KAT Primed For BIG Year

[KG4Ever]

KAT's been skewered by a very small number of players, but I don't have any reason to believe he's universally disliked or hated. He's generally been thoughtful over the years with the media and embraced Minnesota. Sure, he's probably having a more difficult and stressful year after suffering an injury last year, adjusting to a new position, watching his good friend DLO get shipped out, seeing the leadership mantle handed over to Ant and being constantly mentioned in trade talk. It wasn't too long ago that Durant picked KAT as his 6th player in KAT's most recent all-star appearance (overall he was picked 12th of 24 in 2022 All-star game).

[Q-is-here]

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.

We'll agree to disagree. I have no argument if your case is that KAT isn't on the same level as Butler, Giannis, Embiid, and Jokic as players. He's a second tier all-star caliber player and not the lead dog that can carry a team on the floor or the locker room. That has been well established and everyone - fans, Wolves front office, and even KAT himself - may agree it's time for him to move on after this season if things go sideways.

But I don't buy your narrative that he is some kind of cancerous presence that no one wants anything to do with when it comes to the actual players, coaches, and NBA front offices. You need to get out of your east coast bubble!

[Monster]

I think it’s become clear that Jimmy Butler’s issue was not Towns or Wiggins it was that the Timberwolves didn’t value him as highly as he did those guys. Do think he has Towns loved each other? No. No players hated Wiggins despite him being disappointing to people who thought he didn’t live up with his Talent. I don’t think players dislike Towns. Do some players wonder if he is a winner? Yeah maybe and if nothing else Town’s struggles in the postseason are a legit worry.

Now let’s get back to the Towns hype.

On offense I love the quick trigger 3 point shooting and he is back to attacking the rim off the dribble. Game 2 he even dried in a nice post move. I think Towns best use is building his game outside in. Make him a dangerous outside shooter and go from there.

On defense the Wolves look like they may have figure out how to play. They look more aggressive like they were 2 years ago but they also have Gobert. I still think Finch made a huge miscalculation assuming Gobert could he dropped in and things would work. Of course maybe it wasn’t that and there simply wasn’t enough time to make it work with Gobert playing internationally not being healthy and Towns also being sick. If Finch and his staff especially Elston Turner figure out how to get the most out of Rudy and Towns plus all the other guys on the roster on that end well that’s gonna be a big deal too. Towns tends to do well on the perimeter defensively. You can’t tell me Towms doesn’t have more defensive potential than Bogdonovic when he arrived in Utah and ended up playing next to Gobert for a few years. Towns is a very good player and I think has a chance to be a no brainer HOF choice but on both ends of the floor coaching matters for him. Some of that is because he isn’t physically overwhelming.

I hope Towns follows through on chilling out some. KG later in his career found a little bit of balance there. I remember Towns Rookie year KG tried to calm Towns down some. I think the main thing that can help Towns is Edwards ascending. Towns thinking he doesn’t have to be the answer to the problem (even if that’s just in his own head) may free him from a variety of things.

Also you can knock Russell for things but I actually think he was a good guy for Towns when it comes to basketball as a teammate. Mike Conely will be even better. Keep in mind Conely is a video gamer so who knows he and Towns might be playing call of duty together quite a bit. I didn’t really get the sense that Towns and Russell despite being friends and had history etc were always hanging out or whatever anyways. Towns isn’t 23 anymore he has his girlfriend plus probably other friends outside the team which in general I think is a good thing.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Listening to Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo talk about the Timberwolves over/under chances. LOL.

Obviously, Simmons isn't a Towns guy. There really aren't many Towns guys among the pundits right now, as we've discussed. But Russillo. Yikes.

A couple of choice slightly paraphrased nuggets:

"How many games will Towns play. Is he going to be cleared to play after injury and refuse to come back."
"Once Edwards gets rolling, it's going to bother Towns. It should clearly be Edwards' team."

The first one... hmmm... maybe he has more intel than others? But then the second nugget. C'mon. That's lazy message board posting from 2022... or 2019. What more is needed for everybody to stop with the lazy "Will Towns accept Edwards as the guy" take?

- The guy willingly took a backseat to Butler. Heck, he often took a backseat to Wiggins or even Russell. Towns was forcing the ball to Gobert much more than every other teammate. Even more, Edwards took 5 more FGA than Towns last year. That nearly doubled in the playoffs. The same thing happened in 2022. In fact, that's part of Towns' problem.

Nobody who actually watches this team play actually thinks that this is still an issue. I get that these guys can't watch every team... especially when they're also allegedly watching every movie in history and talking about them... or lifting heavy weights every waking moment to be buff... but meh.

I hope Towns does well if for nothing else to change the same tired tropes.


[Note: I try not to put too much stock in this silliness, and try to avoid being a homer rube...]

[Q-is-here]

Listening to Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo talk about the Timberwolves over/under chances. LOL.

Obviously, Simmons isn't a Towns guy. There really aren't many Towns guys among the pundits right now, as we've discussed. But Russillo. Yikes.

A couple of choice slightly paraphrased nuggets:

"How many games will Towns play. Is he going to be cleared to play after injury and refuse to come back."
"Once Edwards gets rolling, it's going to bother Towns. It should clearly be Edwards' team."

The first one... hmmm... maybe he has more intel than others? But then the second nugget. C'mon. That's lazy message board posting from 2022... or 2019. What more is needed for everybody to stop with the lazy "Will Towns accept Edwards as the guy" take?

- The guy willingly took a backseat to Butler. Heck, he often took a backseat to Wiggins or even Russell. Towns was forcing the ball to Gobert much more than every other teammate. Even more, Edwards took 5 more FGA than Towns last year. That nearly doubled in the playoffs. The same thing happened in 2022. In fact, that's part of Towns' problem.

Nobody who actually watches this team play actually thinks that this is still an issue. I get that these guys can't watch every team... especially when they're also allegedly watching every movie in history and talking about them... or lifting heavy weights every waking moment to be buff... but meh.

I hope Towns does well if for nothing else to change the same tired tropes.


[Note: I try not to put too much stock in this silliness, and try to avoid being a homer rube...]

Don't worry Abe, no one will accuse you of being a homer rube!

There are a lot of valid reasons to dislike KAT or feel that he should be traded at some point. But to think that he is going to mope and force his way out because of Ant's ascension is pretty silly at this point. That fear was put to bed a while ago, as Ant's ascension began during the Memphis playoff series two seasons ago and has only accelerated since then.