Uptown wrote:Towns played well but he had a huge advantage inside vs a 6'8 defender. He was able to extend right over a small defender with his first move. Wont get away with that on nightly basis in the nba vs players equal in size. He will have to show a counter move which he didnt have use (if he has one in the bag). We know that ok4 has counter moves. Also, i thought Brey lost that game for ND, by not sending a double team at Towns down the stretch. Make them beat u with a jumper. Cant allow a 6'8 player defend a legit 7'0 by himself.

Auguste is 6'9-6'10.

Splat brought up a good point. It's going to be difficult to stop Towns inside because he will get his bread and butter Left/Right hook over anyone.

Ok4 should be able to as well using footwork and array of moves Eventhough his release is lower.

gunsnewing wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:Duke has yet to play a team as good as notre dame. They play Gonzaga now

Duke and Gonzaga both play in the ACC.

Right. Wisconsin is a tougher matchup for Kentucky than Gonzaga is for Duke. Kentucky has had the tougher road to the final 4 thus far

StarksEwing1 wrote:The good thing about this draft is that there are at least 4 guys at the top who look like impact players. Its also deeper than they originally thought compared to the overhyped 2014 draft class

Who are you counting as 4th?

BRIGGS wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:

Uptown wrote:Towns played well but he had a huge advantage inside vs a 6'8 defender. He was able to extend right over a small defender with his first move. Wont get away with that on nightly basis in the nba vs players equal in size. He will have to show a counter move which he didnt have use (if he has one in the bag). We know that ok4 has counter moves. Also, i thought Brey lost that game for ND, by not sending a double team at Towns down the stretch. Make them beat u with a jumper. Cant allow a 6'8 player defend a legit 7'0 by himself.

Auguste is 6'9-6'10.

Splat brought up a good point. It's going to be difficult to stop Towns inside because he will get his bread and butter Left/Right hook over anyone.

Ok4 should be able to as well using footwork and array of moves Eventhough his release is lower.

Auguste was
good all year

He'd be a 1 sr round pick if he showed some shot blocking skills He's a legit 6-10 245

He's listed at 6'10 240 but he was dwarft in the paint by Towns. He's 6'8-6'9 at best. Either way, Towns did what he was supposed to do vs a smaller defender. He looked really good last night. Still a but clumsy in the paint at times, but he's a freshman and that could be cleaned-up with more coaching and summer work outs.

He played great! And, I can't believe this kid is only 19.

mreinman wrote:Here is a link to the game if you want to watch again.

He played great! And, I can't believe this kid is only 19.

You could say that about Ok4 how many times this year? Ok4 avg 25-10 80% shooting against Notre Dame in 3 games.

VDesai wrote:I think Towns is way behind Okafor from a scoring perspective right now. Okafor has a far more developed low post game. You see bits and pieces with Towns but its not there consistently. Occasionally Towns gives you a totally eyepopping play that you don't expect to see- for example there was a late offensive rebound in Saturday Night's game (ultimately it just ended up being a long shot clock violation for Kentucky), where he hustled from behind the 3 point line to follow the shot and save it from going out of bounds, while making a very good pass. It was a great, instinctual hustle play that required athletcism, basketball IQ and relentlessness to make and you could see right there why he could be a special player.

As a Towns fan, I don't think he actually showed his value in the last game vs Wisconsin. If anybody is looking at his offense to gage their reasoning why someone would pick Towns over OK4....They are looking at the wrong skill set. What Towns does on offense is icing on a cake. His real value is defensive flexibility.....Guarding the rim and perimeter defense, along with guarding pick and roll plays. His offense, rebounding and passing is just a bonus. I still worry about his fouls.....Because he uses so much energy on defense, he sometimes gets himself into foul trouble early.

