A major factor in the blossoming of Knicks forward Julius Randle into an All-Star has been his improved passing, contends Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Randle is averaging a career-best 5.9 APG this season.
Vorkunov credits Randle’s excellent aptitude for last-second passes, frequently distributed nanoseconds before he lands from his jumps. The extended timing is designed to attract defenders away from his passing targets. “A lot of coaches hate that,” Knicks reserve guard Derrick Rose said. “But I’m somebody [who has] been doing it for a while, too. As long as his turnover ratio isn’t greater than his assist ratio, I feel like it’s alright. He makes smart decisions. He’s delivering the ball.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- The Raptors already appear to be playing with an eye towards next season as their play-in tournament odds continue to shrink, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet. One sign is the team’s willingness to experiment. To wit, head coach Nick Nurse has tried new center Khem Birch as a fast-break ball handler of late. The club is 26-38, three games behind the 10th-seeded Wizards with just eight games left to make up ground.
- After the Jazz defeated the Raptors 106-102 yesterday, the Knicks will officially at least make the league’s play-in tournament, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. This will mark the team’s first postseason appearance since 2013.
- Though the Celtics anticipated that rookie first-round draft pick Aaron Nesmith could be an instant contributor as a shooter, he has made more of an impact with his hustle on both ends of the floor. A. Sherrod Blakely of the Boston Sports Journal examines the disparity between Nesmith’s anticipated skill set at the next level and the reality thus far. “I’m happy for him because it seems he has found a role with those guys now,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “It’s not the role we thought it would be or the role the Celtics thought it would be, but give him credit, he’s figured out a way to get on the floor which is huge for a rookie.”
- Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said on Saturday that he appreciated the recent performance of Jalen Harris in limited minutes, and hopes to find more time for the rookie guard during the season’s home stretch, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports.
Nesmith is a shooter. I’m surprised he didn’t get playing time just for that frankly. Celtics have just been unrecognizable this yr. Seems they are trending in wrong direction.
I think his shooting was/is overrated. He was shooting under 40% from the field and something like 32% from 3 up until recently, which was almost identical to his freshman year shooting stats. He obviously went nuts last year, but it was in only 14 games before he got hurt. I think he’s a better shooter than what he’s shown in his freshman and rookie years, but he’s also not Steph Curry, like his sophomore year suggested.
Randle is in the best shape of his life. Credit to him for doing it. Biggest difference is his decision making. He was always talented and around 20 n 10 for last two yrs. Now he plays smart and uses his teammates. I still would like to see a real PG running things. Take that pressure off Randle. He still will get his 5-6 ast.
Knicks play Rockets tonight. Need this one. The next 9 gms are against playoff teams. Including top 3 teams in West. Going to be tough hanging on to that 4th seed. But this is what it is. Let’s Go Knicks .
He should win the most-improved player award this season. Early on before his injury Christian Wood was the leading candidate, then it was Jerami Grant for a while, now it’s clearly Randle. He truly deserves to win it.
Lol @ Nesmith “carving out a role”. When your team has 10 healthy players at a time, yeah, the rookies are gonna get a look. Let’s not forget Brad didn’t give him minutes until well into the season. I’m happy as anyone for him to develop and be good but cumawnnn
He did get a look early on, and couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean… Shot under 40% and something like 32% from 3, while playing subpar D… He’s obviously getting better on that side of the floor, hence finally getting playing time. If you’re a rookie and you don’t play D or at least give max effort, then you don’t play under Stevens…ask Jaylen… He has such a quick hook his rookie year. Lol
His D was definitely lagging. But he came in a career .825% FT shooter. And shot a crazy
.522% 3PT his second yr in college. You gotta think the NBA was an awakening for him. Guys who can shoot should always be able to shoot. Not saying he’s Curry. But on Celtics he should see some good looks. I agree why wait this long for him. How about playing him in G-league for first half of season.
Because the Celts didn’t put in a G League team this year.