No predictions here. Im not speaking for him or pretend Im in his head like some fans do.
Do I think all this success got to his head? The surge in celebrity? For goodness sake his son became famous! His work ethic slip and he now living off the fat of this past efforts?
I don’t know.
His rise was years in the making. Ups and downs, core belief in himself and the sweat poured in. The crescendo of a new coach and achieving All NBA status with long term financial security. Its a good feeling. Add another child to boot! Life is good.
His basketball life has been a quest and he reached the top 10% in earning power were only the top 1% worldwide get to apply their craft: The NBA!!! Now the tough part which is sustaining that!
Randle’s contract is not insane. It won’t hit 30mil per over its life. He makes 23mil next year and goes up to 29 over 4yrs. he is paid as a 2nd or 3rd option on a very good team. Thing is, he is not on a very good team. He is on .500 team give or take.
Look at what fans do. Take NYMentality. He talks up wins before they happen and it excites him. All puffed up and saying how good it will be. He disappear when the losses mount. His choice. Then there are short thinkers like PhilC and 1248 that can’t see with any imagination how a team can evolve or overcome adversity and being correct predictors are important to their fandom status.
My point is not to stake the obvious in some types of fan. They speak for themselves. The thing is we are not as good as we think we are as fans, and Randle is not the long term alpha savior some are blaming him to be. He is not paid as one. There is no delusion. The hope and thought is we build with him, not around him. There is nothing that indicates from KNicks that Randle is a max superstar that can trasnform us. He is not a cornerstone (again, not paid as one) but A BUILDING BLOCK. RJ is also and would be a college senior if he stayed at duke. Is he a corrnerstone? I hope so, but until its defined he also is a building block. Same for Obi and IQ.
If you can’t handle a indeterminate future emotionally its obvious. The old expression “be cool” is one that best describes what needs to be done when things are not going well. Thats not so say it gets turned around but losing your **** never helps. Calling for change is not improvement.
Randle has to settle into this role for now. After last year he might have dialed back OR does not know how to defer YET to his teammates. RJ might not know when to take over and when to let Randle have it back. Evan is in an expanded role and has similar tasks. Lets be real he is Inconsistant but that means he demonstrates proficiency at times.
What to I think? Blame or Cause? I think its lots of things that aggregate to our mediocrity for now. Kemba, injuries (all teams have this), Randle apparent malaise, IQ and RJ growth spurts take them back a bit, OBI half court game not ready despite huge growth this season, both Mitch and Norlens started out of shape, and Thibs not making the right moves yet. It adds up. No one thing can be solved to turn it around. Even when one gets checked off, another happens.
He is the Maestro that has to put it together. Might not happen this year. But that don’t mean it never does.
Sometimes the music is magic, others times you have to just work thru it. Kemba, EF, etc…….Might have made sense but the reality might not happen. Blame vs. cause? Solutions vs. change. Variables with no clear answers.
When you have a plan there are times you get off course. When you do, are you cool or panic? Depends on reality vs. perception and hindsight will tell you everything you need to know AFTER THE FACT. 20 games in. Be Cool!
