ATLANTA – Karl-Anthony Towns reluctantly understands that he may have to change aspects of his game as offensive mistakes pile up under the increasingly watchful eyes of the officials.
“I’m going to keep doing my thing. I might have to adjust my game a little bit if that’s what they’re trying to tell me to do,” Towns said. “[The refs] I haven’t told anyone else that, but they tell me that. Maybe I should.”
Towns entered Saturday’s game against the Hawks with 31 offensive fouls, by far the most in the NBA. Jaren Jackson Jr. came second with 24.
The whistles aren’t new — Towns led the NBA in offensive fouls the past two seasons — but the volume has increased and there seems to be a focus on his off-arm hook move, which Towns sometimes uses to get around defenders.
Jalen Brunson said the team conveyed to KAT the importance of avoiding the hook foul, adding that he has seen progress.
“Well, referees have meetings, referees watch film and they do their homework too. And I think they go into games trying to figure out what to look for. And KAT just needs to do a better job of not using his arm,” Brunson said. “And we’ve been trying to explain that to him. And he’s getting better at it. I think even the little contact things he does are called for offensive fouls.”
“So it’s all about an adjustment period. And then figuring out how to be effective without doing that. And determining what you can control.”
Brunson also disputes a narrative as a player often accused of initiating contact and provoking fouls. Depending on who you ask, that reputation affects the number of foul shots Brunson gets.
The point guard ranked 15th in free throw attempts per game heading into Saturday, and there’s an argument that Brunson should be ranked higher based on how often he handles and drives the ball.
“Who cares about what people say about you, what the story is,” Brunson said. “Help your team win. Do that and move on. Who cares what people say?”
Still, it’s a lot harder to help the team win while often dealing with dirty problems. For example, cities derailed in just 2.5 minutes at Christmas.
His first offensive foul came 54 seconds after tip-off, with the referee blowing the whistle on Towns for the right arm corner as he dribbled past Cavaliers defenseman Jarrett Allen.
The second foul, about 90 seconds after that, was more ambiguous: a slight reach under the basket on Dean Wade.
Towns was benched early and finished with just 11 points in 27 minutes.
“I understand the hook part,” Towns said Friday. “But you know, there’s a lot of other things that I think they’re having conversations about and researching.
“I’ll keep lifting,” the center added, perhaps implying that his size and strength are working against him in the eyes of the officials. “I’m going to keep lifting.”
While Towns is open to adjusting some of his game to accommodate whistling tendencies, he also seems confused about what specifically to do.
“I’m just trying to put W’s on the board. As long as I continue to impact winning and do what I need to do to help this team win, I’ll be fine,” Towns said. “We’ll figure out the other part. I still have my own personal questions about it.”
Do the referees give him an explanation?
“You won’t like the explanation,” he replied. “You didn’t like them last year and they’re not going to be any better this year.”
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