Minnesota Sports Forum

Watch this workout video and hope that Flip sees it as well. There's ZERO reason that he's not the first pick!

He's a big kid with handles that can shoot.....and he's only 19!!!!

Honestly, we can and should have made a playoff push last season with a healthy team. There's no reason to have at---minimal---the goal of making it. And once you get there----it's just luck. I only say this cause with Irving and Love, the Cavs should be taking this series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkK1xY3xSkc

whatdtcom wrote:Watch this workout video and hope that Flip sees it as well. There's ZERO reason that he's not the first pick!

He's a big kid with handles that can shoot.....and he's only 19!!!!

Honestly, we can and should have made a playoff push last season with a healthy team. There's no reason to have at---minimal---the goal of making it. And once you get there----it's just luck. I only say this cause with Irving and Love, the Cavs should be taking this series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkK1xY3xSkc

Don't worry, whatdtcom...Flip is watching all these videos, plus seeing all these guys up close. He's also watching this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPW4TCdlBR0

Towns is going to be a star in the NBA, but I think Russell will be too. These videos show that both guys can shoot, but the exciting thing is they don't highlight the area where these guys will make an immediate impact...Towns with his defense, and Russell with his incredible vision and passing.

I did enjoy how Towns video bombs Russell's DX video. DX edits their videos so the featured player never misses a shot, but KAT makes all his shots on Russell's video too!

60WinTim wrote:I just got back from a long vacation. If I were smart, I would have extended it another week to avoid this waiting game...

But it doesn't matter. I am 100% convinced Flip will pick Towns. It seems pretty apparent that Flip already believes he has his #1 player with Wiggins. And he said "how a player fits with the team" will be one of the deciding factors. Towns versatility is a much better fit than Okafor's low post presence. Why would the Wolves take a player who he needs the ball in his hands to be effective when you already have Rubio and Wiggins that need the ball as well?

The pick will be Towns. And there will be much rejoicing.

Welcome back Tim.

I'm still thinking Flip goes Okafor. Flip is old school and believes that the only way you can free up perimeter shooters is through an inside-out post up game. Do you recall how often he would isolate Pek in the post last season before he got hurt? Pek is not a great iso-post player. He's best used in pick and rolls and quick-hitting plays where he can seal his guy. Yet Flip kept going to the well...

So the "fit" of Okafor is that it gives them a legitimate post-up presence that will command double teams and give his perimeter guys more open jumpers. No one is going to double-team Towns.

The curse of the Dukie is back after Parker went down last year! Don't do it flip.

Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins will take this team to the playoffs next year

Q - if you want to be pessimistic, then your argument of Okafor fitting Flip's idea of inside-out basketball is the one statement you can hang your hat on. But it sure seems like Flip is much more thorough than choosing a player based only on an ability to command double teams. I can't imagine the mountain of support for taking Towns #1 will be ignored.

I think people are getting caught up in the snowball effect. While Towns has more versatility to his game, he hasn't really proven anything. Not working out for teams is a red flag in my eyes. His dominating defense is somehow improving while not even playing I guess. WCS looked like the dominant defender to me. I realize that Towns will be a better shotblocker than Okafor, but is there really that much more to his defensive game? Being more athletic doesn't necessarily translate to being a better defender.

When I watch some of these shooting videos, the first thing that jumps out is how many of those shots would be rejected. The guys aren't getting any lift on the shot whatsoever. That is why I put no stock in the results.

I think I will be just fine with Okafor. I know he has the IT factor in his game, whereas I am unsure about that with Towns. The difference between Pek and Okafor is that Okafor is very skilled at getting his shot off down low. Pek has always relied on others to get him freed up. Okafor moves very well, but I like that his game isn't built only on athleticism. Less chance of it being hamstrung by injuries.

Most of all, I look at who it was standing holding a trophy at the end of it all. That was Okafor, not Towns. That has to count for something. I think we will be fine with either, but I don't see the huge disparity like others.

Towns is about a million times better at guarding the pick-and-roll than Okafor, so yes there really is that much more to his defensive game. It's like comparing Rubio's shot to Steph Curry's shot at this point.

I don't know why an NCAA championship would have any bearing on who gets picked. If you wanna play it that way, then Towns should be the pick since he won 38 straight games.

Hard to guard the PnR if you are on the bench in foul trouble. It was a lot easier for Towns to be aggressive defensively knowing that he had other help. I don't doubt that he has an advantage due to his athleticism, but not playing the same minutes and having more help makes it difficult for me to make an apples to apples comparison of the two.

Okafor is 19 and there is no reason to believe that he can't improve significantly. He moves very well for a guy his size.

Why is it that Towns is assumed to improve his offense, while Okafor isn't able to do the same on D?

I like the fit of Towns better, particularly if Pek is still on the team, but I just don't see a huge gap in talent between the two bigs.

sjm34 wrote:Hard to guard the PnR if you are on the bench in foul trouble. It was a lot easier for Towns to be aggressive defensively knowing that he had other help. I don't doubt that he has an advantage due to his athleticism, but not playing the same minutes and having more help makes it difficult for me to make an apples to apples comparison of the two.

Okafor is 19 and there is no reason to believe that he can't improve significantly. He moves very well for a guy his size.

Why is it that Towns is assumed to improve his offense, while Okafor isn't able to do the same on D?

I like the fit of Towns better, particularly if Pek is still on the team, but I just don't see a huge gap in talent between the two bigs.

Because Towns has offensive skills already and Okafor's starting from the beginning on defense. It's more likely that Towns becomes a 25 PPG scorer than it is Okafor ever being a defensive anchor.

Also, I'm tired of people acting like Okafor didn't have defensive help. That is a joke.

Camden0916 wrote:

sjm34 wrote:Hard to guard the PnR if you are on the bench in foul trouble. It was a lot easier for Towns to be aggressive defensively knowing that he had other help. I don't doubt that he has an advantage due to his athleticism, but not playing the same minutes and having more help makes it difficult for me to make an apples to apples comparison of the two.

Okafor is 19 and there is no reason to believe that he can't improve significantly. He moves very well for a guy his size.

Why is it that Towns is assumed to improve his offense, while Okafor isn't able to do the same on D?

I like the fit of Towns better, particularly if Pek is still on the team, but I just don't see a huge gap in talent between the two bigs.

Because Towns has offensive skills already and Okafor's starting from the beginning on defense. It's more likely that Towns becomes a 25 PPG scorer than it is Okafor ever being a defensive anchor.

Also, I'm tired of people acting like Okafor didn't have defensive help. That is a joke.

Okafor did have help, not on the level of Towns, not anywhere close. Okafor had to guard Kaminsky, Towns for the most part didn't. Towns had reinforcements. The backup C at Kentucky will get drafted. The Plumlee kid will not. Towns is the better defender. It's not close at this point, but he also had superior help.