Karl-Anthony Towns Is a Skilled Big Man

"Karl-Anthony Towns 2015" by Dennis Adair from Gainesville-StPetersburg, FL - Karl-Anthony Towns. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

The Big KAT had lots of people that questioned him going into this upcoming season. I really hope that all of those questions have been put to rest. Last night, the Minnesota Timberwolves had a preseason win over the Milwaukee Bucks. They have Karl-Anthony Towns to thank for that W. He played great on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor and had shown off his great post game. He was anything but a disappointment last night.

Karl started off the night with a nice basket underneath the hoop right after the opening tip. He made a nice pivot move to get up the shot. Then he showed us a nice kind of fade-away bank shot over Greg Monroe. Then he gave a nice hesitation move with a hook shot. Later, he would give us a pump-fake and a nice finger-role layup. My favorite post move he gave us though, was the little shimmy shake fade-away that he nailed over Greg Monroe. It is clear that Towns has his post game down.

His defense really struck me though. He was really able to contain a big man in Greg Monroe in the post and he really started to bother Monroe. When the Wolves went against the Bucks the 1st time this preseason, we didn't see that because Towns got into foul trouble early on. But in this game, Towns was able to defend at the 4 and the 5.

While Towns is a center, he proved the ability to play at the 4 spot. At the end of the game, Gorgui Dieng was put in with Towns. Gorgui played the 5 spot while Towns was placed at PF. It worked and the Wolves played pretty well with the both of them in there. You could see that the Wolves played a lot of high post action and PNR with both of them in the game, and you know Ricky Rubio will find you if you make a nice roll to the basket off a pick.

Towns played well at the defensive end and the offensive end. His rebounding is what put the cherry on top though. He ended the game with 12 rebounds, and he fought for each one of them. It really wasn't Towns that surprised me with the boards though, it was the whole Minnesota team. They really fought for each possession and grabbed as many boards as they could. While they did loose the rebounding batter, they definitely won the hustle battle. This is a young team that clearly wanted to win.

We new Towns would have these attributes, we might have thought they would have been that refined, but we knew he could play defense and rebound as well as post up. What you might not have known about him is that he can run the fast break and pass the ball really well. Towns fits so well with this Timberwolves team because he can run. Just take a look at the dunk and the alley-oop he had in transition. His passing abilities looked good in the summer league and they look pretty good now too. He had a nice around-the-back pass to Tayshaun Prince for a 3 pointer in the game.

In the end, Towns played really well, and I expect him to have a great season. It will be fun to see him, Wiggins, Muhammad, and LaVine running with Rubio throwing some oops.

Throwback Thurday (Sept.10)

Happy Birthday

 

Bob "The Dobber" Lanier

Bob Lanier was a Detroit Pistons legend. Averaging 20.1 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.1 steals, and 1.5 blocks over his career, Bob was inducted into the hall of fame. He was an offensive machine as he averaged over 22 PPG with the Pistons. His best offensive game was Nov. 28, 1972 against the Portland Trailblazers where he scored 48 points.

While Bob was a great offensive player, he was also very talented on the defensive end. He was very versitile and had very quick hands. In the 1973-74 season, he averaged 3.0 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. You might have thought that he would have won a defensive player of the year award, however, there was no award for playing defense back then. 

While Bob was never a part of the Bad Boys, and he had never won a championship, he found himself playing a more team role for the Milwaukee Bucks as his points dropped. Bob was more team oriented as he lead the Bucks to the playoffs every year he played for them.

Bob was a great player. A balanced player on both offense and defense. A player that will always be known as a great. He played 14 seasons and almost played 1,000 game but only made it to 959. I really hope that people don't forget a player as talented as Bob Lanier because he will go down as one of the best combined offensive and defensive players in history.

Throwback Thursday (Aug. 20)

Happy Birthday!

                            "Jerryd Bayless" by Keith Allison at Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr                          https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/15502687650/in/photolist-pBVjW7-pBPQ1a-oXu7bj/

Jerryd Bayless

Jerryd Bayless was born on Auguest 20, 1988. He turns 27 today. Jerryd Bayless was drafted by the Pacers as the 11th pick in the 2008 NBA draft. Over his carrer he has averaged 8.3 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 2.9 APG. He currently plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. His best game was against the Pistons when he played for the Raptors where he had 31 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal. During last season's playoffs against the Bulls, Jerryd Bayless hit a game winning buzzer-beater. Jerryd Bayless has had a pretty good carrer with some great seasons, and hopefully many more to come Jerryd!

