TripleThreat wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Will Okafor's game translate in the NBA????

I can't speak for anyone else, but I always start with a big man's footwork. To me, everything builds off of that.

IMHO, Okafor has very good footwork. Very smooth, his post game is very refined considering his experience level.

Where I think he will struggle the most is that he's still clearly growing into his body, his defense and poor FT shooting will hurt him in late game situations, as a rookie and because he can't play above the rim and isn't a jump out of the gym athlete, he's going to likely get into a lot of foul trouble early. Also despite his size, his college competition won't prepare him for the kind of low post banging he's going to get in the NBA.

His balance, use of leverage and court awareness are very very good. He takes good angles to the ball and he's probably a better ball handler than what you'd expect out of a big man.

To me, some guys can excel in any circumstance, the talent base is that strong.

And to me, some other guys can only excel given a specific set of circumstances, but given those, he's going to give you extreme burn. I think Okafor is the latter.

If he ends up in Minnesota, I think he breaks out. If he ends up with Philly, Knicks or Lakers, I don't know, I think it could be a rough ride for him.

I agree 100%. After One season, some of the same fans who are clamoring about this dude's offensive prowess will want to crucify him a la Hardaway Jr!for not playing defense; specifically, when he is not able to produce on offense. I don't mind Okafor at all; I have the patience to watch him grow.

Knicks1969 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Will Okafor's game translate in the NBA????

I can't speak for anyone else, but I always start with a big man's footwork. To me, everything builds off of that.

IMHO, Okafor has very good footwork. Very smooth, his post game is very refined considering his experience level.

Where I think he will struggle the most is that he's still clearly growing into his body, his defense and poor FT shooting will hurt him in late game situations, as a rookie and because he can't play above the rim and isn't a jump out of the gym athlete, he's going to likely get into a lot of foul trouble early. Also despite his size, his college competition won't prepare him for the kind of low post banging he's going to get in the NBA.

His balance, use of leverage and court awareness are very very good. He takes good angles to the ball and he's probably a better ball handler than what you'd expect out of a big man.

To me, some guys can excel in any circumstance, the talent base is that strong.

And to me, some other guys can only excel given a specific set of circumstances, but given those, he's going to give you extreme burn. I think Okafor is the latter.

If he ends up in Minnesota, I think he breaks out. If he ends up with Philly, Knicks or Lakers, I don't know, I think it could be a rough ride for him.

I agree 100%. After One season, some of the same fans who are clamoring about this dude's offensive prowess will want to crucify him a la Hardaway Jr!for not playing defense; specifically, when he is not able to produce on offense. I don't mind Okafor at all; I have the patience to watch him grow.

Knicks1969 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Will Okafor's game translate in the NBA????

I can't speak for anyone else, but I always start with a big man's footwork. To me, everything builds off of that.

IMHO, Okafor has very good footwork. Very smooth, his post game is very refined considering his experience level.

Where I think he will struggle the most is that he's still clearly growing into his body, his defense and poor FT shooting will hurt him in late game situations, as a rookie and because he can't play above the rim and isn't a jump out of the gym athlete, he's going to likely get into a lot of foul trouble early. Also despite his size, his college competition won't prepare him for the kind of low post banging he's going to get in the NBA.

His balance, use of leverage and court awareness are very very good. He takes good angles to the ball and he's probably a better ball handler than what you'd expect out of a big man.

To me, some guys can excel in any circumstance, the talent base is that strong.

And to me, some other guys can only excel given a specific set of circumstances, but given those, he's going to give you extreme burn. I think Okafor is the latter.

If he ends up in Minnesota, I think he breaks out. If he ends up with Philly, Knicks or Lakers, I don't know, I think it could be a rough ride for him.

I agree 100%. After One season, some of the same fans who are clamoring about this dude's offensive prowess will want to crucify him a la Hardaway Jr!for not playing defense; specifically, when he is not able to produce on offense. I don't mind Okafor at all; I have the patience to watch him grow.

you mean like you with derek fisher?

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Will Okafor's game translate in the NBA????

