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

[sfernald]

The problem I have with comparing some of these stats is strength of schedule.

Duke was 65th (62.1) in strength of schedule and Kentucky was 78th (59.8). The gap is very small.

Many of their games were like the trotters playing against the Washington generals. If you watched their games, how many 20-4 blowouts did you see from the outset?

This wasn't because their opponents were bad. This was because Kentucky was very, very good this year, and they were very, very good this year due to having great players like Towns.

it was hard to get too excited about Towns' defense when he was playing against 6'5" and 6''6" centers.

I actually looked into this. Towns played just as many games against teams with starters with NBA size (6'9"+ and 240+ pounds) as Okafor (20).

Are you going by ESPN SoS? Cause that's not necessarily definitive. And it seems like they make it pretty complex by basing it on BPI. You can find all sorts of different calculations on the Internet. Here's one that shows Duke as #3 in SoS and Kentucky as #17:
http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2015/sos

In my eye test if you don't count the NCAA tournament, Kentucky schedule was pretty much: generals, generals, generals, and more generals. Lol

Also, if an opponent was fortunate to have one 6'9" player, who would guard him on Kentucky? Wouldn't you put the defensive WCS on him and let Towns guard the next guy who's probably the 6'6" dude? That's the thing about Kentucky's crazy roster. Even if towns didn't play they would still blowout most teams on their schedule.

[AQuintus]

Are you going by ESPN SoS?

Yes.

Here's one that shows Duke as #3 in SoS and Kentucky as #17:
http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2015/sos

When you're talking about 300+ division 1 teams, 3 vs 17 is also a very small gap.

[urinesane]

This would have been easier if they had just played each other...

[mondry]

And watching towns play in these, it was hard to get too excited about Towns' defense when he was playing against 6'5" and 6''6" centers.

lol, then you must have been really bored with Okafor's defense against these guys!

[Sothron]

Thibs + Towns and i will forget every stupid decision Flip made so far.
Btw Thibs and Towns have the same agent.

That ...would be kinda amazing.

[eroomlladnar]

The problem I have with comparing some of these stats is strength of schedule.

Duke was 65th (62.1) in strength of schedule and Kentucky was 78th (59.8). The gap is very small.

Many of their games were like the trotters playing against the Washington generals. If you watched their games, how many 20-4 blowouts did you see from the outset?

This wasn't because their opponents were bad. This was because Kentucky was very, very good this year, and they were very, very good this year due to having great players like Towns.

it was hard to get too excited about Towns' defense when he was playing against 6'5" and 6''6" centers.

I actually looked into this. Towns played just as many games against teams with starters with NBA size (6'9"+ and 240+ pounds) as Okafor (20).

Are you going by ESPN SoS? Cause that's not necessarily definitive. And it seems like they make it pretty complex by basing it on BPI. You can find all sorts of different calculations on the Internet. Here's one that shows Duke as #3 in SoS and Kentucky as #17:
http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2015/sos

In my eye test if you don't count the NCAA tournament, Kentucky schedule was pretty much: generals, generals, generals, and more generals. Lol

Also, if an opponent was fortunate to have one 6'9" player, who would guard him on Kentucky? Wouldn't you put the defensive WCS on him and let Towns guard the next guy who's probably the 6'6" dude? That's the thing about Kentucky's crazy roster. Even if towns didn't play they would still blowout most teams on their schedule.

Kentucky played:
Kansas, UCLA, Louisville, Providence, Texas OOC alone.

[Note30]

I feel like Town's defense might be a product of the system. I mean the guy had Stein on his team who really was a monster defensively, and I think Towns may have had an easier time as a result. Anyone else feel that?

[theGreatRC]

If we get Thibs, we're taking Towns. Towns defense would be prime Joakim Noah level (DPOY) under Thibs.

But what am I saying, there is no rumor or even hope that Thibs would coach here.

[FargoWolf]

Also, if an opponent was fortunate to have one 6'9" player, who would guard him on Kentucky? Wouldn't you put the defensive WCS on him and let Towns guard the next guy who's probably the 6'6" dude? That's the thing about Kentucky's crazy roster. Even if towns didn't play they would still blowout most teams on their schedule.

I'm starting to think you never even watched UK play, Towns would usually guard the biggest player on the other team while WCS would be this long athletic presence on the perimeter.

[FargoWolf]

I feel like Town's defense might be a product of the system. I mean the guy had Stein on his team who really was a monster defensively, and I think Towns may have had an easier time as a result. Anyone else feel that?

I think defensively they complimented each other really well, Towns could protect the rim while WCS created havoc on the perimeter.

That said I do think playing next to all those great defenders helped Towns a bit. I do think his defense might be a bit overrated but offensively I think he is being underrated. UK was an offensive mess, WCS was a joke and the Harrison twins would turn into black holes.

[Note30]

I feel like Town's defense might be a product of the system. I mean the guy had Stein on his team who really was a monster defensively, and I think Towns may have had an easier time as a result. Anyone else feel that?

I think defensively they complimented each other really well, Towns could protect the rim while WCS created havoc on the perimeter.

That said I do think playing next to all those great defenders helped Towns a bit. I do think his defense might be a bit overrated but offensively I think he is being underrated. UK was an offensive mess, WCS was a joke and the Harrison twins would turn into black holes.

Hmm. But that would be a nod to his playmaking ability on offense over his ability to score. Which would be perfect, if Zach and Andrew were the primary scoring options. I'm honestly not all that convinced that Towns has the ability to score in the post on NBA bigs. That I feel like is his biggest knock? I didn't watch him play (or UK this season), just caught highlights and reviews.

