**The Official Karl-Anthony Towns Thread: Part Two**

[TimberKat]

Also I wouldn't be surprised if Rob and TSJ development will trigger comeback of Towns postups, and faceup actions from midrange and at elbow

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Someone asked what's his move / counter move. I think it's his post up. His 3pt shoots are more opportunistic where he makes them if he is open. He can't create them (or run around the court to get open). Maybe more pick and pop with Gobert to free him up for 3s. So, I am all for seeing more post up from him to initiate the offense.

[minimus]

Also I wouldn't be surprised if Rob and TSJ development will trigger comeback of Towns postups, and faceup actions from midrange and at elbow

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Someone asked what's his move / counter move. I think it's his post up. His 3pt shoots are more opportunistic where he makes them if he is open. He can't create them (or run around the court to get open). Maybe more pick and pop with Gobert to free him up for 3s. So, I am all for seeing more post up from him to initiate the offense.

Yeah, I mean it is not only about Towns. Sure, he must avoid stupid hooking offensive fouls, but with addition of new guys I hope to see better spacing, better ball movement, quicker decision making. All these things create much needed offensive flow. This way Towns can execute quick, efficient postups.

[minimus]

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[Klomp]

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[minimus]

from last Basketball Poetry email "The 13 Least Consistent NBA Stars of the 2024 Season":

Boring math: I took every NBA player’s stats from every game last season and whittled it down to the top 50 point-scorers in the NBA (points are generally the biggest driver of Game Score), min. 50 games of at least 20 mins played. I then adjusted to a per-36-minute number, took the standard deviations of each player’s adjusted Game Scores, and normalized them by dividing the standard deviation by the player’s mean Game Score; this helps stabilize comparisons between players whose average Game Score is 15 and those whose average Game Score is 25.

It’s important to note that the standard deviation divided by the average doesn’t mean anything tangible in and of itself, but it is useful for rank-ordering players. A lower number indicates a more consistent output; a higher one means more nightly variance.



Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaren Jackson Jr. are fun names; although giant, both fill a similar role offensively as many of their neighbors on this list. They jack it from deep and attack off the dribble. However, I was still surprised to see Towns so low. He’s a solid rebounder with excellent shooting percentages, which usually buoy a player’s consistency rankings. Both are ultimately undone by a high level of turnovers and personal fouls compared to their relatively low points per game. The foul trouble, in particular, led to both having some subpar games. Even when you adjust for minutes, picking up early fouls impacts you in the box score in other ways: fewer blocks, less aggression on offense, etc.

[shrink]

In the US we don’t really use GameScore, but in general, I think this methodology ends up being a list of second options.

If GameScore is predominantly based on points as you say, first options score every night, second options need to contribute what that game needs each night, particularly when a first option misses a game.

[Colbinii]

I'd rather use in-game BPM than Gamescore.

[minimus]

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“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

[shrink]

DLo posting this himself comes off as so needy.

Good to see Conley doing so well!

[minimus]

DLo posting this himself comes off as so needy.

Good to see Conley doing so well!

Yeah, Conley has been great shooting both pull up and catch and shoot threes. But my post was more about obvious thing that Reid and Towns are not pull up three point shooters. Which means they are not movement shooters, especially Towns.

[shrink]

Yeah, Conley has been great shooting both pull up and catch and shoot threes. But my post was more about obvious thing that Reid and Towns are not pull up three point shooters. Which means they are not movement shooters, especially Towns.

Yes, that’s not what bigs do. Other teams don’t have bigs shooting more than average in that role either. Even KD is right there with Towns.

[frankenwolf]

So, I am proposing a hypothetical situation: The Timberwolves end this season losing in the finals. Rudy doesn't play a big part in the season and playoffs overall. Do the Timberwolves let him walk and move KAT back to center and have him be more like Jokic?

I know, an impossible question to answer based on too many variables, but it's August and I thought I'd throw something out there.

[Colbinii]

So, I am proposing a hypothetical situation: The Timberwolves end this season losing in the finals. Rudy doesn't play a big part in the season and playoffs overall. Do the Timberwolves let him walk and move KAT back to center and have him be more like Jokic?

I know, an impossible question to answer based on too many variables, but it's August and I thought I'd throw something out there.

It's impossible because there is no realistic chance this team remotely sniffs playoff success without Gobert being a big part of the factor.

[KGdaBom]

So, I am proposing a hypothetical situation: The Timberwolves end this season losing in the finals. Rudy doesn't play a big part in the season and playoffs overall. Do the Timberwolves let him walk and move KAT back to center and have him be more like Jokic?

I know, an impossible question to answer based on too many variables, but it's August and I thought I'd throw something out there.

I have a hard time believing Rudy won't play a big part. He was massive to our success last season.

[KGdaBom]

So, I am proposing a hypothetical situation: The Timberwolves end this season losing in the finals. Rudy doesn't play a big part in the season and playoffs overall. Do the Timberwolves let him walk and move KAT back to center and have him be more like Jokic?

I know, an impossible question to answer based on too many variables, but it's August and I thought I'd throw something out there.

It's impossible because there is no realistic chance this team remotely sniffs playoff success without Gobert being a big part of the factor.

Jinx.

[Calinks]

As I have said multiple times. I think Towns is still severely underutilized on offense with our current team construction. We still have not figured out how to optimize him and he is just being an ok fit using his talent alone. He doesn't have a defined role that's benefiting him or the team and I think we got exposed by the Mavs for this. He has managed to find role on the defensive end and that need was so great it has managed to propel us to an elite team.

