Julius Randle has the worst shooting efficiency in the NBA — and until the Knicks find a way to free him from his cold spell, they will continue to lose games they might otherwise win.
Randle’s 27 percent field goal percentage ranks dead last among all NBA players averaging at least 10 points per game to start the season — less efficient than noted NBA chuckers LaMelo Ball and Trae Young. His three-point efficiency, sitting at 22.5 percent after Friday’s one-of-nine shooting performance, ranks seventh-worst among all players attempting at least one per game.
Randle has called for less isolation and pick-and-roll plays and more movement off the ball — that he’s seeing crowds when he has the ball in his hands and it’s difficult for him to make the right play — but the elephant in the room is he’s missing wide-open shot attempts behind the three-point arc and bunny layup attempts at the rim.
Randle’s teammates want to help him get easier looks, but he can help himself by making shots he drained with consistency last season. He was one of four players to average 25 points, 10 rebounds and four assists last year, but with the shooting efficiency down, so is his scoring output.
“It’s a little mixture of both,” Jalen Brunson said of Randle’s struggles after Knicks practice on Sunday. “Keep trusting his mechanics and everything he’s doing, and then for us, we’ve just gotta space better, get in his vision, and when he does see bodies, we’ve gotta be able to get in those windows where he can make a pass.
“So we can’t be in the line of a defender and things like that. So it’s a team thing: For us to be better, we obviously need him. So we’ve gotta stick together at that point.”
Veteran forward Josh Hart said Randle’s getting the same kind of shots as he got last season. Hart, who is also struggling from the field shooting just 25 percent from three and 33 percent altogether, said the team has to find a way to get him easier looks.
“We just have to find a way to get him into rhythm,” he said on Sunday. “Maybe we find him in spots where he can be aggressive, where he can get downhill. Where he can get to the free throw line, see a couple go in and get that confidence. I think the biggest thing is to get him the ball in positions where he can be effective to give him confidence.”
Hart also said Randle isn’t the kind of person who needs motivational speeches.
“I think Ju is kind of leave him alone and let him work it out,” he said. “Just give tidbits and stuff like that. He’s trying to figure it out. He’s trying to get back into a rhythm.”
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said some time at home after a road-heavy early slate could be good for the All-Star forward.
Thibodeau said Randle “looked really good in practice” on Sunday.
“I think that the two days [in between games] are good,” he said. “Got a chance to recover.”
Randle, who is used to having the ball in his hands for long periods, suggested after Friday’s loss in Milwaukee he would be open to playing more off the ball.
It’s something the Knicks worked on in training camp in Charleston, S.C., that hasn’t quite stuck within the flow of the offense through the first six games.
“Yeah, I always think — and that’s the challenge, and the past with other teams: There has to be a willingness to sacrifice by everybody,” Thibodeau said. “You have to put the team first. And that’s what brings the best out of everyone. So everyone has to give a little. And when you get your team to do that, good things happen.”
Despite Randle’s poor shooting start, the Knicks have been within striking distance each game. Randle shot 5-of-20 against the Bucks on Friday, but the Knicks lost on a pair of late-game plays made by Damian Lillard — plays the Knicks could have stopped regardless of Randle’s poor shooting performance.
“When you go back through a game like that we’ve got a two-point lead with a minute to go. So a play here, a play there, it’s a whole different outcome,” said Thibodeau. “And then, a lot of winning plays and then there’s some tough plays and we’ve got to learn from the tough plays, find a way to win in the end. That’s the bottom line. And so just concentrate on improving each and every day.”
After Friday’s struggles in Milwaukee, Brunson said he had faith Randle would return to form. He shot 46 percent from the field and 34 percent from downtown, then entered training camp decreeing improved efficiency. The Knicks believe he will revert back to his dominant ways.
“It happens. It’s part of basketball. This dude, he has a great mindset, a great work ethic. He comes in every day, does what he has to do, does his routine and all that stuff,” Brunson said on Friday. “The ball is not going through the hoop right now for him. I tell him every day I’m with him. We’re going to work through this, everything. When I have days I’m not making shots he says the same to me.
“It’s just, it’s alright. I mean, he’s missing shots but we’re still in games. He’s still contributing in a big way. I’m not going to get into all that stuff, but his heart’s still there. He just has to get over this little hump.”
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