MILWAUKEE — Julius Randle wants less isolation and more movement off the ball.
It’s a message he’s relayed now two games in a row as his inefficient shooting start to the season crescendoed with the Knicks’ 110-105 loss to the Bucks in their first in-season tournament group stage game on Friday.
Randle shot just 5-of-20 from the field and one-of-nine from downtown for 16 points and the Knicks fell to a 2-4 record to start the season.
The All-Star forward reiterated he is seeing “a lot of bodies” when he attacks the rim, and pointed to some areas his role in the offense can change.
“I think there’s some things that we can do different, but you know, we’ve just gotta working with it and keep staying at it,” Randle said in the locker room postgame. “For me personally, I think I can just play off the catch, play off the move a little bit more. For me less isolation, less getting into pick-and-rolls, just playing on the move more, rather than just catching it and staring at bodies.”
Randle is now shooting 26-of-96 (27%) from the field and 9-of-40 (22.5%) from three-point range on the year — unrecognizable numbers for a player who earned All-NBA and All-Star honors last season.
Many of his misses are wide-open looks. Last season, he shot 34% from three on more than 630 attempts and 46% from the field altogether.
“I’m just not in rhythm,” Randle said in the locker room postgame. “Not in rhythm, everything just seems a little bit off, you just start pressing a little bit, but like I said, I’ve just gotta stay with it. Keep working.”
Randle also refuses to use his offseason ankle surgery as an excuse for his inefficient shooting, even though head coach Tom Thibodeau said the summertime procedure threw a wrench in the star forward’s preparation ahead of the season.
“I’m not gonna sit here and make excuses or anything,” he said. “Like I said, just gotta keep figuring it out, keep trusting the process, and it’ll fall into place.”
Despite Randle’s shooting struggles, Thibodeau wants his star forward to continue to let the threes fly.
“He’s gotta trust the process. If you’re open, you gotta shoot,” he said. “Shoot it well. Don’t miss short, be long. But I thought we created a lot of good, open looks. You can’t hesitate. You gotta let it go.”
Thibodeau said Randle has to trust the pass when defenses are crowding the paint.
“The game tells you what to do,” he said postgame. “So when you look at their defense, what were they doing? They were collapsing. They’ve got two seven footers, so when they collapse, you have to trust the pass.”
Knicks star Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 45 points, which wasn’t enough to sink the Bucks at the Fiserv Forum without a more efficient game from his co-star.
Brunson said Randle’s shooting struggles are “part of basketball” and appeared optimistic his All-Star teammate will return to form.
“It happens,” he said. “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. 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.”
Thibodeau said he’s concerned less about Randle’s shot quality and focused more on the quality of his decisions. Randle also finished with five assists to just one turnover and grabbed 12 rebounds on the night.
“I want him to make good decisions,” Thibodeau said postgame. “I’m not going to measure every shot that he takes. Like he got into the lane, he created good separation and he got two really good looks, and that’s what he’s got to do. The game tells you what to do.”
Thibodeau refuses to pin the blame on Randle, even though his shooting has been dreadful to start the season.
“We all have to do more,” he said. “It’s not about individuals. It’s about the team. You don’t have to shoot well to play well. And that goes for everybody. As a team we’re not shooting well right now.”
Randle, however, also broached the topic of spacing after his 3-of-15 shooting night in the Knicks’ Nov. 1 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Thibodeau said the court shrinks when shots aren’t falling.
“Yeah, we missed wide open shots,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we get easy baskets and then we’ve got to move and get off the ball and move.”
Kristian Winfield
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