Guano wrote:moocow007 wrote:Julius Randle's biggest weakness is the same weakness that Carmelo Anthony had before Knick fans ran Anthony out of town...he's not Lebron James (or similar caliber player). Just like Patrick Ewing's biggest weakness was that he wasn't Michael Jordan.
I think there is truth in this post and the other post that shed light on his actual play being problematic(selfish iso ball with bad effort and weak mentality at times). I think Randle put in the right spot with other really talented players that lift some of the weight off his shoulders can be a key winning player. If RJ turns into Kawhi like I was told he was going to around here it should alleviate some of the burden off Randle.
Yeah at it's core Randle is what he is right? He's a very talented offensive player that you probably don't want to be the no.1 option (and definitely not be CLEARLY the best player) on a top tier team. That's the reality Randle and the Knicks (still) are in. So it's easy to say that Randle should do this or that and the other thing better and be like a superstar player that this team needs. But no one should be expecting that anymore than anyone should have expected Carmelo Anthony to have the same type of impact as if Lebron had decided for NY instead of Miami. And yet fans keep falling into that trap. They look at their best player and expect (rather unrealistically) him to be able to do the things that the other teams best player does. And when he can't, the player sucks and trade him for a wing and a prayer (cause that obviously works).
For Randle to do well you need someone that can get him the ball in more situations where he's already on the move and near the basket. So he can use his terrific offensive feel to get easy shots. The Knicks? They need Randle to handle the ball and run the offense cause...again...they do NOT have anyone that is able to do that consistently. Elfrid Payton was the Knicks starting PG last season. Payton wouldn't even be the backup PG on the majority of the NBA teams. Walker was supposed to be a significant upgrade over Payton and so far he's just been an upgrade (in part cause you can't possibly be less of a starting PG than Elfrid Payton). And yet, fans want the Knicks and Randle to do what again? Let someone else run the offense OR for Randle to be Lebron James or Luka Doncic from an running the offense standpoint? The former is easier said than done. The later is the biggest problem that the Knicks have had for more than 2 decades...they simply have not been able to build a team where more than one star in his prime is on the team. And you simply cannot win in the NBA with just one star UNLESS that star is of a prime time Lebron James caliber player. And even then guys like Lebron and MJ couldn't do it by themselves. So why would anyone expect anything remotely close for Julius Randle?
Again I get fans for being upset. But being upset and blaming Randle for it is unfair. It's the front office's job to bring in talent so that each player is able to be put into best positions to do well. For the Knicks, Randle's "position" has and still is a Lebron James level "position". And that's just nuts cause he's not that type of talent. Which again goes back to every star that the Knicks have had since the 73 Knicks (Bernard King by himself, MRR by himself, Ewing by himself, Starbury by himself, Carmelo by himself and now Randle by himself). Got to be a little realistic here...
It's why I've kept on harping that this team is not enough and IF the plan is to really do something in the playoffs you need to be able to put your cards on the table and make a move for that 2nd star that is in his prime (so no...not Rose and not what we've seen of Walker). Get that top tier guard that can and should be doing the things that Randle so far has been forced to do and let Randle succeed by doing what he's best at doing rather more than what is realistically fair to expect him to be able to do. But instead we get the IHOP waffling where after every good/great win the Knicks don't need nothing and after every bad lost, blow up the team.
