Question: Did you feel like you escaped from Golden State?

Anthony Randolph: It was a situation, I was hurt. I wasn’t getting a lot of playing time before I was hurt. I think Nellie probably saw me doing something different than what was happening. It was a learning experience.

Q. What’s your mind-set now?

A. It’s all on me right now. If I don’t succeed, it’s my fault. It’s not on anybody else. Coach is going to give me an opportunity to show what I can do and if I don’t capitalize on it, it’s nobody’s fault but mine.

Q. What do you remember from your workout with the Knicks in 2008 (Randolph went 14th, eight slots after the Knicks selected Danilo Gallinari)?

A. I was a little upset when I wasn’t drafted by them. I thought I was going to be here. I thought it was the perfect thing for me.

Q. Are you tired of hearing about your potential, rather than where you are now?

A. It gets a little frustrating, but it’s part of the game, injuries and things like that. I just turned 21. This will be my third year, so I have a lot of time to mature. I’m still growing and maturing. The sky’s the limit.

Q. Why do you feel like the Knicks and Mike D’Antoni are a good fit?

A. He allows his players to play. In Golden State, it was kind of like a situation where he wanted me to rebound and that’s it, don’t do nothing else. Here, it’s more God has given me the natural ability to handle the ball a little bit. You can move like a guard, you can guard guys, you’re able to be put in different positions and I think I’ll be allowed to do that here.

Q. Are the styles between Nelson and D’Antoni similar?

A. There’s some of it similar. Both systems you get up and down and stuff. But I think in this system you’re a little more free to do the things you’re good at.

Q. How do you envision playing with Stoudemire in the post?

A. That’s going to be great. There’s a lot of highlights and stuff like that. Amar’e is a very dominant player, a great player. He’s going to take a lot of attention off me. That alone is going to make me a better player.

Q. Have you talked with Stoudemire and point guard Raymond Felton about changing the culture here?

A. Everybody’s on the same page. The two guys that I came in with, Amar’e and Raymond, I worked out with them a little bit in Vegas. I honestly feel like everybody that’s on this team right now wants to get better, wants to work hard and win games, point blank.

Q. There have been a lot of changes here. How do you think the roster looks and where do you think you fit in?

A. I think the roster looks good. We’ve got a lot of good pieces. When we come in for training camp, we’ve just got to put it together, build a chemistry, but I think that’ll be no problem. We’ve got a lot of good guys. I know personally, for a fact, that Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna are great people and great teammates. So that’s a start right there.

Q. What did your get from your experience with Golden State?

A. I tell people that ask me about that situation and they say it was all bad. I think it helped me grow up and mature a lot. Just dealing with some of the things I had to deal with and the adversities that went on there, it kind of made me grow up and allowed me to appreciate some of the things that I have and some of the things I’ll be able to do here.

Q. You were injured a good portion of last year. How much are you itching to get back to 100 percent and playing again? How are your workouts with the assistant coach Dan D’Antoni?

A. I’m ready. I told Dan this morning after workouts I wished the season started tomorrow. I’m ready to play. I’m ready to get out there. I feel I’ve added some things in my game. I feel like my shot is a thousand times better. I’m just ready to get out there and show everybody all the hard work I’ve put in since April 15, since the last game of the season.

Source: http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/randolph-sees-opportunity-in-knicks-system/

Interesting comments. Not feeling him wanting to dribble and do "extra stuff".

Good interview though.

He says his shot is better and his game overall has more going so i'm anxious to see what he's gonna be able to do here. AR and Gallo are set to have breakout seasons now that we have Amar'e and Felton. Felton won't freeze these kids out and Amar'e will draw attention and also be a role model for these guys in playing dominant ball.

Vmart wrote:It is very disturbing when a young player speaks his mind. For some reason he think he is going to be given free reign. You can pretty much figure out why he was in Nellie's dog house. Randolph seems like a guy that wants to do his thing with blatant disregard for team concept.

Funny...but in some alternative universe Gallinari might have said the same thing in reaction to his role on the Knicks. Many of us were frustrated with Gallo camping out in a corner waiting for things to come to him and not looking to drive to the basket and create an opportunity for his own shot or a pass. Was this how he interpreted his role or was he told to do this to spread open the floor? Was he overly respectful to the veterans, or simply too timid? He was more agressive going to the basket last year-was it a matter of personal confidence, opportunity, orders, or all of the above? Could Gallo have thought he was being misused and simply said nothing because of the kind of player he is?

The key highlighted line from the interview:
A. (MDA) allows his players to play. In Golden State, it was kind of like a situation where (NELSON) wanted me to rebound and that’s it, don’t do nothing else. Here, it’s more God has given me the natural ability to handle the ball a little bit. You can move like a guard, you can guard guys, you’re able to be put in different positions and I think I’ll be allowed to do that here.

