[/B]Karl-Anthony Towns - St. Joseph (Met.) H. S. [/B](Metuchen, NJ) - UK commit - On Thursday, 3/20/2014, St. Joseph defeated Linden H. S. at Monmouth University 63 - 59 in the semi-finals of the New Jersey Boys Basketball Tournament of Champions. St. Joe had a 4 point lead at the half, but outscored Linden 24 - 12 in the 3rd. Seemed as if it would be a runaway, but Karl-Anthony fouled out with 5:20 remaining and a 13 point lead. A combination of Linden's aggressive press and St. Joe's poor/dumb play enabled Linden to cut it to 2 points before losing by 4. Without Towns, St. Joseph couldn't handle the Linden press, threw away pass after pass, and didn't try to run time off the game clock (no shot-clock in NJ). St. Joe's Wade Baldwin is a Vandy commit, Raven Owen is a Canisius commit, Marques Townes (no relation) has about 5 offers from smaller schools, and Breein Tyree is a VERY TALENTED sophomore, yet they looked terrible against the press without Towns. Karl-Anthony's numbers were impressive, but not overwhelming - 7 of 8 shots; 6-FG; 1-3FG; 0-FT (really?); 10-Rebs; 3-A; 1-St; 3-Blk; 15-Pts.
St. Joe does not look for Towns on every possession, so they aren't a one-man team. Going against Cincinnati bound Quadri Moore (19 points; 9 rebounds), Towns is versatile, a good passer facing the basket out front and can find the open man when double-teamed in the post. North Jersey referees are known to not call fouls and they let a lot of physical play go against Towns. Karl, however, does foul too often, mostly bad little picky fouls. I don't like that he complains on almost all calls against him. (Have seen too much of that mentality with this year's UK freshmen!) Good shooter from the 3 and I haven't seen him take a poor shot yet. Can block shots, but not an AD nor NN. As I said in earlier posts, he needs to get stronger and needs to be in better shape (you can't rest on D at the college level). Would like to see him run the floor harder.
Monday, 3/25/2014, St. Joseph played top seeded Newark East Side for the Tournament of Champions final at Sun National Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. What started out to be a blowout (St J up 24-7 with 7:05 left in the 2nd quarter) turned out, after an East Side missed 3 at the buzzer, to be a 49 - 47 St. Joseph victory. South Alabama bound Abdul Lewis, who looks and plays like a linebacker, was pushing, shoving, and fouling the crap out of Towns when he didn't have the ball, but the refs let it go. I thought they would be forced to make calls when Towns had the ball, but they let much of that go, too. To his credit, Towns was playing hard and not complaining. Karl-Anthony had 2 fouls at the half, but picked up his 4th with 4:50 left in the game. With Towns on the bench, St. Joseph is not a very good team, even though they have 3 other D-1 starters and a very promising sophomore. Scoring single digits for the first time this season, Towns had 8-pts; 3-FG; 2-FT; 8-Rebs; 2-A; 1-Stl; 3-Blks. St. Joseph guards love to dribble and dribble and dribble. I don't think they look for Towns enough, but he didn't demand the ball as he posted up either. I don't think he took a 3 all night, a shot he can really hit. With Towns, even when they aren't getting him the ball, St. Joseph is a really good team. Without him, they are no more than average. Coaching? I think so.
So after watching Towns 4 times this year, what do I think UK is getting? Versatile 4 or 5 who can shoot inside or out (more 4 than 5); not a ball hog and should want the ball more often; good passer; fans will love his personality; not a OAD; great student; needs muscle; needs to work on D as he has never had to do in H. S.; will have to learn not to make little stupid fouls or will spend a lot of time next to Kenny Paine; needs to run the floor harder. How well will he be able to handle Cal's criticism? I hope and pray he doesn't read the Basketball Forum!
St. Joe does not look for Towns on every possession, so they aren't a one-man team. Going against Cincinnati bound Quadri Moore (19 points; 9 rebounds), Towns is versatile, a good passer facing the basket out front and can find the open man when double-teamed in the post. North Jersey referees are known to not call fouls and they let a lot of physical play go against Towns. Karl, however, does foul too often, mostly bad little picky fouls. I don't like that he complains on almost all calls against him. (Have seen too much of that mentality with this year's UK freshmen!) Good shooter from the 3 and I haven't seen him take a poor shot yet. Can block shots, but not an AD nor NN. As I said in earlier posts, he needs to get stronger and needs to be in better shape (you can't rest on D at the college level). Would like to see him run the floor harder.
Monday, 3/25/2014, St. Joseph played top seeded Newark East Side for the Tournament of Champions final at Sun National Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. What started out to be a blowout (St J up 24-7 with 7:05 left in the 2nd quarter) turned out, after an East Side missed 3 at the buzzer, to be a 49 - 47 St. Joseph victory. South Alabama bound Abdul Lewis, who looks and plays like a linebacker, was pushing, shoving, and fouling the crap out of Towns when he didn't have the ball, but the refs let it go. I thought they would be forced to make calls when Towns had the ball, but they let much of that go, too. To his credit, Towns was playing hard and not complaining. Karl-Anthony had 2 fouls at the half, but picked up his 4th with 4:50 left in the game. With Towns on the bench, St. Joseph is not a very good team, even though they have 3 other D-1 starters and a very promising sophomore. Scoring single digits for the first time this season, Towns had 8-pts; 3-FG; 2-FT; 8-Rebs; 2-A; 1-Stl; 3-Blks. St. Joseph guards love to dribble and dribble and dribble. I don't think they look for Towns enough, but he didn't demand the ball as he posted up either. I don't think he took a 3 all night, a shot he can really hit. With Towns, even when they aren't getting him the ball, St. Joseph is a really good team. Without him, they are no more than average. Coaching? I think so.
So after watching Towns 4 times this year, what do I think UK is getting? Versatile 4 or 5 who can shoot inside or out (more 4 than 5); not a ball hog and should want the ball more often; good passer; fans will love his personality; not a OAD; great student; needs muscle; needs to work on D as he has never had to do in H. S.; will have to learn not to make little stupid fouls or will spend a lot of time next to Kenny Paine; needs to run the floor harder. How well will he be able to handle Cal's criticism? I hope and pray he doesn't read the Basketball Forum!
