For more than 20 hours in the big city, Julius Randall and Jacob Degrom showed that the legacies in the game are often more complex as we are out to make them. It is quite possible that neither the Nucks Ahead nor the Mets’ Ace will ever ride in a ticker-tape parade.
It is also very possible that it will not make any difference. What DeGrom did on Friday night at the cityground, and what Randall did at the Garden on Saturday afternoon – hell, what he has done all season – reminds the people of New York what Patrick Ewing remembered him in the 1990s , And Don Mattingly reminded him in the 1980s.
You do not need a ring to become a champion.
Fans chanted “MVP” for Degrom, as they chanted “MVP” for Randall before a 120–103 win over the Raptors, which extended the Knucks’ winning streak to nine, their most in seven years long.
Randall contributed 31 points and 10 rebounds, and went 5-for-7 on 3-pointers, yet his performance looked a bit odd – as if only 11 or 12 were dismissed in more than seven or eight innings. But when you know that you have reached New York as a leader worthy of universal respect. Insert key numbers, and all one wants to talk about is RJ Barrett’s rise in the second half, or OB Toppin’s stroke, or Nerlens Noel’s block.
That means 31 and 10 are the new expectation, the baseline measurement, and go ahead and score 40 again if you want your name in lights.
After signing with the Nucks two years ago, Randall spoke of bringing the franchise back to life as the brutality and physicality of the old school shaped the Ewing era. On Saturday, after Randall helped defeat Toronto with his B-Plus game, coach Tom Thibodo effectively nabbed his star player some memories from his time as a key associate of Jeff Van Gandy. gave.
“It always starts with their best players,” Thibodo said. “If they work in such a way that it sets a tone for the team, and so on [Randle] Is relentless. It is not an accident that the kind of weather it is in is going on. His commitment, I could see it from day one when I met him, what kind of conditioning he had and how committed he was to turning this thing around.
“I can remember back in the 90s, when I first arrived here as an assistant, the thing that blew me away, Patrick Ewing, every morning in the offshin, he was the first guy in the building and was madly The way it worked, and so did the rest of the team. I think that’s leadership. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do. “
And by the way, this latest Nix Vijay was no easy ask. The Raptors won the NBA title two years ago, and reached 53–19 last year, without Qui Leonard, before losing to the Celtics in Game 7 of the conference seminars. They are not what they used to be, as Tampa-based nomadic players search for life on the outskirts of play-in tournaments, but they still have Pascal Saykam, Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, and coach Nick Nurse, enough. More is a problem for a warm home team to feel comfortable on a Saturday afternoon sleep.
But the Knicks did not let their guard down or lower their standards. In fact, when an Alfred Patton turnover broke Toronto and forced a Randall foul in the third, eventually allowing the Raptors to take the lead, Randall made a fist and furiously punched him in the air. He still looked distraught on the bench a minute later, as if he had felt betrayed by his team’s brief lapse in concentration. Yes, Patrick Ewing may have acted in the same way.
“It’s amazing,” Randall said when Thibodo pointed out that Ewing’s leadership was compared to his. “I have actually asked her and talked about that. He gave me insight; He saw it for the first time. So I am proud of my work. … The guy I fooled the most, the guy I saw was Kobe [Bryant]. His work ethic was top. No one was better at putting in a better time than that. “
In a jam-filled COVID-19 season, when it seems NBA teams are doing everything but playing day-and-night double headers, Randall makes his three-year, $ 63 million deal five years after DeGrom. , Has made a bigger deal than the $ 137.5 million deal. This does not mean Randall de Grom and the Nets will beat New York and Gerrit Cole and Zach Wilson to give New York its first championship since the Giants won in 2011.
It just means that Randall can be remembered as a winner in this city like Ewing. As a king without a crown.
Leave a Reply