Minnesota Sports Forum

Such a Jekyll and Hyde player. Has 40 point 10 rebound games and looks to be stoic and calm. Then acts like a whiny 2 year old crybaby bitch the other half of the time.

I'm fine dumping his ass at this point. He needs it as a wake up call. His I'm a victim act is so old he'll never make progress when he keeps blaming everyone else for his shortcomings.

BloopOracle wrote:He has to be such a buzzkill, melting down after every single foul, stealing rebounds, if you watch his single shot in the fourth quarter he stares at hands afterwards as if to insult his teammates for not passing him the ball. Listening to him front run during the mic'd up segments last night, telling our linebacker of a shooting guard to just shoot threes instead of drive... He makes me sick.

While I don't like the typical passive aggressive way he did it... Towns most certainly should be frustrated with several teammates for not getting him the ball.

There was one play where he was wide open under the hoop, even after the small Tyus Jones rotated to him. He was very demonstrative calling for the ball. The possession ended with Malik Beasley hitting a 26 foot three pointer so everybody celebrated.

But it was a harbinger of things to come. A bad possession that looks good when the shot goes in... but a terrible possession and opportunity lost most of the time.

Something has to give tonight. The Wolves still need to play through their best player. But can they get him the ball where he can be effective? And will he stop compromising everything by picking up 2 or 3 completely unnecessary and stupid fouls?

Abe - I think you captured it in your last post. A lot of KAT's issues this series are on KAT, but many are on his teammates and I'd add on coaching. Here's an excerpt from Jon K's recent write-up that does a nice job describing the issues with KAT:

The Towns conundrum

The Timberwolves' franchise player came into this series looking to build on the overwhelming success of his regular season. He was by far the team's best and most consistent player over the 82 games, the biggest reason why the Wolves won 23 more games than they did a year ago. Towns got off to a terrific start with 29 points and 13 rebounds in Game 1, but the last two games have been regressions to the concerns observers have had about his game for years.

He had more fouls (five) than shot attempts (four) in Game 3 after taking just seven shots in another foul-filled performance in Game 2. There are several culprits connected to his decreasing performance, starting of course with Towns himself.

He's committing too many fouls, plain and simple. The arguing he's doing is not helping either because replay reviews are showing that the majority of the calls against him are correct. When Towns is in foul trouble, especially after undisciplined offensive fouls, it interrupts the rhythm of the whole team and brings a jittery vibe to the team while his attitude becomes more volatile.

"We're talking to him," Finch said. "It's the offensive fouls that really are hurting us more than anything else. Those are the ones we've got to clean up."

They also need to get him more involved in the offense. Towns grew visibly frustrated as leads slipped away in the second and fourth quarters with his lack of touches. When he hit his only shot of the fourth quarter, he looked down at his hands as if to say, "Give me the damn ball."

Much has been made about his reaction to my question about the lack of shots after the game.

"Next question," he said.

My read on the response, which was highly uncharacteristic for one of the most available and expansive stars in the league when it comes to interviews, was not that he was targeting the reporter or the merit of the question. It appeared to me that he did not want to answer because it would have meant throwing teammates under the bus for not getting him the ball. Some of this is warranted. Beverley, Russell and Malik Beasley combined to go 0 for 12 from the floor in the fourth quarter while Towns only got one shot. Their shot selection was occasionally rushed and ill-advised.

"I had a couple shots at the end I think I could've stepped up and made," Beverley said. "I put that on me, and I have to do better."

As ESPN's Zach Lowe pointed out on his podcast on Friday, Towns has six post touches in the first three games of this series. He averaged six post touches per game in the regular season. The Grizzlies have adjusted to start guarding him with Kyle Anderson, and Towns has to punish him. His teammates have to do a better job of getting him the ball, and he has to get early position to give them a target to pass to and then make better passes out of the double teams to get the ball moving or go quickly to attack and get to the rim.

He could also take more 3-pointers. He took five in the Game 1 win when he was being guarded by Steven Adams, but has taken two total over the last two games. The Wolves have to turn this series into a math problem for Memphis, out-shooting the Grizzlies from deep from a wide margin to offset being overmatched on the offensive glass. If Towns isn't a part of that 3 party, that puts even more on Edwards, Russell and Beasley to carry that load.

