Knee-jerk reactions from Vegas

[bleedspeed]

I will leave this here.

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/scott_howard_cooper/07/14/rookie-ladder-after-day-4-in-las-vegas/index.html?ls=nba:specialsfull4

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

I haven't been able to watch any of the games, and I know it's only summer league, but I'm not liking Towns FG percentage. I know in summer league those percentages are normally lower, but I would still like him in the 40s. I also realize numbers can be easily skewed, so I'm not trying to make any unreasonable judgements having not seen a single game.

[60WinTim]

I haven't been able to watch any of the games, and I know it's only summer league, but I'm not liking Towns FG percentage. I know in summer league those percentages are normally lower, but I would still like him in the 40s. I also realize numbers can be easily skewed, so I'm not trying to make any unreasonable judgements having not seen a single game.

He has forced a number of shots he shouldn't have, and his low post game is pretty raw.

Just remember how Wiggins game developed last season, and realize that Towns will likely follow a similar path. The burden of competing for the playoffs will fall on other players' shoulders.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Of course, I wish Towns were making more shots but two guys who also struggled shooting in summer league were Steph Curry at 31% and Cousins who shot 33%. Maybe its jitters, pressing too much or double teams, or just a small sample size, but I'm not overly worried about it at this time. The nice thing about Karl is that even when his shot isn't falling, he can help the team in other ways.

[mjs34]

I've got a couple reactions. First, our SL coaching looked like a mess compared to other teams we played. We might as well of picked up five guys at the Y and thrown them out them without any practice. God I hope Ryan Saunders never becomes our head coach.

Towns' FG% isn't a problem for me, but his lack of D against SL talent is. My biggest concern with KAT was his mental toughness or edge, and he has done nothing to dispel that concern. I am not surprised that he couldn't duplicate the shooting he showed in his video where he took shots in the gym that were uncontested. I am surprised at the type of shots he took. His decison making will certainly need to improve.

Zach is a player that is going to need a lot of coaching. He takes a lot of unbalanced bad shots, but I do like that he looks stronger. Most of his improvement will likely come throughout the season with more playing time.

I am not surprised by Tyus mainly because I had very low expectations. I think we need to pickup a back up PG (#2) for the season. Neither Tyus or Brown are capable of stepping in if Ricky goes down.

I like what Payne has done, and think he looks the part of a back up PF, but his outside shooting is atrocious. Uncalled bank shots are shots that missed their target by 3 feet or more.

[Monster]

I've got a couple reactions. First, our SL coaching looked like a mess compared to other teams we played. We might as well of picked up five guys at the Y and thrown them out them without any practice. God I hope Ryan Saunders never becomes our head coach.

Towns' FG% isn't a problem for me, but his lack of D against SL talent is. My biggest concern with KAT was his mental toughness or edge, and he has done nothing to dispel that concern. I am not surprised that he couldn't duplicate the shooting he showed in his video where he took shots in the gym that were uncontested. I am surprised at the type of shots he took. His decison making will certainly need to improve.

Zach is a player that is going to need a lot of coaching. He takes a lot of unbalanced bad shots, but I do like that he looks stronger. Most of his improvement will likely come throughout the season with more playing time.

I am not surprised by Tyus mainly because I had very low expectations. I think we need to pickup a back up PG (#2) for the season. Neither Tyus or Brown are capable of stepping in if Ricky goes down.

I like what Payne has done, and think he looks the part of a back up PF, but his outside shooting is atrocious. Uncalled bank shots are shots that missed their target by 3 feet or more.

Could you define more what you mean by mental toughness or edge when it comes to Towns?

I agree with what you said about Lavine. What we found out in 2 games is Lavine is still Lavine although he does look stronger which is a good positive and he looked the part of a guy with talent no question. I like him but he has a lot of work to do. The good thing is it seems he will put in the time and effort and that's another good thing. His body looking stronger in about 4 months since the season ended speaks to that.

[TAFKASP]

I'm not worried about Towns. He was one of the primary focuses of the teams they played, being double and often triple teamed. Once the regular season starts he's going to have actual NBA players at the other four positions, and if he starts he's going to have four very good players that are going to demand attention themselves.

Besides, who was the last SL star who became an NBA star? It's almost like winning the Heisman, it pretty much guarantees you'll be an NFL failure! :P

[kekgeek]

I've got a couple reactions. First, our SL coaching looked like a mess compared to other teams we played. We might as well of picked up five guys at the Y and thrown them out them without any practice. God I hope Ryan Saunders never becomes our head coach.

