knickstape4ever wrote:Repeating last year's performance was gonna be tough but I still had high expectations (even drafted him in both my fantasy leagues)
I do wonder what the effect of not having fans had on him. was that the reason he was so good?
I expect him to rebound, but idk about if he'll make it back to last years level
Selling high is something the Knicks never do (except w/ Mook), but maybe it would've been best to do so. this team looks like it's probably a 7/8 seed, which is a tough place to be in the NBA, but I'm still hoping they win: they need to because it's the path they committed themselves to
Teams have figured out how to guard the low talented and offensively predicable Knicks (of which Randle is the most offensively talented of). That's really what is happening and what has happened. Folks want Randle to make his teammates better but fail to realize that even in the best of circumstances (and we're obviously not in that place right lol) you can only squeeze so much blood (production) from a stone (the Knicks offensive talent). Nor is his forte making others better (which should not be a surprise but yet seems to be still for too many people).
This is not defending Randle (who has looked absolutely terrible) but to point out to the reality that is far beyond just Randle here and that not everything folks are trying to pin on the guy is within his control.
The Knicks need more help...be it from a talent standpoint or a play calling standpoint (most likely both short of landing a superstar shot creator). Their offensive system is simplistic and predictable. That's visible when you actually try to watch them play on offense and not just stare at the boxscore. I actually challenge people to try and actually really focus on how they run their offense and compare it against basically the other team (any other team they play). Pretty much almost always you'll notice that the other teams offense runs more plays, uses screens better, spreads the floor better, etc., etc.) Now that may be due to lack of talent to run alternative flows or sure it could be an over needed reliance on one player but that is the problem. Randle is a part of it, not the center of it. He's not the sole cause of it and he's not going to be the solution of it either.