TheGame wrote:A Thibbs team is always going to play solid defense, and last year we were solid on defense. Where this team failed was efficiency. Both RJ and Randle are grossly inefficient. Randle shot .411 from the field and .308 from 3pt last season. RJ shot .408 from the field and .342 from 3 pt. That is terrible from your two supposedly best players. JB was brought in primarily to add a high efficiency scorer to the starting lineup and to make things easier for Randle and RJ. The season will come down to whether RJ and Randle buy in and allow JB to run the show. In preseason, RJ looks great. His shooting is there and he is not forcing anything. RJ is mostly getting his shots from within the flow of the offense. Randle has still looked like he wants to break offense sometimes and go into his 1 on 1 mode but he has handled the ball much less and only had I think 1 turnover in the preseason. He still needs to focus on only taking efficient shots but I will give him a few more games for him to adjust to playing with JB. Toppin shot .531 from the field and the same .308 from 3pt as Randle last season. That .531 makes a big difference and Randle needs to get his fg% to at least .480 percent. Also, as they did this preseason, they need to get Mitch more involved. Dude shoots at .761% from the field. They need him taking as many shots as possible to increase our efficiency as long as Mitch can hit his free throws. Mitch shot .750 from the free throw line in preseason. Thibbs has to keep harping on them to take efficient shots and play within the offense. That happens, we easily make the playoffs.

Inefficient amount of words to bring forth a good concept! I should know as I am guilty of this often.
Since todays lesson is bought to you by the letter “E”, and buy in by randle and Rj are apparently down with “efficient”, then the key might might be “EXECUTION”.

I wonder if it is as easy as trading Randle and just slotting Obi in.

Nalod wrote:

franco12 wrote:Maybe the key to the season is Julius and whether he can return to form. Last year was really bad from him in terms of his shooting %s over his career. .480 would be great- he’s done better. 3pt % might be even more important given how the game has evolved.

I wonder if it is as easy as trading Randle and just slotting Obi in.

Perhaps we are breaking it down too much. Winning percentage is all that matters. How we get there tells the story.

That's probably an oversimplification. There is a lot of support for more efficient teams being successful. Memphis being the outlier last season (and likely a reason why they may regress this season). If you have a top 5 defense and a top 10 eFG, you probably are a top 4 seed combined. From the preseason, Randle, Fournier and the entire second unit need to step up their efficiency. Randle, Fournier and the entire second unit are not hitting their 3s yet. Only thing I can pick out is that Randle insists on shooting off the dribble and shuffling his feet. Likes to shoot while falling away from the basket. I hope he finds the ability to spot up and shoot from a more stable position.

The video below doesn't show his misses, but you can see how much better his 3 is when he isn't shooting off the dribble by some of his lucky 3s. Some of those go in, but his spot up shooting just looks like better, more efficient shots.

Instead of coming to the ball and looking to get the ball at the top of the key, he should be finding the open spaces and moving off the ball. He is athletic enough to move without the ball and when he sets, his 3 is good enough to punish a defense for stacking the box. This alone will clear out the box for Brunson and Barrett giving teams a choice to stop the drive or to body Robinson in the hope that Brunson/Barrett miss.

So, yeah, I actually agree the depth of Knicks success is largely dependent on how Randle performs - more specifically, which shots he takes.

EwingsGlass wrote:

Nalod wrote:

franco12 wrote:Maybe the key to the season is Julius and whether he can return to form. Last year was really bad from him in terms of his shooting %s over his career. .480 would be great- he’s done better. 3pt % might be even more important given how the game has evolved.

I wonder if it is as easy as trading Randle and just slotting Obi in.

Perhaps we are breaking it down too much. Winning percentage is all that matters. How we get there tells the story.

That's probably an oversimplification. There is a lot of support for more efficient teams being successful. Memphis being the outlier last season (and likely a reason why they may regress this season). If you have a top 5 defense and a top 10 eFG, you probably are a top 4 seed combined. From the preseason, Randle, Fournier and the entire second unit need to step up their efficiency. Randle, Fournier and the entire second unit are not hitting their 3s yet. Only thing I can pick out is that Randle insists on shooting off the dribble and shuffling his feet. Likes to shoot while falling away from the basket. I hope he finds the ability to spot up and shoot from a more stable position.

The video below doesn't show his misses, but you can see how much better his 3 is when he isn't shooting off the dribble by some of his lucky 3s. Some of those go in, but his spot up shooting just looks like better, more efficient shots.

Instead of coming to the ball and looking to get the ball at the top of the key, he should be finding the open spaces and moving off the ball. He is athletic enough to move without the ball and when he sets, his 3 is good enough to punish a defense for stacking the box. This alone will clear out the box for Brunson and Barrett giving teams a choice to stop the drive or to body Robinson in the hope that Brunson/Barrett miss.

So, yeah, I actually agree the depth of Knicks success is largely dependent on how Randle performs - more specifically, which shots he takes.

