g-ice
aka #DiamondNightmare
Got to give French fukk props for being professional and going about his job.
Very commendable and it goes a long way.
"Who are the Knicks? Brunson, Brunson and some other Knickas" " - Official '23 NYK Offseason Thread
- Thread starter DPresidential
- Start date
Got to give French fukk props for being professional and going about his job.
Very commendable and it goes a long way.
storyteller
Veteran
I really thought dude was like a square Pointdexter type personality. Very surprised.
Fantastic article by Katz
Julius Randle needed a fact check.
Standing in the back hallways of Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Randle had just learned a new statistic: Since Nov. 29, he was first in the Eastern Conference in 3-point attempts. Only Portland Trail Blazers assassin Damian Lillard had taken more.
Randle wasn’t buying it. At least, not completely.
His grin spread the length of the corridor. He graced his head backward, dramatically resting his skull against the stone wall behind him.
“Am I really?” he asked.
To Randle, this was the literal definition of unbelievable.
A younger version of Randle played to his body type. For 82 nights a year, aggrieved chests departed games with bruises the shapes of Randle’s shoulders. The man didn’t just run to the paint; he seized it.
It’s why even he can’t reckon the way he has evolved since he first entered the NBAnine years ago.
Randle won’t stop taking 3s, and that’s exactly how his team wants it.
“Coming into the league, I never would’ve thought that, to be honest with you,” Randle said. “I could shoot the ball really good, but I never really relied on my 3 ball and wasn’t heavy in taking attempts at any point in my career. So, it’s just a credit to hard work.”
On Thursday, the NBA named Randle a participant in the 3-point contest, scheduled for Saturday night. He will compete in the All-Star Game the next evening.
It’s a fitting capper to a trend that began with a visit from Knicks assistant coach Johnnie Bryant last offseason.
Randle was coming off a disappointing season. He had earned All-NBA honors and a Most Improved Player award in 2020-21 but looked like a different person come 2021-22. His cadence slowed. His decision-making turned timid. His defense lagged. And, maybe most importantly, a 3-point shot that flipped from nonexistent to elite during his award-winning season had faded back to the realm of the inefficient.
Randle made 41 percent of his long balls during his All-NBA campaign. That dropped to 31 percent in 2021-22, dead last amongst the 103 players who took at least 300 3s that season.
Late in the spring of 2022, Bryant traveled to Randle’s hometown of Dallas to check in. The coach told Randle he had to “look at (himself) in the mirror” after the season he had just churned out. He mentioned the defensive problems and body-language concerns. But Bryant also set a more tangible goal for the upcoming year:
Don’t just shoot 3s better; shoot 3s more.
A lot more.
(Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
Bryant told Randle that he should set a career-high in 3-point attempts in 2022-23. If he did it the right way, swishing would come, too.
“I kinda just took that honor,” Randle said. “He’s made the game really easy and simplified it for me.”
Bryant worked with Randle on becoming more decisive. Randle hesitated too much in 2021-22, Bryant said. When you have a good look, go up with it, the coach told him. He guided Randle through film sessions, pointing out times when Randle received passes and held onto the ball for seconds before making a move or dribbling into an unnecessarily long 2-pointer, basketball’s least-efficient shot.
If Randle had daylight, the Knicks wanted him to make good use of it.
“It makes the game easy,” Randle said. “Sometimes, it’s the easiest shot that you’re gonna get, rather than putting the ball on the ground and trying to take a contested (shot). … Just let it go.”
And now, Randle might as well be Idina Menzel.
Standing in the back hallways of Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Randle had just learned a new statistic: Since Nov. 29, he was first in the Eastern Conference in 3-point attempts. Only Portland Trail Blazers assassin Damian Lillard had taken more.
Randle wasn’t buying it. At least, not completely.
His grin spread the length of the corridor. He graced his head backward, dramatically resting his skull against the stone wall behind him.
“Am I really?” he asked.
To Randle, this was the literal definition of unbelievable.
A younger version of Randle played to his body type. For 82 nights a year, aggrieved chests departed games with bruises the shapes of Randle’s shoulders. The man didn’t just run to the paint; he seized it.
It’s why even he can’t reckon the way he has evolved since he first entered the NBAnine years ago.
Randle won’t stop taking 3s, and that’s exactly how his team wants it.