Bulls VS Bucks (game 5)

Final Score: Bucks win 94-88



Bulls lead series 3-2

Bucks are not out. Don't count them out. Jason Kidd knows what he's doing. He won a series last year with the Nets. Let's breakdown what the Bucks have to do to win their next two games first.

The Bucks played great. Michael Carter-Williams played probably his best game ever. He had a near triple-double with 22 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds. What stood out the most though was on the defensive end. The PG had 3 blocks and 1 steal and kept Rose to just 13 points. They could clean up the turnovers a little bit as MCW had 4. In this game it just seamed like the Bucks just wanted the ball. Everyone on the team averaged over 4 MPH. The other thing is that when the bench was on the court, their offensive pace stepped up.

I hate how everyone is saying Derrick Rose is looking like an MVP candidate again. He had 2 semi-good games in the playoffs. All the others were somewhat okay. Let's put it this way. If Kevin Durant had a 13 point night shooting 0-7 from three point range, would that be an okay night. No, that would be a horrible night for him. Rose couldn't do anything right and he had 6 turnovers. So stop criticizing MCW for having 4. Next was Nikola Mirotic, Tony Snell, and Aaron Brooks who showed minimal effort on the court. The whole reason to have a bench is so they can produce while your starters are resting and can bring effort. They need to show some more effort out there next game if they are to win. It was just a poor game for the Bulls. They have to change something here and soon. 

Playoffs Day 3

Bucks VS Bulls

Bulls lead series 2-0


Warriors VS Pelicans

Warriors lead series 2-0


Games on April 21:

• Cavaliers VS Celtics (Game 2)
• Raptors VS Wizards (Game 2)
• Rockets VS Mavericks (Game 2)

Bulls VS Bucks (game 2)

Final Score: Bulls Win 91-82



Bulls lead series 2-0

Wow, game two was intense. Come on guys, you got at least 2 more game together. You wouldn't think that by watching the first quarter, it would be like that. The Bulls had only 11 points in the first while the Buck only had 16. It was a slow game to start. Let's take a look at the Bucks to start off.

The Bucks have to have more production. Middleton did great. He had 22 points, but others need to have more offense. Giannis "The Greek Freak" Antetokounmpo shot 2-11 from the field and had 6 points. You can't be missing wide open layups in the playoffs. What I really liked with this team is that they had great cuts, ball movement, and spacing. This was a problem with this team. If they evened it out, this would have been a closer game. Rebounding. The Bucks were out-rebounded 48-64. You need to get a body on someone. You can't allow these second chance points. They need to rebound better.

The Bulls just need to keep performing. Derrick Rose picked it up in the second half but he need to score and shoot well. Butler made up for it in this game though as he had a total of 31 points. I honestly think a great way to beat this Bucks team would be to outscore them. The Bucks don't seem like they can score that well, and if the Bulls take off with points, the Bucks won't be able to keep up. Like Jason Kidd said, the Bucks game is playing at a slow pace. If you play at a fast pace, that will throw their game off.

Playoffs Day 1

April 18th

Raptors vs Wizards:Wizards 1-0



Warriors VS Pelicans: Warriors 1-0



Bulls VS Bucks: Bulls 1-0



Rockets VS Mavericks: Rockets 1-0




Games on April 19th:

• Cavs VS Celtics
• Hawks VS Nets
• Grizzlies VS Trailblazers
• Clippers VS Spurs

Bulls VS Bucks (game 1)

Final Score: Bulls win 103-91



Bulls lead series 1-0

This is tough. This Bucks team is going against a great offensive and defensive team. Not to mention that Derrick Rose is back and he is healthy. Him and Jimmy Butler had a combined total of 48 points. The other part the the Bucks lost badly in was rebounding. The Bulls had a total of 52 rebounds while the Bucks had 41.

One thing that the Bucks could do better is use Bayless a little more. He had 11 points and lead the team with assists with 5. That is pretty good. One thing the Bucks did great with though is getting steals. Kris Middleton got a total of 4 steals in the game. When I was watching the game, I saw both teams going after the ball all the time. If it was going out of bounds, someone would get it.

The Bulls really need to limit their turnovers. All their starters had 2 turnovers except for Rose who had 4. It might not be a problem right now, but it could be a problem later if they meet the Cavs in the second round. They need to make the easy passes. I saw Rose take a lot of gambles with his passes, throwing skip passes sideline to sideline.

The Bulls can't rest. Jason Kidd is going to try to find a way to beat this team and the Bulls need to be ready for that. They need to keep the momentum going. They can't stop.