I can't speak for anyone else, but I always start with a big man's footwork. To me, everything builds off of that.

IMHO, Okafor has very good footwork. Very smooth, his post game is very refined considering his experience level.

Where I think he will struggle the most is that he's still clearly growing into his body, his defense and poor FT shooting will hurt him in late game situations, as a rookie and because he can't play above the rim and isn't a jump out of the gym athlete, he's going to likely get into a lot of foul trouble early. Also despite his size, his college competition won't prepare him for the kind of low post banging he's going to get in the NBA.

His balance, use of leverage and court awareness are very very good. He takes good angles to the ball and he's probably a better ball handler than what you'd expect out of a big man.

To me, some guys can excel in any circumstance, the talent base is that strong.

And to me, some other guys can only excel given a specific set of circumstances, but given those, he's going to give you extreme burn. I think Okafor is the latter.

If he ends up in Minnesota, I think he breaks out. If he ends up with Philly, Knicks or Lakers, I don't know, I think it could be a rough ride for him.

I agree 100%. After One season, some of the same fans who are clamoring about this dude's offensive prowess will want to crucify him a la Hardaway Jr!for not playing defense; specifically, when he is not able to produce on offense. I don't mind Okafor at all; I have the patience to watch him grow.

Hardaway JR sucks on defense AND offense. He's terrible. People will be patient with OK4, Towns or whoever.

Were Knicks fans patient with Eddie Curry? The answer is no. One trick ponies are often worthless because the shots are not always going to go in on offense. Shooting slumps are very common in this league and can last a while. See THJ once again.

thj is not a good player, he's a chucker and he doesn't play a lick of defense.

eddy curry was damn good offensively, but couldn't stay healthy or conditioned. there's a big difference.

Please tell me you are not saying that Eddie Curry could defend!

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Will Okafor's game translate in the NBA????

I can't speak for anyone else, but I always start with a big man's footwork. To me, everything builds off of that.

IMHO, Okafor has very good footwork. Very smooth, his post game is very refined considering his experience level.

Where I think he will struggle the most is that he's still clearly growing into his body, his defense and poor FT shooting will hurt him in late game situations, as a rookie and because he can't play above the rim and isn't a jump out of the gym athlete, he's going to likely get into a lot of foul trouble early. Also despite his size, his college competition won't prepare him for the kind of low post banging he's going to get in the NBA.

His balance, use of leverage and court awareness are very very good. He takes good angles to the ball and he's probably a better ball handler than what you'd expect out of a big man.

To me, some guys can excel in any circumstance, the talent base is that strong.

And to me, some other guys can only excel given a specific set of circumstances, but given those, he's going to give you extreme burn. I think Okafor is the latter.

If he ends up in Minnesota, I think he breaks out. If he ends up with Philly, Knicks or Lakers, I don't know, I think it could be a rough ride for him.

I agree 100%. After One season, some of the same fans who are clamoring about this dude's offensive prowess will want to crucify him a la Hardaway Jr!for not playing defense; specifically, when he is not able to produce on offense. I don't mind Okafor at all; I have the patience to watch him grow.

Hardaway JR sucks on defense AND offense. He's terrible. People will be patient with OK4, Towns or whoever.

Were Knicks fans patient with Eddie Curry? The answer is no. One trick ponies are often worthless because the shots are not always going to go in on offense. Shooting slumps are very common in this league and can last a while. See THJ once again.

thj is not a good player, he's a chucker and he doesn't play a lick of defense.

eddy curry was damn good offensively, but couldn't stay healthy or conditioned. there's a big difference.

Please tell me you are not saying that Eddie Curry could defend!

apparently you can't read either. where did i say that?

There you go with the disrespect; was that warranted?

SupremeCommander wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:Okafor will be just fine. He'll have a better career than Boozer or Laettner or Brand. I do think I want Towns more now though, which I wasn't expecting to say

they are both very good prospects and bring different things to the table.

At this point you have some guys that dont want to discuss anything. They just want to make sure their golden mooby is shined and sparkling. I dont really get the point. We should have 5 guys targeted because we dont know where we are picking. I think some of the guards have higher upside.