His words could be a warning- because one of my thoughts on Randolph has been that he can do too much with the ball- so much so that I have said it seems like he wants to play almost every position on the court.

But his words could simply come from talks the Knicks coaches had with him over the last month. I can picture them saying stuff like: "There will be times when we will utilize your ability to handle the ball and give you the opportunity to slash to the basket score or dish off... You move well, almost like a guard- we will give you an opportunity to guard PGs on the perimeter like we did last year with Jeffries and Gallo... We think you can guard a number of positions- so we may have you guarding a guard, either forward, and also at center, when we feel it benefits the team..."

So maybe this part of his interview was based on his work with the Knicks' coaching staff, who must be having dreams about the different ways they can use Randolph- allowing him to contribute and do some of the things Odom, Camby, and Rodman bring/brought to their teams.

Until I see differently, I'm going on the assumption that the Knicks coaching staff has given him a rundown on what he will be doing for the team this year, and will attempt to create ways to use all the things he brings to the court as a player.

The interview just reflects the things he has heard from the MDA and his team.

I might be proven completely wrong in my optimism come pre and regular season, but we will see. For now we should positive thoughts, as hard as that is for a pessimist such as myself.

I don't believe that Nellie is any less creative an offensive thinker than MDA, but perhaps this is just a case of a coach dealing with his player from knowledge that he's not ready just yet. Nellie could have been trying to coach the kid to get more out of him down the road. In any event I think players with great skills can be very successful playing for MDA and I really look forward to seeing what they do with AR.

loweyecue wrote:

nixluva wrote:I don't find what he said disturbing. He feels that he can do a lot of things on the court and really I AGREE!!! What Nellie was probably seeing was a kid that still needed to develop his shot and other aspects of his game and so he wanted him to limit what he was doing to the things he was already good at. But really think about it, do you prefer a kid that's chomping at the bit to do more and wants to take on more responsibility or a kid that isn't giving you all the energy and effort you think he should? There's nothing wrong with wanting to do more, just when you get that chance you've got to make it work.

He says his shot is better and his game overall has more going so i'm anxious to see what he's gonna be able to do here. AR and Gallo are set to have breakout seasons now that we have Amar'e and Felton. Felton won't freeze these kids out and Amar'e will draw attention and also be a role model for these guys in playing dominant ball.

I DISAGREE. I am worried about this guy turning out to be a selfish player. I don't care how skilled you are, you get paid to do a job and the coach decides your role. So go out there and do the job you get paid to do. Of course I hope he has a breakout season and blends in great, but I think this guy is quite immature and there is a lot of "me" in that interview.

He's a STUD! All studs have a bit of confidence about them. Still this kid was dishing 2.3 assists just before he got injured. He does it all and we really just need to let this kid continue to develop. Once again... he's a STUD!!! That's how most studs talk. It doesn't mean he's selfish or a problem.

A. I was a little UPSET when I wasn’t drafted by them. I thought I was going to be here. I thought it was the perfect thing for me.

FOR ME NUFF SAID! This is why I screamed at the TV when he wasn't chosen, he was the pick !

playa2 wrote:Q. What do you remember from your workout with the Knicks in 2008 (Randolph went 14th, eight slots after the Knicks selected Danilo Gallinari)?

A. I was a little UPSET when I wasn’t drafted by them. I thought I was going to be here. I thought it was the perfect thing for me.

FOR ME NUFF SAID! This is why I screamed at the TV when he wasn't chosen, he was the pick !

if everyone wanted him and we took him wouldn't that have made him a community pick? you should be happy we got him as part of a trade, so you can't throw that label on him.

Vmart wrote:I personally think that there is a fine line between being a superstar and a selfish player. I think AR has the supreme confidence that is usually instilled in superstars, half the battle to be a superstar is believing in your ability and AR seems to have total belief in his abilities. Shoot a high percentage from the floor and use you teammates to your advantage within the team concept is what separates the superstars from selfish players.

Another thing that superstars do is not think me. Its always about team. I think this guy can learn a lot by watching Derek Jeter's interviews. He is young and I guess PR may have its work cut out. Obviously he is a smart young man but he has to work on his interview skills and center it around how he just wants to help the team get better. I think he will understand his role and take to it and produce for the Knicks.

After hering DON NELSON state, "AL Harrington thinks he's better then he is" and then being able to watch him play for 2 seasons, it's hard to disagree with him..He also had major problems with crawfords shot selection and defense, something we all witness first hand.

I'm not going to totally discredit nelsons creditiblty, base on AR'S potential and highlight reels, along with these (say everything right) interviews.. we heard it all before (al and the i wanna avg 4ast)

When you really look at the Youtube clips, he has ridiculous potential, but he also takes some ill-advise shots that seem selish..they were just fortunate to go in

AR is a vast upgrade over JJ, and more athletic then diaw, so i expect mike will have him playing all 5 positions.