The other major problem is all on Towns and that is his mental mistakes that contribute to his fouling. It is a major detriment to his overall game. If he cut that out it would have a positive impact and his effectiveness would shoot up.

If we can manage to optimize his offense so he is closer to his pre-Rudy self in scoring production (probably means he has to take more three's) and if he can somehow cut these fouls down, that alone would take our team up a step, that fouling part is a big if. I think the offense part can be done but we need the coaching staff to make changes.

[Klomp]

As I have said multiple times. I think Towns is still severely underutilized on offense with our current team construction. We still have not figured out how to optimize him and he is just being an ok fit using his talent alone. He doesn't have a defined role that's benefiting him or the team and I think we got exposed by the Mavs for this. He has managed to find role on the defensive end and that need was so great it has managed to propel us to an elite team.

The other major problem is all on Towns and that is his mental mistakes that contribute to his fouling. It is a major detriment to his overall game. If he cut that out it would have a positive impact and his effectiveness would shoot up.

If we can manage to optimize his offense so he is closer to his pre-Rudy self in scoring production (probably means he has to take more three's) and if he can somehow cut these fouls down, that alone would take our team up a step, that fouling part is a big if. I think the offense part can be done but we need the coaching staff to make changes.

I think in the Dallas series, his knee comeback is an underrated aspect of his struggles. Shout out to Dallas for noticing and exploiting it, but it should absolutely be included in the discussion of his struggles in the series.

"When we started getting deeper into the playoffs, that's when the thing started — I came back so quick — knee started flaring up, started being super swollen. Some days I couldn't practice just because I was just unable to walk, it's like I can't do it. If it wasn't for our medical staff I would've been held out more."

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[Klomp]

As I have said multiple times. I think Towns is still severely underutilized on offense with our current team construction. We still have not figured out how to optimize him and he is just being an ok fit using his talent alone. He doesn't have a defined role that's benefiting him or the team and I think we got exposed by the Mavs for this. He has managed to find role on the defensive end and that need was so great it has managed to propel us to an elite team.

The other major problem is all on Towns and that is his mental mistakes that contribute to his fouling. It is a major detriment to his overall game. If he cut that out it would have a positive impact and his effectiveness would shoot up.

If we can manage to optimize his offense so he is closer to his pre-Rudy self in scoring production (probably means he has to take more three's) and if he can somehow cut these fouls down, that alone would take our team up a step, that fouling part is a big if. I think the offense part can be done but we need the coaching staff to make changes.

I think we are in the "defensive" phase of our roster construction, partly because of the goal of stopping Denver and Connelly understanding how they could be neutralized. But I don't believe this is Connelly's longterm vision for the franchise.

I think this is evidenced by this offseason's moves. I know everyone thinks Towns leaving is inevitable, but I'm not certain. In terms of Minnesota's overall roster construction, I'd argue that Rudy Gobert is the biggest "odd man out" of the big men group.

I can easily see a transition to Gobert moving on and Towns sliding back to the 5, with the team moving to a "five-out" offense. Towns, Naz Reid, Leonard Miller, Luka Garza all fit this offensive mold. Get out and run, taking advantage of transition with weapons like Edwards, Dillingham, McDaniels, Shannon, etc in addition to that big man group that can feast in transition.

[shrink]

As I have said multiple times. I think Towns is still severely underutilized on offense with our current team construction. We still have not figured out how to optimize him and he is just being an ok fit using his talent alone. He doesn't have a defined role that's benefiting him or the team and I think we got exposed by the Mavs for this. He has managed to find role on the defensive end and that need was so great it has managed to propel us to an elite team.

The other major problem is all on Towns and that is his mental mistakes that contribute to his fouling. It is a major detriment to his overall game. If he cut that out it would have a positive impact and his effectiveness would shoot up.

If we can manage to optimize his offense so he is closer to his pre-Rudy self in scoring production (probably means he has to take more three's) and if he can somehow cut these fouls down, that alone would take our team up a step, that fouling part is a big if. I think the offense part can be done but we need the coaching staff to make changes.

I think we are in the "defensive" phase of our roster construction, partly because of the goal of stopping Denver and Connelly understanding how they could be neutralized. But I don't believe this is Connelly's longterm vision for the franchise.

I think this is evidenced by this offseason's moves. I know everyone thinks Towns leaving is inevitable, but I'm not certain. In terms of Minnesota's overall roster construction, I'd argue that Rudy Gobert is the biggest "odd man out" of the big men group.

I can easily see a transition to Gobert moving on and Towns sliding back to the 5, with the team moving to a "five-out" offense. Towns, Naz Reid, Leonard Miller, Luka Garza all fit this offensive mold. Get out and run, taking advantage of transition with weapons like Edwards, Dillingham, McDaniels, Shannon, etc in addition to that big man group that can feast in transition.

It’s interesting from an overall team value.

Towns would be worth more offensively if he was playing center, getting all those match up advantages. It would also open up starter minutes for Naz, which could increase his value as well.

Towns doesn’t get enough credit for improving his major flaws. I never expected him to be an okay defender, but he has put his heart into it. People also dislike Towns whining to the ref, and I believe he had 13 technical fouls two years ago. Last year I believe he has only one, and it was later rescinded.

I would hope some of the defensive identity would remain if Gobert was traded for assets. But both KAT and especially Naz would need to improve defensively to give the team a chance to keep up, even with a crazy good offense. But from a purely-GM level, this could maximize our assets.

[Klomp]

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