Karl Anthony Towns

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

Here are some silly stats - show me which ones paint Towns in a better than average for his position please:

https://stats.nba.com/players/advanced/?sort=NET_RATING&dir=-1&CF=MIN*GE*15&Season=2017-18&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&PlayerPosition=C

His offensive rating is 4th, that is pretty good but his defensive rating is 64th!!!! That is 60 positions lower...sixty...I agree that is silly because that is nowhere near average. The NBAs PIE rating has him at 13th.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

When you factor in defense and the importance of his position, I agree that it is hard to make a case for him being better than your average starting Center overall since that really drags him down. Offensively, he is right up there among the best.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

The key question with Towns is obviously about his defense. The offense is obviously there. So why not the defense? In a nutshell, there are just a lot of bad habits he needs to fix (play smarter), and he also needs to care as much on the defensive end as he does on the offensive end (play harder). I'm not a psychologist, so I can't say the or whether he'll try harder defensively going forward.

But I wonder, what are the most important defensive habits you guys think Towns could adopt to make him a more effective defender? I'd be curious to see your rankings on this.

[Monster]

If the case is made that's a Towns is just average as a starting center it seems worthwhile to list your center rankings of that position. Honestly I don't think I could come up with a clear number 1 center in the NBA. So many guys are legitimately talented and they bring different thing to the table. A few days ago Nate Duncan made a case that Lamarcus Aldridge was his pick for All NBA team Center at that point in the seasonwhich I wouldn't have thought of but was a pretty solid position. Availability to play games should be part of the consideration.

Going along with Q's point about Towns contributing to the Wolves offensive rating I also think people don't realize/underestimate the gravity Towns can and often does create. He doesn't always utilize it with his passing or spacing along with his teammates but it's often pretty significant.

[Coolbreeze44]

What are KAT's on/off ratings?

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

I am not sure I agree with that. Due to his horrid defense the other team scores more efficiently, which leads to more set defenses.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Drew,

#1 - Judgement, specifically as it relates to knowing when to leave his feet to challenge shots versus keeping a solid base on the ground and preparing to get the rebound. I often see him unnecessarily challenge shots where he is way late on it or it's already well defended. This leaves his man available for a really easy ally oop or putback off a miss.

#1B - Understanding the principle of verticality by using his natural length to bother shots without necessarily blocking them or fouling. This sort of goes hand in hand with #1. It also requires him to stay square with offensive player. He often finds himself twisted into a pretzel and way out of position to do anything.

#2 - Lower body/core strength. I'm not sure there is much he can do here, but he is easily moved out of the paint and doesn't hold his ground against stronger Centers. It's the exact same issue Dieng has. And by the looks of Patton in the G-League, he's no different. This is why we often see Taj guard some of these bigger Centers. He's a lot shorter, but has a strong base.

[Coolbreeze44]

The biggest problem i see with KAT on defense is he's not a center.

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

Drew,

#1 - Judgement, specifically as it relates to knowing when to leave his feet to challenge shots versus keeping a solid base on the ground and preparing to get the rebound. I often see him unnecessarily challenge shots where he is way late on it or it's already well defended. This leaves his man available for a really easy ally oop or putback off a miss.

#1B - Understanding the principle of verticality by using his natural length to bother shots without necessarily blocking them or fouling. This sort of goes hand in hand with #1. It also requires him to stay square with offensive player. He often finds himself twisted into a pretzel and way out of position to do anything.

#2 - Lower body/core strength. I'm not sure there is much he can do here, but he is easily moved out of the paint and doesn't hold his ground against stronger Centers. It's the exact same issue Dieng has. And by the looks of Patton in the G-League, he's no different. This is why we often see Taj guard some of these bigger Centers. He's a lot shorter, but has a strong base.

I would add in stop crashing the dam glass - his O rebounding is bad and he does this so often which leads sprinting more often and way out of position (playing into LST issue). He does this constantly so I am not sure this is coached or if he just does it.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

What are KAT's on/off ratings?

O-rating while on the court is 112.3, but only 103.4 when off the court.

D-rating is 108 while on the court and 108 while off the court. Neither are good.

His overall net On/Off rating therefore is +8.9.

Dieng has been a massive disappointment in that he hasn't impacted games the way I thought he could as a backup Center. You would hope that at least his Drtg would be better, but then again he's played a lot with Crawford and Shabazz, so the perimeter defense puts him in a lot of bad situations. That helps prop up KAT's On/Off numbers.