“Especially in this matchup, and how Miami has a tough time dealing with him…Julius Randle is going to be a huge key in this series.”
The words of Gregg Giannotti, who had high praise for Randle’s return to the court in Tuesday’s Knicks win over Miami, which evened their Eastern Conference semifinal series at 1-1.
Gio noted how it’s funny that the Heat won without Jimmy Butler but the Knicks didn’t without Randle in Game 1, and he feels like if Randle is healthy and on, the Knicks have this series on lock.
“Clearly, you're gonna need all hands on deck for this series and everybody as healthy as possible,” Boomer said, “but you could really tell that Julius last night, in the moments he was on, is a big, big problem for Miami – and if he plays well, they're moving on. I feel more confident about that statement than anything else.”
“The one thing Miami did not do last night to him, that other teams have done to him, is as soon as he got the ball, they would go and double team him,” Boomer replied. “I think the presence of Jalen Brunson kind of limits them from doing that, especially if Brunson has the ball in his hands and they can spread the floor out; then, when Julius finally gets the ball, it is a one-on-one situation instead of a double-team, which is where he really struggles when teams go after him.”
Gio gave Randle some credit for keeping his cool when a couple of questionable offensive fouls were called, including one on him personally, as it looked like he was making a “conscious effort” to not be the usual hot-headed Julius.
Related
“He did not do his typical screaming and getting in the face of the ref stuff, he just put the ball on the floor and he walked the other way,” Gio said. “There’s no way he was agreeing with the calls, but it was almost like this conscious effort, like, ‘I'm not going to let that get to me in these big games.’ I really felt he knew what was going to happen, and so he walked away.”
The only thing Gio didn’t feel great was one choice of a three-point shot in the fourth, but, hey, progress?
Follow WFAN's morning team on Twitter: @7BOOMERESIASON, @GioWFAN, @Alsboringtweets, @JerryRecco, and @WFANMornings
Listen live to WFAN on the Audacy App or Online Stream
Follow WFAN on Social Media:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch