2. Lack Of Leadership
As the best player on the team, it is up to Julius Randle to set the tone for his teammates. They will follow suit depending on how he is carrying himself and too often earlier in the season, he didn’t seem as engaged as he needed to be to help the team win games.
There have been some mind-numbingly lackadaisical efforts on the defensive side of the ball from Randle. He wasn’t bringing the necessary energy and effort to get the job done defensively and his teammates were feeding off of that.
With two defensive-minded players in Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock replaced by offensive-minded ones in Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, the New YorkKnicks needed Randle to step up and he didn’t earlier in the season. His effort level has been better in recent weeks, but it could be too little, too late.
Also, Randle has struggled to keep his emotions in check at times. There are numerous instances of him getting into heated exchanges on the bench with coaches or complaining to referees about a lack of calls and not getting back on defense.
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He very well could have cost his team a victory against the best team in the NBA in the Phoenix Suns when he got ejected following a brush-up with Cameron Johnson. Randle was ejected for retaliating against Johnson and making contact with a referee.
Randle had 25 points in 28 minutes and was ejected with the New York Knicks up 10 points with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter. They would go on to lose courtesy of a Johnson buzzer-beater, 115-114.
