Countdown to NBA Draft: Prospect Talk

[Apples]

okafor will fit well with the lakers, minnesota, or sixers. glad phil jackson ain't looking his way and he won't regret it

I wonder what Phil's board looks like. Towns two months ago, could of been had at 3 maybe 4. Now if the Knicks want him, might need the 1st pick.
Like it's been said, maybe Towns should sabotage the workouts.

[Bklyn&company]

Okafor all the way.which center in the east is going to destroy Okafor? I mean who is going to stop him if the center is not doubling Melo? Hibbert? I dont see any center stopping his post up moves.There are so many bigs that can rebound and play defence.U dfrat him and look for a rebounding machine at pf

Dude back to reality...OK4 is my 1a but grown men in the NBA will push him out or definitely try too. Though Ok4 is big he is not super strong, he needs to work on his condition... so its never a given a college player would dominate in the NBA, not right away anyway. Not even Shaq was assumed to dominate right away. Also if you watch Ok4, his offensive game properly... its limited, he keeps it very simple, so he need to expand it. The only given thing I see transferring from his college game is his high FG% shooting (55%?) and passing, everything else he has to work on hard to take to another level.

Currently..Noah, Vucevic(who actually had a more refined game in college), Drummond, Jonas Val, etc.. who will battle him and can stop him.... so no currently he won't dominate.... unless he really puts in that Anthony Davis work in during the summer.

[Governor Dudley]

You guys are getting kind of silly with the over-analyzation of Okafor's deficiencies.

[Capn'O]

You guys are getting kind of silly with the over-analyzation of Okafor's deficiencies.

Just a hair. His offensive game will translate to the pros just fine. And it will develop further. Sure, he might struggle against the best centers in the league as a rookie but that's why they're the best centers in the game.


Now, if Phil really is interested in Monroe, the pick is Towns. In terms of BPA - when you factor everything in they're close but I think people really underestimate how much Towns' offensive game will need to develop at the pro level. His J is good but his post game looks like Camby's in college. That won't fly in the pros.


Let's hope we're lucky enough to make that choice.

[NYKnicksTAPE]

Not a big Okafor fan, but the game wasn't totally his fault, thats on Coach K.

I still like Towns more but OK4 is still my 1a. Calhoun hit it on the head when he said ok4 "might be too good of a kid".. I have been saying that for a while now... in the NBA he going to get bodied by grown man and wont be able to do what he does now in college unless he develops some type of explosiveness, aggressiveness and his athletic ability goes to another level.... I don't see those high 60% fg from him, more like 50%+ FG...especially if he doesn't develop away from the basket and keeps doing the same post moves ,sure everyone is salivating over a 270lbs big 18 yr old with great foot work but he is still not on most top NBA player levels.. Everyone looks at age but not everyone continues to develop also.

To keep this short the Kid needs work on both ends for the NBA... in college he should be dominating and he is not and that what worries me. I have seen guys like Durant (who was Texas Center), Blake Griffin, Tim Duncan etc.. dominate and that you knew they were going to be good and most played both ends (Griffin not so much). His 9 rebounds per worries me when on every night you are the biggest dude on the court, he should be at 12 rebs plus... this tells me you don't have much explosiveness (play flat footed) and your box out technique is not great. Point is the Kid needs to development areas of his game and more so than a Towns or Kaminski. Thats why a Kaminski can out play him one on one, Towns can also do the same. His work ethic, desire to improve and working on his conditioning is going to determine his level of play in the NBA, from being a sub par defender Carlos Broozer at a 15ppg 8rpg player or a good defender D.Cousins at a 23ppg 10+rbg player.... because if Ok4 was a 6'8 - 6'9 PF, we won't be talking about him as much, but if he was on UK he will be dominating?! but that's another story...

IMO, beyond this College game, he needs to think dominate...he need to improve his conditioning, athletic ability, develop a jumpshot, hit his damn Free throws and improve his ball handling ala D.Cousins and Anthony Davis (notice both UK guys)...

So u think Okafor is going to get bodied in the NBA? I could say the same thing for Towns. Who is he going to box out effectively for rebounds? How is he going to establish post position? Duke seems to play a lot of zone, and it's harder to get defensive rebounds in a zone. He seems to already be a good offensive rebounder. What has Towns done in college other than hustle and play D? If Okafor was on Kentucky, he'd without a doubt still be the clear #1 option. If Towns was on Duke...I'll just say that Justice Winslow would have a much higher usage than he does now.

[isiah_thomas]

Kentucky games are the worst..no comp

Towns game log so far foul foul foul

[isiah_thomas]

Imagine if Okafor was having the game Towns is having right now.. No room for error on Duke for Okafor..if Towns is average Kentucky still blows teams out.. Got to be fair to both players

[swisscheeseD]

I for one applaud ibraheim for continuously putting himself out there to defend Okafor's obvious weakness. It doesn't mean it won't be remedied in the future, nobody knows what the future holds, not even ibraheim himself.

