Who’s Better: Jabari Parker Or Julius Randle?

We haven’t been this excited for a college basketball season in a long time. The freshman class is so deep this year that its most hyped prospect (Andrew Wiggins) has been a bit of a letdown so far and yet hardly anyone is talking about that. That’s because Jabari Parker of Duke and Kentucky’s Julius Randle have been so explosive, so unstoppable, so obviously on another level from almost every other player in the country.

In five games so far, Parker has yet to score less than 21 points for the 4-1 Blue Devils. In five games so far, Randle has yet to grab less than 10 rebounds for the 4-1 Wildcats.

Both are going top five in next summer’s NBA Draft. But which player is better? Parker or Randle? We argue. You decide.

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JABARI PARKER
I haven’t been captivated by college basketball in a long time. I mean, me and her have always remained in touch. We have constant flirtations, an on and off again relationship. After watching the debut of arguably the best freshman class ever, my love for college hoops is back.

After watching Julius Randle – the boy is a bad man – I saw why scouts were salivating over the young phenom. Yet, while his brute and aggressive force was a pleasure to watch, I realized he didn’t have the same intensity on the defense end. There were times where he would haplessly watch Michigan St decimate his squad on the break.

Then I watched the Kansas and Duke game and I fell in love with Jabari Parker’s game. It’s visibly apparent that unlike his other first-year adversaries, he’s the most NBA ready. With a silky smooth jumper that is reminiscent of Carmelo Anthony and an NBA body that can match up against opposing small forwards in the league, why wouldn’t you take Parker right now?

Parker has posted over 20 points in all five of his games to start his young collegiate career. We might as well dub him with the nickname Buckets because that’s what he’ll bring you. Just like ‘Melo, he’s the one man that can destroy when he goes into triple-threat mode. You want him to spot up? Splash. You want him to go off the dribble? No problem. Water. You want him to go down on the block and enter beast mode. Ok you got it.

Parker is also proving he’s capable of being a one-man fast break, hushing the critics about his athleticism. Go check his game against East Carolina when he humiliated their entire squad by bobbing and weaving and jamming it down. It was virtually a one-on-five on that possession.

Let’s rewind back to the Kansas game when he was matched up against the No. 1 player in his class, Andrew Wiggins. Spectators and doubters were in the building as the game was played in his hometown of Chicago. How did he fair? Try four three-pointers in the faces of Kansas defenders, including one four-point play, which was a dagger and huge in propelling Duke’s momentum in the first half. Granted his team took the loss, but he finished with 27 points and nine rebounds against Wiggins, who finished with 22 and eight. Through his first five games, Parker is averaging 22.4 points and shooting nearly 56 percent from the field and an almost unfathomable 65 percent from deep. That’s mighty efficient. He’s also averaging close to nine rebounds a game and is a double-double threat, posting 20 and 10 in two of those five contests.

What about the defensive end right? Against East Carolina, he was a human eraser as he finished with 6 blocks, sending everything back with no regard for anyone’s feelings.

Like I said, Julius Randle is a bad man. Andrew Wiggins is a bad man. Aaron Gordon is a bad man. But Jabari Parker is just absurdly filthy and as of right now, is towering over all of these players. If you haven’t, get familiar with Jabari Parker, as soon as possible.
-CARL LAMARRE

Hit page 2 to hear the argument for Randle…

JULIUS RANDLE
The college basketball season is still fresh, but fans, reporters and analysts have seen enough to draw some reasonable conclusions about the top players in the nation.

Before this star-studded freshman class committed to their schools of choice, an enormous amount of hype, mostly media-driven, surrounded two big names… Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. These two all-star perimeter players constantly stole the show in high school, which lead to them rounding off the ESPN 100 rankings at No. 1 and 2 respectively. Through all the talk about Wiggins and Parker, there was a left-handed prospect hailing from Prestonwood Christian H.S. in Dallas, Tex. Julius Randle was slowly but surely making his case as the nation’s best high school player.

After evaluating each of the top three players in the nation closely for a significant amount of time, I came to my own conclusion that ESPN’s rankings should have read as follows: at No. 1, Julius Randle; at No. 2, Jabari Parker; and coming in at No. 3, Andrew Wiggins. My reasoning behind placing Wiggins at No. 3 is when I watch him play, I see a lot of athletic ability, but I see a raw talent that is going to need a lot of molding.

So I raise this question: who is better, Julius Randle or Jabari Parker? My answer is Julius Randle, and I will tell you why.

Julius Randle has an unfathomable amount of ability at his age. He has an overabundance of attributes working in his favor. For one, his build. Randle stands at 6-9 and weighs 250 pounds. He is already a brute on the low block for Kentucky. Yes, his size makes him a nightmare on the block, but he also possesses superior footwork in the post. It is rare that a player of his age owns those types of high-level mechanics.

To credit Jabari Parker, his game is probably the most complete out of any freshman this year. He has an arsenal of moves that defenders do not know how to handle.

Julius Randle has that same type of “instant mismatch” ability. His size makes him a terror on the inside. He scores at will with a rare combination of speed and strength; he rebounds with an NBA-ready tenacity, too. What separates Randle from Parker is Randle’s attention-grasping athleticism. He is agile, fluid in the open court and extremely explosive. Note that I am not saying Julius Randle is LeBron James, but look at their similarities and you will see why Randle has a higher ceiling than Parker. Coming out of high school, both James and Randle were physical freaks of nature. They were too big for most big men to handle inside, and they were too quick for most perimeter players to stay in front of them.

Something special about Randle is that he still has so much to learn, and at first glance, some readers might see this statement as me saying Randle is not as complete as Parker. What I mean by this is: Randle has so much to learn about the game, but everything he needs to learn is a coachable skill. Randle lacks range on his jump shot, but with the proper coaching, Randle can expand his range and become even more of a lethal threat. He also has room to improve on the defensive end; this is another attribute that he can add to his game. Parker’s complete game will be a blessing on the college stage, but can be his curse on the professional stage. This doesn’t mean he will not have a stellar career, but the fans might see the best of Parker early in his career. Randle has the type of game that can constantly evolve, making him a much more lethal threat and coveted commodity than Parker.

Take this position into consideration. Jabari Parker is compared to Carmelo Anthony. Yes, Carmelo is a great offensive talent, and some even crown Anthony as the most complete offensive player in the NBA. If you look at his body of work in college, he was the type of player that would put on a one-man show with a litany of moves that many had yet to see. Jabari follows in Carmelo’s footsteps in that regard. Look at Carmelo Anthony now… he has been that same dominant offensive player for the past decade, but has he really taken his game to the next level? This is partially due to the fact he was basically complete offensively when he was drafted, so he never worked on different areas of the game because he was seeing a significant amount of success with his style; he has now plateaued.

With Randle, like I previously stated, has a skill-set that makes him ready to be a force on the professional level, but he has areas where can improve, and once he grasps other skills, his game can elevate to be among the league’s best.

When you break everything down, it is clear that Randle is the better player. He brings more NBA-ready skills to the table. He has the better body, he is more physical and he is a much better rebounder. Also, do not let the way Randle and Parker do their damage misconstrue the fact that Randle is in the same conversation as Parker in regards to their offensive prowess.

Randle and Parker are both amazing talents, and they will have success in the NBA, but I feel that Randle is bringing more to the table. Get ready to see a college basketball takeover from Julius Randle and his Kentucky Wildcats.
-JOSEPH DURUAKU

Who would you take right now?

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