SEC: Time To Let Karl-Anthony Towns Loose

The Kentucky Wildcats were in another scare on Tuesday night when they played against the LSU Tigers.

LSU’s Jarell Martin channelled his inner Pete Maravich, as he started giving Kentucky, what I call the business. Martin made all types of incredible plays, such as alley oop throws and long leaping offensive rebounds.

Even though Martin would finish with 21 points in the game, he needed 24 to get the victory. Instead of the storybook ending where the sophomore led his LSU team to victory over the No. 1 ranked team in college basketball, and while in the process everyone rushed the court. Standing in the way was a young freshman for Kentucky named Karl-Anthony Towns and he wasn’t with Martin’s plan.

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In the second half of the game Towns checked back in after receiving a technical foul for attempting to do a chin-up at the rim during a dunk attempt.

So after his head coach John Calipari gave him a yelling so intense that the Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder would be proud, Towns responded. The 19-year-old from Piscataway, N.J., showed why he was Jersey tough and played out of his mind for the last minutes of the game.

Towns used an array of moves that impressed a lot of people. One of the most difficult shots he’s taken all season was when he hit a smooth step back jumper at the top of the arc, just inside of the three-point line, and then looked to his bench as LSU called timeout.

Towns signaled to his team to relax because there was more work to get done, and more importantly Kentucky was beginning to start a run of their own.

As the game started to get in the most pressure filled situations, Towns started to make sure he was there to lead his team. Right after LSU’s other star player, Jordan Mickey, had an amazing block, Kentucky had to answer back.

The score was 68-68, and all it took was one dribble inside of the paint and instead of powering through, Towns used one of the most intelligent counters for a shot blocker, the turn around hook shot. Towns made it look smooth and his shot gave Kentucky the lead late in the game.

After the game, and the 71-69 victory Towns felt so good that he proceeded to photobomb coach Calipari after helping him achieve a big win on his 56th birthday.

Even though coach Calipari said that Towns needs to work on his maturity, one part of Towns’ maturation is already there, he’s very coachable, and he’s learning each game.

In an interview with Chander Rome of the Daily Reveille, coach Calipari said these words of wisdom:

“You’ll learn you don’t do stuff like that in a ten-point game. You finish people off. It was a lesson. I’m not mad at him, I love him. He’s like a son. But he’s done too much of that.”

Ladies and gentlemen, he’s 19 years old and hasn’t even played college basketball for more than three months, and he might be the best player in the sport. As for his coach, he could get regarded as one of the best in the game.

The relationship that Calipari and Towns share is unique since they’ve known each other for nearly a half decade. Being the trendsetting coach that he is, Calipari was working with Towns on the Dominican national team when he was 16 years old. Calipari is also partially the reason why Towns has been so mature in the biggest situations.

As most athletes in college Towns has been groomed how to play organized basketball at the highest level for years now. Having that type of working relationship with any person is going to create continuity, and when Calipari needed a big basket late against LSU, he was saved by Towns.

Because the trust factor between Calipari and Towns is already there, shouldn’t Calipari let the reins loose a bit and let him go off?

Feb 7, 2015; Gainesville, FL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Karl-Anthony Towns (12) shoots over Florida Gators forward Jacob Kurtz (30) during the second half at Stephen C. O /

Karl-Anthony Towns has been projected as high as the No. 1 pick in the draft, and it’s because he plays with another top five pick on the frontline in Willie Cauley-Stein, that it’s very hard to distinguish a true identity. However playing next to Cauley-Stein recently Towns has been showing what he can truly do.

Cauley-Stein is going to play like how he does. He’s going to make the emphatic blocked shot. He’s going to catch the miraculous alley oop and finish. He’s going to dunk on the projected SEC Player of the Year.

But for everything that Cauley-Stein does on the court, so can Towns and he’s more skilled. Because of the true perimeter skills that Towns has such as having the ability to create shots off the dribble, and to step out and hit jump shots, it makes him one of the most versatile players in the game, and he’s 6’11 250 pounds. Towns might be listed as a center but he’s talented enough to play at the small forward position and dominate.

This season we’re not going to see his true game since Towns does play with a lot of talented players. In his last four games though he started to show to the rest of the freshman class that they shouldn’t forget about him just yet.

In his last four games Towns is averaging 14.5 points per game, 8.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 blocks per game while playing against teams such as teams who might make the NCAA tournament such as LSU, Florida, Georgia and Alabama (who most likely will not).

It’s not time for Calipari to abandon the platoon system. But it is time to start tweaking it a bit. Towns is the engine this team runs around, and he’s the leader even though he’s a freshman.

Calipari should let him loose right before the 2015 NCAA tournament if Kentucky wants to truly win and become a special team.

If Towns is playing this good now, should he keep rolling with the hot hand?

Next: SEC: Time To Meet Texas A&M PG Alex Robinson

SEC: Time To Let Karl-Anthony Towns Loose

By DJoumbarey A. Moreau | Feb 12, 2015

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