We all know Tommy Lugauer is an optimistic Knicks fan, but when he opened his first overnight solo hosting show just after midnight Sunday morning, he shared one of those optimistic takes that a lot of Knicks fans might groan at: they can with Julius Randle on the roster.
“The Knicks can win with Julius Randle. The Knicks should not trade Julius Randle,” Tommy said to open his show. “When things go wrong in sports, we look for someone to blame, a scapegoat. Julius Randle is that scapegoat, but it is low-hanging fruit to blame Julius Randle.”
Of course, if you listen to WFAN regularly, you know that most hosts who are Knicks fans (looking at you, Gio and BT) have been up and (mostly) down on Randle over the last year or even two, but Loogy just doesn’t feel the same way they do about needing to get rid of the big man.
“The body language, shot selection, dribbling into double-teams, the issues in playoff games; it’s low-hanging fruit, but he is not to blame,” Loogy said. “He is not to blame for the Knicks not playing a full game Monday night, and he is certainly the only one to blame for all this, but it is easy to pick on Julius Randle.”
Tommy saw the Knicks fans walking out of MSG after Game 6 and ripping down posters of Julius Randle, but again, scapegoat, because “Jalen Brunson is the only one who showed up (Friday) night.” He also took issue with Kenyon Martin criticizing Randle for kissing his wife after Game 5, which is “ridiculous, but it’s because he’s an easy mark.”
In his eyes, Tommy thinks you have to appreciate Randle for what is, and not criticize him for what he isn’t at times.
“For many years, we had a team that couldn’t find the playoffs with a GPS, and now, we’ve been in the playoffs two of three years and will be there year after year – and Randle is a big part of that,” Loogy said. “He played every night, heavy minutes at an All-Star level, in a league where guys have eyebrow soreness or their freckles are bothering them, so they don’t play. They can’t win with Randle? Just like the Yankees couldn’t win with A-Rod, and Peyton Manning couldn’t win…except, eventually, they did. The Knicks are back and they're going to do damage, and Julius Randle is a big part of that. Don't be like the mob; formulate your own opinion, because Julius Randle is not the only reason the Knicks are not still in the playoffs."
Oh, and about the body language?
Listen above to hear Tommy’s entire rant on keeping Randle!
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