Another game, another DNP for Julius Randle.
And as the pre-playoff hourglass nears empty, questions about Randle’s rust become more real.
“I’m always worried,” Tom Thibodeau said. “About everything.”
To be clear, Thibodeau used this phrase all the time and didn’t allude too much about Randle beyond his usual Chibsian bias.
But the coach admitted Monday, perhaps a little surprisingly, that he plans to pull Randle if he’s not effective.
“You just deal with your reality. So when the players come back, we’ll see where they are,” Thibodeau said when asked about the returning Randle. “We’re always going to put the team first. So anything they can do to help the team, that’s where we’ll work.
“And if it doesn’t help the team, we’re not going to do it.”
Thibodeau didn’t perform like that in the playoffs last season, while Randle was frustrated and struggling while dealing with ankle soreness.
Thibodeau played over 37 minutes per game with Randle in the series against the Heat despite the power forward shooting 41 percent, high turnover rates and defensive issues.
It wasn’t until after the season that Randle and the Knicks acknowledged that the ankle was a major problem by announcing surgery.
Now another injury has occurred.
Wednesday marked the two-month anniversary of Randle’s dislocated shoulder, and Monday’s game against the Pistons marked his 26th consecutive game absence.
Before the tipoff, Thibodeau said Randle was “feeling good” and “feeling a little better,” but had not yet been cleared for contact.
In other words, he’s in about the same position he was a month ago.
There’s little doubt Randle is pushing for a return.
In the end, he considered the possibility and decided not to undergo surgery.
And with such a high-stakes game on the horizon, especially considering the playoffs start in less than four weeks, it’s easy to wonder how Randle will perform after such a long break. Of course.
against the Heat on January 27th. Robert Szabo of the New York Post
This is more true for ball-dominant playmakers like Randle than Mitchell Robinson (defense and rebounding) or OG Anunoby (defense, cuts, shooting from spot-up positions).
For players with the ball, timing and chemistry are paramount.
The Knicks, without Randle heading into Monday’s disastrous loss to the Pistons, are 13-11 as Brunson has emerged as a megastar.
And Randle’s precedent suggests it was an uphill battle at first.
Early this season, he struggled mightily in every aspect except rebounding.
Thibodeau blamed his lack of time to recover from his long absence following ankle surgery and pointed to his shooting rhythm as the biggest problem. “He spends a lot of time practicing shooting and things like that,” the coach said. November. “Take it away and it will be revealed. Take it away and it will be revealed.”
Randle eventually regained his form, but it took about five games, a period of frustration and inefficiency that continued through a full training camp and preseason.
This time around, assuming he returns, the turnaround will be much quicker.
One positive is that Randle has been shooting and running for over a month now, which should theoretically help speed up his conditioning and return to his 3-point stroke.
But even though Randle has strengthened the muscles around his shoulder by practicing non-contact to avoid reinjury, he is likely to be sore when he returns.
“It’s both ways. What helps the team, and you also don’t want to put the players at risk,” Thibodeau said. “So I’m just like, let’s take it one day at a time. You know I’m not making assumptions. So we’re hopeful.”
There are many expectations as to when Randle will return and how he will play when he does.
