For the first 11 games after the All-Star break, Julius Randle was going through a large scoring and shooting slump. He looked like a shell of his normal 20-plus point per game self, and some were presenting theories as to why Randle was struggling so much.
Entering Friday’s outing, Randle seemingly busted out of the slump with his play in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ last three contests. In their loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, it took him until the fourth quarter to really get going. What he didn’t do enough of throughout the game was hit the glass, and his rebounding effort was singled out by Chris Finch after the game.
Finch was asked about the rebounding issues that have surfaced in recent games. The Timberwolves head coach said this,
"We knew our guards needed to rebound. Ayo did a good job on the defensive glass, Rudy did a good job, but after that...Julius has 3 defensive rebounds. That's not good enough."
Finch rarely criticizes Randle
Finch's bond with Randle has been well-discussed. It goes back to their days with the New Orleans Pelicans. In part due to this connection, Randle has been heavily empowered in the Wolves' offense. Despite Finch calling out other players on the team (most notably Rudy Gobert) and Randle's poor effort at times, he has held his tongue about Randle.
This has upset Timberwolves fans, as it appears Finch treats Randle differently than other players when speaking to the media. After these comments, though, it's clear that Randle is no longer above criticism, and fans should approve of this extra accountability.
Randle and crew are allowing too many second opportunities
The Timberwolves didn’t do a great job keeping Portland off the offensive glass on Friday night. The Trail Blazers secured 18 offensive rebounds. In the loss, the Wolves were outscored 22-14 on second chance points.
Trailing by one with less than a minute left, Portland had a possession where they secured two offensive rebounds off misses. It resulted in a 3-pointer from Jerami Grant off an inbounds play, which gave the Blazers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
17 of Minnesota’s 29 defensive rebounds came from Rudy Gobert and Ayo Dosunmu. Three in nearly 37 minutes of game action for Randle just isn’t good enough.
Yes, the previous game was a blowout victory over the Utah Jazz, but somehow Julius had just one rebound in 27 minutes. Randle is averaging a career-low 6.8 rebounds this year (not including his rookie year of 2014-15 when he got hurt in the season opener).
Now, part of that is sharing the floor with Gobert. He is going to gobble up a good percentage of the available rebounds. Even Karl-Anthony Towns saw his rebounding rate drop in his two years playing with him, before his rebounding rates have gone back to being around what they previously were once he joined the New York Knicks.
Giving teams multiple opportunities to score can be disheartening, especially when the defense does all it needs to do other than grab the rebound. Of late, that has become a major issue for the Timberwolves. Opponents have snagged 16.2 offensive rebounds over Minnesota’s last five outings.
That’s a number that the Wolves need to make a concerted effort to bring down. The player who most needs to work hardest to ensure that opponents don’t get a second chance to score is Randle.