Karl Anthony Towns

[Lipoli390]

https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2022/01/why-its-time-to-cut-kat-a-little-slack/

This is a great article by Britt and a must-read for any Wolves fan. It's probably the best and most balanced take on Towns that I've read. There are a lot of take-aways from this article. Probably the most important one for me is that this team continues to need more size. KAT's a 233 pound finesse player, yet he's the biggest player on the team by far except perhaps for Naz Reid who plays about as soft as any player in the League.

KAT has a number of flaws, which this article acknowledges. But he brings a lot to the table and the Wolves win more than they lose when he's on the court. He's a great offensive player who has clearly improved his defense. He's asked to do a lot, as the article point out. And you never hear him threaten to leave. KAT is what he is. I wish he were Embiid or Jokic but he's not. Bottom line for me is that the Wolves roster isn't fully constructed. But I think the foundation is in place and KAT remains a key piece of that foundation along with Edwards and DLO.

[Q-is-here]

Yup, great article by Britt. I love it when he joins Dane Moore on Dane's podcast. Those two have great chemistry.

As for KAT, I agree that we just need to accept him as he is, flaws and all. I think most of us here have said that if we ever want to be a serious contender, he can't be the best player. It will have to be Ant if it happens with this group. But as of this very second, KAT is probably by far our best player still. KAT would be one hell of a #2 and I think some of the melodrama recedes a bit if Ant ultimately becomes the superstar.

Ant holds the keys to greatness for this squad longer term. He is physically one of the most imposing perimeter players in the NBA. He needs to tighten up his game in areas, but his continued improvement this season is encouraging.

[FNG]

I'm a big Robson fan...he likes NBA buckets and music, and so do I. And this is a balanced article. You can't argue against the fact that KAT is our most productive player, and that we are not a good team when he doesn't play. And by the way...that's an issue. After missing only 5 games his first 4 seasons, his lack of availability the past three seasons is a major reason for our futility. He missed almost half the games two seasons ago, 31% of the games last season, and 16% of the games so far this season. I hold my breath every time he grimaces after hitting the ground (seemingly almost every game), because recent history tells us a significant KAT injury torpedoes a season. Unlike many other teams who seem to survive after losing a key player, the Wolves have demonstrated they do not.

There's a narrative here that we need more size, and I don't necessarily disagree. But isn't a little ironic that Robson spends a lot of time talking about how physical Okongwu was with him, when Okongwu is shorter and lighter than Towns? Yeah, it would be nice to have a talented 280 pound center, but smaller but physical guys like Okongwu and Vando have shown that size may not be the most important element in being a great rebounder or defender. Many of us were concerned about the Wolves' getting outrebounded earlier in the season, but with the emergence of the relatively undersized Vando as an elite rebounder, we have narrowed our rebounding differential to less than 1 rebound a game...and if trend lines continue, we will be positive soon.

So yeah, KAT is productive and vital to this team's success. But I'm also glad that his buddy DLo called him out after the Atlanta loss. DLo's words were subtle, but it seemed that he was saying that KAT's behavior toward the refs is costing this team wins. I agree. He simply has to modify his behavior to stop pissing off the refs if he wants to take his game to an even higher level.

Thanks for posting a good article, Lip.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Probably a good time for the article.

Recent game threads have piled on Towns quite a bit. Yes... he's annoying. Obviously. But we were teetering toward Kevin Love vitriol.

To be fair, that's to be expected when the best, most visible, most talked about player is also so fundamentally flawed (much like Love was). But he's still so far ahead of anybody else on the team as far as the best player that we can sorta take it for granted sometimes.


[Note: Personally, I'm not a huge Towns fan. I think there's a lot of (un)polished fabrication to his personality. As a fan of small guards, there's not even a ton about his game that I feel aesthetically pleasing. And I wince whenever I hear him speak hollow platitudes or whatever. But damn. He's good... warts and all.]

[Q-is-here]

We're still 27th in the league in defensive rebounding percentage, so it's still a problem for us. I think we need a different backup C than Naz Reid. And yes, it needs to be someone that is bigger and stronger than Naz. Someone that is a really good screen setter on offense and a really physical presence on defense. I don't think just picking up a journeyman zero-offense "banger" is an upgrade, but it can't be a $10M+ per year type player either, so not sure what the list of guys are that fit somewhere in between.