I'm a Towns guy in the big man debate, and am even more a fan of Russell than the 2. Doesn't mean Russell will have the better career, doesn't mean that Okafor will, or that Towns won't...he's just MY preference for this roster. The fact that skilled big's don't grow on trees is why I would have no problem taking Towns before the guy I prefer in Russell. But if it came down to Russell and Okafor, I'm more of a fan of what Russell brings to this franchise than what Okafor can, given both their strengths and weaknesses, and the fit with Melo going forward.

It's my preference. It doesn't mean I'm right or wrong. If we end up with Okafor, I'm not going to through a hissy fit, or root for him to fail so I can say "I told you so". I'm going to be thrilled regardless to have that type of talent on my favorite team's roster going forward. My concerns will then focus on finding a frontcourt compliment to him and Melo that can bring things together.

I do not want Okafor. But I'm not Phil Jackson, I'm not the one that makes that decision. I have no experience myself in the triangle, or in an NBA front office. My comments are solely based on preference. I don't care if I'm wrong about Okafor, in fact, I HOPE I'm wrong about him...especially if he's putting on a Knicks cap on draft day.

[TrueWarrior]

Towns is annoying to evaluate. You know when you watch Duke and Ohio State that Jah and Russ will be getting their minutes, touches, and shots. With Towns you dont know. He'll have position but never get the ball until they need him it seems. As a top prospect I wouldnt want to be a part of this platoon system batooey, so they better win it all to justify it. How are you going to tell your top 10 recruits they're going to play 20 mpg. The players get more exposure for being on a great team as a whole, but individually you cant scout em well.

I DVRd the Duke game last night. Know they lost already. Jah did his thing it seems but that was their gameplan. They Dwighted him. For all the rightfully deserved crap Jah gets you cannot be mad if we end up with him though. We'd be very fortunate to get him or Towns.

[GONYK]

Omg. How stupid is this. Let's think about it for just one second. Duke lost because of okafor? First off guys okafor is a 4 he scored 28 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and shot 73℅ . How about coach k putting plumlee in at 5 moving Winslow to 3 and play 2 guards? If he did duke could've shut the lane off. Duke was out coached tonight. Okafor was unbelievable

[TrueWarrior]

Towns in foul trouble again, but theyre keeping him in. That was such a ticky tack foul, but he just needs to be more careful. Looks like a throwaway game for him where they dont even need him anyway. 8-8 on FTs and not one shot attempted . Meanwhile if this game gets closer they'll start going to him.

[Apples]

Towns is annoying to evaluate. You know when you watch Duke and Ohio State that Jah and Russ will be getting their minutes, touches, and shots. With Towns you dont know. He'll have position but never get the ball until they need him it seems. As a top prospect I wouldnt want to be a part of this platoon system batooey, so they better win it all to justify it. How are you going to tell your top 10 recruits they're going to play 20 mpg. The players get more exposure for being on a great team as a whole, but individually you cant scout em well.

I DVRd the Duke game last night. Know they lost already. Jah did his thing it seems but that was their gameplan. They Dwighted him. For all the rightfully deserved crap Jah gets you cannot be mad if we end up with him though. We'd be very fortunate to get him or Towns.

Actually heard Calipari in an interview say he's gotten complaints from parents, wondering why their kid isn't getting a lot minutes.

[Manhattan Project]

Actually heard Calipari in an interview say he's gotten complaints from parents, wondering why their kid isn't getting a lot minutes.

If that's true, that's ridiculous. Kentucky is a factory churning out NBA draft picks right now, Calipari made Josh Harrellson into a second round pick. Most people don't really like the whose platoon thing that Kentucky did this year, but it was fair to all players to show something.

[mpharris36]

Imagine if Okafor was having the game Towns is having right now.. No room for error on Duke for Okafor..if Towns is average Kentucky still blows teams out.. Got to be fair to both players

would okafor go an entire game with no touches?

they don't even pass it to him.

he didn't even get a shot up

[mpharris36]

I do love bigs that can shoot FT's having someone you dont' have to worry about being in the game late is very important.

[TrueWarrior]

Towns bricks the wide open jumper then gives up the and1 on the other end. Fouls out. Nice block before that though.

[Manhattan Project]

A game like this definitely adds some fuel to the Towns fire on both sides. One on hand it's nice to see him contribute when he's not touching the ball, on the other hand if you're the best player you need to at least command the ball a bit more. At the end of the day Kentucky steam rolls another opponent, going to be interesting once the tournament starts.

[TrueWarrior]

A game like this definitely adds some fuel to the Towns fire on both sides. One on hand it's nice to see him contribute when he's not touching the ball, on the other hand if you're the best player you need to at least command the ball a bit more. At the end of the day Kentucky steam rolls another opponent, going to be interesting once the tournament starts.

I see him calling for the ball all the time. When Kentucky is beating down teams there just isnt much urgency to get him involved. Everyone is getting theirs because the team is stacked, but when the games are tight they all of the sudden look to Karl. 1 shot attempt is hilarious, but hey he hit all his FTs at least. Yay.

[djphan]

The harrisons are horrible... you cant force ppl to pass you the ball...

At this pt its pretty clear who these guys are anyway... hopefully no one gets hurt.. hopefully we grab towns somehow...

[ColdBlooded]

Karl Towns FT % : 81%