Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:Towns is a fine three-point shooter... when he's taking them in rhythm and when he's taking good ones. The problem this year? He fell in love with that shot early, tries to do too much by head-faking for pump-faking when he's already open, and continued to shoot dumb ones halfway through the season. That goes back to the maturity thing. He'll be fine, but yes, he needs to earn his checks by operating inside.

I agree with your take. I said right now he is not a good 3 point shooter. I agree that it's a maturity thing. He's taking the most 3s and shooting the worst 3pt % in the 4th. A lot of time the are in "need a basket situations". He may end up being clutch from 3 at volume, but he's been far from it this year. Right now I don't think the 3 should be a priority. I want to see him learn to establish position against bigger centers and make them look silly. Then bring back the 3 as a wrinkle to his dominance inside.

Jim Pete has said it a few times that Towns needs to just let it Fly. Thats not the only thing that is keeping him from shooting a good percentage, but I agree it isn't helping.

In addition on Towns playing inside Jim Pete said on the Dunc'n On podcast that nobody can really guard Towns one on one in the. He sure looks smart based on the last couple games. Like its been said there have been some good matchups for him, but you do notice teams are pretty much doubling all the time when he gets it. His offensive game has been more like we expected it this year the last few games. If he does get that outside shot falling from 3 and he learns how to mix up all his aspects of his game (tough to do)...my goodness. Also his rebounding has REALLY picked up and yes he has had some really good moments at times lately. Its been fun to see these guys figure it out a bit here and there as the season goes on.

One guy I think that has been and will probably continue to be lost in how well he has played is Belly. I've said since last year he probably will never put up big numbers but he can be a key player. HE has been more solid picking his spots more offensively. His defense has been more than a pleasant surprise and his finishing at the rim on drives has been pretty impressive. If Thibs wants to start winning games he needs to have Belly match up against some of the stretch 4's from the beginning maybe even starting him over Dieng against a guy like Ryan Andersen. IF he can start hitting 3's from all the spots...yikes and despite his age and professional experience he is not a polished player. I'm glad he is on the team and has made some strides.

Love seeing KAT play Center with a smaller lineup that includes either Bjelly or Bazz at the 4. That has had some real success and it keeps KAT closer to the rim defensively.

Q12543 wrote:Love seeing KAT play Center with a smaller lineup that includes either Bjelly or Bazz at the 4. That has had some real success and it keeps KAT closer to the rim defensively.

It also saves Dieng and Towns from having to guard perimeter oriented players that is a tough task for them.

Camden wrote:Towns is a fine three-point shooter... when he's taking them in rhythm and when he's taking good ones. The problem this year? He fell in love with that shot early, tries to do too much by head-faking for pump-faking when he's already open, and continued to shoot dumb ones halfway through the season. That goes back to the maturity thing. He'll be fine, but yes, he needs to earn his checks by operating inside.

Yep. Unless over an extended period of time, he shoots in the 25% range... he absolutely MUST take those shots. Towns isn't perceived as a soon-to-elite player because of his McHale-esque low-post majesty. He's been so highly regarded because of his ability to shoot from anywhere. He and Porzingis are hailed repeatedly as the next breed of big man... essentially a Stretch 5.

Take that away entirely, and Towns' ceiling and value drops. The NBA has changed whether we dig that style or not. I'd rather see if he can be at the cutting edge of it in a losing season in year 2 than finding out in 4 years when the rest of the league has passed by.

I think the issue with KAT is when he has a clear mis-match in the paint and they go away from it and he starts launching 3's instead. But yeah, he has to take that shot when left open and in the flow of the offense.

The other issue is he is that he's really a stretch hybrid 4/5. Most teams put their starting Center on Dieng because he doesn't pull them as far away from the paint as KAT will, thus mitigating some of the benefit of KAT's 3-point shooting and ability to put the ball on the floor. It means Rudy Gobert and DeAndre Jordan can lurk closer to the basket. It's why Dieng gets so many open mid-range jumpers. Opponents will concede that shot so that their big man can protect the paint.

It goes back to this question of what kind of "ideal" player should start next to KAT. Paul Milsap or Andre Drummond (as hypothetical examples)?

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Camden wrote:Towns is a fine three-point shooter... when he's taking them in rhythm and when he's taking good ones. The problem this year? He fell in love with that shot early, tries to do too much by head-faking for pump-faking when he's already open, and continued to shoot dumb ones halfway through the season. That goes back to the maturity thing. He'll be fine, but yes, he needs to earn his checks by operating inside.

Yep. Unless over an extended period of time, he shoots in the 25% range... he absolutely MUST take those shots. Towns isn't perceived as a soon-to-elite player because of his McHale-esque low-post majesty. He's been so highly regarded because of his ability to shoot from anywhere. He and Porzingis are hailed repeatedly as the next breed of big man... essentially a Stretch 5.

Take that away entirely, and Towns' ceiling and value drops. The NBA has changed whether we dig that style or not. I'd rather see if he can be at the cutting edge of it in a losing season in year 2 than finding out in 4 years when the rest of the league has passed by.

I was going to say add Embiid to that list (probably could consider other guys also) but I looked and Embiid basically never takes a corner 3 which I thought was kinda interesting. The level of skill that players around 7' tall espcially ability to shoot coming into this league combines with athletic ability is just astounding. It wasn't a super long time ago teams were looking for basically big bodies almost regardless of their skills if they could maybe kinda matchup with Shaq.

Towns needs to study the tape we have of Love in his prime here. That's how you dominate efficiently with versatile offense that doesn't rely on the 3 ball too much, but still uses it as a weapon. That's how a guy like Towns should play basketball. Not like a wing who's either 3's or at the rim. Mix in some midrange and rolling to the basket and you can single handedly destroy other teams from 1 position offensively.

They're 7 and 8 over their last 15? This is actually a complete shock to me even after looking at their schedule on ESPN and seeing with my own two eyes! I guess it says something about just how disappointing many of those 8 losses have been that they've overshadowed the fact they've played almost a month of .500 ball.

I'm not a huge fan of talking about corners, or traffic circles for that matter, but damn it all Bloop, you've now relit that long dead fire of hope, bastard.

TheSP wrote:They're 7 and 8 over their last 15? This is actually a complete shock to me even after looking at their schedule on ESPN and seeing with my own two eyes! I guess it says something about just how disappointing many of those 8 losses have been that they've overshadowed the fact they've played almost a month of .500 ball.

I'm not a huge fan of talking about corners, or traffic circles for that matter, but damn it all Bloop, you've now relit that long dead fire of hope, bastard.

SP, the Wild is making this season much easier to take, eh?