“Coming into the league, I never would’ve thought that, to be honest with you,” Randle said. “I could shoot the ball really good, but I never really relied on my 3 ball and wasn’t heavy in taking attempts at any point in my career. So, it’s just a credit to hard work.”
On Thursday, the NBA named Randle a participant in the 3-point contest, scheduled for Saturday night. He will compete in the All-Star Game the next evening.
It’s a fitting capper to a trend that began with a visit from Knicks assistant coach Johnnie Bryant last offseason.
Randle was coming off a disappointing season. He had earned All-NBA honors and a Most Improved Player award in 2020-21 but looked like a different person come 2021-22. His cadence slowed. His decision-making turned timid. His defense lagged. And, maybe most importantly, a 3-point shot that flipped from nonexistent to elite during his award-winning season had faded back to the realm of the inefficient.
Randle made 41 percent of his long balls during his All-NBA campaign. That dropped to 31 percent in 2021-22, dead last amongst the 103 players who took at least 300 3s that season.
Late in the spring of 2022, Bryant traveled to Randle’s hometown of Dallas to check in. The coach told Randle he had to “look at (himself) in the mirror” after the season he had just churned out. He mentioned the defensive problems and body-language concerns. But Bryant also set a more tangible goal for the upcoming year:
Don’t just shoot 3s better; shoot 3s more.
A lot more.
(Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
Bryant told Randle that he should set a career-high in 3-point attempts in 2022-23. If he did it the right way, swishing would come, too.
“I kinda just took that honor,” Randle said. “He’s made the game really easy and simplified it for me.”
Bryant worked with Randle on becoming more decisive. Randle hesitated too much in 2021-22, Bryant said. When you have a good look, go up with it, the coach told him. He guided Randle through film sessions, pointing out times when Randle received passes and held onto the ball for seconds before making a move or dribbling into an unnecessarily long 2-pointer, basketball’s least-efficient shot.
If Randle had daylight, the Knicks wanted him to make good use of it.
“It makes the game easy,” Randle said. “Sometimes, it’s the easiest shot that you’re gonna get, rather than putting the ball on the ground and trying to take a contested (shot). … Just let it go.”
And now, Randle might as well be Idina Menzel.
He rises on the catch out of pure muscle memory. He’s hoisting more stepbacks than ever.
He is seventh in the NBA in 3-point attempts and is 10th in makes. He could choose not to take one more 3 for the Knicks’ final 22 games, and he would still finish with the most makes and attempts he’s ever totaled in a season. He’s sinking 34 percent of them, respectable given his volume. His eight 3s a game are his most ever; 44 percent of his shots come from beyond the arc, another career-high, by far.
“We all knew that he has this level in him,” RJ Barrett said.
Randle’s efficiency numbers, in turn, are the most impressive they’ve been since he came to New York four years ago, even better than they were during his All-NBA crusade. He’s recovered his All-Star form — but he’s done it in a way not reminiscent of the player he was a couple of years ago, when he dominated from the midrange and forced his way to the rim less than ever, a style he couldn’t replicate once his jumper cratered in 2021-22.
Bryant’s mission is to make sure this new Randle continues.
A few weeks ago, on only the second possession of a raucous game in Boston, he directed his star mid-play. Randle was spacing to the left wing, within earshot of the Knicks’ bench. Bryant, meanwhile, knew New York’s point guard, Jalen Brunson, was about to infiltrate the lane. He figured Randle’s defender would stray from his man to help.
“Be ready! Be ready!” Bryant repeated.
Randle got the message. Moments later, he received a pass from Brunson and drained a wide-open 3 without pause.
Many of the inefficient long 2s Randle once meandered into have become either 3-pointers or more makeable short midrange shots. He doesn’t hold onto the ball for nearly as long when he touches it. He bolts in transition. He grabs defensive rebounds and flies to the other end.
… And then there are those extra 3s.
“I really credit that to Johnnie. … And when the coach gives you a green light like that — I work extremely hard at it,” Randle said. “And there’s no hesitation, for sure.”
Today, Randle and 3s go together like blue and orange. They’re on opposite sides of the color wheel but you can’t imagine a Knicks game without them. And it’s not just Bryant who is emboldening Randle to take as many as he can. This comes from the top.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has pushed the team to adjust its shot selection, a mission that required Randle’s participation. Thibodeau commonly refers to “the value of shots,” explaining that he wants as many 3s, layups, dunks and free throws as possible. The Knicks now own one of the more analytically-friendly shot profiles. Less than five percent of their field-goal attempts this season are long 2s, the seventh-smallest rate in the NBA.
