Minnesota Sports Forum

I want to see him next to Pek playing the 4.

thedoper wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:KAT now ranks sixth in PER among all centers...as a rookie. Here are some of the guys behind him:

Monroe
Lopez (both)
Horford
Vslenciunas
Jordan
Howard
M Gasol
Bogut
Jefferson
Duncan
Gobert
Okafor
Hibbert
Mozgov

How high is this guy's ceiling?

Olajuwon

:thumb:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I want to see him next to Pek playing the 4.

:thumb:

longstrangetrip wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I want to see him next to Pek playing the 4.

:thumb:

Belly and Payne have not been rotation worthy this season. Pek's return could have a very positive impact for the Wolves.

60WinTim wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I want to see him next to Pek playing the 4.

:thumb:

Belly and Payne have not been rotation worthy this season. Pek's return could have a very positive impact for the Wolves.

I think Pek's return moves Dieng to the 4 full time. Towns is just too valuable as a 5 to move. His rim protection and spacing are more valuable at the 5 than the 4. Meanwhile Dieng is a better PnR defender and worse rim protector which is a better fit at the 4. I think we'll see Towns/KG, Towns/Dieng and Pek/Dieng as the pairings with maybe a little Towns at the 4. Towns dragging 5's to the elbow and out is more valuable than pulling 4's. He also gets put at risk of being pulled from the basket defensively as a 4 when he needs to be the anchor and stay near the rim with 5's.

I love KAT's enormously high standards for himself, and that he takes everything the coaches (and KG) dish out to him. Last night he had a terrific stat game, but he described his play as "awful, atrocious, terrible". At one point Sam yanked him out of the game for a missed defensive assignment, and you could see Zach asking him "what did you do?"...ha! KAT didn't look happy, but he explained his transgression to Zach...so they both learned something. A lot of rookies (or vets) would have pouted on the bench, but you could tell that KAT wants to learn and he is taking it all in.

khans2k5 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I want to see him next to Pek playing the 4.

:thumb:

Belly and Payne have not been rotation worthy this season. Pek's return could have a very positive impact for the Wolves.

I think Pek's return moves Dieng to the 4 full time. Towns is just too valuable as a 5 to move. His rim protection and spacing are more valuable at the 5 than the 4. Meanwhile Dieng is a better PnR defender and worse rim protector which is a better fit at the 4. I think we'll see Towns/KG, Towns/Dieng and Pek/Dieng as the pairings with maybe a little Towns at the 4. Towns dragging 5's to the elbow and out is more valuable than pulling 4's. He also gets put at risk of being pulled from the basket defensively as a 4 when he needs to be the anchor and stay near the rim with 5's.

I understand your points in theory, but where we decide to play Towns doesn't necessarily dictate who the other team chooses to guard him with.

longstrangetrip wrote:I love KAT's enormously high standards for himself, and that he takes everything the coaches (and KG) dish out to him. Last night he had a terrific stat game, but he described his play as "awful, atrocious, terrible". At one point Sam yanked him out of the game for a missed defensive assignment, and you could see Zach asking him "what did you do?"...ha! KAT didn't look happy, but he explained his transgression to Zach...so they both learned something. A lot of rookies (or vets) would have pouted on the bench, but you could tell that KAT wants to learn and he is taking it all in.

That's a great sign, isn't it? A very talented player ahead of the curve... who's not complacent about it. It's nearly impossible to decipher if guys are legit in interviews... but Towns interview at halftime yesterday could be very telling. Here he was looking and acting disgusted in himself after a decent stat line in the first half and a 7 point lead.

When you can combine talent with drive and commitment... Yikes.

I'm excited to see just how good this kid could become.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:I love KAT's enormously high standards for himself, and that he takes everything the coaches (and KG) dish out to him. Last night he had a terrific stat game, but he described his play as "awful, atrocious, terrible". At one point Sam yanked him out of the game for a missed defensive assignment, and you could see Zach asking him "what did you do?"...ha! KAT didn't look happy, but he explained his transgression to Zach...so they both learned something. A lot of rookies (or vets) would have pouted on the bench, but you could tell that KAT wants to learn and he is taking it all in.

That's a great sign, isn't it? A very talented player ahead of the curve... who's not complacent about it. It's nearly impossible to decipher if guys are legit in interviews... but Towns interview at halftime yesterday could be very telling. Here he was looking and acting disgusted in himself after a decent stat line in the first half and a 7 point lead.

When you can combine talent with drive and commitment... Yikes.

I'm excited to see just how good this kid could become.

Good point about the halftime interview, abe...he looked sincerely unhappy with his play and determined to do better. I have to admit I wasn't sure he had that burning desire to be the best when I watched him at Kentucky, but I was wrong. I liked what Sam said about him in the newspaper this morning. He said that when he yanked him for screwing up on defense, KAT came right over to him and said "coach, I know why you're pulling me out". Sam talked about how unusual KAT is for a talented rookie, having such a thick skin and desire to be even better...and praise doesn't always come easily from Sam.

Looking forward to watching KAT continue to work his craft and improve. KG seems to be the perfect mentor for him. What a great pick for us.