Poll: Who should the Wolves take with the #1 overall pick?

[AQuintus]

are there stats out there for that

NBA.com's player tracking (http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/defense/?sort=FGP_DEFEND_RIM&dir=1). Synergy covers college basketball, but that's way out of my price range.

Just for fun, here are the opponent FG% for Minnesota's bigs this year:

Dieng - 55.8%
Pekovic - 56.5%
Hamilton - 57.3%
Payne - 60.3%
Bennett - 55.9%
Hummel - 60.6%
Young - 61.8%
Garnett - 47.4%

For comparison:

Anthony Davis - 48.6%
Tim Duncan - 46.9%
Dwight Howard - 45.7%
Marc Gasol - 49.4%

So, basically, with the exception of Garnett (who barely played), our Bigs were all insanely bad at defending the rim this year.

[AQuintus]

Do you think Towns will get those number?

I would expect him to be close at least.

Edit:

Davis actually only averaged 2.9. Hassan Whiteside averaged 2.6 in 24 mpg.

Last year, the top 3 were Davis with 2.8, Ibaka with 2.7, and Jordan with 2.5.

So, I'll amend that to 2+ bpg.

[Sothron]

I'm happy with either but I prefer Okafor.

[Killboard]

So, basically, with the exception of Garnett (who barely played), our Bigs were all insanely bad at defending the rim this year.

Our guards, besides 15 ricky games, wasnt doing any favor neither.

[C.lupus]

Seems like a good time to repost this Towns v. Okafor debate at SI. Towns won 5-4: http://www.si.com/nba/2015/05/20/minnesota-timberwolves-glen-taylor-flip-saunders

[kmgarnett21]

I'm fine with either, but I think Towns is the best fit for what we have. Plus, you don't have to worry about the FT issues like Okafor. Towns is also more athletic and that's something Flip has addressed multiple times since coming back to Minn.

But Okafor is an extremely skilled offensive big. He'll likely be a top 3 scoring center his rookie season. Plus, there's reports that he and Wiggins have been friends for a long time. And imagine the space he'll give with defenses having to collapse on him. Not to mention his offensive rebounding ability and how easy it is for him to up around the rim. I love Pek, but he's probably left 2,500 points on the court b/c of missed shots right at the rim. That won't happen with Okafor.

[Mattya]

Still can't believe it.

How I woke up today

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJqjlFGZxtE[/youtube]

[LordBaldric]

Love how everyone is ignoring Okafor's abysmal FT shooting when the Hack-A-Thon is going on front and center in the playoffs this year. It's a major problem.

[Devilzsidewalk]

are there stats out there for that

NBA.com's player tracking (http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/defense/?sort=FGP_DEFEND_RIM&dir=1). Synergy covers college basketball, but that's way out of my price range.

Just for fun, here are the opponent FG% for Minnesota's bigs this year:

Dieng - 55.8%
Pekovic - 56.5%
Hamilton - 57.3%
Payne - 60.3%
Bennett - 55.9%
Hummel - 60.6%
Young - 61.8%
Garnett - 47.4%

For comparison:

Anthony Davis - 48.6%
Tim Duncan - 46.9%
Dwight Howard - 45.7%
Marc Gasol - 49.4%

So, basically, with the exception of Garnett (who barely played), our Bigs were all insanely bad at defending the rim this year.

For the NCAA Though

[Foye]

I'm intrigued by Okafors post skills and big hands. That will definitely translate to the nba. He could be the next great offensive big. Question is whether you can make him care enough about defense, though.

With Towns I see more bust potential because you need to develop his post game a lot more.

Sent from my GT-I9001 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Worm Guts]

Love how everyone is ignoring Okafor's abysmal FT shooting when the Hack-A-Thon is going on front and center in the playoffs this year. It's a major problem.

I think you've got to realize that all you have to do is shoot above 55%, and it becomes a stupid strategy since every team in the league scores less per possession than that.

[LordBaldric]

Love how everyone is ignoring Okafor's abysmal FT shooting when the Hack-A-Thon is going on front and center in the playoffs this year. It's a major problem.

I think you've got to realize that all you have to do is shoot above 55%, and it becomes a stupid strategy since every team in the league scores less per possession than that.

Assuming Okafor even improves to 55% (not a given) I would expect his FG% in the post would be quite a bit better than that, so the smart play in that situation, especially in crunch time, would be to wrap him up and put him on the line. They did the same thing to Shaq, except Shaq was so strong he could convert those to And-1s a decent amount of times.

[Klomp]

So, I'll amend that to 2+ bpg.

So he needs to be top 5 in the NBA in rebounding and top 6 in the NBA in blocks for you to be satisfied? With his offense, that's best center in the NBA. Those are some extremely high standards. I'm not sure Towns will ever put up those numbers, while also never having Okafor's offensive game.

