Okafor or Towns? Which center is the better pick?

[djphan]

the guy is a force on offense.... and bruisers like pekovic show that you can score pretty efficiently by just using your size and moving people down low... and okafor is a lot better than pek... i think the duncan comparisons came when he hit some weird face up bank shot one game early in the season which i'm pretty sure was an accident... he's not anything like duncan at all...

[Marcus]

the guy is a force on offense.... and bruisers like pekovic show that you can score pretty efficiently by just using your size and moving people down low... and okafor is a lot better than pek... i think the duncan comparisons came when he hit some weird face up bank shot one game early in the season which i'm pretty sure was an accident... he's not anything like duncan at all...

the bank isn't an accident and definitely something he's worked on but yeah he is quite a ways away from being near Duncan.

[E-Balla]

the guy is a force on offense.... and bruisers like pekovic show that you can score pretty efficiently by just using your size and moving people down low... and okafor is a lot better than pek... i think the duncan comparisons came when he hit some weird face up bank shot one game early in the season which i'm pretty sure was an accident... he's not anything like duncan at all...

the bank isn't an accident and definitely something he's worked on but yeah he is quite a ways away from being near Duncan.

Yeah I still don't get the Duncan comp in any way outside of his post fame being fundamentally sound but Duncan has way more finesse and his power moves aren't as good as Okafor. Different games.

I thought he reminded me of Bynum early on but honestly I think Moses Malone might be a better comp.

[Marcus]

the guy is a force on offense.... and bruisers like pekovic show that you can score pretty efficiently by just using your size and moving people down low... and okafor is a lot better than pek... i think the duncan comparisons came when he hit some weird face up bank shot one game early in the season which i'm pretty sure was an accident... he's not anything like duncan at all...

the bank isn't an accident and definitely something he's worked on but yeah he is quite a ways away from being near Duncan.

Yeah I still don't get the Duncan comp in any way outside of his post fame being fundamentally sound but Duncan has way more finesse and his power moves aren't as good as Okafor. Different games.

I thought he reminded me of Bynum early on but honestly I think Moses Malone might be a better comp.

I never saw Moses play so I don't know what he brought to the table.

This might garner some reaction from those that read it so im gonna try and be as clear as possible. So here goes.

I always felt like SOME of Jah's post game had some Shaq in it. SOME.

The quick baseline spin and power through, the power pro-hop into the lane and finish, and using his power to create enough room through a double. That's it though. I know Jah won't be able to do any of that to the same effect that Shaq did in the league. The short burst footwork is somewhat reminiscent of Diesel though.

NOT SAYING OKAFOR IS SHAQ just saying SOME of his moves remind me of Shaq.

Fire away.

[E-Balla]

the bank isn't an accident and definitely something he's worked on but yeah he is quite a ways away from being near Duncan.

Yeah I still don't get the Duncan comp in any way outside of his post fame being fundamentally sound but Duncan has way more finesse and his power moves aren't as good as Okafor. Different games.

I thought he reminded me of Bynum early on but honestly I think Moses Malone might be a better comp.

I never saw Moses play so I don't know what he brought to the table.

This might garner some reaction from those that read it so im gonna try and be as clear as possible. So here goes.

I always felt like SOME of Jah's post game had some Shaq in it. SOME.

The quick baseline spin and power through, the power pro-hop into the lane and finish, and using his power to create enough room through a double. That's it though. I know Jah won't be able to do any of that to the same effect that Shaq did in the league. The short burst footwork is somewhat reminiscent of Diesel though.

NOT SAYING OKAFOR IS SHAQ just saying SOME of his moves remind me of Shaq.

Fire away.

Hilariously Shaq was compared to Moses coming out of LSU and aside from Shaq Moses is usually seen as the best power post big ever.

I've watch most of that 83 Sixers run (all of the Bucks and Lakers series) and I've seen the 1981 Finals a few times before so I'm not super comfortable with the comp but their games are extremely similar. The main difference to me is Moses was a GOAT rebounder (Jahlil, while great, isn't the best ever), Moses was small when he was younger so his shooting touch was better since he practiced it more, and Jahlil is on another level completely as a passer. Outside of that Moses was a very good defender when he wanted to be but commonly didn't even really try (he has a lot of year where he was a terrible defender mainly because he didn't always give effort on that end). Moses was so powerful he used to completely murder Kareem just beating him down with his post game.

