bleedspeed177 wrote:Now we need a case for Russell Thread. I will go start it.
Yikes! Towns is a better shooter at the line than that guy. While he can hit 3s, his overall FG% sucks and his FT% is bad for a guard. He's undersized at 6"4 for a shooting guard. Towns is a vastly superior pick and I'd definitely take Okafor over Russell. Heck, I might even take Porzingis over Russell.
Whoa. Don't know about that necessarily.
Russell shot 45% / 76% / 41%.
While those stats don't scream "all world shooter," I don't think that they "suck" or are "bad" for a college freshman who is the focal point of the offense for a tourney team in a premier conference... especially for a guy who took almost half his shots from behind the arc.
His FG% was 44.9% and FT% was 75.6%. Those seem like pretty light numbers for a guy someone thinks should be considered for the top spot. Can't think of anyone drafted #1 overall who had such light numbers in college. Evan Turner was a better shooter in college and is three inches taller and look how he panned out. There are several better options at the #1 spot for us.
TeamRicky wrote:His FG% was 44.9% and FT% was 75.6%. Those seem like pretty light numbers for a guy someone thinks should be considered for the top spot. Can't think of anyone drafted #1 overall who had such light numbers in college. Evan Turner was a better shooter in college and is three inches taller and look how he panned out. There are several better options at the #1 spot for us.
I don't remember now if I thought Towns shot better then he did or if Okafor shot worse then he though he did. 10% better is a big deal for Okafor. (9.8% to be exact) That is a impressive number considering how many shots he put up. I also didn't think Okafor would average more steals per 40 minutes but he barely did. The thing I don't see mentioned is how much Towns fouls. He averaged twice as many fouls as Okafor did per 40 minutes. A third of his games he had 4 or more fouls. That is certainly part of the reason he didn't play a lot of minutes. I try not to get caught up in the blocks since think it is an overrated stat which he excelled at. I get to many flashes of the Wisconsin game when I think of him and he could guard Frank and they had to go with WCS. It made me a bigger fan of Frank then anything, but should it be a concern?
TeamRicky wrote:His FG% was 44.9% and FT% was 75.6%. Those seem like pretty light numbers for a guy someone thinks should be considered for the top spot. Can't think of anyone drafted #1 overall who had such light numbers in college. Evan Turner was a better shooter in college and is three inches taller and look how he panned out. There are several better options at the #1 spot for us.
If you go by numbers how can you support Towns offensively for the top spot? Don't give me his per 40 either. If Russell's numbers disqualify him offensively then Towns numbers should disqualify him. That's why you can't go by numbers so heavily. The eye test shows you that Towns and Russell are worthy of consideration. If you want to go by the numbers offensively, Okafor making 2/3 of his shots should cement him as top pick, but there is more to it than that.
Russell was Ohio state. Okafor and Towns both played with multiple first rounders. Who did Russell have to draw attention away from him? Another thing numbers don't bring up is some of the ridiculous passes he made. He got his guys some easy looks due to his passing ability. If he were a bit more explosive he would be the clear pick in my opinion.
Bleedspeed, I think you have brought up 2 issues that are on Flip's mind as he analyzes Towns...his propensity to foul, and his subpar defense on Frank in the big game. They are both real issues, but I have moved past both of them. Towns is still young and will learn how to play defense without fouling...not right away, but eventually. And I'm not counting on him for starter minutes his first year anyway, and it's a long way to 6 fouls if you're only playing 25 minutes. As for his defense against Kaminsky, I agree that it was disappointing. But it was a matchup of an experienced college player who made a lot of defenders look silly against a teenager. Towns' ineffectiveness against Kaminsky is a reason why he shouldn't start in his rookie year...better to play behind KG and learn how to play defense by watching one of the best...but not a reason that we shouldn't pick him first in the draft. I have no doubt that Towns will be a dominant defender by the time he reaches his mid-20s.
When you consider how bad Okafor is at Free throw shooting, you can surely make the case for Towns being more efficient overall than Okafor. But the huge difference maker with Towns is his defense. Plus, I think his game will improve more from where its at now than either Okafor or Russell.
His fouls are just a minor concern. He'll be coached into improving this aspect of his game. He's a very coachable kid, wants to improve and he will. His prowess on both sides of the ball is what I am salivating for.
