This isn't a legitimate superlative, but for the sake of this article, I'd like to ponder which NBA team could be crowned as the one that nobody saw coming. The Utah Jazz are definitely up there, seeing as we expected them to be a mid-tier playoff team as opposed to a 24-5 juggernaut. You could talk about the Spurs, who had a so-so 2020 season but are now ahead of the Nuggets, Mavericks, Warriors, Grizzlies, Pelicans and others in the Western Conference standings.
For me, I have to say that it's been the Knicks. Even though a 14-16 record isn't all that impressive, no one really expected this team to be in the playoff hunt, let alone a top-eight seed nearing the halfway point of the season. Next to no one expected Julius Randle to post career highs in points, rebounds, assists, three-pointers, three-point percentage, free throw percentage and other stats while turning into a bona fide All-Star candidate. Few expected Immanuel Quickley to immediately blossom into a star after the Knicks selected him with the No. 25 pick in the 2020 draft, though he definitely had a group of supporters right out of the gate.
And not a whole lot of NBA fans thought that the Knicks would be active in the trade market, not as sellers or intentional eaters of expensive contracts, but as legitimate buyers, when they took Derrick Rose from the Detroit Pistons.
But here we are, and all of those things have fallen into place. And Randle is liking everything about it, as he shared in the latest episode of "The Old Man and the Three," hosted by JJ Redick and Tommy Alter and available on RADIO.COM.
"I would say we maybe have exceeded other people's expectations," Randle said, though not his own or his teammates' expectations. "I think if you have just been around our group on a day-to-day basis, we just have a confidence and belief about us... we just go about things the right way everyday."
Part of that mentality has rubbed off on rookie Immanuel Quickley — or perhaps he's just always had the right mindset — and Randle has taken notice.
"The thing about Quickley that I really like... is he stays the same — good game, bad game — he doesn't change and what I mean about that is the dude works his butt off," Randle said. "Like, he'll get up shots after the game, he'll be early to the gym, he'll be late. Like, dude works extremely hard. And I don't care who you are as a player, man. If you got that type of attitude or mindset, you're going to have a long career."
As for the floater that's taken the league by storm, Randle himself is still a little bit awestruck.
"I still can't, like, it's just so... it's Tony Parker. It's just so unorthodox, because it's like he'll have a wide open mid-range jump shot and he's not taking it. He's gonna shoot a floater from 20 feet," Randle explained, laughing. "Or he's gonna have, like, he's a great three-point shooter, [but] he's gonna pump fake and he's gonna get to his floater. And I'm like, bro, you just don't shoot the damn ball, like what are you doing?
"It's his shot, he makes it at an extremely high rate, you know. It's something that he's extremely comfortable with, comfortable doing and it's a tough cover, man."
On the other side of the age spectrum, new acquisition Derrick Rose has equally impressed Randle.
"First off, he's an amazing teammate. Like a great teammate. Extremely unselfish for how he plays the game of basketball," Randle explained, adding that he holds himself accountable for everything that happens on the floor. "Even to this day, he still wants to learn and get better, still works his butt off, still wants to get better. And that's a great person to really look up to in a sense, because you've been an MVP, you've been through so much in your career, the highs and lows, and to still come in with a fresh renewed mindset of wanting to lead and get better everyday is... pretty cool.
"I'm learning a lot from Derrick, honestly."
After some tough years to stomach for Knicks fans, Randle, Quickley and Rose are among the reasons why the 2020-21 season has been a pleasant surprise and why, even with the Nets super team across the way, the Knicks still have a solid presence in the New York basketball world.
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