OBI’S COACH KNOWS BEST
Dayton’s Grant breaks down Toppin as he gets ready to join Knicks
Dayton coach Anthony Grant spent three years watching and assisting in Obi Toppin’s development from a lightly-recruited unknown to the best player in college basketball.
On Wednesday, he was inside Toppin’s house as the 22-year-old power forward broke down in tears after being drafted by the Knicks. It was the culmination of a long and sometimes difficult journey, one that started in Brooklyn but included multiple high schools and relocations before he found consistency at Dayton.
But now comes the next phase: the NBA.
The Daily News talked to Coach Grant about his star player and his fit with the Knicks.
Perhaps the most common NBA comparison to Toppin is Amar’e Stoudemire. Another is Kenyon Martin. Grant brought up Blake Griffin.
“The comparison to Amar’e comes off his explosiveness off the floor, just in terms of the way — if you look back at the heydays of Amar’e when he was running the pick-and-rolls with [Steve] Nash and finishing in transition. I think that’s where the comparison comes in. [Toppin] doesn’t have the physique of Amar’e. I think everybody wants to compare him to somebody in the league but I think that comparison to Amar’e or some people say a young Blake Griffin, that type of comparison, that’s because of the explosiveness.”
The Knicks already have a power forward, Julius Randle, who was their leading scorer last season and is earning $18 million this season. Toppin’s arrival has prompted speculation that Randle will be on the move, but Grant believes they can play together:
“I think they’re different. I coached against Julius in college and I coached against him in the NBA a little bit (Grant was also an assistant with the OKC Thunder). Julius, his skillset, he’s more of a big-body, low-post guy where he’s more effective in and around the basket. I think maybe people will be surprised by Obi’s skillset, in terms of his ability to step away and stretch the defense. And his comfort level with being able to put the ball on the floor and make plays for himself and others. I think they can definitely play together.”
At Dayton, Toppin mostly played at power forward but also logged minutes at center. He’s too small (6-9) for a traditional NBA center, but the league has evolved into small-ball-centric and Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau can find circumstances to put Toppin at the 5. Here’s what Grant thinks:
“My opinion is that he’s a natural four. I can’t say what’s in the mind of the Knicks and where he might play there — depending on who he’s playing and what the potential lineups would be — but I think if you ask Obi, he’s comfortable if he’s playing some 3 on the offensive side of the ball, be one of those guys.”
But is Toppin quick enough to guard NBA small forwards?
“I don’t think that would be his strength, honestly. I think he is a 4 man. A plug-and-play 4-man in the league,” Grant said. “I think Obi will acknowledge and I’ll be the first to acknowledge, he’s got to improve on his defense. He’s got to grow and improve at that part of his game to be one of those guys. There’s some guys in this league where as gifted as they are offensively, sometimes you have to take them off the floor defensively, especially if you’re fortunate enough to be in a playoff situation. …When you look at Obi’s gifts on the offensive side of the ball, that’s what makes him special. So he’s not a guy that’s going to be a
Defensive Player of the Year in this league, but I think he can hold his own to the point where he can help a team be successful. So I think that’s what he needs to continue to grow with and I think he will.”
Thibodeau’s philosophy with rookies, at least in the past, is to not gift minutes. The playing time had to be earned. For instance, he drafted Kris Dunn fifth overall in Minnesota but he struggled and only logged 17 minutes per game on a losing team:
“I think [Toppin] will be fine,” Grant said. “I think Obi is mature
enough. With Obi, he’s going to want to please Coach Thibodeau. He’s going to want to do well for the staff. He’s really humbled by the fact that he gets to play for his hometown, a kid who grew up in the city. I don’t know the Knicks situation well enough to tell you what’s going to happen with minutes and anything like that. All I can tell you is that the Obi I know, he’s going to do whatever he can to make sure he’s doing what Coach wants to make sure he’s going to be on the floor to make his teammates successful.”