Minnesota Sports Forum

His play so far deserves its own thread. Some of his blocks are ridiculous how he gets in front of guys then owns them I don't even know how the hell he does it. He has a smooth jumper and he hasn't turned 20 yet. You expect every FT to go in. He can post guys up he can pass. He owned Al tonight. His rebounding has looked better also. On top of that he is calm smooth smart competitive and a team guy. He is a rookie but he has to be legitimately having a positive impact no doubt from what I see. I can't even believe how good he has looked so far in pretty much any way.

I agree. Town is amazing. We finally got lucky and won the lottery when a talent like towns was available. He is going to be the rookie of the year.

Yes, hard to say enough superlatives. Check out this comparison of his rookie year stats so far versus other elite bigs' rookie stats, both past and present:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&y1=2016&p1=townska01&y2=1998&p2=duncati01&y3=2013&p3=davisan02&y4=1985&p4=olajuha01&y5=2002&p5=gasolpa01&p6=

I mean, he's hanging with these guys and younger than everyone but AD.

Of that comparison group as rookies, on a per 36 minute basis, he's tops in rebounds and blocks and second in points. He's first in WS/48, which is amazing. He's not quite as efficient as the other guys were, but keep in mind he relies quite a bit on the mid to long-range 2. Once he stretches his range out to 3, his efficiency will go way up.

I really hoped he would be good, but I thought it would be a much slower process. I thought he would regularly be in foul trouble and struggle to rebound.

He certainly need to get more comfortable with how quickly NBA defenses double team and close down the lane when he drives, but he is close. When he gets his body in NBA shape (like Anthony Davis did after year 2 and 3) he will be dominant.

He has gone up against Roy Hibbert, Al Horford, Mason Plumlee, Al Jefferson, Hassan Whiteside and other very solid bigs and has not been over matched. In fact, I would say most of his competition seems over matched. Thats the most impressive part! He is already an effective NBA big with SUPERSTAR potential. No doubts he will be a 22+pts, 12+rebs, 2.5+blk type of player very soon!

It so nice to have a big who can, in theory, shoot a high percentage and make a big bucket late in a game!

Yeah, he's WAY ahead defensively of where I thought he'd be. I really thought his offensive gifts would shine through, but that defense would be a struggle at first. He is not only a great weak side rim protector, he is also holding his own against power post moves. I really thought he'd get man-handled a bit more, but he is really a good one on one post defender.

I don't think there is a topic that unifies the board any more than talking about how good KAT is. Having watched him up close and personal in Vegas, I'm frankly stunned at how good he has been. I thought he would show flashes of brilliance his rookie year, but be physically overmatched or in foul trouble many nights. Wrong! He doesn't play like a 19-year-old. He brings intensity, physicality, smarts and skills every night. in terms of scoring, his 15-footer is money, he can put the ball on the floor, he can hook with either hand, and his 3-point shooting is still untapped...he is a 22 PPG player waiting to happen. His rebounding has been consistently good, and his defense has been both steady and sensational. And we haven't yet seen what a good passer he is going to be. Sorry to gush, but this is one exceptional rookie.

Yeah, the speed at which he has become competent in just about everything has been insane. You would never know he was a rookie.

I'm not known as a Wolves optimist around these parts.

But I haven't been this optimistic about a player(s) since 1996. I have only positive impressions of Towns so far. I'm eager to see where it goes from here.

I have always felt that the main difference between Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett in their primes was where their crunch-time shots would come from. Kevin would shoot jump shots or fall-away post moves, where Duncan would shot short-range jump hooks or get to the free-throw line. That is the type of player you want when you need a bucket. We have that in Towns (or will in the very near future). What a great compliment to a scoring wing like Wiggins. I love Wiggins, especially how he attacked the defense late in the game against Chicago, but I would much rather dump it into a big man who shoots a high percentage.