I agree with that. I think both are slightly limited. Towns excels on the defensive end (but not at rebounding) and Okafor has a ton of offensive skill AND polish

I really, really like Russell. I really, really like Justice Winslow (I see a Paul George type.. more of a SG than SF though).

I won't pretend to know anything about the kid from the Congo but he is certainly intriguing.

Towns does? Know I know this is a bit tongue and cheek, but before the ND game Towns had 8 PFs and 9 points in the prior two tourney games combined. His PFs per 36 minutes are well over 5 per game.

I find it funny that OK4 is the best player on a title team and has all these concerns. Meanwhile Towns is the 4th scorer and 2nd rebounder on a team with half the players declaring for the draft but will be fine because he "excels at everything" or is this great great defensive player... who cant stay out of foul trouble, when he's the physically dominating his peers.

It just tells me people have made their choice, and are now simply posting to back up their choice, not to talk about the players anymore. Hasheem Thabeet was a great defender also... and much bigger and longer than Towns.

let me rephrase -- because you're right -- Towns has the potential to excel on the defensive end and he has the ability to score. I just wish he would beast on the boards and that is my major concern with Towns.

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Will Okafor's game translate in the NBA????

I can't speak for anyone else, but I always start with a big man's footwork. To me, everything builds off of that.

IMHO, Okafor has very good footwork. Very smooth, his post game is very refined considering his experience level.

Where I think he will struggle the most is that he's still clearly growing into his body, his defense and poor FT shooting will hurt him in late game situations, as a rookie and because he can't play above the rim and isn't a jump out of the gym athlete, he's going to likely get into a lot of foul trouble early. Also despite his size, his college competition won't prepare him for the kind of low post banging he's going to get in the NBA.

His balance, use of leverage and court awareness are very very good. He takes good angles to the ball and he's probably a better ball handler than what you'd expect out of a big man.

To me, some guys can excel in any circumstance, the talent base is that strong.

And to me, some other guys can only excel given a specific set of circumstances, but given those, he's going to give you extreme burn. I think Okafor is the latter.

If he ends up in Minnesota, I think he breaks out. If he ends up with Philly, Knicks or Lakers, I don't know, I think it could be a rough ride for him.

I agree 100%. After One season, some of the same fans who are clamoring about this dude's offensive prowess will want to crucify him a la Hardaway Jr!for not playing defense; specifically, when he is not able to produce on offense. I don't mind Okafor at all; I have the patience to watch him grow.

Hardaway JR sucks on defense AND offense. He's terrible. People will be patient with OK4, Towns or whoever.

Were Knicks fans patient with Eddie Curry? The answer is no. One trick ponies are often worthless because the shots are not always going to go in on offense. Shooting slumps are very common in this league and can last a while. See THJ once again.

thj is not a good player, he's a chucker and he doesn't play a lick of defense.

eddy curry was damn good offensively, but couldn't stay healthy or conditioned. there's a big difference.

Please tell me you are not saying that Eddie Curry could defend!

apparently you can't read either. where did i say that?

There you go with the disrespect; was that warranted?

yes it was.

gunsnewing wrote:Al Jefferson can actually shoot. That's why I'm comparing ok4 to curry & Sweetney. He can't shoot from the perimeter the way Al Jefferson does
http://vorped.com/bball/index.php/player/shotchart/933-Al-Jefferson/season/2013-2014-REG

al jeff cannot shoot ... outside of 3 feet he is pretty inefficient.

TPercy wrote:@ Fish, why do you treat Foul trouble like its something that is impossible to change? Demarcus Cousins per 40 fouls were close to 6 a game. In the NBA now he is avaeraging a career 3.9 fouls per game on 31 career minutes per game.

Knicks1969 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:Will Okafor's game translate in the NBA????

I can't speak for anyone else, but I always start with a big man's footwork. To me, everything builds off of that.

IMHO, Okafor has very good footwork. Very smooth, his post game is very refined considering his experience level.

