Julius Randle positions himself as a learner. Each new experience is, he says, an opportunity to update his priors, especially the failures.
This first-round series, then, has provided quite the learning curve. The Knicks find themselves down 3-1 to the Hawks after a rough weekend in Atlanta, where they were walloped twice. Randle has taken the brunt of the criticism. After a marvelous regular season, he has dropped off in the playoffs. His scoring is down, his playmaking is stilted and his shooting has been blinding. The NBA’s Most Improved Player has regressed from his All-Star form over the past nine days.
It has been an inauspicious introduction to the playoffs. Tom Thibodeau and several of Randle’s teammates have spoken about the difference between the postseason and the regular season; Randle has lived it.
