Towns as a Shooter

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I've seen multiple places where people have written that Towns can shoot the ball with a little bit of range and can help us space the floor, but other than a clip of him goofing around with Wiggins a long time ago, I haven't actually seen that in his game. Is there anyplace that has shot charts on these prospects?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

He led his high school team in 3-pointers made (although I don't know the %) and he was also a very accurate 3-point shooter on his youth country team (Dominican Republic). People who scouted him as a prep/AAU player have attested to his range.

At Kentucky, Coach Cal was very explicit that he play closer to the basket and be more of a traditional big man. That was actually a change for Towns and he obviously came through it with flying colors after some early season struggles. If anything, this was the best thing that could have happened to him. We know he can man up and that he's not just a stretch big that can't take advantage of mis-matches in the low post.

Finally, it's very rare for a college big man to hit 81% of his free throws. That by itself is an indicator of his potential as a shooter. Typically strong FT% in college is correlated with shooting in the pros (obviously, it's never a perfect correlation).

[AbeVigodaLive]

I don't care if a center can shoot from 25 feet. Some guys tend to fall in love with jumpers to the detriment of their inside game.

But I do dig the 81% free throw rate.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I don't care if a center can shoot from 25 feet. Some guys tend to fall in love with jumpers to the detriment of their inside game.

But I do dig the 81% free throw rate.

Fair point and I think that was Coach Cal's concern when Towns first came to Kentucky. He had a bit of a reputation of floating on the perimeter. I think Cal definitely got the message through to him that he needs to play like a big man - at least on his team.

That being said, I think one of the real intriguing possibilities with Towns is to develop him into a 3-point threat, because now you are pulling the DeAndre Jordans, Rudy Goberts, Andrew Boguts and Dwight Howards way out of the paint. You can run a 5-out offense or an inverted set, with the likes of Wiggins and Shabazz posting up with Towns still on the perimeter. It is a direct count-offensive to the current trend of "big defensive Centers that can't shoot". What good is DeAndre Jordan or Gobert if they are out having to guard a guy at the 3-point line? And if they put a smaller big on Towns, he should go ahead and post that guy up. He could become the first "stretch 5" since Bill Laimbeer roamed the earth.

Is Flip enough of an innovator to look at this possibility over time? That's my concern.....

[SameOldNudityDrew]

The FT% is definitely nice. It hurts to have a liability at the line, that's for sure. That's one of my hesitations with Okafor. It was so painful to watch Deandre and Dwight in that last series.

I would definitely be a little more on the Towns bandwagon if I knew he could step out to the elbows or even a bit further and knock down jumpers consistently.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Could he really hit the NBA three?!? If I thought he could do that, I'd definitely be interested.

One of the reasons I actually really like Kaminsky (no, not with the first pick) is his combination of size and range. Guys like that are definitely valuable for the reasons Q mentioned.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Could he really hit the NBA three?!? If I thought he could do that, I'd definitely be interested.

One of the reasons I actually really like Kaminsky (no, not with the first pick) is his combination of size and range. Guys like that are definitely valuable for the reasons Q mentioned.

Don't know if he could right away, but based on his FT% and oft-cited potential (by scouts) as a shooter, I think it could be developed over time. Bigs eventually expanding their shot range is a little easier than guards since they typically spot up off pick and pops and take mostly wide open 3's.

But my issue is that this isn't in Flip's comfort zone. He would never push a guy to expand his shooting range, especially a Center, because Flip can't think outside the box in this way - he's too old school. But I could definitely see a younger, more progressive coach (like Hoiberg) do something like this.

[thedoper]

Targeting Towns as a 3 pt threat with some high school 3 pt shooting and college FT% as your data set is not an ideal strategy. Towns as a shooter is totally unproven at this point as far as I see it. I like that scouts like his shot, but it is a huge projection to assume this is a set NBA skill for him when there was very little to go on apart from FT% which we no from our boy Rubio is no guarantee of a good shot in the flow of an NBA offense.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I agree that Calipari probably helped KAT develop his inside skills this year by not allowing him to work outside too, but I also think he cost himself a national championship. I think he saw his returning backcourt and all those 7 footers and decided he could win a championship by going ultra conservative. I'm convinced they would have been unbeatable if he had allowed Towns to utilize all of his talents rather than putting him in a small box. He came into the season with scouts raving about his shooting stroke and his 3-point success in high school, workouts and AAU play. And just watching him drain three after three in that Wiggins video, it's clear that he is a terrific pure shooter...his stroke is that good. Add to that his 81% free throw rate, and I think he is going to be a very good stretch 4 or 5 in the NBA...unfortunately likely playing for the Lakers.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Targeting Towns as a 3 pt threat with some high school 3 pt shooting and college FT% as your data set is not an ideal strategy. Towns as a shooter is totally unproven at this point as far as I see it. I like that scouts like his shot, but it is a huge projection to assume this is a set NBA skill for him when there was very little to go on apart from FT% which we no from our boy Rubio is no guarantee of a good shot in the flow of an NBA offense.

Understood and I'm not assuming anything. However, I would certainly explore this angle if I were the coach as I think it would be a tremendous strategic advantage and counter-attack to the predominance of defensive-minded Centers that park in the lane.

Whether he ever develops into an NBA 3-point threat or not, he's still the better prospect of the two bigs.