The strategy is working, too. The offense has steadily outplayed expectations all season, rising all the way to seventh in points per possession.
Ask Randle about his improvement this season, and one name will always come up: Jalen Brunson.
He is seventh in the NBA in 3-point attempts and is 10th in makes. He could choose not to take one more 3 for the Knicks’ final 22 games, and he would still finish with the most makes and attempts he’s ever totaled in a season. He’s sinking 34 percent of them, respectable given his volume. His eight 3s a game are his most ever; 44 percent of his shots come from beyond the arc, another career-high, by far.
“We all knew that he has this level in him,” RJ Barrett said.
Randle’s efficiency numbers, in turn, are the most impressive they’ve been since he came to New York four years ago, even better than they were during his All-NBA crusade. He’s recovered his All-Star form — but he’s done it in a way not reminiscent of the player he was a couple of years ago, when he dominated from the midrange and forced his way to the rim less than ever, a style he couldn’t replicate once his jumper cratered in 2021-22.
Bryant’s mission is to make sure this new Randle continues.
A few weeks ago, on only the second possession of a raucous game in Boston, he directed his star mid-play. Randle was spacing to the left wing, within earshot of the Knicks’ bench. Bryant, meanwhile, knew New York’s point guard, Jalen Brunson, was about to infiltrate the lane. He figured Randle’s defender would stray from his man to help.
“Be ready! Be ready!” Bryant repeated.
Randle got the message. Moments later, he received a pass from Brunson and drained a wide-open 3 without pause.
Many of the inefficient long 2s Randle once meandered into have become either 3-pointers or more makeable short midrange shots. He doesn’t hold onto the ball for nearly as long when he touches it. He bolts in transition. He grabs defensive rebounds and flies to the other end.
… And then there are those extra 3s.
“I really credit that to Johnnie. … And when the coach gives you a green light like that — I work extremely hard at it,” Randle said. “And there’s no hesitation, for sure.”
Today, Randle and 3s go together like blue and orange. They’re on opposite sides of the color wheel but you can’t imagine a Knicks game without them. And it’s not just Bryant who is emboldening Randle to take as many as he can. This comes from the top.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has pushed the team to adjust its shot selection, a mission that required Randle’s participation. Thibodeau commonly refers to “the value of shots,” explaining that he wants as many 3s, layups, dunks and free throws as possible. The Knicks now own one of the more analytically-friendly shot profiles. Less than five percent of their field-goal attempts this season are long 2s, the seventh-smallest rate in the NBA.
The strategy is working, too. The offense has steadily outplayed expectations all season, rising all the way to seventh in points per possession.
Ask Randle about his improvement this season, and one name will always come up: Jalen Brunson.
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He brings a calmness to our team,” Randle said.
Brunson’s presence takes the playmaking burden off of Randle, who can now stroll to his spots without the ball, instead of having to fight there with it. Randle and Thibodeau have both credited Brunson — who had an All-Star case, himself — as a key cog in Randle’s return to glory. But the Knicks have also adjusted his role in other ways.
(Nick Turchiaro / USA Today)
They have tweaked certain sets to get him more 3s. More of his touches come from beyond the arc. In some actions, Randle plays the role that long-range sniper Evan Fournier did in 2021-22, such as on the ‘Spain’ pick-and-roll, which involves multiple teammates screening for a ballhandler at the top of the key.
On the first day of training camp, Fournier predicted something like this.
The guard had received a question about New York’s most-anticipated flaw. The Knicks’ starting lineup housed four players who were at their best inside the 3-point arc. Fournier was the one conventional shooter.
So, how could they possibly make this work? How could a group of ragtag drivers vault into the top half of the league in offense?
“From just the back of my mind right now, I would say Julius will probably have to shoot more 3s than he’s ever done,” Fournier said. “Especially as a stretch four that can do a little bit of everything, it’s gonna open up a lot of things.”
We can call Fournier clairvoyant — or maybe he just watched last year’s Knicks.
By midway into last season, teams started leaving Randle alone on the 3-point arc. That couldn’t happen again. In 2022-23, he had to take just enough and make just enough for defenders to stick to him away from the basket.
