Former NBA Star Explains Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns Problem

Agent Zero is on the case of solving Karl-Anthony Towns‘ early struggles with the New York Knicks.

Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas dove into the early woes on his web series “Gil’s Arena” before the Knicks (1-2) embark on a four-game road trip that begins on Wednesday night in Miami (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG). Arenas began by partly pinning the premature woes on the Knicks’ unfamiliarity on running a good part of the offense through an interior man.

“This is why coaching is very important, this is why training camp has to be taken seriously,” Arenas remarked. “How many times did (Isaiah) Hartenstein get the ball? Not often … got it off the glass. What’s the difference here? You didn’t pass the five-man the ball in the last how many years? So you don’t really have many plays for this man at the five. So the fact he’s playing the five and he can’t see the ball, that’s just your offense itself.”

Towns’ shooting volume has been one of the Knicks’ primary concerns in the early going: he’s shooting an even 50 percent so far but has attempted only 28 from the field, a career-low through his first three games of any year. The former Minnesota Timberwolf, who has also attempted only six three-pointers, had 13 points and 10 rebounds in Monday’s home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While Arenas and his cast mentioned that Towns and Jalen Brunson (who shouldered blame for not getting Towns the ball often enough) have to step up, the ex-Washington Wizard also indirectly chastised head coach Tom Thibodeau for not utilizing the former’s unique skillset. He did say that things could ease up once Mitchell Robinson gets back (which would presumably shift Towns back to a more traditional power forward) but that Thibodeau must man the interior storm better if the Knicks are to make any headway in the early NBA environment.

“You don’t have any plays for him, cool. But you’ve been in this game for a long f***ing time as a coach. You know there’s things that you can put into it that doesn’t require any practice,” Arenas said. “It’s just weird that these old-time coaches have gotten so lazy … Right now, KAT is at the five. How do you get him the ball so you can be successful now?”

Following Wednesday’s game, the Knicks’ road trip will also work through Detroit, Houston, and Atlanta.

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