great article in the wall street journal about AR. haters to the back, this kid is going to be good here.
He's Long, Lean, Unlimited
That's the Scouting Report on Randolph, the Dynamic Player the Knicks Acquired from the Warriors By SCOTT CACCIOLA
GREENBURGH, N.Y.—After Anthony Randolph contested a shot by Sacramento Kings forward Jason Thompson on Jan. 8, Mr. Randolph, then a promising young forward for the Golden State Warriors, landed awkwardly and tore ligaments in his left ankle. It was an isolated moment in an otherwise meaningless regular-season game, but an argument can be made that it was the best thing that happened to the New York Knicks all winter.
Mr. Randolph's season-ending injury marked the beginning of his premature exit from the Warriors, who shipped him to the Knicks two weeks ago as part of their sign-and-trade deal for David Lee. The Knicks, who were going to lose Mr. Lee to free agency anyway, are hopeful that the 21-year-old Mr. Randolph can come close to fulfilling the expectations that have shadowed him since the Warriors selected him with the 14th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
"I think any player would be happy to be put in this situation," Mr. Randolph said.
To date, Mr. Randolph's most enduring legacy as an NBA player exists in clips on the Internet. How about his two violent dunks over the Houston Rockets' Yao Ming during his rookie season? Or his epic two-handed block on a breakaway by Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant? These are the sorts of plays—flashes of brilliance, really—where Mr. Randolph unfolds his 6-foot-11 frame and hints at what he might be, could be, should be.
"He's a unique talent," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni. "And we have to find the right place for him to play, because he's not a standard four, three, whatever. We'll have to be able to utilize his talents and put him on display."
The fact that the Warriors were willing to trade him after just two seasons could be—and has been, at least in some corners of the Blogosphere—interpreted as an indictment of Mr. Randolph's development. Not the case, according to Warriors general manager Larry Riley, who said the team's decision to part with Mr. Randolph was "very difficult." He said the deal ultimately had more to do with Mr. Lee, a first-time All-Star with the Knicks last season, than Mr. Randolph, who averaged 9.2 points and six rebounds in two injury-shortened seasons—and a scant 19.6 minutes per game—with the Warriors.
"For me, it was the acquisition of a proven product," Mr. Riley said in a telephone interview. "I needed to add someone who was older, and David fits with our team. We've got too many young guys, and I needed to change that. I wanted to get a little more maturity."
Mr. Riley said the situation might have been different had Mr. Randolph stayed healthy last season. That would have given Mr. Riley more time to evaluate him. At the time of his injury, Mr. Randolph was playing about as well as he had as a pro, averaging 13.2 points and 6.6 rebounds over his last 11 games. Mr. Randolph said feels no animosity toward the Warriors for trading him, calling it "a business decision."
"I don't know where his ceiling is as a player," Mr. Riley said. "It's indefinite. It's going to be proven over time.''
Mr. Randolph's impossibly long-limbed frame has a certain Inspector Gadget quality, which used to be even more pronounced. Just three years ago, as a freshman at LSU, where he spent his lone college season before entering the NBA, Mr. Randolph weighed about 185 pounds. Even at 210 pounds last season, Mr. Randolph often had trouble holding his position in the post against stronger, bulkier players. But over the past six months, he has added 20 pounds of muscle by training with Kyle Meadows, a Dallas-based strength and conditioning coach.
"I need to be able to bang down there with those guys," Mr. Randolph said.
The emphasis has been on high-intensity, basketball-specific movements that are designed to make Mr. Randolph more explosive. For example, he might do a set of power lifts in the weight room and then head directly to the court to dunk a medicine ball five straight times.
"He's feeling pretty good about himself," Mr. Meadows said. "You'll never see him with his shirt on. He's really enjoying the delts and pecs and things."
One of his training partners throughout June was Andy Rautins, one of the Knicks' second-round picks. Mr. Randolph, who was still with the Warriors at the time, often joked about how the Knicks had snubbed him in the draft, selecting Danilo Gallinari instead. Mr. Randolph took that as the first slight of his professional career, and he had not forgotten—even two years later. "I thought I was going to be here," Mr. Randolph said.
Along those lines, Pat Washington, Mr. Randolph's coach at Dallas' Woodrow Wilson High School, said Mr. Randolph tends to focus on the soft spots that others have cited in his game. He takes things personally. "Do not take that as a weakness," Mr. Washington said. "He's going to fight back."
So as a rookie, having heard that he was too skinny to compete in the paint with the NBA's resident bruisers, he began the long process of bulking up. The following offseason, he was determined to become a better ballhandler. This summer, he has worked on his face-up game. He also has tried to develop right- and left-handed hook shots, which, considering his pterodactyl-like wingspan, could become unblockable if he develops any sort of consistency.
The feeling around Madison Square Garden is that Mr. Randolph could flourish in Mr. D'Antoni's up-tempo system, which has room for unconventional players to run the court and ad lib and show off their versatility. In a more structured, grind-it-out scheme, Mr. Randolph—a guard trapped in a power forward's body—might struggle. "Because he is more of a finesse player," said former LSU assistant John Treloar.
Mr. Randolph's advocates often feel the urge to provide some perspective: Had he stayed in college, he would be preparing for his senior season. But potential can sometimes become a four-letter word, and he engaged in a well-chronicled push-and-pull at Golden State with Don Nelson.
"Nellie was hard on him a lot of times," Mr. Riley said. "But I never felt like it was a situation where he was in the so-called 'doghouse.'"
According to his former coaches at LSU, Mr. Randolph needed incentive on occasion. Midway through his only season at LSU, he was averaging about eight rebounds per game—good but not great for someone with his size and athleticism. So before the team played at Vanderbilt, assistant coach Butch Pierre made a surprise announcement in a team meeting: Mr. Randolph would spend some time at point guard. He was thrilled. His teammates were shocked. But Mr. Pierre said he included an important caveat: Mr. Randolph would be permitted to bring the ball upcourt only after he grabbed a defensive rebound. He finished the game with 19 rebounds.
Then there was a matchup three weeks later with Kentucky's Patrick Patterson, a McDonald's All-American as a high school senior. Mr. Randolph had earned no such honors, and Mr. Pierre felt it was appropriate to remind him of this distinction. "I told him he couldn't even make the Burger King team," said Mr. Pierre, who now works as an assistant at Oklahoma State. Mr. Randolph wound up collecting 24 points and 14 rebounds.
But it was a trying season: John Brady, the team's head coach, was fired after an 8-13 start. And Mr. Randolph, who was almost painfully shy, was coping with his own challenges.
"He'd get frustrated with himself or he'd get frustrated taking instruction," said Mr. Brady, now the head coach at Arkansas State. "But I think he's matured. I think he understands how to play harder for longer. And there will not be a better athlete on the court than Anthony Randolph."
Mr. Randolph said he plans to spend this week working out at the Knicks' training facility in Westchester County before heading home to Dallas to pack and tie up some loose ends. New York City will be an adjustment—"I'm used to a lot of space," he said—but an exciting change.
"I wish the season started tomorrow," he said. "I'm ready."
7/27/2010 9:11 AM