Where I think he will struggle the most is that he's still clearly growing into his body, his defense and poor FT shooting will hurt him in late game situations, as a rookie and because he can't play above the rim and isn't a jump out of the gym athlete, he's going to likely get into a lot of foul trouble early. Also despite his size, his college competition won't prepare him for the kind of low post banging he's going to get in the NBA.

His balance, use of leverage and court awareness are very very good. He takes good angles to the ball and he's probably a better ball handler than what you'd expect out of a big man.

To me, some guys can excel in any circumstance, the talent base is that strong.

And to me, some other guys can only excel given a specific set of circumstances, but given those, he's going to give you extreme burn. I think Okafor is the latter.

If he ends up in Minnesota, I think he breaks out. If he ends up with Philly, Knicks or Lakers, I don't know, I think it could be a rough ride for him.

I agree 100%. After One season, some of the same fans who are clamoring about this dude's offensive prowess will want to crucify him a la Hardaway Jr!for not playing defense; specifically, when he is not able to produce on offense. I don't mind Okafor at all; I have the patience to watch him grow.

Hardaway JR sucks on defense AND offense. He's terrible. People will be patient with OK4, Towns or whoever.

Were Knicks fans patient with Eddie Curry? The answer is no. One trick ponies are often worthless because the shots are not always going to go in on offense. Shooting slumps are very common in this league and can last a while. See THJ once again.

thj is not a good player, he's a chucker and he doesn't play a lick of defense.

eddy curry was damn good offensively, but couldn't stay healthy or conditioned. there's a big difference.

Please tell me you are not saying that Eddie Curry could defend!

apparently you can't read either. where did i say that?

There you go with the disrespect; was that warranted?

yes it was.

you are a much bigger imbecile then I thought. You claimed that THJ is a terrible defender/chucker, but viewed Eddie Curry who happened to be one of the worse defenders the league has ever seen as an offensive juggernaut while failing to acknowledge his poor defense. When I tried to alert your attention to the mistake, you claimed that I don't know how to read! Dude please!

Dude, cut the crap. just because nyk4ever didn't mention about Curry's defense doesn't mean you should infer that he meant that Curry was a good defender. That was your assumption and blatant mistake.

TPercy wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:Okafor will be just fine. He'll have a better career than Boozer or Laettner or Brand. I do think I want Towns more now though, which I wasn't expecting to say

they are both very good prospects and bring different things to the table.

At this point you have some guys that dont want to discuss anything. They just want to make sure their golden mooby is shined and sparkling. I dont really get the point. We should have 5 guys targeted because we dont know where we are picking. I think some of the guards have higher upside.

I agree with that. I think both are slightly limited. Towns excels on the defensive end (but not at rebounding) and Okafor has a ton of offensive skill AND polish

I really, really like Russell. I really, really like Justice Winslow (I see a Paul George type.. more of a SG than SF though).

I won't pretend to know anything about the kid from the Congo but he is certainly intriguing.

Towns does? Know I know this is a bit tongue and cheek, but before the ND game Towns had 8 PFs and 9 points in the prior two tourney games combined. His PFs per 36 minutes are well over 5 per game.

I find it funny that OK4 is the best player on a title team and has all these concerns. Meanwhile Towns is the 4th scorer and 2nd rebounder on a team with half the players declaring for the draft but will be fine because he "excels at everything" or is this great great defensive player... who cant stay out of foul trouble, when he's the physically dominating his peers.

It just tells me people have made their choice, and are now simply posting to back up their choice, not to talk about the players anymore. Hasheem Thabeet was a great defender also... and much bigger and longer than Towns.

let me rephrase -- because you're right -- Towns has the potential to excel on the defensive end and he has the ability to score. I just wish he would beast on the boards and that is my major concern with Towns.

When you have guys like Cauley-Stein playing next to you and you are on average playing about 20 minutes per game, you are not going to grab insane boards. His Per 40 has him grabing 13 boards a game.

rebounding rates are not linear. if you are arguing that they are linear, I have no time to continue the dialogue