He was terrific on defense on Thursday night, with five blocked shots and many more affected by his presence and activity. But he is coming under fire from national analysts for the lack of offense and the fouling, and now it's time for him to respond. He is one of the most gifted offensive players in the league and his season to this point has been one of rebirth, increased maturity and good vibes. These last two games, and the Play-In against the Clippers, have tarnished all that progress he has made. It has been too easy for the opponent to remove him from the equation.

"We've got to find him in the flow and that's just how it's going to have to be," Finch said. "When we went to him they doubled and they got good looks. We didn't knock them down."

If he can get himself going, and if the Timberwolves can do a better job of finding him, they can get right back in this series. When he is hitting on all cylinders, it opens up so much more for Edwards, Russell and the rest of the Wolves. They become very difficult to guard. He has done it all year, so it is not asking more than he is capable of providing. But now he has to do it in the playoffs, the step he has to take if he wants to ascend to a higher plane as an NBA star.

If that doesn't happen, if he continues to get into foul trouble and fade away on offense, this is going to be a short series.

I've avoided the boards because I got nothing nice to say lol

KAT & DLO I am seriously wondering if you can win anything meaningful with them?

I think you trade Dlo before KAT and see how he responds to the wake up call that this is Ant's team. Dlo is a fine player imo but Ant is ready to be ball dominant. Get another combo guard for 15 mil and make it work.

I hate making rash decisions based off a playoff series against the #2 seed in the West that won 10 more games than us. They are legit good.

(of course, check back with me after tonight's game. I may even want Finch's head on a platter by then, LOL!).

Q-was-here wrote:I hate making rash decisions based off a playoff series against the #2 seed in the West that won 10 more games than us. They are legit good.

(of course, check back with me after tonight's game. I may even want Finch's head on a platter by then, LOL!).

I think this is what a good franchise would do.

I was on-board with trading KAT earlier in the season and then stepped back from that ledge. If Ant can take that next big step, and the Wolves can add another big man(a 4 or 5) this off-season, KAT can stay, but the Wolves need to get him a therapist or someone that can help his mental game.

I've been saying it all year but the future of the Wolves upside (potential NBA contender) still rides on what Ant can become and KAT if he is here longer term simple needs to get control of his emotions and support Ant becoming the main leader.

I've been on board trading him before if the package was favorable and still am. But what happens these next two or 3 games (not likely plus) will certainly sway what I would take.

Also on KAT can you think of another All Star player who is so hot and cold? One game is a whiny bitch who is uncoordinated and running over defenders, kicking his leg out trying to draw fouls, scores 8 points and does not much else. Then goes for 33 and 14 and a mostly great game. Not to mention still has the same foul issues from 6-7 years ago. Like, why can you not get better?

How one guy can go from so good to so bad night to night and most of it is mentality. I think his fouling issues is probably a mentality issue as well. He is maybe over amped for the game and can't control himself.

WolvesFan21 wrote:I've been saying it all year but the future of the Wolves upside (potential NBA contender) still rides on what Ant can become and KAT if he is here longer term simple needs to get control of his emotions and support Ant becoming the main leader.

I've been on board trading him before if the package was favorable and still am. But what happens these next two or 3 games (not likely plus) will certainly sway what I would take.

Also on KAT can you think of another All Star player who is so hot and cold? One game is a whiny bitch who is uncoordinated and running over defenders, kicking his leg out trying to draw fouls, scores 8 points and does not much else. Then goes for 33 and 14 and a mostly great game. Not to mention still has the same foul issues from 6-7 years ago. Like, why can you not get better?

How one guy can go from so good to so bad night to night and most of it is mentality. I think his fouling issues is probably a mentality issue as well. He is maybe over amped for the game and can't control himself.

Wild - I think those consistency issues are mainly in the post season. He had some bad games during the regular season but very few. He has otherwise been amazingly consistent in the regular season. Having said that, your critique of KAT is accurate in my view. He needs to get control of his emotions and stop doing dumb things.

I'm confident he'll accept and support Ant as the main guy. One that point, I think KAT's post-game comments last night were particularly telling. I don't have the exact quote, but he referred to Edwards as possibly the most talented player he's every played with and that his job was to make sure Edwards succeeds. What I heard KAT saying is that he's the #2 guy with the job of making sure the team's #1 guy (most talented player) can do what he does. I wouldn't expect KAT (or any all-star player) to publicly say they're not as good or as important as another player on their team. Athletes at that level necessarily have too much ego and pride to do that. But I encourage folks to listen to those KAT comments on line and I think you'll interpret it as I did. You could tell from the tone of his voice that KAT is just blown away by what Edwards can do.