HopelessKnick wrote:cgf wrote:Some interesting notes on the evolving Brunson/Randle dynamic after 26 games.
So after Randle juiced his efficiency last season by spamming 3s...44.4% from 3 vs 36.9% from 0-10ft...while Brunson attacked the rim more...48.0% 0-10ft & 26.9% 3pters...they've flipped roles this season. Brunson is down to 32.2% of his shots coming 0-10ft from the hoop and 35.3% coming from 3, and Randle is taking just 29.4% of his shots from 3 and 53.4% from 0-10ft.
In general this has had positive effects on their efficiency despite Julius' poor 3pt shooting so far, as Brunson's TS is exactly where it was last season (59.7%) on slightly higher usage, while Randle has been tracking to smash last season's 58.1% TS since those first 6 games of the season...60.02 TS% in the 20 games since...with his AST% having jumped back to almost pre-Brunson levels (23.6%).
...but both are getting to the FT line less; Randle's FTr has gone from 37.1% to 33.7%, while Brunson's dropped from 32.8% to 29.8%. And with Julius not pulling his man away to the perimeter as much, Brunson's % when he can't get all of the way to the rim is way down (50.4% to 44.0%).
Jalen is still a crafty SOB, so he still burns guys to get all of the way to the rim for clean looks that he hits at a great clip, but when he has to pull out of a drive & shoot, Julius' guy is a lot closer to help contest. And Jalen isn't the only one of our 4 main drivers who is shooting worse from 3-10FT this season:
Randle 51.9% to 49.6%
Barrett 40.1% to 35.1%
Quickley 50.0% to 47.4%
In a nutshell explaining his improved efficiency. I think it may level off a little over the course of the season but I always maintained that if Randle played to his strengths there really shouldn't be any excuse for him shooting less than 48% from the field. I mean the guy, the way he is built and his fitness level and all....he is physically the closest thing to Lebron. Near the basket really no one can guard him well. He smashed Giannis and AD....probably the best defenders at that position. And more importantly you can just see the elevation of the team as a whole.
Somewhat, but Randle's TS for the season as a whole is still 3% worse than he was last year...when he also had a slow start...if he keeps this up he'll blow past last season, but currently he's still got a lot of making up to do.
He has unquestionably been more efficient since shaking the rust off this season than he was last year, but it's not been as huge a difference as you might expect...probably because the paint has been more congested than it was last season, when Julius was spamming so many 3s.
Will be interesting to see how much of our struggles from 3-10FT are just early season noise vs an actual difference in the defenses we see with Julius playing so much closer to the rim.
RIP mags