That's probably why I'm so high on Jahlil I just see so much of Moses in his game and Moses is one of the 5 best C's ever.

[E-Balla]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUNGfF1ZqZQ[/youtube]
Here's a good Moses game to tell the type of guy he was. At 5:25 and 12:30 he shows off that power game that made him an MVP (there's more but those 2 are the ones I remembered).

[yoyoboy]

Towns is my pick. The NBA has evolved where a true post up center like Okafor isn't as important. Towns is more well rounded on offense. He can run the floor like a small forward and even shoot out to the three point line. You just don't see his offensive capabilities because he only plays 20 minutes a game and doesn't get as many shot opportunities as Okafor seeing that his team is insanely good. Put him on another team and there's no doubt in my mind he put up the same numbers as Okafor.

And then there's the defense. Towns is WAY better than Olafor on defense and IMO defense from the center position is so important that he just can't be a liability there. It's why players like Al Jefferson, Brook Lopez, and Nikola Pekovic aren't valued very highly (though Okafor will be better on offense than all of them). Towns can be an All-NBA defender one day with his combination of athleticism, strength, length, quickness, and timing whereas Okafor will never be good IMO. He's not even putting up 2 blocks per 40 minutes in college, which is unacceptable. Look at all the top defenders in the league today and their block numbers in college. Per 40, most of them put up over 4 blocks. And while blocks aren't everything you can even see in games that his defense is a problem.

It's the same things as the Wiggins-Parker debate of last year IMO. Okafor will probably be better initially but over time, Towns will develop into a better, more rounded player than Okafor. His potential is scary.

[TheZachAttack]

Towns/Pek/Dieng
KG/Dieng/Bennett/Payne
Wiggins/Shabazz/Robinson III
Martin/Lavine/Shabazz/Robinson III
Rubio/Lavine/Brown
'

[MinneOOPalis]

Towns is my pick. The NBA has evolved where a true post up center like Okafor isn't as important. Towns is more well rounded on offense. He can run the floor like a small forward and even shoot out to the three point line. You just don't see his offensive capabilities because he only plays 20 minutes a game and doesn't get as many shot opportunities as Okafor seeing that his team is insanely good. Put him on another team and there's no doubt in my mind he put up the same numbers as Okafor.

And then there's the defense. Towns is WAY better than Olafor on defense and IMO defense from the center position is so important that he just can't be a liability there. It's why players like Al Jefferson, Brook Lopez, and Nikola Pekovic aren't valued very highly (though Okafor will be better on offense than all of them). Towns can be an All-NBA defender one day with his combination of athleticism, strength, length, quickness, and timing whereas Okafor will never be good IMO. He's not even putting up 2 blocks per 40 minutes in college, which is unacceptable. Look at all the top defenders in the league today and their block numbers in college. Per 40, most of them put up over 4 blocks. And while blocks aren't everything you can even see in games that his defense is a problem.

It's the same things as the Wiggins-Parker debate of last year IMO. Okafor will probably be better initially but over time, Towns will develop into a better, more rounded player than Okafor. His potential is scary.

Scouts know about Towns offensive capabilities... and Okafor is still a higher rated prospect. Also just because a skill is rare doesn't mean its not valuable.

[MinneOOPalis]

Towns/Pek/Dieng
KG/Dieng/Bennett/Payne
Wiggins/Shabazz/Robinson III
Martin/Lavine/Shabazz/Robinson III
Rubio/Lavine/Brown
'

At this point we could draft kwame brown and the future is still bright. Whoever we get this year is just icing on the cake.

[No-Man]

Towns is my pick. The NBA has evolved where a true post up center like Okafor isn't as important. Towns is more well rounded on offense. He can run the floor like a small forward and even shoot out to the three point line. You just don't see his offensive capabilities because he only plays 20 minutes a game and doesn't get as many shot opportunities as Okafor seeing that his team is insanely good. Put him on another team and there's no doubt in my mind he put up the same numbers as Okafor.

