Capn'O wrote:Knick4Real wrote:Capn'O wrote:It's wild how much some people here hate Randle after what we've been through since Ewing left. He was a core piece of the best stretch of ball we've had since then and if we get even better with Towns it's because we had a piece like Randle to move.
Being a traffic cone on defense, refusing to pass until 2 seconds were left on the shot clock, disappearing in the playoffs, temper tantrums, pouting, bipolar attitude, etc. all led to Randle's poor reputation among fans. He started out a fan favorite, but the day he was out of control and ready to fight IQ was the last straw for me.
I'll also add that, at least on this board, the relentless posts from a specific poster who regularly mocked everyone that Julius was here "permanently" and would NEVER be traded almost certainly added to the celebration once he was gone. IMO much of the Julius hate we saw here after the trade was geared more toward the poster than the player.
Understood he was a frustrating player. He could be erratic, dramatic, and enigmatic. He could also be emphatic, automatic, and acrobatic. He stunk against the Hawks but the Knicks also had no business being a 4th seed that year and suddenly the Knicks were a destination again. He would lag on D but he also completely changed his physique over a summer to put forth an all NBA season and the Knicks were once again known for conditioning.
I think better times are ahead but when he came here we were a laughing stock. Everyone else turned us down. Without Randle there might not have been a Brunson and there wouldn't be a Towns. He might just have been the hero we deserved.
I always defended Randle because I felt his talent and importance was vastly underappreciated by fans with too much uncalled for hate. Once Brunson got here we began to see what a real leader looks like on and off the court. Randle for all his talent did not have the mindset to be a Brunson type leader.
KAT has the benefit of having Brunson and a solid core already here so he wont have to go through what Randle did trying to carry the franchise all by himself. After a week since the trade its kind of a relief now that Julius is gone and I wont have to defend him constantly or worry if he will somehow meltdown in the playoffs.




















