With each impressive outing from Obi Toppin, with each new career high in points or explosion of the crowd into ‘Obi’ chants, the question gets louder:
Can this happen with Julius Randle?
Through two seasons, it hasn’t. Coach Tom Thibodeau, who prioritizes tall centers for rim protection, has viewed Toppin and Randle as too much of a defensive liability as a frontcourt tandem. And with Randle averaging about 36 minutes since last season, Toppin has frequently occupied the bench.
But the teammates have discussed their potential as a duo.
“Me and Jules actually talked about it, we definitely feel in today’s game that’s a big thing, just because a lot of teams are playing small, lot of teams want to play fast, shoot threes, run the floor and just get out in transition,” Toppin said. “And I feel like when me and Jules are on the court, we’re definitely playing a lot more faster. Either me or Jules can be in the paint or we can screen and roll. There are so many different things we can do when we’re on the court. We’ve definitely talked about it and hopefully we’re both back here next year and we can see that stuff.”
Thibodeau wasn’t as enthusiastic, again expressing hesitancy about playing smallball after Randle returns next season.
“I like having a component of being able to downsize,” the coach said. “But the thing is, we lose our defense, and so it’s gonna be hard because once you do that, you’re basically committing to outscoring somebody.”
Whether or not the double power forward lineup becomes a staple, it will be difficult to justify playing Toppin so sparingly in Year 3. He has surged to end this season while Randle rests, with Friday’s 114-92 victory over the Wizards as the latest example of the 24-year-old’s improved game and confidence.
He dropped a career-high 35 points off six 3-pointers and 14-of-22 shooting overall, elevating his last 10-game averages to 16.8 points on 57% shooting.
Last season, Toppin struggled to hit the rim on 3-pointers. Now he’s knocking them down with regularity.
“Before, I was thinking, ‘Don’t mess up,’” Toppin said. “Now I’m thinking, ‘Shoot first,’ and then go backside, dribble-handoff with guys and just playing with a different type of confidence now.”
Still, Toppin can’t help but to worry about getting pulled when he makes a mistake. It happened frequently when Randle was available, when Thibodeau had a quick hook for Toppin.
“I still look at the bench, I’m not going to lie,” Toppin said.
Lately, however, the subs aren’t coming. If Randle isn’t traded and returns next season, Toppin’s improvement will apply more pressure to get him on the court. And even Thibodeau seems more sold than ever.
“Everyone loves Obi,” the coach said. “We were all worried when he got sick that he was going to get us all sick because nobody gives out more (hand slaps) than Obi. Every day, the thing that you love about him is he walks in the gym and he’s got energy. He walks onto the bus; he’s got energy. Your team can feed off that. He reminds me, in some ways, not in the way they play, but in the way they bounce in their attitude is Taj (Gibson). That was a young Taj. In the middle of winter, he’ll come in the gym and that’s what you’d feel from Obi when he walks in the building. You’re like, ‘OK, Obi’s here.’ You feel it.”
()