And then there's the defense. Towns is WAY better than Olafor on defense and IMO defense from the center position is so important that he just can't be a liability there. It's why players like Al Jefferson, Brook Lopez, and Nikola Pekovic aren't valued very highly (though Okafor will be better on offense than all of them). Towns can be an All-NBA defender one day with his combination of athleticism, strength, length, quickness, and timing whereas Okafor will never be good IMO. He's not even putting up 2 blocks per 40 minutes in college, which is unacceptable. Look at all the top defenders in the league today and their block numbers in college. Per 40, most of them put up over 4 blocks. And while blocks aren't everything you can even see in games that his defense is a problem.

It's the same things as the Wiggins-Parker debate of last year IMO. Okafor will probably be better initially but over time, Towns will develop into a better, more rounded player than Okafor. His potential is scary.

Man, lies are not good for the soul.
Your text is full of them

[Marcus]

Towns is my pick. He can run the floor like a small forward

that statement has Rudy Gobert reach on it.

when he start doing that?

[Talent Chaser]

I will never understand this obsession with Towns. Okafor is simply on another level as a prospect.

[yoyoboy]

Towns is my pick. The NBA has evolved where a true post up center like Okafor isn't as important. Towns is more well rounded on offense. He can run the floor like a small forward and even shoot out to the three point line. You just don't see his offensive capabilities because he only plays 20 minutes a game and doesn't get as many shot opportunities as Okafor seeing that his team is insanely good. Put him on another team and there's no doubt in my mind he put up the same numbers as Okafor.

And then there's the defense. Towns is WAY better than Olafor on defense and IMO defense from the center position is so important that he just can't be a liability there. It's why players like Al Jefferson, Brook Lopez, and Nikola Pekovic aren't valued very highly (though Okafor will be better on offense than all of them). Towns can be an All-NBA defender one day with his combination of athleticism, strength, length, quickness, and timing whereas Okafor will never be good IMO. He's not even putting up 2 blocks per 40 minutes in college, which is unacceptable. Look at all the top defenders in the league today and their block numbers in college. Per 40, most of them put up over 4 blocks. And while blocks aren't everything you can even see in games that his defense is a problem.

It's the same things as the Wiggins-Parker debate of last year IMO. Okafor will probably be better initially but over time, Towns will develop into a better, more rounded player than Okafor. His potential is scary.

Man, lies are not good for the soul.
Your text is full of them

How about you actually try to make an informed response instead of simply dismissing what I said. It's an opinion and I'm allowed to have one in regards to who I like better, peasant.

[yoyoboy]

I will never understand this obsession with Towns. Okafor is simply on another level as a prospect.

He's more versatile, more athletic, and can actually defend, which is unbelievably important at the center position.

[yoyoboy]

Towns is my pick. The NBA has evolved where a true post up center like Okafor isn't as important. Towns is more well rounded on offense. He can run the floor like a small forward and even shoot out to the three point line. You just don't see his offensive capabilities because he only plays 20 minutes a game and doesn't get as many shot opportunities as Okafor seeing that his team is insanely good. Put him on another team and there's no doubt in my mind he put up the same numbers as Okafor.

And then there's the defense. Towns is WAY better than Olafor on defense and IMO defense from the center position is so important that he just can't be a liability there. It's why players like Al Jefferson, Brook Lopez, and Nikola Pekovic aren't valued very highly (though Okafor will be better on offense than all of them). Towns can be an All-NBA defender one day with his combination of athleticism, strength, length, quickness, and timing whereas Okafor will never be good IMO. He's not even putting up 2 blocks per 40 minutes in college, which is unacceptable. Look at all the top defenders in the league today and their block numbers in college. Per 40, most of them put up over 4 blocks. And while blocks aren't everything you can even see in games that his defense is a problem.

It's the same things as the Wiggins-Parker debate of last year IMO. Okafor will probably be better initially but over time, Towns will develop into a better, more rounded player than Okafor. His potential is scary.

Scouts know about Towns offensive capabilities... and Okafor is still a higher rated prospect. Also just because a skill is rare doesn't mean its not valuable.

You're gonna have to explain yourself in more than 2 sentences, bud. Scouts aren't always right. It's why the number one picks aren't always the best players. And if you're referring to me allegedly saying post up skills are invaluable because they're rare, you're going to have to read what I say again, buddy. because I never said that. Brook Lopez, Al Jefferson, and Nikola Pekovic are all great offensive, post up scorers, but they have little impact on the win column because they can't defend and they play too much one on one basketball. In addition to rebounding, I like my bigs to be able to do two of the following 3 things. 1) Stretch the floor, 2) Protect the rim, and 3) score 20+ a game. In the NBA, Okafor has the potential to do only #3. Towns on the other hand has the POTENTIAL (key word: potential) to do all 3, though he'll never be the post up scorer Okafor is.

