KAT Primed For BIG Year

[FNG]

Here’s what Finch just said about KAT after those two games in Abu Dhabi:

Chris Finch on KAT: "Defensively I was really pleased with him. He’s really moving well, challenging everything, getting through a lot of actions. He looked sharp. His time this summer with the Dominican team has put him in great shape. His mindset’s right where it needs to be."

I was thinking of posting thoughts on how impressed I was by KAT’s defense in those first two preseason games, but I didn’t want to speak too soon. Now that Finch has come out with it, I’ll weigh in with how surprisingly good KAT looked on the defensive side of the ball. I recall KAT’s defensive improvement two seasons ago when I think he raised his level from bad to mediocre. But I’d say he looked even better in Abu Dhabi. He was getting in front of guys, getting to his spots, moving quickly, defending straight up, not biting on pump fakes, and not committing dumb fouls. It’s only two games but it’s encouraging progress. Importantly, KAT looked a lot quicker than he’s looked in a long time. I’ve been worried about his ability to defend the PF position, which is one reason I don’t like the Rudy/KAT pairing. But KAT showed enough quickness and agility in Abu Dhabi to give me some hope that this might work on the defensive end. I’ll also note that KAT did not appear to be whining to the refs or pouting.

It’s early with a long way to go. So I acknowledge that KAT could revert to some of his old bad habits and regress back to the defense we’ve seen from him over the years. But there’s reason for hope and Finchy’s public comment tells us that he’s really encouraged by what he’s seen so far. We didn’t see Ant’s best in Abu Dhabi and Jaden only played one game. But if the KAT, Rudy, NAW and Shake we saw in Abu Dhabi carry forward through the regular season and Wolves remain relatively healthy, this should be a fun season for Wolves fans.

I hate the narrative that Kat is a bad defender at the 4. KOC on bill Simmons Podcast said that Kat is a terrible defender at the 4. I hate shitty false narratives. Kat at the 4 and Rudy at the 5 were in the 98th percentile in the NBA defensively last. They were not just good they were one of the best defensive combos in the nba last year.

I just hate lazy narratives, all the wolves Kat/Rudy issues last year came on the offensive end. (Got better with Conley).

Wolves will be a damn good defensive as long as Rudy is healthy. Kat is also not a bad defender, I don’t know if you can be an elite defensive with Kat at center but he isn’t a liability like people say.

I agree with you Lip on what you posted

Yeah, I also agree with Lip about how KAT looked in those 2 games. But I'll also say that I think it's a lazy narrative to talk about KAT's demeanor on the court. I thought his on-court behavior last season was night and day different from his previous seasons...much less whining and failure to hustle back on defense. His interviews still bug the hell out of me, but I really think he made great strides last year off in his on court attitude.

[KG4Ever]

I wonder who KAT's best friend on the team is now. I really am glad DLO is gone as he is not the guy I want in KAT's ear much of the time.

[Q-is-here]

I wonder who KAT's best friend on the team is now. I really am glad DLO is gone as he is not the guy I want in KAT's ear much of the time.

He may not have one. Not that he isn't friendly with everyone or even occasionally socializes with them outside of team dinners or cards on the plane, but I doubt he's very close to anyone on the team personally.

Once a player becomes a max guy, I think he and his agent create a self-contained bubble of handlers, none of whom are associated with the franchise he plays for. The circle of associates probably includes a mix of family, childhood friends, and actual professionals in various field like public relations, financial planning, security, etc., etc. That becomes his de facto social circle and it will go with him if he ever gets traded or leaves via free agency.

I remember when I lived in Chicago there was a baseball player named Mark Grace that would just randomly show up in bars in Wrigleyville, often after day games. He'd just sit at the bar and socialize with the regulars and folks from the neighborhood without some big entourage. I doubt many big-time athletes do that nowadays!

[AbeVigodaLive]

Towns is very talented. And he gets a bum rap... sometimes.

And he might be very well primed for a huge season.



....

But there is a part of me that thinks maybe, just maybe, the Wolves are blowing a bit of smoke here just in case they need to move on from a valuable... but depressed... asset. Maybe they're trying to talk themselves into Towns, or another team into Towns.

[Lipoli390]

Here’s what Finch just said about KAT after those two games in Abu Dhabi:

Chris Finch on KAT: "Defensively I was really pleased with him. He’s really moving well, challenging everything, getting through a lot of actions. He looked sharp. His time this summer with the Dominican team has put him in great shape. His mindset’s right where it needs to be."

