I know, I know, paywall. Here are some of the highlights:
> For the first time, Randle is consistently running pick-and-rolls with Robinson. And while that seems like a simple tweak (Robinson is the Knicks’ most common screener, and Randle is one of their top scorers), it wasn’t in the making until earlier this week.
> The binge began midway through the first quarter of Monday’s win over the LA Clippers.
> Randle crossed half court with the basketball; Robinson set a screen on Randle’s man, Russell Westbrook, and the power forward turned the corner, able to take Clippers center Ivica Zubac one-on-one with his momentum already aimed at the hoop. The play ended in an easy layup, Randle’s first basket of the night. So, he and Robinson tried the action again.
> And again.
> And again.
> And seven more times.
> He churned out his best game of the season that evening: 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting. He had another strong showing two nights later against the San Antonio Spurs, going for 23 on 8-of-19 shooting. And oh boy, did he need those …
> He mentioned the same phrase to the media various times after games: Whenever he drove down low, he was “seeing bodies.” Opponents were packing the paint against the Knicks, whose strength is not 3-point accuracy, and Randle, a bulldozer trapped in the body of a human, couldn’t get comfortable attacking the basket.
> He took only 18 shots at the rim over the season’s first six games. In the two games this week, he’s taken 16, plenty of which have come on the same, easy action — Robinson jogs in his direction to set a pick, and Randle darts to the iron.
> “The size is out of the lane,” Randle said. “I’m playing one-on-one downhill rather than trying to beat my guy and then trying to finish over another.”
> The pick-and-roll is one of basketball’s most frequent plays, and the Knicks run it elsewhere plenty. Robinson sets screens for the guards or the guards set screens for other guards. Around the league, the old-school hierarchy where the point guard was the dribbler and the big man was the screener has collapsed. In the age of skill ball, anyone can set a pick for anyone.
> But even in today’s era, this is new for the Knicks. They have never spammed Randle-Robinson pick-and-rolls as often as they have the past two games.
> Randle and Robinson dabbled in a few pick-and-rolls Friday against the Bucks, then committed to the bit against the Clippers. The duo ran 11 pick-and-rolls together Monday and eight more two nights later against the Spurs, according to data tracked by Second Spectrum. Before the Bucks game, Randle and Robinson had run only two pick-and-rolls together all season.
> In fact, in the near half-decade that Randle and Robinson had been teammates, the two had never run more than four pick-and-rolls together in a game until Monday, per Second Spectrum. Now, they’ve at least doubled their previous high for two consecutive matches.
> “It’s different. It’s a four-five (center-power forward) pick-and-roll, so you’ve gotta make a decision whether you’re switching on it or you’re trying to keep the matchup,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “And (Randle is) just aggressive getting downhill into the paint and makes the right reads.”
KuntaWuKnicks
This team is clicking as a real unit
Cautious-Ad-9554
Faced up driving Randle is by far the best Rsndle
lamemale
This is wild to me:
>”In fact, in the near half-decade that Randle and Robinson had been teammates, the two had never run more than four pick-and-rolls together in a game until Monday, per Second Spectrum.”
AlPesto
It’s nuts that it took them this long to try this on a consistent basis. Seems like a no brainer. Would also love Randle to learn how to set a halfway decent screen himself while watching Robinson do it for him.
5 Comments
I know, I know, paywall. Here are some of the highlights:
> For the first time, Randle is consistently running pick-and-rolls with Robinson. And while that seems like a simple tweak (Robinson is the Knicks’ most common screener, and Randle is one of their top scorers), it wasn’t in the making until earlier this week.
> The binge began midway through the first quarter of Monday’s win over the LA Clippers.
> Randle crossed half court with the basketball; Robinson set a screen on Randle’s man, Russell Westbrook, and the power forward turned the corner, able to take Clippers center Ivica Zubac one-on-one with his momentum already aimed at the hoop. The play ended in an easy layup, Randle’s first basket of the night. So, he and Robinson tried the action again.
> And again.
> And again.
> And seven more times.
> He churned out his best game of the season that evening: 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting. He had another strong showing two nights later against the San Antonio Spurs, going for 23 on 8-of-19 shooting. And oh boy, did he need those …
> He mentioned the same phrase to the media various times after games: Whenever he drove down low, he was “seeing bodies.” Opponents were packing the paint against the Knicks, whose strength is not 3-point accuracy, and Randle, a bulldozer trapped in the body of a human, couldn’t get comfortable attacking the basket.
> He took only 18 shots at the rim over the season’s first six games. In the two games this week, he’s taken 16, plenty of which have come on the same, easy action — Robinson jogs in his direction to set a pick, and Randle darts to the iron.
> “The size is out of the lane,” Randle said. “I’m playing one-on-one downhill rather than trying to beat my guy and then trying to finish over another.”
> The pick-and-roll is one of basketball’s most frequent plays, and the Knicks run it elsewhere plenty. Robinson sets screens for the guards or the guards set screens for other guards. Around the league, the old-school hierarchy where the point guard was the dribbler and the big man was the screener has collapsed. In the age of skill ball, anyone can set a pick for anyone.
> But even in today’s era, this is new for the Knicks. They have never spammed Randle-Robinson pick-and-rolls as often as they have the past two games.
> Randle and Robinson dabbled in a few pick-and-rolls Friday against the Bucks, then committed to the bit against the Clippers. The duo ran 11 pick-and-rolls together Monday and eight more two nights later against the Spurs, according to data tracked by Second Spectrum. Before the Bucks game, Randle and Robinson had run only two pick-and-rolls together all season.
> In fact, in the near half-decade that Randle and Robinson had been teammates, the two had never run more than four pick-and-rolls together in a game until Monday, per Second Spectrum. Now, they’ve at least doubled their previous high for two consecutive matches.
> “It’s different. It’s a four-five (center-power forward) pick-and-roll, so you’ve gotta make a decision whether you’re switching on it or you’re trying to keep the matchup,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “And (Randle is) just aggressive getting downhill into the paint and makes the right reads.”
This team is clicking as a real unit
Faced up driving Randle is by far the best Rsndle
This is wild to me:
>”In fact, in the near half-decade that Randle and Robinson had been teammates, the two had never run more than four pick-and-rolls together in a game until Monday, per Second Spectrum.”
It’s nuts that it took them this long to try this on a consistent basis. Seems like a no brainer. Would also love Randle to learn how to set a halfway decent screen himself while watching Robinson do it for him.