Beyond its recognition of “the value of shots,” as Thibodeau puts it, the team is finding teensy ways to manipulate defenses. Last month, about an hour before the Knicks were set to tip off, a coach turned to me and asked a rhetorical:
“What are the chances Randle’s first shot is a 3 tonight?” he chuckled.
That coach probably would’ve bet his mortgage, or at least a steak dinner, on the affirmative. The reality is, the odds are about three-to-one.
Randle almost always begins games with a 3-pointer. Over his last 52 matches, his first shot has come from behind the arc 39 times. That’s 75 percent. In fact, Randle is far more aggressive in first quarters, in general. He shoots more in the first than he does in any other period. He averages the fifth-most first-quarter points in the NBA.
It’s strategic.
“Often times if the guy gets going, now you’re going to get more double teams,” Thibodeau said. “The double teams will come quicker.”
Defenders will also think twice about helping off Randle if he’s already drained one or two 3s. And at this point, if whoever is guarding Randle does shuffle into the lane on a Brunson drive, he must know a spot-up 3 is only seconds away.
Thibodeau has told Randle to shoot more. So has Bryant. And so has Brunson. And Barrett. And Fournier.
Confidence is a funny thing. When a whole team tells you you’re pretty good, you may just start to believe it. That concept isn’t lost on Randle.
After all, this isn’t the first time leadership has empowered him behind the arc.
Before 2018-19, Randle’s sole season with the New Orleans Pelicans, the team’s head coach, Alvin Gentry, approached the young up-and-comer with a message.
“If you practice them and you spend time working on them, I’ll let you shoot them,” Gentry, who is now with the Sacramento Kings, remembers telling Randle. “But I have to know that you’re putting in the work.”
Gentry comes from the Mike D’Antoni school of coaching. If a player can stretch the floor, he will find a way to weaponize it.
He told Randle that learning how to step out to the arc wouldn’t just be good for the squad. It’d also aid his own game. It would help him drive, because defenders would close out on him more haphazardly. It would make him more deadly in the post.
“Early on,” Gentry said, “It was a bit of a rollercoaster.”
Randle wasn’t using his legs enough. Even in practice, many of his jumpers fell short. But Gentry kept encouraging him.
I will say this,” Gentry said. “He put in the work.”
All of a sudden, that work began to show when it mattered.
Randle shot only 2.7 deep balls a game that season, chump change compared to what he does now. Most of those looks were open. The league hadn’t yet tabbed him as a long-range threat. But he made 34 percent, respectable enough.
“That was the first year I really started shooting 3s and not looking over my shoulder when I shot them,” Randle said. “So, that’s when I started really believing in it and working on it and trusting the work that I put in. And then from there, it’s just been a year-in-and-year-out process.”
Now, that process has turned Randle into one of the world’s most unabashed 3-point shooters.
“He’s a perfectionist,” Brunson said. “He wants to be perfect every time he steps on the court. … I’m not surprised he’s taken that step forward.”
Brunson’s presence takes the playmaking burden off of Randle, who can now stroll to his spots without the ball, instead of having to fight there with it. Randle and Thibodeau have both credited Brunson — who had an All-Star case, himself — as a key cog in Randle’s return to glory. But the Knicks have also adjusted his role in other ways.
(Nick Turchiaro / USA Today)
They have tweaked certain sets to get him more 3s. More of his touches come from beyond the arc. In some actions, Randle plays the role that long-range sniper Evan Fournier did in 2021-22, such as on the ‘Spain’ pick-and-roll, which involves multiple teammates screening for a ballhandler at the top of the key.
On the first day of training camp, Fournier predicted something like this.
The guard had received a question about New York’s most-anticipated flaw. The Knicks’ starting lineup housed four players who were at their best inside the 3-point arc. Fournier was the one conventional shooter.
So, how could they possibly make this work? How could a group of ragtag drivers vault into the top half of the league in offense?
“From just the back of my mind right now, I would say Julius will probably have to shoot more 3s than he’s ever done,” Fournier said. “Especially as a stretch four that can do a little bit of everything, it’s gonna open up a lot of things.”
We can call Fournier clairvoyant — or maybe he just watched last year’s Knicks.
By midway into last season, teams started leaving Randle alone on the 3-point arc. That couldn’t happen again. In 2022-23, he had to take just enough and make just enough for defenders to stick to him away from the basket.