I was thinking of posting thoughts on how impressed I was by KAT’s defense in those first two preseason games, but I didn’t want to speak too soon. Now that Finch has come out with it, I’ll weigh in with how surprisingly good KAT looked on the defensive side of the ball. I recall KAT’s defensive improvement two seasons ago when I think he raised his level from bad to mediocre. But I’d say he looked even better in Abu Dhabi. He was getting in front of guys, getting to his spots, moving quickly, defending straight up, not biting on pump fakes, and not committing dumb fouls. It’s only two games but it’s encouraging progress. Importantly, KAT looked a lot quicker than he’s looked in a long time. I’ve been worried about his ability to defend the PF position, which is one reason I don’t like the Rudy/KAT pairing. But KAT showed enough quickness and agility in Abu Dhabi to give me some hope that this might work on the defensive end. I’ll also note that KAT did not appear to be whining to the refs or pouting.

It’s early with a long way to go. So I acknowledge that KAT could revert to some of his old bad habits and regress back to the defense we’ve seen from him over the years. But there’s reason for hope and Finchy’s public comment tells us that he’s really encouraged by what he’s seen so far. We didn’t see Ant’s best in Abu Dhabi and Jaden only played one game. But if the KAT, Rudy, NAW and Shake we saw in Abu Dhabi carry forward through the regular season and Wolves remain relatively healthy, this should be a fun season for Wolves fans.

I hate the narrative that Kat is a bad defender at the 4. KOC on bill Simmons Podcast said that Kat is a terrible defender at the 4. I hate shitty false narratives. Kat at the 4 and Rudy at the 5 were in the 98th percentile in the NBA defensively last. They were not just good they were one of the best defensive combos in the nba last year.

I just hate lazy narratives, all the wolves Kat/Rudy issues last year came on the offensive end. (Got better with Conley).

Wolves will be a damn good defensive as long as Rudy is healthy. Kat is also not a bad defender, I don’t know if you can be an elite defensive with Kat at center but he isn’t a liability like people say.

I agree with you Lip on what you posted

Yeah, I also agree with Lip about how KAT looked in those 2 games. But I'll also say that I think it's a lazy narrative to talk about KAT's demeanor on the court. I thought his on-court behavior last season was night and day different from his previous seasons...much less whining and failure to hustle back on defense. His interviews still bug the hell out of me, but I really think he made great strides last year off in his on court attitude.

I don’t think the narrative of KAT’s on-court whining, committing dumb fouls and too often allowing his emotions to blur his focus is a false or lazy one. Those things have been all too common with KAT over the years and have held him back from being even better than the consistent all-star caliber player he’s been. I thought he improved in those areas two years ago when he led the Wolves to the playoffs, but there was still too much of it.

The false narrative on KAT is that he’s not a winner or doesn’t make his team better. He’s been a great player in a bad organization his entire career. As I’ve written many times, he’s been paired with another all-star in only two of his eight seasons and the Wolves made the playoffs in both, winning 47 games in 2017-18 and 42 games last season when KAT missed all but 35 games. If Jimmy Butler hadn’t missed the last 22 games of the 2017-18 season, the Wolves would have likely been a 4th or 5th seed instead of an 8th. KAT led the team to 46 wins two seasons ago when he had no all-star teammates since Edwards in only his second season hadn’t reached that level yet. Who knows what would have happened if KAT had played a full 2022-23 season and been healthy from the start. Yes, KAT’s post-season stats have not been as good as his regular season stats, but that shouldn’t be surprising. When you’re an 8th seed you’re playing a 7-game series against the best team in your conference. When you’re the only allstar or one of only two allstars on your 8th seed team without anything close to a third star playing against the best team in your conference when they’re highly motivated and clicking on all cylinders, your stats will invariably suffer. Interestingly, if DLO hadn’t had such a putrid series against the Grizzlies two seasons ago, I think the Wolves would have won that series with KAT as the team’s best player supported by Edwards in only his second season.

I’m looking forward to watching what appears to be a healthy rejuvenated KAT playing with what looks like a bona fide star in Edwards next season. The catch in my view is the KAT/Rudy pairing. I think it will work defensively, but the jury’s out on whether it will work well enough offensively. The good news is that a healthy highly motivated KAT will have more talent around him than he’s ever had before. I suppose that’s not saying much considering who KAT’s been surrounded by over his eight year career, but it’s significant. If KAT can round out his game by controlling his emotions and staying focused (and assuming good health), this team should be in the thick of the battle for a top 4 playoff seed. We’ll see. There are still some significant unknowns about the Wolves and the rest of the West is looking really tough.

[DNatagal]

I didn't have a chance to watch the first game, but in the second there were a few defensive plays where KAT left his man at the exact right moment to double a driving player and either block the shot or create havoc with the offensive player that lead to a turnover. I sure hope our defensive coaches are figuring out how to use KAT and by extent our length to use a trapping style secondary defense available to players. The Wolves need to be flexible and have multiple defensive looks to disrupt other teams. This will help the defensive efficiency and create fast break opportunities that this team can thrive on!

[Q-is-here]

I didn't have a chance to watch the first game, but in the second there were a few defensive plays where KAT left his man at the exact right moment to double a driving player and either block the shot or create havoc with the offensive player that lead to a turnover. I sure hope our defensive coaches are figuring out how to use KAT and by extent our length to use a trapping style secondary defense available to players. The Wolves need to be flexible and have multiple defensive looks to disrupt other teams. This will help the defensive efficiency and create fast break opportunities that this team can thrive on!

