Tom Thibodeau indirectly calls out Julius Randle’s shot selection

Tom Thibodeau indirectly calls out Julius Randle’s shot selection

After a resurgent 2022-23 season, Julius Randle’s start to the 2023-24 season has not been optimal.

The New York Knicks forward is averaging just 13.7 points on very poor efficiency through his team’s first six games. Randle’s hoisted 14 or more attempts in all but one contest, but has yet to make six shots in any one of those contests. He’s canned only 27.1 percent of his shot attempts through two games, including just 32.4 percent of his attempts inside eight feet.

Randle’s early season shot selection, however, has been questionable throughout most of his career-especially since arriving in New York ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Without mentioning him, head coach Tom Thibodeau called out Randle’s poor shot selection after Friday’s in-season tournament opener against the Milwaukee Bucks, where Randle finished 5-of-20, including 1-of-9 from distance.

“You can’t predetermine. You can’t say, ‘Well, I haven’t had a shot, so now I’m gonna take a shot.’ The game tells you what to do,” Thibodeau said, according to the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy. “If you’re open, you shoot. If there’s three guys around, you hit the open man.

“It’s really simple. It’s not hard.”

Randle is a willing passer, but it oftentimes comes in late shot-clock situations or when the offense has completely bogged down in isolation.

Randle’s spearheaded isolations on 15.2 percent of his possessions this season with the lowest effective field goal percentage (16.2 eFG%) on such possessions, per NBA.com’s tracking data.

“When you look at their defense, what were they doing? They were collapsing, right?” Thibodeau said. “(The Bucks) got two 7-footers, so when they collapse, you have to trust the pass, trust the pass.”

Randle wasn’t in entire disagreement, either, hinting at a possible change in on-ball responsibility to better work within the flow of the offense alongside lead guard Jalen Brunson.

“For me personally, I think I can just play off the catch, play off the move a little bit more,” he said Friday. “For me less isolation, getting into pick-and-rolls, just playing on the move more, rather than just catching it and staring at defenders.”

Sometimes, players hint at change, but don’t actually (completely) change their play style, since that’s what got them to that point in the first place. Though it depends on the context of their situation; it varies for every player.

But a slight manipulation in on-ball allocation might be best for the two-time All-Star, even though is percentages are bound to progress to the mean regardless. 

The Knicks currently boast No. 18-best adjusted offense leaguewide through six games after ranking No. 6 last year, the best season of Randle’s career, according to Dunks and Threes.

There’s obviously still time to correct any issues since they’re only seven percent into the season. But it would be more than ideal if the 2-4 Knicks could correct their offensive struggles sooner rather than later if it wants to compete in a top-heavy Eastern Conference.

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