Randle has shot as high .565 or so from the field in past seasons. He probably needs to lower the number of 3s he takes and as you stated, make sure he cuts out the off the dribble 3s. It may be as simple as trading Randle but hopefully he figures it out and improves his efficiency.

TheGame wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

Nalod wrote:

franco12 wrote:Maybe the key to the season is Julius and whether he can return to form. Last year was really bad from him in terms of his shooting %s over his career. .480 would be great- he’s done better. 3pt % might be even more important given how the game has evolved.

I wonder if it is as easy as trading Randle and just slotting Obi in.

Perhaps we are breaking it down too much. Winning percentage is all that matters. How we get there tells the story.

That's probably an oversimplification. There is a lot of support for more efficient teams being successful. Memphis being the outlier last season (and likely a reason why they may regress this season). If you have a top 5 defense and a top 10 eFG, you probably are a top 4 seed combined. From the preseason, Randle, Fournier and the entire second unit need to step up their efficiency. Randle, Fournier and the entire second unit are not hitting their 3s yet. Only thing I can pick out is that Randle insists on shooting off the dribble and shuffling his feet. Likes to shoot while falling away from the basket. I hope he finds the ability to spot up and shoot from a more stable position.

The video below doesn't show his misses, but you can see how much better his 3 is when he isn't shooting off the dribble by some of his lucky 3s. Some of those go in, but his spot up shooting just looks like better, more efficient shots.

Instead of coming to the ball and looking to get the ball at the top of the key, he should be finding the open spaces and moving off the ball. He is athletic enough to move without the ball and when he sets, his 3 is good enough to punish a defense for stacking the box. This alone will clear out the box for Brunson and Barrett giving teams a choice to stop the drive or to body Robinson in the hope that Brunson/Barrett miss.

So, yeah, I actually agree the depth of Knicks success is largely dependent on how Randle performs - more specifically, which shots he takes.

Randle has shot as high .565 or so from the field in past seasons. He probably needs to lower the number of 3s he takes and as you stated, make sure he cuts out the off the dribble 3s. It may be as simple as trading Randle but hopefully he figures it out and improves his efficiency.

Trading Randle isn't simple though. Economically, he has a 15% trade kicker. Makes matching salaries tougher. Defensively, I don't think you will replace Randle easily.

Basically, he should choose to either (A) take better shots (e,g. attacking the basket or (B) take less shots (removing the fadeaway and off the dribble shots). Best answer is probably both.

EwingsGlass wrote:

TheGame wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

Nalod wrote:

franco12 wrote:Maybe the key to the season is Julius and whether he can return to form. Last year was really bad from him in terms of his shooting %s over his career. .480 would be great- he’s done better. 3pt % might be even more important given how the game has evolved.

I wonder if it is as easy as trading Randle and just slotting Obi in.

Perhaps we are breaking it down too much. Winning percentage is all that matters. How we get there tells the story.

That's probably an oversimplification. There is a lot of support for more efficient teams being successful. Memphis being the outlier last season (and likely a reason why they may regress this season). If you have a top 5 defense and a top 10 eFG, you probably are a top 4 seed combined. From the preseason, Randle, Fournier and the entire second unit need to step up their efficiency. Randle, Fournier and the entire second unit are not hitting their 3s yet. Only thing I can pick out is that Randle insists on shooting off the dribble and shuffling his feet. Likes to shoot while falling away from the basket. I hope he finds the ability to spot up and shoot from a more stable position.

The video below doesn't show his misses, but you can see how much better his 3 is when he isn't shooting off the dribble by some of his lucky 3s. Some of those go in, but his spot up shooting just looks like better, more efficient shots.

Instead of coming to the ball and looking to get the ball at the top of the key, he should be finding the open spaces and moving off the ball. He is athletic enough to move without the ball and when he sets, his 3 is good enough to punish a defense for stacking the box. This alone will clear out the box for Brunson and Barrett giving teams a choice to stop the drive or to body Robinson in the hope that Brunson/Barrett miss.

So, yeah, I actually agree the depth of Knicks success is largely dependent on how Randle performs - more specifically, which shots he takes.

Randle has shot as high .565 or so from the field in past seasons. He probably needs to lower the number of 3s he takes and as you stated, make sure he cuts out the off the dribble 3s. It may be as simple as trading Randle but hopefully he figures it out and improves his efficiency.

Trading Randle isn't simple though. Economically, he has a 15% trade kicker. Makes matching salaries tougher. Defensively, I don't think you will replace Randle easily.

Basically, he should choose to either (A) take better shots (e,g. attacking the basket or (B) take less shots (removing the fadeaway and off the dribble shots). Best answer is probably both.

I was going to say if Randle doesn't buy in and we have to trade him, we're pretty ****ed anyway.

BUT- this front office works magic, and should this situation come to pass- I am not hoping for it in any way, nor do I think it likely- I have 1000% confidence that this FO will find a deal for Randle that makes us better- and more than simple addition through subtraction.

TheGame wrote:To be clear, this was not intended as a “trade Randle thread.” It is more of a “Randle needs to do better thread.”

The point is well taken. I think everyone is better off if he adjusts his game a bit.