[Wolvesfan21]

If we have any thoughts about winning a chip in the coming years it's mostly going to be on Ant to become the best player and leader. KAT hasn't shown he can be either good enough or a good enough leader to take mostly crappy teams anywhere. Lots of empty stats.

Ant is going to have to become a top 3 player in the league, there is a chance he can though too as the LeBrons, Durants, Currys age out towards retirement.

KAT is essentially what he is at this point. He certainly could work on his flaws, but to expect it wouldn't be realistic either. It seems unlikely. My hope is that Ant can be that legit All Around player who can do it all. I guess we should worry some that KAT can rub off some of his deficiencies on Ant though too, just like last game. KAT whines to the refs then within a minute Ant goes off on the ref too and gets kicked out.

If KAT remains calm and cool I don't think Ant gets as crazy with the ref as he did. He must of really tore into the ref to get kicked out.

[AbeVigodaLive]

If we have any thoughts about winning a chip in the coming years it's mostly going to be on Ant to become the best player and leader. KAT hasn't shown he can be either good enough or a good enough leader to take mostly crappy teams anywhere. Lots of empty stats.

Ant is going to have to become a top 3 player in the league, there is a chance he can though too as the LeBrons, Durants, Currys age out towards retirement.

KAT is essentially what he is at this point. He certainly could work on his flaws, but to expect it wouldn't be realistic either. It seems unlikely. My hope is that Ant can be that legit All Around player who can do it all. I guess we should worry some that KAT can rub off some of his deficiencies on Ant though too, just like last game. KAT whines to the refs then within a minute Ant goes off on the ref too and gets kicked out.

If KAT remains calm and cool I don't think Ant gets as crazy with the ref as he did. He must of really tore into the ref to get kicked out.

1. That's on Edwards and/or the ref.
2. Let's worry about making the playoffs first... then championship talk.

[Wolvesfan21]

If we have any thoughts about winning a chip in the coming years it's mostly going to be on Ant to become the best player and leader. KAT hasn't shown he can be either good enough or a good enough leader to take mostly crappy teams anywhere. Lots of empty stats.

Ant is going to have to become a top 3 player in the league, there is a chance he can though too as the LeBrons, Durants, Currys age out towards retirement.

KAT is essentially what he is at this point. He certainly could work on his flaws, but to expect it wouldn't be realistic either. It seems unlikely. My hope is that Ant can be that legit All Around player who can do it all. I guess we should worry some that KAT can rub off some of his deficiencies on Ant though too, just like last game. KAT whines to the refs then within a minute Ant goes off on the ref too and gets kicked out.

If KAT remains calm and cool I don't think Ant gets as crazy with the ref as he did. He must of really tore into the ref to get kicked out.

1. That's on Edwards and/or the ref.
2. Let's worry about making the playoffs first... then championship talk.

For sure, can't blame KAT, but he also isn't helping by not being a great leader.

To your point, the goal still have to be Championship. Now it might be crazy to say it, but if your goal isn't that then you will never achieve it. You in all likelihood will have to take steps each year to get there, like make playoffs first, but you never know too. Phoenix basically came out of nowhere as soon as they got Paul/ It's OK to make the playoffs and win a round or two. You don't have to settle.

[Wolvesfan21]

Here is my take on expectations for the current Wolves.

Miss the playoffs or play in = Total failure = Sucks, We are the Wolves....
Make play in but not playoffs = Mild Failure = Ehhh, should we make some bigger moves???
Make playoffs lose in first round = Mild success = Meh it's OK, good step forward.
Make playoffs win 1 or 2 rounds = Great success = That was sweet run!
Make Conference Championship = Extreme success = Damn that was fun to watch, we comin!!
Make Finals but lose = Super duper extreme success = We came and it was awesome, let's get them next year!
Win it all! = Ultimate Champions and will life forever in Minnesota history as legends. Whoooohoooo!!!

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

The expectation for this season was for the Wolves to make the play-in tournament. This group, especially with its youth, needs to make progressive goals and actually meet them. That's the first one and they're on pace to do exactly that.

They have an outside chance of exceeding expectations by claiming a top-six seed which would guarantee them a playoff spot. It's well within reach, but they may need some savvy additions at the deadline to give them the extra push.

In any event, talking about a championship with this group is silly, in my opinion. They haven't earned that yet and if they ever do the team will likely have more turnover before then. It could be an entirely different core by that time. Let's pump the brakes.