gradyandrew wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

Nalod wrote:
Randle stats are not that easily replaced. ITs easy to say “Be gone with the difficult one” but to whom plays in his place?
Going forward if banished no doubt I’d root for OBI to fill and exceed.

Sure they are. You are looking at a few counting stats, points and rebounds. If you look at the deep dive overall advanced stats around Randle, sure that's easy to replace.

Because you have to account for how Randle's bull**** selfish play this season negatively impacted the entire team offense and the entire team defense.

How hard is it to replace a guy who gave up on the team, acted like a total *******, treated his teammates and the fans like **** and just chucked up a bunch of bad shots because he can't own actual accountability in self inflicting all this needless drama onto himself and this franchise?

Give someone enough shots and minutes and freedom to do whatever he wants as the primary offensive option, even while playing like a total dick, like Randle got to this year, and someone somewhere will drive some kind of counting stats.

You aren't replacing Randle with one player, you are REPLACING HIM WITH THE NET POSITIVE ACROSS THE ENTIRE TEAMS PRODUCTION WHEN HE'S GONE FOR GOOD.

The season before Randle's attitude was the biggest asset. Didn't Kobe have a lot of the same issues during his career after Shaq left- that he was stealing shots from more efficient options? I actually like Randle's attitude- reminds me of Oakley. There's also a dirtiness to it- one of my favorite plays of the season was a needless offensive foul at the end of a win vs Charlotte repaying a hard foul from the first half. Yeah, it's bad sportsmanship but knowing that the team has a backbone should also mean something.

I feel here with Thibodeau is the most likely situation to turn it around. We can always move him next season if he can't get mentally right. Selling low on Randle and entering another rebuild seems like a drastic step for a team that mostly lost on the margins.

The only thing Randle and Kobe have in common is they both kept to themselves mostly and were probably disliked by several of their teammates.

The only thing Randle and Oakley have in common is they both have similar builds. Oak was all blood, sweat and tears - he was revered for his play because he did the opposite of Randle - he didn't complain, pout or take plays off.

It's great to show a backbone - but it's fake when you act tough to fans, refs and don't back it up on the court with consistent hard play.

Thibs can turn it around and Randle can probably improve somewhere in between the past two polarizing seasons - but I seriously doubt both will happen here in NY. They need to be separated for either to progress IMO. Thibs needs to stretch and grow in terms of shifting his play style to reflect current times. Randle needs a fresh start in smaller/less chaotic environment, where he can be a 2nd or 3rd option.