Yeah, he seems like a solid-ish defender UNLESS he is playing a drop coverage scheme at Center. That is where he has always been torched and is legit bad at it. But he seems to do "good enough" in other schemes, including playing the 4 when Rudy is in drop coverage.

[WildWolf2813]

Towns is very talented. And he gets a bum rap... sometimes.

And he might be very well primed for a huge season.



....

But there is a part of me that thinks maybe, just maybe, the Wolves are blowing a bit of smoke here just in case they need to move on from a valuable... but depressed... asset. Maybe they're trying to talk themselves into Towns, or another team into Towns.

How do you talk yourself into a guy nobody really likes?


The difference between someone like Ayton and Towns is that Phoenix hated Ayton, so a team like Portland looks at Ayton and goes "maybe they're full of it and it'll be different here." With Towns, everyone else hates him, so we're left to cross our fingers and hope it works and even if it does, it handicaps us long term because of another guy who now everyone else doesn't like in Gobert.

[Q-is-here]

Towns is very talented. And he gets a bum rap... sometimes.

And he might be very well primed for a huge season.



....

But there is a part of me that thinks maybe, just maybe, the Wolves are blowing a bit of smoke here just in case they need to move on from a valuable... but depressed... asset. Maybe they're trying to talk themselves into Towns, or another team into Towns.

How do you talk yourself into a guy nobody really likes?


The difference between someone like Ayton and Towns is that Phoenix hated Ayton, so a team like Portland looks at Ayton and goes "maybe they're full of it and it'll be different here." With Towns, everyone else hates him, so we're left to cross our fingers and hope it works and even if it does, it handicaps us long term because of another guy who now everyone else doesn't like in Gobert.

When you say "nobody likes him", do you mean the NBA punditry and intelligentsia or actual players and coaches? Because those are two very different things. He's always been a good team mate, had good relationships with his coach, and keeps himself out of off-court trouble. Ayton had some real issues with his head coach and his effort was often questioned. That matters much more to front offices than what Bill Simmons thinks.

[WildWolf2813]

Towns is very talented. And he gets a bum rap... sometimes.

And he might be very well primed for a huge season.



....

But there is a part of me that thinks maybe, just maybe, the Wolves are blowing a bit of smoke here just in case they need to move on from a valuable... but depressed... asset. Maybe they're trying to talk themselves into Towns, or another team into Towns.

How do you talk yourself into a guy nobody really likes?


The difference between someone like Ayton and Towns is that Phoenix hated Ayton, so a team like Portland looks at Ayton and goes "maybe they're full of it and it'll be different here." With Towns, everyone else hates him, so we're left to cross our fingers and hope it works and even if it does, it handicaps us long term because of another guy who now everyone else doesn't like in Gobert.

When you say "nobody likes him", do you mean the NBA punditry and intelligentsia or actual players and coaches? Because those are two very different things. He's always been a good team mate, had good relationships with his coach, and keeps himself out of off-court trouble. Ayton had some real issues with his head coach and his effort was often questioned. That matters much more to front offices than what Bill Simmons thinks.

How players have perceived KAT has emboldened the media to feel secure in how they go after KAT. It's not just any players. It's guys like Butler, guys like Embiid, guys like Draymond, big time stars (in Jimmy's case, one whose entire rep is based off hard work). Comparatively, it's not as if there's many players outside of his own teammates who stand in his corner. It's pretty much just Booker and D-Lo (and D-Lo has his own issues). There was word this summer that Dame had no interest in teaming up with KAT and that was when Dame was still hoping against hope that he'd get more help in Portland. I'm convinced the only reason why it hasn't been even more outward is because Towns has admittedly gone through a lot of personal hell. Without that, more players would chime in. I haven't seen a reputation get destroyed so quickly since Marlo told everyone to spread the word that Randy was a snitch on The Wire.

As far as other coaches, KAT doesn't really know anyone outside of who's been here. Edwards has gotten a super boost post World Cup since now some coaches and players have played alongside him and gotten to know him. KAT hasn't really had that, and it affects how he's perceived. Gersson Rosas might be his biggest advocate from a FO standpoint and he's gonna get so much pushback from Knicks fans who think he's a soft ass bitch and that comes from how other players view him.

I list to Jon Krawczyzski's pod and a while back even he couldn't believe how polarizing KAT has become. I'm not even gonna get into Bill Simmons because he specifically has an issue with everyone not named Edwards or Reid, but nationally, whatever negative feelings local Wolves fans might have about KAT, it's multiplied x10 nationally. That's why KAT was able to let loose on the DR team. Most of those guys weren't NBA players (fringe at best for a couple of them). He had a clean slate and made the most of it. Now he comes back to a team that's cool with him, but a league that can't wait to rip him from every angle.