Beyond its recognition of “the value of shots,” as Thibodeau puts it, the team is finding teensy ways to manipulate defenses. Last month, about an hour before the Knicks were set to tip off, a coach turned to me and asked a rhetorical:
“What are the chances Randle’s first shot is a 3 tonight?” he chuckled.
That coach probably would’ve bet his mortgage, or at least a steak dinner, on the affirmative. The reality is, the odds are about three-to-one.
Randle almost always begins games with a 3-pointer. Over his last 52 matches, his first shot has come from behind the arc 39 times. That’s 75 percent. In fact, Randle is far more aggressive in first quarters, in general. He shoots more in the first than he does in any other period. He averages the fifth-most first-quarter points in the NBA.
It’s strategic.
“Often times if the guy gets going, now you’re going to get more double teams,” Thibodeau said. “The double teams will come quicker.”
Defenders will also think twice about helping off Randle if he’s already drained one or two 3s. And at this point, if whoever is guarding Randle does shuffle into the lane on a Brunson drive, he must know a spot-up 3 is only seconds away.
Thibodeau has told Randle to shoot more. So has Bryant. And so has Brunson. And Barrett. And Fournier.
Confidence is a funny thing. When a whole team tells you you’re pretty good, you may just start to believe it. That concept isn’t lost on Randle.
After all, this isn’t the first time leadership has empowered him behind the arc.
Before 2018-19, Randle’s sole season with the New Orleans Pelicans, the team’s head coach, Alvin Gentry, approached the young up-and-comer with a message.
“If you practice them and you spend time working on them, I’ll let you shoot them,” Gentry, who is now with the Sacramento Kings, remembers telling Randle. “But I have to know that you’re putting in the work.”
Gentry comes from the Mike D’Antoni school of coaching. If a player can stretch the floor, he will find a way to weaponize it.
He told Randle that learning how to step out to the arc wouldn’t just be good for the squad. It’d also aid his own game. It would help him drive, because defenders would close out on him more haphazardly. It would make him more deadly in the post.
“Early on,” Gentry said, “It was a bit of a rollercoaster.”
Randle wasn’t using his legs enough. Even in practice, many of his jumpers fell short. But Gentry kept encouraging him.
I will say this,” Gentry said. “He put in the work.”
All of a sudden, that work began to show when it mattered.
Randle shot only 2.7 deep balls a game that season, chump change compared to what he does now. Most of those looks were open. The league hadn’t yet tabbed him as a long-range threat. But he made 34 percent, respectable enough.
“That was the first year I really started shooting 3s and not looking over my shoulder when I shot them,” Randle said. “So, that’s when I started really believing in it and working on it and trusting the work that I put in. And then from there, it’s just been a year-in-and-year-out process.”
Now, that process has turned Randle into one of the world’s most unabashed 3-point shooters.
“He’s a perfectionist,” Brunson said. “He wants to be perfect every time he steps on the court. … I’m not surprised he’s taken that step forward.”
TLDR:
-Johnnie Bryant talks to Julius about last season and tells Julius you have to abandon those long twos and take threes (and take a lot of them)
-Julius Randle gives credit to Jalen Brunson and Johnnie Bryant for making the game easier.
-Evan Fournier was the first person in training camp to notice we needed Julius to shoot more three’s immediately. His quote “No way we can play with four players playing the paint”
-Alvin gentry in New Orleans was the first coach to convince Julius to shoot threes. He was the coach to teach him how to shoot threes.
-Johnnie Bryant is a damn good coach
-Johnnie Bryant talks to Julius about last season and tells Julius you have to abandon those long twos and take threes (and take a lot of them)
-Julius Randle gives credit to Jalen Brunson and Johnnie Bryant for making the game easier.
-Evan Fournier was the first person in training camp to notice we needed Julius to shoot more three’s immediately. His quote “No way we can play with four players playing the paint”
-Alvin gentry in New Orleans was the first coach to convince Julius to shoot threes. He was the coach to teach him how to shoot threes.
-Johnnie Bryant is a damn good coach
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KnickstapeCity
The Big Dikk King
My nikka winning that 3 point contest.
Knicksman20
Superstar
Grimey making us proud lol
BornStar
Marathon Continues
I'm telling you our dumb asses will find a reason to let him go
ISO
Pass me the rock nikka
That’s my dawg
010101
C L O N E*0690//////
wrist*
g-ice
aka #DiamondNightmare
Just looked up Grimes stats so far and 
Ironman
#Knickstape
Grimes needed help but he put on for the squad
