Ever since December 7, when Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott removed Julius Randle from the team’s starting lineup, L.A. has played much better with its second-year lottery pick off the court. Heading into Tuesday night’s win over the Denver Nuggets, the team was “only” outscored by 9.4 points per 100 possessions—versus a net rating of minus-22.9 when he played—per NBA.com.
In Denver, Randle scored eight points, grabbed 10 rebounds and looked increasingly uncomfortable through the first three quarters before a few spurts of production in the final frame. It was more of the same for a talented youngster who one day may still become the Lakers’ best player: inconsistent two-way effort meshed with an unpredictable, toothless attack.
The Lakers rebound the ball better on both ends with Randle on the court, but that might be the only positive takeaway from these last couple weeks, where we’ve seen his individual efficiency plummet. Randle shot 43.3 percent in his first 20 games this season. Over the past seven, he’s down to 38.8 percent (and just 50 perce ...
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Article written by Michael Pina
Julius Randle’s Struggle off the Bench Is Troublesome for Los Angeles Lakers
December 22nd, 2015 by Michael Pina Leave a reply »
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