see positive results. He's paried up again with Nance in the frontcourt. He's taking less shots but is much more efficient, while still generating more points. Rebound and blk rate are up and he is much less turnover prone. The big difference here is that Lou is in the lineup, who was by far our most efficient player. Lou ultimately minimized Randle's role to focus strictly on finishing, rebounding and protecting the paint, which ended up generating positive results for us.
In that successful lineup we have: Clarkson | Ingram | Nance | Randle | Lou
Let's swap out Clarkson and Lou with Russell and Ball. Ball's going to take over Lou's former role as the primary ball-handler to set guys up for easy finishes. Russell's going to be the secondary ball-handler with scoring priorities. So that's going to be:
Ball | Russell | Ingram | Nance | Randle
This is by far the lineup I'm most excited to see. Bunch of athletic guys doing what they do best, and just outrunning everybody on the court. Of course we're not taking a whole lot of consideration to defense, which is where Draymond's true talents are, but I think to start we need to focus on re-engineering Randle's mindset. He's a guy with almost identical physical tools and athleticism as Draymond. He can pass and has decent court-vision. He can be a competent defender when focused. He's got some range from outside the key. He is NOT an efficient scorer and should not try to be creating his own shot. We need him to play to the TEAM's strengths and do all the little things that wins games.
He's entering a contract year, so those are the key areas I'd like to see him improve. Defense, effort, overall smarter decision-making. I think the addition of Ball, Russell's transition to SG and Ingram's improvement will do wonders for Randle by making him a much more cerebral player. I'm optimistic that he can turn things around.
Take a look at the three highlighted rows.
http://imgur.com/24B1nzT
In the 1st lineup, he's paired with Larry Nance in the frontcourt but is taking more shots at an unsuccessful rate. Secondly his overall rebound and block rate are down. Not ideal for what we want at the 5. This could likely be due to poor conditioning. Doing too much to create his own shot on offense then taking plays off on defense.
In the 2nd lineup, he's the only big in the frontcourt. But again, shot attempts are up and efficiency is down. Rebound and block rate is down as well. So from what we've seen, it does not serve us well to have him be the only big in the frontcourt.
In the 3rd lineup, we see positive results. He's paried up again with Nance in the frontcourt. He's taking less shots but is much more efficient, while still generating more points. Rebound and blk rate are up and he is much less turnover prone. The big difference here is that Lou is in the lineup, who was by far our most efficient player. Lou ultimately minimized Randle's role to focus strictly on finishing, rebounding and protecting the paint, which ended up generating positive results for us.
In that successful lineup we have: Clarkson | Ingram | Nance | Randle | Lou
Let's swap out Clarkson and Lou with Russell and Ball. Ball's going to take over Lou's former role as the primary ball-handler to set guys up for easy finishes. Russell's going to be the secondary ball-handler with scoring priorities. So that's going to be:
Ball | Russell | Ingram | Nance | Randle
This is by far the lineup I'm most excited to see. Bunch of athletic guys doing what they do best, and just outrunning everybody on the court. Of course we're not taking a whole lot of consideration to defense, which is where Draymond's true talents are, but I think to start we need to focus on re-engineering Randle's mindset. He's a guy with almost identical physical tools and athleticism as Draymond. He can pass and has decent court-vision. He can be a competent defender when focused. He's got some range from outside the key. He is NOT an efficient scorer and should not try to be creating his own shot. We need him to play to the TEAM's strengths and do all the little things that wins games.
He's entering a contract year, so those are the key areas I'd like to see him improve. Defense, effort, overall smarter decision-making. I think the addition of Ball, Russell's transition to SG and Ingram's improvement will do wonders for Randle by making him a much more cerebral player. I'm optimistic that he can turn things around.
Cool, so your suggestion is Randle at SF and what...3 guys who can't space the floor? Let's put things into perspective. Blake Griffin is much better than Randle. And yet, I don't have it in me to even think ... let's play Griffin at the 3. 