Minnesota Sports Forum

Let's focus on the West. Gobert? DeAndre Jordan? Marc Gasol? Will he dominate everyone who dares stop him?

Except for his first game against Whiteside very early in the year, I don't remember KAT struggling because of a specific defender. Case in point...I think he had double doubles against each of the guys you mention. He had some games where he wasn't as effective because his shot was off, but he was missing wide open shots and his performance didn't seem to be determined by the defender. His game is versatile enough that he can take big defenders outside or dominate quick defenders inside. I think he will struggle on nights when he's not feeling it, but I don't think the guy in the other uniform will have much to do with it.

The question for me is, who won't struggle against KAT next year? Towns was solid offensively for the most part, no matter the defender. I agree with LST, when he had an off night offensively, it was more because he just wasn't at his best.

Defensively though, sometimes opposing bigs had good nights against us, although his defense overall is very good. Drummond had 23 and 18, Davis had 35 points, Aldridge had 29, Jordan had 18 and 15. Those are great players, and Dieng was responsible for some of that too. But I'm more interested in seeing KAT take pride in really shutting down opposing star bigs throughout the year next year. I'd like to see him really contain Jordan, Drummond, and Whiteside in particular, because if he can shut them down, he can contain the really big athletic dudes.

Yeah, I agree that offensively KAT will be fine. One thing he might see more of is double teams and guys looking to contest his shot harder since he's proven that he can knock down open jumpers.

Defensively, he has a lot of work to do. I agree that he has the inherent skills and smarts to improve dramatically in this area, but he was pushed around in the paint a lot last year and is still learning the nuances of defending in the NBA. All these guys need to become students of the defensive game, studying their opponents and tendencies and really becoming far more disciplined and professional in this area. The type of defense we've seen the last two years from this squad is simply unacceptable.

Great question. Reading Drew's post makes me think we need to have 2 types of players to pair with KAT. A defensive center and a stretch 4. I think Aldrich and Belly are lite version of what we need.

bleedspeed177 wrote:Great question. Reading Drew's post makes me think we need to have 2 types of players to pair with KAT. A defensive center and a stretch 4. I think Aldrich and Belly are lite version of what we need.

Aldrich should really help against certain centers. Guys like Drummond and Jordan (and Robin Lopez of all people killed us in a game last year) don't have offensive moves, but they use size and athleticism to get offensive boards and put backs. Last year, we had no alternative to KAT for those players... Dieng is neither strong enough nor quick enough.

Anthony Davis?

After all, he's the other best young big in the game...

Yes, how did I forget Davis? He'll be the,most difficult to deal with.

I am really anxious to see how Thibs makes KAT a better defender and what his role offensively will be. I would like to see us use KAT and Wiggins equally down the stretch offensively. I have always dreamed of having a team (ala Duncan, Spurs; Shaq, Lakers) where you have a guy who has a great post game and is trusted to get a high percentage shot when you are down late in a game or are protecting a lead. I think both KAT and Wiggins can do that.

He's going to struggle to score against Duncan this year.