[FargoWolf]

I feel like Town's defense might be a product of the system. I mean the guy had Stein on his team who really was a monster defensively, and I think Towns may have had an easier time as a result. Anyone else feel that?

I think defensively they complimented each other really well, Towns could protect the rim while WCS created havoc on the perimeter.

That said I do think playing next to all those great defenders helped Towns a bit. I do think his defense might be a bit overrated but offensively I think he is being underrated. UK was an offensive mess, WCS was a joke and the Harrison twins would turn into black holes.

Hmm. But that would be a nod to his playmaking ability on offense over his ability to score. Which would be perfect, if Zach and Andrew were the primary scoring options. I'm honestly not all that convinced that Towns has the ability to score in the post on NBA bigs. That I feel like is his biggest knock? I didn't watch him play (or UK this season), just caught highlights and reviews.

It is hard to say how he will do until he gets there. I watched UK play all year and the best thing I can say about Towns in the post is that he consistently got better. At the end of the season he was solid and at times dominant. That said college basketball isn't exactly loaded with great defensive bigs.

Of course that same concern to me extends to Okafor a bit, he wasn't exactly dominant against the teams with great bigs he played in the tournament. Gonzaga's Karnowski gave him a lot of trouble and so did Poeltl from Utah. Kind of wish Towns had played one of those two.

[jpatrick]

We did see Towns and Okafor go against Kaminsky in the final four. Kaminsky may have outplayed both of them, although Towns looked significantly better than Okafor.

[Domejandro]

We did see Towns and Okafor go against Kaminsky in the final four. Kaminsky may have outplayed both of them, although Towns looked significantly better than Okafor.

They were both horrible, but I am unsure about this comment. Karl Anthony-Towns' defense was so poor that they had to switch Willie Cauley-Stein onto Frank Kaminsky to hide Towns on that side of the ball. Jahlil got in foul trouble and played poorly, but Towns was really, really bad in that game.

Not that the game should be the deciding factor in any case, but I think this line of thought is a misconception.

[the_process]

As a Sixer fan, I ask of Minny to please take Towns because I do not want those God damned Lakers getting him. Although if you take Okafor and the Lakers take Mudiay or Russell then that is perfectly acceptable

[Crazy-Canuck]

I feel like Town's defense might be a product of the system. I mean the guy had Stein on his team who really was a monster defensively, and I think Towns may have had an easier time as a result. Anyone else feel that?

I kinda agree with that.

KAT could expend more energy because he wasnt needed to play 30+ minutes a game. KAT may have played C, but WCS was the anchor of that defense. That kid made everyone on the Cats look better defensively.

[AttackTheRack]

Thought KAT got ignored in that game. His guards took over. Okafor didn't look great, either, but he showed up late.

Was just lurking on the Raps board. They're convinced Wiggles is going there at some point. I could see it, actually. That's why this pick is key. It'll be much harder for him to justify skipping town if his team is making deep playoff runs. Wiggins, Towns (Okafor), and Lavine is a Big 3 in 3-5 years. Lavine's gotta learn the game, Towns (Okafor) gotta' be legit, and Wiggins gotta' be let loose (that means 3s, Flip!). Rubio, Bazz, Dieng, maybe even Bennett blossoms? Good times ahead.

[Takingbaconback]

Also, if an opponent was fortunate to have one 6'9" player, who would guard him on Kentucky? Wouldn't you put the defensive WCS on him and let Towns guard the next guy who's probably the 6'6" dude? That's the thing about Kentucky's crazy roster. Even if towns didn't play they would still blowout most teams on their schedule.

I'm starting to think you never even watched UK play, Towns would usually guard the biggest player on the other team while WCS would be this long athletic presence on the perimeter.

Exactly what I was going to say but raged too hard. Trill ****, real ****

[sfernald]

Also, if an opponent was fortunate to have one 6'9" player, who would guard him on Kentucky? Wouldn't you put the defensive WCS on him and let Towns guard the next guy who's probably the 6'6" dude? That's the thing about Kentucky's crazy roster. Even if towns didn't play they would still blowout most teams on their schedule.

I'm starting to think you never even watched UK play, Towns would usually guard the biggest player on the other team while WCS would be this long athletic presence on the perimeter.

Exactly what I was going to say but raged too hard. Trill ****, real ****

I watched a bunch of UK games, but never really paid attention to who was guarding who unless I had actually heard of the players on the opposing team. Thus why I phrased it in the form of a question, lol. I do recall the bigs on the opposing team usually being much smaller though.

And don't rage about this stuff please. There's a very very good chance the best player will be the in field when considering Towns/Okafor/Field. In fact, if I were betting my life, I would take field for sure.

[Takingbaconback]

I'm starting to think you never even watched UK play, Towns would usually guard the biggest player on the other team while WCS would be this long athletic presence on the perimeter.

Exactly what I was going to say but raged too hard. Trill ****, real ****

I watched a bunch of UK games, but never really paid attention to who was guarding who unless I had actually heard of the players on the opposing team. Thus why I phrased it in the form of a question, lol. I do recall the bigs on the opposing team usually being much smaller though.

And don't rage about this stuff please. There's a very very good chance the best player will be the in field when considering Towns/Okafor/Field. In fact, if I were betting my life, I would take field for sure.

Hmm that is an interesting point... Would anybody take Towns or Okafor over the field?