Julius Randle's turnover binge isn't entirely his fault
Knicks forward Julius Randle drives to the basket against Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr. in the first half of an NBA game in New Orleans on Saturday. Credit: AP/Gerald Herbert
Hawks coach Quin Snyder spoke this past week about facing the Knicks and the tough decision of how to slow down Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, a 1A and 1B attack in which either one could carry the team. But through the first three games, there has been something missing from Randle, who came into the season seeking to improve his efficiency.
It's a small sample size to be sure, but through three games, Randle is shooting just 27.7% from the field — a 5-for-22 opening night effort against Boston followed by 4-for-10 in Atlanta and 4-for-15 Saturday in New Orleans. He was 0-for-5 from beyond the arc in Saturday's loss and turned the ball over eight times.
“I’ve just gotta make shots,” Randle said. “Yeah, I’ve gotta look at the tape, but I’ve just gotta make shots. They’ll fall.”
There could be excuses: Randle changed his offseason program because surgery kept him off his feet for much of the summer. Then he never played five-on-five until training camp started earlier this month.
“I’m not making excuses,” he said. “I’ve just gotta continue to get better.”
Randle has done some things well. He had seven assists without a turnover in the opener and then nearly posted a triple-double even with his shooting struggles in Atlanta with 17 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and three turnovers. But Saturday was a disaster in terms of shooting, handling the ball and trying to match up with Zion Williamson.
“He’s being aggressive. He’s attacking,” Brunson said. “Those are things he works on. As a group, we need to be better. But we’ve got to help each other be better. Can’t just be like I have to be better or he has to be better. How can we collectively help each other.”
“I thought that was his best passing game [Friday],” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He was phenomenal. I thought he had the right intentions [Saturday]. Some of it was we were a step behind. We were a step slow. So we’ve got to make sure we clean that up. But for the most part, he’s battling his way through. I knew it would take some time. Just let him work his way through it.”
Compare it to Randle’s first three games last season, when he shot 24-for-47 and totaled only five turnovers. But Thibodeau and Brunson were quick to point out that while the turnovers go on Randle’s statistics, they weren’t all his fault.
“It’s easier to think it’s Julius, but everyone has to work together,” Thibodeau said. “If the outlets aren’t there, you’re a step behind, you’re a step slow — he needs to have three outlets when he’s being double-teamed. So that’s something we can do better.”
“I think we’ve just got to do a better job of giving everyone outlets,” Brunson said. “Julius is going to command attention. We need to help him out, get to the spacing for him to make the pass. We just weren’t in the right spots. If teams are collapsing, we’ve got to be able to space the perimeter. A lot of our turnovers have been like inside passing, stuff like that. We’ve just got to be better, just got to be more sound, be more on point with that.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
