Where is Jahlil Okafor?

[FKAri]

I'm stunned there are still guys defending Okafor. I don't get how you can look at his various and obvious limitations and conclude anything other than he is the odd man out.

I honestly feel the guy can be like a Cousins lite out there.

[the_process]

I'm stunned there are still guys defending Okafor. I don't get how you can look at his various and obvious limitations and conclude anything other than he is the odd man out.

I honestly feel the guy can be like a Cousins lite out there.

Wow. I don't see that at all. To each his own, but that's some Dr. Strange trippy alternate dimension s*** right there.

[phifans]

The saddest part of this is not some of our own fans think Okafor is bad but they HOPE he is as bad as they expect him to be.

[TTP]

Porzingis played against the Warriors without Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony. He had a -21, scored 8 points, no blocks, and 5 rebounds in 35 minutes. Okafor has to had play without Carmelo and Rose level perimeter players his entire NBA career. Porzingis is really good, but he could have shown the basketball world another level of his game if he would have produced average to above average against the Warriors without help.

Using nbawowy:

The Knicks have actually been better with Porzingis on the court and Melo/Rose off than they have with all 3 on the court.

Porzingis w/o Rose/Melo = 102.0 points per 100, opponent 101.7 = +0.3
Porzingis w/ Rose/Melo = 113.1 points per 100, opponent 115.4 = -2.3
Difference = +2.6

Sixers w/ Okafor this year = 99.9 points per 100, opponent 112.0 = -12.1
Sixers w/o Okafor this year = 102.0 points per 100, opponent 107.3 = -5.3

The Sixers are 6.8 points worse with Okafor on the court. Basketballreference actually lists the difference as -7.8. Last year it was -10.0.

Also Nerlens played with the same scrubs as Okafor last year and was significantly better. Actually, Nerlens had to play with one more scrub than Okafor did...

Porzingis would still have been good playing for us last year. It's not like he was playing on an elite team - he played with his fair share of scrubs on a 32 win team.

[voodooguru]

I like NN4D and Jah.

In Jah's case, I cling to the fact that after we signed Ish, the only players in NBA history who matched Jah's offensive effectiveness as rookies were players like, oh, BRON, KD, Melo and DeMarcus.

Jah did this with a truly second-rate NBA point, on a legendarily bad team.

I wasn't crazy happy with what I saw of the Terrible Twin Towers against Toronto, but it's only one game and due to restrictions and inexperience, they're both somewhat sporadic and out-of-sync.

I think NN4D will be a transcendent defender that plays the entire defensive court with blocks and steals/tips. His anticipation, athleticism and quickness might be unparalleled for a player his size.

I also think he already looks stronger. In the offseason I chose Real Deal Jahlil over 4D because I wanted every Beige Magic Simmons sweet pass to be caught and converted, not fumbled and turned over.

I think Nerlens is the sort of competitor who'll probably improve in every offensive area except the jump shot.

So is he to be our back up center or will he play power forward on offence so Embiist can play center?

If he's backup then I'd prefer Jah at backup.

[76ciology]

Okafor last 6 games:
27.5mpg
15ppg
64.5FG%
7.5rpg
1.3bpg

[76ciology]

Currently, I have no doubt that Noel will be much better for the team. Having Noel anchoring the D when Biid sits is a dreamy scenario.

But for my projection (everyone has their's), Jah has a higher upside than Noel and has a better chance to be a better fit with Biid/Simmons.

Jah's biggest deficits are his negative impact offense and rebounding, two aspects that he has more than the tools to make big improvements. For Noel, he is what he is. He has poor touch on offense and has major strength/size issue that is very unlikely to improve. I don't know if you've seen any big improvements from Noel since his rookie season.

There's also just an abundance of Noguieras and Capelas in the league (i recommend you dig deeper on this story). That I find Noel replaceable. While with Jah, we can still take a chance with his upside because of his contract situation. And I do think it's a good bet to stick with him until he stops improving, thats the time I'll cut him loose.

Then again, it's just a projection. We can't determine the future. My guess is just as good as your guess. Nevertheless, we're all rooting for the same team and do value Simmons/Biid more than anyone else. This is just a difference in point of view.

[the_process]

The saddest part of this is not some of our own fans think Okafor is bad but they HOPE he is as bad as they expect him to be.

Or, you know, we use our eyes and the stats and call it based on what Okafor actually does. One or the other.

[phifans]

The saddest part of this is not some of our own fans think Okafor is bad but they HOPE he is as bad as they expect him to be.

Or, you know, we use our eyes and the stats and call it based on what Okafor actually does. One or the other.

Do you hope he will get better ?

[LloydFree]

You deny that you guys blame everything on Okafor and just recognize he's not good.
And then you just put the blame on Okafor for him "holding back Embiid & Noels' effectiveness" and "forcing Joel to sacrifice his game".
JUST RELEASE this guy ! He's every reason why we SUCK ! We'll win everything ONCE HE'S GONE !

Stop your crying. Sack up.

Im not crying dude. I'm just saying what you guys want. How our FO hasn't been recognized that Okafor is one of the worst player is beyond me. I mean there are so many posters here who has determined that. What are they waiting for ? Just cut this guy and everything will be fine and nobody will play out of their position anymore.

