In his first season with the Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns made an All-NBA team, shot over 40 percent from three, and was second in the league in rebounding. By all accounts, it was an excellent first year in New York. However, there is one recurring problem that Towns must eliminate in year two with the team: his tendency to go to the rim out of control and end up on the ground.
Again, it is important to preface that Towns had a fantastic first year in New York. Some of the criticism he faces is fair, like his inability to execute defensive schemes, often leaving his teammates visibly frustrated, the stretches where he sometimes seems uninterested and unengaged, or the times where he seems unwilling to impose his will on smaller defenders.
There are also lots of criticisms that are downright foolish and not worth repeating here. The falling and flailing when going to the rim falls in the bucket of fair criticism, in my opinion. Towns needs to get better control of his body when driving, which often resembles a brakeless train that has run off the tracks.
Falling at the rim is costly
According to league tracking data, Towns fell during shots at the rim the 15th-most in the league last season, a number that doesn't seem crazy at first. Digging a bit deeper, Towns had the second-most falls during attempts at the rim, which led to transition opportunities for the other team, which is more concerning.
Missing at the rim lead to some of the most efficient looks for the other team out of any possible to to a possession.
this has been another edition of, Come at the rim, best not miss pic.twitter.com/zPZnPOxNJv
— Owen Phillips (@owenlhjphillips) June 1, 2025
When the offensive player also hits the deck, it gets even more costly. For a player the size of Towns, it is not just the falling, either; it is also the time it takes to get back up and get back in the play. Going through the film, many of these transition opportunities came off of made field goals by Towns, where he then hit the floor.
The reason was often that it took Towns longer to get back up than it did for the opposing team to inbound the ball. Beyond that, Towns also has a tendency to waste a second or two by throwing his arms in the air in frustration due to what he thought should have been whistled for a foul.
Towns is a gifted player, that much is clear. If he cleans up some of the smaller, sloppy things that are holding him back, it could be one of the key factors that pushes the Knicks to a championship.