Towns' FG% isn't a problem for me, but his lack of D against SL talent is. My biggest concern with KAT was his mental toughness or edge, and he has done nothing to dispel that concern. I am not surprised that he couldn't duplicate the shooting he showed in his video where he took shots in the gym that were uncontested. I am surprised at the type of shots he took. His decison making will certainly need to improve.

Zach is a player that is going to need a lot of coaching. He takes a lot of unbalanced bad shots, but I do like that he looks stronger. Most of his improvement will likely come throughout the season with more playing time.

I am not surprised by Tyus mainly because I had very low expectations. I think we need to pickup a back up PG (#2) for the season. Neither Tyus or Brown are capable of stepping in if Ricky goes down.

I like what Payne has done, and think he looks the part of a back up PF, but his outside shooting is atrocious. Uncalled bank shots are shots that missed their target by 3 feet or more.

Negative Nancy over here

[mjs34]

I've got a couple reactions. First, our SL coaching looked like a mess compared to other teams we played. We might as well of picked up five guys at the Y and thrown them out them without any practice. God I hope Ryan Saunders never becomes our head coach.

Towns' FG% isn't a problem for me, but his lack of D against SL talent is. My biggest concern with KAT was his mental toughness or edge, and he has done nothing to dispel that concern. I am not surprised that he couldn't duplicate the shooting he showed in his video where he took shots in the gym that were uncontested. I am surprised at the type of shots he took. His decison making will certainly need to improve.

Zach is a player that is going to need a lot of coaching. He takes a lot of unbalanced bad shots, but I do like that he looks stronger. Most of his improvement will likely come throughout the season with more playing time.

I am not surprised by Tyus mainly because I had very low expectations. I think we need to pickup a back up PG (#2) for the season. Neither Tyus or Brown are capable of stepping in if Ricky goes down.

I like what Payne has done, and think he looks the part of a back up PF, but his outside shooting is atrocious. Uncalled bank shots are shots that missed their target by 3 feet or more.

Could you define more what you mean by mental toughness or edge when it comes to Towns?

I agree with what you said about Lavine. What we found out in 2 games is Lavine is still Lavine although he does look stronger which is a good positive and he looked the part of a guy with talent no question. I like him but he has a lot of work to do. The good thing is it seems he will put in the time and effort and that's another good thing. His body looking stronger in about 4 months since the season ended speaks to that.

He looks soft mentally. He says all the right things in interviews and he certainly has a nice skill-set, but so does Bennett, and DW. There is a wide gap between him and guys like Portis, Turner, etc. when it comes to aggressiveness. I realize this is very early, but I haven't seen that out of him in college either, and it is something he needs to have. The "little friend Carlito" thing scares the hell out of me. Maybe it's nothing, but it still concerns me, and was on my list of negatives for him.

[Coolbreeze44]

Realizing this is a knee jerk reactions thread, the board continues to overreact to just about everything going on at Summer League. What's next? Are we going to start comparing Towns stats over 3 SL games to other prominent big men, and then declare he can't become great because the numbers don't stack up? Here are my counters to some of the overreactions:

1) If Ricky gets hurt this year, we would need another point guard. Until then we have Ricky, Tyus, Lobro, and Zach who can play there. Ricky's going to get 32 minutes, Zach is probably going to get 10, Tyus will get spot minutes as he continues to develop, and Lobro is your emergency guy. Where in the hell is another PG needed? If we signed one, how would he be used?

2) Zach's not going to go from raw rookie to seasoned veteran overnight. He's still going to make youthful mistakes, and the game is still going to be a little fast for him. But he's going to continue to get better. I think he should start at the 2 on opening night. He's going to frustrate you at times, but so what? We are still a young developing team.

3) Payne can play in this league. His effectiveness is going to fall somewhere in between what we saw last year, and what we are seeing in the SL. He's an older 2nd year player but you still have to have some patience with him. Not too worried about his outside shooting (though it's not that bad) because he should do most of his damage near the basket on hustle plays.

4) Towns strength is his versatility and well rounded game for a player of his size. If you thought he was going to have a dominant offensive trait at this stage, you were misguided. If that's what you want, you should have been pro-Okafor during the draft process - and hardly anybody was. Towns has shown enough to validate where we drafted him. By the time the season rolls around he will be stronger and have a better idea of how to man-up on defense without fouling. It's going to take a while before he figures out his best offensive niche, but I see no reason to worry about any aspect of his game at this time.

Offseason - Summer League - Summer League Game - Summer League Half Game - Summer League Quarter Game - Summer League Stint - Summer League Possession. I've seen overreactions to every one of these time intervals.