Some great news regarding the New York Knicks lately. That is the fact Knick player’s tests for COVID-19 came back negative. However, this doesn’t mean the Knicks shouldn’t move on from Julius Randle. Randle’s play this season may have similar effects on his teammates as COVID-19 has on its sick victims. He doesn’t make his teammates better, in fact, his brutal play is contagious in a very negative way at times, leading the New York Knicks to poor starts at the beginning of games. Meanwhile, his offensive statistics remain deceptive due to his ability to stuff a stat sheet during blowout losses.
Julius Randle makes the game difficult for himself at times as well as others. Randle has an extremely tight handle for his size and position, however, he’s predictable and he tends to do way too much off the dribble which leads to turnovers and easy buckets for the opposition. Once the opposing team capitalizes on our unnecessary turnovers, they’re suddenly in a rhythm and up to double digits due to a 12-2 run in a matter of 2 minutes or less. This type of basketball is frustrating to watch. Winning can be done with a simple brand of basketball in which players know and understand their roles resulting in fewer players playing away from their strengths.
Although Julius Randle seems like a nice human being, on the court he looks like he’s difficult to play with. Selfishness from a star player always rubs off on the rest of the team especially if the teammates are younger. Players are starting to look off one another and bad habits like over dribbling, poor decision making, and turnovers begin ramping up. The Knicks need to get rid of Julius Randle and bring in a true stretch four with better basketball IQ.