What's your purpose here? Trying to break the record for most consecutive juvenile or uninformative posts ever. I've never seen you post anything to show the positives that Okafor brings to the team. Just girlish rants about other people's criticisms of Okafor. If you think he's a good player then post positive information about Okafor to disprove what is being said. Stop posting rhetorical BS about people hating him personally. You continuing to stomp your feet and cry about other 76er fans criticism's of Okafor isn't going to change anybody's opinion. It just makes you look like a clown.

[Kobblehead]

Now Okafor's presence is directly hurting Embiid's development. The fun and games are over. The posturing and waiting game is over. Dump this sunk asset for ANYTHING. Addition by subtraction.

[CoreyGallagher]

Development isn't ultimately affected by single games or pairings that have lasted 32 minutes.

[Kobblehead]

Any rep Embiid takes out of position affects his development. Regardless of how minuscule. They add up. It's already affecting his psyche after one game. Keep up with this dumb experiment of trying to make a terrible player like Okafor force-fit into this team, and you will reap what you sow. I guarantee it.

[CoreyGallagher]

Any rep Embiid takes out of position affects his development. Regardless of how minuscule. They add up.

They do eventually add up, I just don't think as quickly as some seem to believe.

It's already affecting his psyche after one game.

How so? He's been overly critiquing and critical of himself for a while now, especially during this (jump) shooting slump he's been in the last 3 games.

[Kobblehead]

I don't get it. Did you not hear his comments following the Raptors game expressing frustration about playing away from the basket?

[TeamHigh]

Any rep Embiid takes out of position affects his development. Regardless of how minuscule. They add up.

They do eventually add up, I just don't think as quickly as some seem to believe.

It's already affecting his psyche after one game.

How so? He's been overly critiquing and critical of himself for a while now, especially during this (jump) shooting slump he's been in the last 3 games.

How so?

The whole narrative about Embiid is that he's actually very raw (relative to where he could be), and that his game seems to noticeably improve very quickly, even game to game.

How can this be true if individual reps that Embiid gets don't add up?

Embiid is a very raw player. In fact, I would be surprised if there's any other contributors in the NBA that have played fewer total organized games of basketball in their lives. Embiid has probably played fewer than 150 games of organized basketball at any level. Every single rep matters, especially considering his learning curve and how far he has to go to reach his sky high ceiling.

Even beyond the basic rules of team building—you build around your franchise player, not force your franchise player away from their preferred position so you can accommodate a lesser player—just the chance of making Embiid disgruntled for whatever return you can get from Okafor is not worth it. Do people forget that he's up for extension this summer?

[CoreyGallagher]

I don't get it. Did you not hear his comments following the Raptors game expressing frustration about playing away from the basket?

He said he didn't get as many touches inside as he would have liked. He also said that he prefers defending outside because he likes switching on to Guards.

I just think that you're putting too much emphasis into everything.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I've said the pairing should be used limitedly, I wasn't expecting them to play together as much as they did in the second half against the Raptors. I kept expecting a substitution that never came.

[rzzzzz]

Okafor's presence is directly hurting Embiid's development. The fun and games are over.

you mean Jah and Jo can't play video games together no mo? and who's going to tell Jo his best bud is being dumped for nothing because the fans can't wait another couple of weeks to get Simmons on the floor to distribute to the frontline? which has been the biggest impediment to Jo and Jah's development.

[MatthewGeigerII]

Question:

if there is a good amount of movement - especially high-low movement between the two bigs from low block (Switch) to high block?

shouldn't/ can joel still get a lot of chances to operate from the low block ?

and at the same time, jahlil get some shots from the free throw line?

it really doesn't matter who STARTS at the low block... they should be constantly moving

i'm with barkley in his theory that a position is just a title....


it should still work with the "twin towers" experiment on offense. brett needs to keep this guys constantly moving and switching and not stagnant... which i'm guessing he already told them based on joel's comments "i can't just stand there at the 3pt line".


Defense has always been the question in the pairing. and from what i saw... with joel's ability to help and okafor actually hustling when playing with him and getting blocks.. that side has been better than expected?


i would run with this for a little - i expect a better game on O tonight.

[CoreyGallagher]

How can this be true if individual reps that Embiid gets don't add up?

I said that they do. I just don't believe that we should emphasize every individual repetition/possession, especially as an all or nothing learning experience.

The whole narrative about Embiid is that he's actually very raw (relative to where he could be), and that his game seems to noticeably improve very quickly, even game to game.

...

Embiid is a very raw player. In fact, I would be surprised if there's any other contributors in the NBA that have played fewer total organized games of basketball in their lives. Embiid has probably played fewer than 150 games of organized basketball at any level. Every single rep matters, especially considering his learning curve and how far he has to go to reach his sky high ceiling.

He mentioned that he was just standing around and wasn't moving enough on offense after the game in the same critique of his performance that he mentioned his lack of effort on defense. So, perhaps he is actually learning from these (few) instances of not having the ball, as well.

Even beyond the basic rules of team building—you build around your franchise player, not force your franchise player away from their preferred position so you can accommodate a lesser player—just the chance of making Embiid disgruntled for whatever return you can get from Okafor is not worth it. Do people forget that he's up for extension this summer?

If the pairing is ultimately successful aren't we just using the versatility that Embiid provides for us? I think that having a player that can accommodate a lesser player in that regard isn't necessarily a bad thing.