BigDaddyG wrote:gradyandrew wrote:Honestly the whole reason I joined this forum was because I was sick of the anti Randle articles in most Knicks media. Anyone who doesn't get that Randle is the best guy on the team I have a hard time taking seriously.
If you're taking consistency into account, I'd say it's Brunson. But that aside, I think the problem isn't that Randle is a decent player, it's that he really might be the best player on the team. If that's the case, the team's ceiling is mediocrity and the floor is 'straight up trash.'
Randle is the most impactful player on the team - both upward and downward - and the last 2 years is just solid evidence of that. I don't know if impactful is the perfect descriptor but it's close enough.
Without any evidence to back it up, I think players who are super locked in ala Randle in 2020 season, that flow and confidence and production does rub off on other players and the team in general. Same with the downside last year. My gut tells me RJ rode that wave some in 2020 but that's just a guess on my part.
It is also the same reason guys like Randle cannot be the best player or leader of your team. He CAN lead your team in spurts, there is no doubt about that, but when that type of player is not grooving well, it's a detriment to the whole team if he is the "leader" and other guys are following or staying in his lane.
Randle is an alpha. IMHO you need a bigger, badder alpha on the team to make a guy like Randle really work and stay in his lane and stay focused. Having Brunson super helps with this. Having a guy like Elfrid is the worst (he was just in the right place at the right time).