I knew Okafor would dominate in college because he's a bully, he's refined, and too big for the college players. But this is about predicting NBA success, and down the line I think Towns will be better. Like I said before, it's Wiggins vs. Parker all over again. I remember people calling Wiggins Harrison Barnes 2.0 and how athleticism and potential is overrated, which is why the more polished Parker should be rated higher. I guess we'll just had to wait and see what happens in this case.

[yoyoboy]

Towns/Pek/Dieng
KG/Dieng/Bennett/Payne
Wiggins/Shabazz/Robinson III
Martin/Lavine/Shabazz/Robinson III
Rubio/Lavine/Brown
'

The power forward and shooting guard positions need upgrades, but center and small forward would be set for the future. Not sure I'm sold on Ricky Rubio yet either. Great passer and defender but unless he learns to shoot he's always going to be a liability, especially in the playoffs, where it's much harder to get a basket so you won't want guys being able to just play off Rubio.

[yoyoboy]

Towns is my pick. He can run the floor like a small forward

that statement has Rudy Gobert reach on it.

when he start doing that?

He's actually been doing that since high school. In fact, I've even seen it in person when he played my town's (no pun intended) high school team a couple years ago. But you've got to actually, you know, watch the games to see that.

[Marcus]

Towns is my pick. He can run the floor like a small forward

that statement has Rudy Gobert reach on it.

when he start doing that?

He's actually been doing that since high school. In fact, I've even seen it in person when he played my town's (no pun intended) high school team a couple years ago. But you've got to actually, you know, watch the games to see that.

i've watched Towns in every Kentucky game this year and the Hoop Summit and the HS All-American games. Pretty familiar with his baseline to baseline. He's not outrunning Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, or Kelly Oubre baseline to baseline. THOSE are small forwards.

NOW if you wanted to say "Willie Cauley-Stein runs the floor like a small forward" then you'd have a case and we knowwwwwwww Karl isn't faster than him as shown here in this video at the 15-18 second mark

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ8cO8qMRpQ[/youtube]

so where do you see small forward speed out of Karl Towns? Oh that's right

I've even seen it in person when he played my town's (no pun intended) high school team a couple years ago.

So you saw him outrun a BUNCH OF HIGH SCHOOL KIDS IN YOUR TOWN and figured he's be able to do that against NBA level talent. Got it.

Look bro, nothing wrong with liking the kid. I think he's a good player with a lot of upside too. Lets keep it within sensible context though.

He ain't running the floor like a small forward.

He runs the floor well, runs the floor very well for a big, better than the majority of the bigs in this prospective draft class.

Keep it in that realm.

[Talent Chaser]

I will never understand this obsession with Towns. Okafor is simply on another level as a prospect.

He's more versatile, more athletic, and can actually defend, which is unbelievably important at the center position.

This is NOT true at all. He's not more versatile. He may be able to stretch the floor but he's nowhere near as proficient from deep as the average NBA stretch 4. Put him at the 4 in the NBA and he will get burned on the defensive end and not provide enough spacing to make it worth it on the offensive end. He is not a better defender than Jahlil. WCS anchors Kentucky's entire defense. People talking about Towns like he can stay in front of guards on the perimeter or protect the rim are lieing to themselves. Jahlil is actually a better post defender and rim protector than Towns. All of Jahlil's defensive struggles can be linked to effort. When he was engaged down the stretch vs UNC he looked very good on that end. Jahlil's build is much more sturdy than Towns. Towns is top heavy and has young Andrew Bynum's physique. That's not good if you want him to have a long, productive career. Jahlil has more upside because of his build and effort related struggles on defense, is more athletic, is WAY stronger, and is one of the most dominant low post scorers in NCAA history as a freshman. People that are saying he won't be able to dominate the low post in the NBA should watch his post up the other night vs Kennedy Meeks.

His lower body strength is simply incredible and he still has so much room to grow.
Towns isn't athletic or coordinated enough to make a move like this :