“Early in the year, that was kind of a knock on the Timberwolves to get Julius to guard. I think he picked it up on that side of the ball….” said Draymond Green back in April, when asking how LeBron James can prove to be a challenge to Julius Randle as the latter attempts to defend. Though Green did not have high expectations, the Wolves star nevertheless became the ‘X Factor’ he was predicted to be, keeping the 40-year-old’s shooting percentage low. Now, he has the task of doing the same thing against his critic, as Randle has been paired against Draymond Green for the Warriors-Timberwolves series. The past 2 games have certainly been a challenge, but nothing that Randle is choosing to complain about.

The Minnesota power forward participated in a presser after the team’s 117-93 win against the Golden State Warriors. During the same time, a reporter questioned the player on what it is like to guard Draymond Green, and vice versa. After all, one needs a certain type of ‘mental makeup’ when dealing with someone like Green, who is known not only as a defensive force, but also a provocateur, who tries to get inside people’s heads. Julius Randle revealed holding a lot of respect for Green and his legacy, which did not allow him to see that ‘provocateur’ side of the player.

“Has always been a mutual respect, you know, between us,” said Randle. “But I mean, no matter who it is, I try to focus on our team. I don’t really try to focus on, you know, the other player, what the opposing team is doing, necessarily, when it comes to those things”.

Having someone like Draymond Green guard him would have been difficult to adjust to at first. This is the reason why, during Game 1, Randle scored 18 points but only shot 4-11 (36.4%) field goals, 0-3 (0.0%) 3-pointers, and 10-10 (100.0%) free throws. Fortunately, things were better in Game 2, when Randle scored 24 points through 10-17 (58.8%) field goals, 1-4 (25.0%) 3-pointers, and 3-3 (100.0%) free throws.

As compared to 6 assists in Game 1, Randle dished out 11 assists in the recent one. At the same time, Green’s performance had taken a hit, as he scored just 9 points through 30.0% field goals and 16.7% 3-pointers. From the looks of it, Julius Randle seems to have cracked the code to playing well against the efforts of the Warriors’ star power forward.

“I mean, you just got to make him work, you know, on both ends of the floor. He’s, you know, obviously a gifted passer and playmaker on the offensive end on the floor. So you got to make him work, and then defensively, he’s all over the floor. So, you know, just continue to make him work. Put him in multiple actions, run the floor, crouch the glass—anything to make him exert, you know, a high amount of energy,” said Randle when asked his strategy when matched up with Draymond Green. “It’s no different than any other great player in this league”.

Well, it is a good thing that at least Julius Randle is ensuring that he can handle one part of the Warriors’ play. After all, Steve Kerr is making sure that the Timberwolves squad remains confused with the rest of them.

Julius Randle attempts to work through Steve Kerr’s rotation strategy: “got to be locked into the scouting report”

“Strength in numbers”. If reports are to be believed, then this was the quote that united the Golden State Warriors to rise to greatness. Going into the ongoing NBA season, Steve Kerr himself chose to follow it as his on-court strategy. He took a bold step by announcing, “I’ve never played 12 before, but we’re going to do it. It’s not easy on anybody, but we just have to trust that, from one night to the next, we’re going to find guys and combinations that really work.”

The strategy had its ups and downs in the season’s early part. After setbacks, he dropped the plan. Despite that, Steve Kerr thought it best to bring it out again for Game 2 of the Warriors-Timberwolves series. During the matchup, the coach fielded 13 players in the first 14 minutes of Game 2 and 14 in the first half. While the Timberwolves were able to work through it, it was still something that perplexed them.

During the post-game presser, Julius Randle was asked how rare it is for him to see a team use 13-14 guys in a playoff series. The player stated, “It’s rare, but, you know, at the end of the day, it’s also Steve Kerr. He’s kind of done that all year. If you watch their team, and you know, hats off to him. He has every guy on their bench prepared and ready to play. So, you really got to be locked into the scouting report, and know what each player does, and, you know just know their tendencies, cuz, you know, he’s not afraid to use anybody on his bench”.

Steve Kerr might not have been afraid, but the move backfired on him. The coach tried to explain it by stating, “Part of it was the fatigue from the recent travel and games, and part of it was figuring out how we can manage this series without Steph [Curry]”.

Perhaps, with time, Kerr might find out the best way to make the rotation work and increase the worry for the Timberwolves. Fortunately, Julius Randle and Co. have figured things out by this point, and they will continue doing so.