Zach Randolph’s Quiet Stardom
On Wednesday night, Minnesota’s Kevin Love nearly saw his streak of consecutive double-doubles come to an end against Memphis. Love was physically dominated, moved easily in the post and boxed out by an opponent who clearly got the better of him. After 35 minutes of action, Love would eventually eke out 10 points and 10 boards to keep his streak alive, but there was little question as to the victor of this particular individual matchup.
It was one of Love’s worst games of the season. For Zach Randolph –- the dominant aggressor who notched 23 points (while making 55 percent of his shots) and 13 rebounds for the night while making Love’s life miserable -– it was just another game.
A game between Memphis and Minnesota was buried deep in the N.B.A.’s typically crowded Wednesday night schedule, but it afforded an opportunity to see two of the league’s most productive players work against one another. It’s extremely rare to see players in this particular stratosphere of production. According to
Basketball-Reference.com, only four N.B.A. players have ever averaged 20 points per game while grabbing more than 21 percent of available rebounds: Moses Malone, Dwight Howard, and your entertainment for Wednesday evening, Randolph and Love. (Total rebounding percentage is only tabulated from the 1970-1971 season onward.) Randolph and Love are regularly putting up insane numbers, but while one of them is highly-touted and likely All-Star bound, the other drops his regular 20 and 10 without as much as a pat on the back.
It’s curious that Randolph is so easily cast aside, particularly when his team is faring far better than Love’s. His superb play has the Grizzlies in contention for a playoff spot, and that combination of team and individual success usually gives a player a sizable boost in public standing. But Randolph has long been a unique exception to those rules because of his lingering reputation as a troublemaker.
Some promoted last season as a bit of a redemption campaign for Randolph; after skipping from Portland to New York to Los Angeles in various trades, Randolph finally seemed to find a home in Memphis, where he began to thrive. Randolph earned his first All-Star berth (an absurdity given his career averages of 20 points and 10.4 rebounds per 36 minutes), and looked comfortable as a part of the Grizzlies’ short-term core, even if he’s not a fixture in their long-term foundation. Randolph didn’t radically change his game or his approach. He just had the benefit of a fresh start away from the bright lights.
Randolph faded into the background, which some mistook as public amnesty. That hardly seems to be the case. Rather, all of Randolph’s supposed transgressions in the past — the legal troubles, the tiffs with teammates and coaches, etc. — were swept under the rug when he was traded to Memphis. He could no longer be the poster child for what was wrong with the Knicks or the Clippers, and his annual salary became less of a cap-killer with each day it ticked toward expiration. Without having Randolph around as a convenient punchline in a big market, he was relegated to the back of the N.B.A. consciousness, scoring and rebounding at an elite level while his team wins more than it probably should. That doesn’t mean all has been forgiven and his reputation has been wiped clean; N.B.A. fans simply shifted their attention elsewhere.
Randolph is no longer the problem, or even a problem. He’s reached a point in his career where his off-court reputation still precedes him, though mostly when his name somehow permeates headlines. It’s a curious situation to say the least; as a concept Randolph is still treated with a lingering, unfair skepticism, while his tremendous on-court impact flies under the radar. The only time Randolph fosters discussion is when he’s done something wrong, despite the fact that as a player he does so much right.
Randolph played remarkable basketball in January (during which he averaged 22.4 points while grabbing 14.2 rebounds and shooting nearly 50 percent from the field), but even more remarkable is that his December was essentially just as good; Randolph put up 20.4 points and 14.1 rebounds over the final 14 games of 2010. Randolph’s November numbers would probably hit the same marks, too, if not for an injury that slowed him. He’s been the top offensive rebounder in the league this season, and has hovered around the top five in defensive rebounding as well.
There are plenty of reasons to discount Randolph. He’s still too reluctant a passer, and his conquest of Kevin Love aside, he has obvious defensive limitations. There are legitimate reasons why he won’t be selected as an All-Star reserve, the most persuasive being the tremendous quality and quantity of the other candidates in the West. But even without a trip to Los Angeles, Randolph is a star. Watch the man play. Parse through the numbers. Witness his authority over Love, and almost every other big man he plays. Wrap your head around the notion that 20 points and 13 rebounds are a nightly occurrence for a player who has been ridiculed, disregarded and largely forgotten.
This is no longer production that can be overlooked due to reputation alone. This year’s Randolph has given no reason to question his character, and this year’s Randolph is a star.
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