[Mattya]

I actually think Okafor will improve a lot as a free throw shooter. No guarantees, but his form isn't awful, and he has nice touch.

[AQuintus]

So, I'll amend that to 2+ bpg.

So he needs to be top 7 in the NBA in rebounding and top 7 in the NBA in blocks for you to be satisfied? With his offense, that's best center in the NBA.

Yes. I want my C to be an elite rim protector 1st, an elite rebounder 2nd, and anything he gives me offensively beyond that is just icing on the cake.

I'm not sure Towns will ever put up those numbers, while also never having Okafor's offensive game.

Based on his college numbers, Towns projects to have those kind of stats while having in offensive game, while probably not quite as high in ppg, that's better suited for the modern NBA in general and the Wolves specifically.

[Raymond437]

Towns Towns Towns

[jpatrick]

I don't think either guy is a "sure thing" superstar. Towns is guaranteed to be a good all-around player, I'd say Horford type floor, and Okafor will score 20 per game but also might give that much back at the defensive end.

I think Okafor is a great prospect, but to play devil's advocate, what makes him different than Kanter on the defensive end? Okafor was beyond bad agains the pick-and-roll in college, like terrible, and, except on few occasions, he provided little-to-no rim protection. Nowadays, these are the two things a big is judged on defensively in the NBA. Can he improve with better conditioning/effort? Yes, but you can't count on something like that.

I will also say that while he is big, I don't feel like he rebounded outside of his immediate area very well in college therefore doesn't project as an elite NBA rebounder, Towns was much better, and I haven't even mentioned his free throw problems and inability to provide any floor spacing (clogging the paint for our posting wings).

All that said, I won't be mad if we take him because he's just that good offensively in the post. I just prefer Towns' all around game. I still want to see measurements. I feel like Towns is much closer to his 9'5" reach from the Hoops Summit than the 9'1" at UK pro day, but 9'1" would be on the smaller side for a center. I have a feeling he was "tanking" his reach measurement a little at UK to enhance his vertical jump numbers.

[AQuintus]

For the NCAA Though

I think that they only place you can get those numbers is (Edit: Sportvu, which only a few college teams, including Duke, use).

Draftexpress has the number (45.5%) for Okafor's first 17 games, but the competition is far from NBA quality, so it should be taken with a big grain of salt.

SportVU keeps stats on “rim protection,” which is any instance where the defender is within five feet of the basket and within five feet of the offensive player attempting the shot.

The numbers here suggest that Okafor hasn't been quite as ineffective as he appears to be on film at times. Okafor has been in a “rim protection” situation 8.8 times per game on average, which is a similar amount to that of his NBA center counterparts we studied in our six player sample. Opposing players have converted 45.5% of those field goal attempts.

There are a number of potential explanations for this. Our 14 game sample includes games against the likes of Presbyterian, Fairfield, Furman, Army, Elon, Toledo and Wofford, some of were huge blowout wins for Duke. At the same time, Duke's home ACC slate included games against Boston College and Pittsburgh, neither of which present imposing frontcourt challenges.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jahlil-Okafor-6469/

[Klomp]

I am really curious to know why anybody see Towns as a plus defender in the NBA and which role they see him playing to be that one? because he is not strong enough, and likely will never be, to defend Centers in the post, he is not a rim protector or a insanely long big guy that could use the verticality to defend that way, he has not got quick feet or agility to cover and switch with PF or defend the pick&roll… he is a hard working smart guy that can be an effective defender, alla Horford, but he is far away from been what somehow most of you are trying to make him be.

This is actually one area I don't disagree with you. I don't 100% agree, but I don't completely disagree either.

I am concerned with Towns' strength, as well. Coming out of Louisville, Gorgui Dieng was seen as an elite defensive big too. But he struggled with strength once he got to the NBA. Towns isn't a whole lot bigger than Dieng, who has had not the easiest transition to the NBA. I know there's a big age difference when both entered the league, but you also don't want to bulk up Towns' upper body so much that he turns into Andrew Bynum or Greg Oden.

Okafor on the other hand, while he is not there yet, has way better tools and traits to become an impactful big defensively.

I wouldn't go that far. You should have quit while you were ahead. Okafor may have the physical traits, but the defensive tool Okafor might not have is defensive awareness. Towns seems to have that.

[Klomp]

I actually think Okafor will improve a lot as a free throw shooter. No guarantees, but his form isn't awful, and he has nice touch.

Agreed. A lot of people improved FT shooting once they got to the NBA. Blake shot 59% over his first two seasons (52% as sophomore), 72% over last two seasons. Tim Duncan was sub-65% four times in the first half of his career, but has his career average at 70%.