James Worthy’s hire to work with the Lakers’ big men was met with somewhat mixed reactions. While almost everyone recognizes Worthy’s greatness as a player, it’s also fair to question whether that greatness can translate into teaching and, maybe more importantly, whether his hire signals another case of the Lakers falling into the trap of seeking out candidates inside the organization (or Lakers Family) rather than going outside the castle walls for people who may be just as good (or better) to fill these roles.
It’s an interesting discussion and one worth having. But it’s also one for another day. James Worthy has been hired. He’s in Hawaii right now, going through practices and working with the team’s big men. The topic, then, shifts from how he may have gotten here to what he’s doing now that he is. If Worthy ends up being good at this job — something only time will tell — no one will really care that the Lakers turned to him rather than, say, somebody from a different organization with a stellar reputation. This is how it goes.
So, what is worthy actually doing? We cannot know everything, of course, but at least part of it is teaching players to “drop it on his ass again!” Wait, what? I’ll let him explain:
Here's @JamesWorthy42 working with the @Lakers bigs at the tail end of practice. pic.twitter.com/AJlVEHulYy
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) September 30, 2015
This is fundamental stuff Big Game is teaching the players. Catch on the mid-post, power dribble to the middle, drop step, and finish over the opposite shoulder. This is classic big man training and will never go out of style. If you don’t believe me, watch old highlights of Worthy doing this exact move in the 1980’s and then go to last year’s Spurs and watch Tim Duncan execute the same exact thing.
This sort of fundamental approach will do all the players well, but is even more important for the young players. While it would be an unfair generalization to say that today’s young players aren’t as fundamentally sound as players a generation ago — look at Jahlil Okafor as a counter to this argument — I think it is fair to say that as the game evolves, the deployment of those fundamentals shifts as players (and coaches) embrace the idea of positionless basketball.
This brings us back to Julius Randle and how Worthy can help the young southpaw. Beyond teaching fundamentals, the combination of Worthy’s insight into the nature of Randle’s game and how to apply those fundamentals is what seems on point early in camp. Mike Trudell sat down with Worthy who had this to say about his pupil:
His first step is really impressive and it reminds me of one of my first step moves, but what I’m trying to do with Randle is get him to slow down a little bit. He loves to compete, he loves the contact, and sometimes he even initiates and tries to force the issue. What I’m trying to do with the footwork and the drop steps and all that is simplify so he doesn’t have to be so physical all the time….
The first step for Julius eliminates the weak-side defense, because they can’t rotate and get there quickly enough. The second thing is to put you in a position to make a counter move when the defense does recover. Right now he’ll still try to bully his way to the bucket; what I’m trying to get him to do is recognize the weak-side defense and know where it’s coming from. With his first step, he can beat the first line of defense, it’s just that when guys recover, he’ll be able to do a counter move, and there are plenty of them.
This is spot on. Randle clearly understands that his two best assets are his quickness and his power. Not so different from a great edge pass-rusher in the NFL, when these two traits are combined they can wreak havoc on the player trying to stop you. But opponents learn tendencies, adjust, and start to render these base moves moot over time. During Summer League, Randle, even after getting stymied by his man, simply tried to push harder by either still trying to utilize his quickness or by bullying his man into the basket. The result was what looked like an out of control player who didn’t quite have a plan.
Part of that was timing from not playing much basketball in the past year. Another part was the sense of urgency Randle was playing with, knowing he had a minutes cap and attempting to get 30 minutes worth of action into 20. But the other part was, as Worthy intimates, Randle not quite yet letting the game come to him with the appropriate amount of patience and understanding of what the defense is giving and taking away.
Randle will get this in time. He sounds thrilled to be back on the court without restrictions and comes off as eager to learn from Worthy. On the flip side, Worthy seems to see some of himself in his young pupil and has enough experience to pass on some of the fundamental aspects of the game which aided him in a HOF career. Combine it all and the Lakers may have a worthwhile partnership that can help elevate Randle’s game.
Justin says
Funny how anyone can complain when we sign a HOF player to coach, after just complaining that we didn’t get Steve Nash as a coach. Getting Worthy is great. He will see things that Randle will do and know from experience what he was thinking and what he did to correct it back in his day. All Worthy does is speed up the process of Randle reaching his potential and getting rid of bad habits before they form. I am glad the Lakers made this move. Wish they could hire Magic to coach/teach the guards.
LKK says
Being as JR was one and done at Kentucky, he probably needs this type of tutelage in the worst way. “Drop it on their ass””, JR!!
Gene says
The only concerns I have about Worthy working with the bigs, is him putting too much focus on the post and midrange. As the Lakers attempt to become more modern in their in game approach offensively, I fear there will be too much emphasis on those tradition spots and not the position less, free flowing ball we all want to see. Hopefully I’m wrong and he helps the young guys like Randle and Nance fine tune their fundamentals and footwork. We’ll see
Robert says
Worthy: Of course there are questions about this, however overall it is a very good thing. He has championship pedigree and is a vote of confidence from the FO for Byron (some of you may not like that). I have been very critical of the FO or their lack of relationships with our legends. So this is progress. We now have someone on the wall back on our payroll (we had none prior to this).
TeamMike206 says
I think it’s great Big Game James is working with the bigs. The hot new trend is “positionless basketball” but positionless doesn’t mean you need to make Roy Hibbert or Robert Sacre a 3-point shooter. You need guys who can get easy buckets on offense and prevent easy buckets on defense. I think Worthy is a great candidate to help the bigs do just that.
Justin says
@Gene, I actually think it will become the next wave. As teams go smaller, a guy like Randle gains more value. He is quick enough to stay with small 4s and is strong enough to post them up.Having good post moves will force a double team. It creates the same spacing that teams want but better defense against stretch fours. And Randle can take most bigs off the dribble. That’s why his jumper is so important. There will be almost no one that can do what he can do in the league if he reaches his potential. And the thing that would kill him the most would be a traditional big line up. With no team headed that way, Randle may end up being the steal of his draft because teams were too focused on the present (4s that could shoot) without thinking what that leads to.
By the way it shouldn’t just be the bigs working on this stuff. Kobe proved how effective it can be for a guard. Russell needs to learn the post next year as well. Analytics is not about spacing the floor, it is about creating the most efficient shot. Most post players average something like 0.25 less points per possession. Over the course of a game that adds up. But someone like Shaq averaged way more than most post players today. He would be just as good in today’s era. And teams would still be forced to double leading to everyone getting good shots. Remember Lebron was actually at his best on the Heat when he played PF and drew double teams. The problem with the NBA today is that no one in the post is good enough to force double and triple teams all game. But I promise it will come back only for more guards and forwards because they are more skilled.
Tra says
” .. but what I’m trying to do with Randle is get him to slow down a little bit.”
—
Exactly .. What stood out most to me while watching his game during Summer League was the pace at which he was playing. I guess it’s to be expected of young players. Particularly those coming off of an injury that relegated him to a single game during his rookie campaign. The nerves, along with the pressure that he probably feels to live up to the hype, could have also played a part in having him look as if he’s going 100 mph in a 40 zone. With that being said, it’s good to see that Worthy has already picked up on a possible flaw within Randle’s game that might need some adjusting.
Ed says
The goal should be to get high% looks. When Hibbert is in the game,try to get him the 60+% shots he can hit,plus if fouled he shoots 80+. Julius needs to refine his game and Worthy can help. If he can get good with his right and develop a mid-range,he`ll be a #1 or 2 option in the future.