I do love OK4's offensive potential, and the automatic double team he will attract every game. His defense is nothing special (but room to improve), and his offense will get most defenders into foul trouble. I am worried about his free throws. Some bigs learn how to shoot over time, but there are a long history of bigs that never shoot anywhere near Towns 80%....even after they reach their prime. That means OK4 will be in and out of the lineup during crunch time, and I hate that. Dwight Howard is the same way, but he's a two way player, and because he impacts the game in multiple ways, you can take a pass on this free throw shooting. But for 1 dimensional players, especially OK4 who should be a 20 and 8 guy, you would expect better free throws from him (especially an offensive guy that loves the post and shoots a nice midrange). I just haven't seen any positive improvements during his freshmen year.

blkexec wrote:

VDesai wrote:I think Towns is way behind Okafor from a scoring perspective right now. Okafor has a far more developed low post game. You see bits and pieces with Towns but its not there consistently. Occasionally Towns gives you a totally eyepopping play that you don't expect to see- for example there was a late offensive rebound in Saturday Night's game (ultimately it just ended up being a long shot clock violation for Kentucky), where he hustled from behind the 3 point line to follow the shot and save it from going out of bounds, while making a very good pass. It was a great, instinctual hustle play that required athletcism, basketball IQ and relentlessness to make and you could see right there why he could be a special player.

As a Towns fan, I don't think he actually showed his value in the last game vs Wisconsin. If anybody is looking at his offense to gage their reasoning why someone would pick Towns over OK4....They are looking at the wrong skill set. What Towns does on offense is icing on a cake. His real value is defensive flexibility.....Guarding the rim and perimeter defense, along with guarding pick and roll plays. His offense, rebounding and passing is just a bonus. I still worry about his fouls.....Because he uses so much energy on defense, he sometimes gets himself into foul trouble early.

I do love OK4's offensive potential, and the automatic double team he will attract every game. His defense is nothing special (but room to improve), and his offense will get most defenders into foul trouble. I am worried about his free throws. Some bigs learn how to shoot over time, but there are a long history of bigs that never shoot anywhere near Towns 80%....even after they reach their prime. That means OK4 will be in and out of the lineup during crunch time, and I hate that. Dwight Howard is the same way, but he's a two way player, and because he impacts the game in multiple ways, you can take a pass on this free throw shooting. But for 1 dimensional players, especially OK4 who should be a 20 and 8 guy, you would expect better free throws from him (especially an offensive guy that loves the post and shoots a nice midrange). I just haven't seen any positive improvements during his freshmen year.

it's tough to get touch on the basketball when you have hands the size of baseball mitts. have you ever tried to shoot free throws with a volleyball? for him the difference is even more drastic. it looks impressive when he holds and waves the ball out there with one hand but when it comes to (a) passing and (b) shooting free throws it will be a challenge for him. and you're right about end game situations. can't afford to be a liability in tight games.

yellowboy90 wrote:

VCoug wrote:

VDesai wrote:I think Towns is way behind Okafor from a scoring perspective right now. Okafor has a far more developed low post game. You see bits and pieces with Towns but its not there consistently. Occasionally Towns gives you a totally eyepopping play that you don't expect to see- for example there was a late offensive rebound in Saturday Night's game (ultimately it just ended up being a long shot clock violation for Kentucky), where he hustled from behind the 3 point line to follow the shot and save it from going out of bounds, while making a very good pass. It was a great, instinctual hustle play that required athletcism, basketball IQ and relentlessness to make and you could see right there why he could be a special player.

Definitely. Towns is much more of a project than Okafor. But, he also has the highest ceiling of anyone in this draft. We need to be building towards the future, not worrying about the next couple of seasons.

Is Towns much more of a project or is he just more of a project as a post player? Did he get to display his actual offensive skills at UK? That is what I am struggling with. Before he went to UK, reports said he was a highly skilled perimeter shooter in high school and for his DR U17 team. Even the practice reports this year mentioned how well his stroke is and his high FT% gives indication that it is still there.

Towns could be more of a sure thing than people realize.

That's fair. I think most importantly is, even though they're the same age, Okafor seems to have much better control of his body compared to KAT who seems to still be learning what he can do.

Nevertheless, I'd be shocked if, barring injury, wasn't at least a good player in the NBA. A better version of Brook Lopez. I wouldn't be shocked if Towns busted though I would be upset.