When Lakers Strength and Conditioning Coach Tim DiFrancesco watches Julius Randle play, he spares a bit of pity for the guys wearing different jerseys.
“For lack of a better term, he plays a violent style of basketball,” DiFrancesco said. “I feel bad for the guys that are on the other side, because he’s giving hits. He’s not taking them. The speed and explosiveness and power that he can develop with his size is really scary for those people on the other side.”
As a result of that blend of speed and power, a key for the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Randle is to learn how to land and slow down properly to minimize the impact that it has on his structure.
“The offseason for us is a chance to really reinforce those support structures of the musculoskeletal system,” DiFrancesco said. “We’re talking ligaments, tendons, bones. From a quick look at him, it’s pretty impressive. Physically, there’s nobody questioning if he has an NBA body.”
Julius Randle hits the gym with @tdathletesedge. See what he’s been working on in the offseason. #LAKERSWORKhttps://t.co/4GqUjiqcID
While other players are working on building their bodies, Randle has the opportunity to focus on making sure that his interior stays sound.
DiFrancesco says that he can learn much about this from his former teammate, Kobe Bryant.
“Just the skill of landing is something that you see some guys, over the course of their career, get really good at,” DiFrancesco said. “Kobe was exceptional at this. Toward the end, he got where he would get up in the air, but you would always see him with that patented push-away landing of him scooting on his butt and sliding across the floor. It was just somehow graceful and gentle coming off of this violent, contorting action in the air.”
Of course, Randle can attest to the importance of landing properly. During the first game of his rookie season on Oct. 28, 2014, he broke his leg attempting a layup, which ended his year.
After an extensive rehab, Randle was able to stay nearly perfectly healthy during his sophomore campaign, missing only one game. According to the Strength and Conditioning Coach, he has completely put the injury in the past.
“Last year he had to get his sea legs under him and get that mental confidence of: ‘OK, I can run up and down. I can do these things,'” DiFrancesco said. “… My leg’s gonna be OK when I do that. That was, I think, the biggest hurdle going into training camp this year.”
