“You’re a Really Big Idiot” if You Mess This Up, says Kobe Bryant

If he wasn’t going to be the first pick in the NBA draft, Julius Randle’s preferred destination was the Los Angeles Lakers, primarily because they were the team he followed as a young boy growing up in Texas. But on draft night, amid the euphoria and joy and even nervousness, there was no way the 19 year old would have any idea of what was awaiting him or what the expectations would be or what the pressurized bubble of the Lakers would feel like.

Oct 6, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Julius Randle (30) brings the ball up the court during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Valley View Casino Center. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

So far, Julius Randle’s preseason experience has been rocky, a mixture of mistakes, inertia, promise and excellence- excellence being tonight in the second half. He had one play in which he took the rebound and dribbled it up the court as if he was the point guard. He made his face up jumpers, hitting nothing but net. With Steve Novak guarding him, Randle made every shot and there seemed to be more confidence in his movements. He played with a quiet calmness, as if he was finally comfortable out on the floor.

Byron Scott noticed. “I thought Julius came in and played great in the second half. His effort was great. His communication on the defensive end was much better. Offensively he was very good. He made some mistakes but not because of lack of effort.”

Kobe Bryant has been insisting all training camp that Julius Randle not hesitate on his jumper. “The game is so much easier for him when he just takes the shot. Just shoot it. He’s working on it a lot in practice and the better he gets at it the more unstoppable it becomes. He can do pretty much everything on the floor.” Noting the mentors Randle has in Steve Nash, Carlos Boozer, Byron Scott and himself, Kobe put it in graphic terms how lucky Julius Randle really is as a 19 year old kid in the NBA.

“If you f*** this up you are a really big idiot.”

Of course, no one expects that, not at all. The professional manner in which Randle has absorbed the criticism and barely sulked has spoken volumes about his maturity as a player growing into this new league. By the time the game ended on Sunday night he could not stop smiling.

But for Kobe, the win didn’t move him much. He was focused on the purpose. “Preseason is about getting lineups on the floor and getting used to playing with those lineups so we got to get guys back.”

Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson may see some playing time this week, if all goes well. Jeremy Lin will ease the minutes from Ronny Price who was aggressive and energetic on Sunday night but played a lot of minutes. “He was an energizer bunny out there”, Kobe laughed. Kobe had to double as the point guard at times but admitted it was only because the Lakers were short handed.

Oct 6, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Carlos Boozer (5) warms-up before the game against the Denver Nuggets at Valley View Casino Center. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

The energizer bunny earned praise from Carlos Boozer as well. “He’s going hard at practice, setting our defense up, playing great on offense, I give him a lot of credit.”

For most of the game Ronny Price was focused on the defensive end of the ball, creating steals and getting the team into transition. His upping the intensity level changed the pace of the third quarter and the outcome as the Lakers were all over the floor, creating what Carlos Boozer called “havoc.” The key were the defensive stops that allowed the Lakers to operate without the Jazz having to organize their defense.

It was Ronnie Price’s intention.  “They don’t get to set up on you.” After the game, he admitted that the Lakers are improving, little by little. His hope is that the team can “piggy back and not take steps backwards.” He understands the Lakers margins are quite small. They have to assess their mistakes, rectify them and continue to get better as a team. “That’s a sign of improvement when you learn from your mistakes and make adjustments for the next game. We made some strides forward today.”

Pleased with the defense in the second half of the game, Byron Scott described it as the players being “on a string, covering for each other. The thing that killed us in the first half was that they had 32 points in the paint and were getting to the middle almost at will. In the second half they had twelve points in the paint. We just did a better job at clogging the paint, getting out to shooters and contesting the shots and rebounding the ball.”

Byron Scott’s view of preseason is the witnessing of incremental change. “Preseason you just want to take small steps and get better, especially on the defensive end.” He was relieved he had the Lakers effort on tape to show the team, the younger players especially. It is a standard that has to remain consistent. “Everything we talked about, our baseline drives when guys are driving and how we’re getting over there and how we’re getting back and getting to the net, just all the little things we talked about defensively. Once you see it on tape you’re able to say, okay, it works when you do it the right way.”

The right way for Kobe Bryant was activity. “We started anticipating a little bit more, we had a lot of steals. We got into transition.” It was a sentiment echoed by Carlos Boozer who credited the increased intensity for the Lakers erasing a 22 point deficit. “Our defense was the biggest key. We got a lot of deflections. To a man we played harder and offensively we just let the ball flow. We started reading what they were trying to do. We used our hands to be more aggressive, get us out in transition, get easy buckets.”

The comfort quotient of Carlos Boozer increases with each game. “I get more comfortable with what we are doing defensively and more comfortable with what we are doing offensively and getting used to my teammates who are out here.”

All Kobe wants is for Carlos Boozer to be aggressive every single night. He can’t backpedal and revert to the shell of himself he was in Chicago. Rather, he has to recreate who he was in Utah. Kobe thinks it is possible. Sunday night’s performance was an example of how important Carlos Boozer can be.