Okafor or Towns? Which center is the better pick?

[yoyoboy]

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.

Oh come on. It's obvious I was exaggerating a little to put it in perspective. I'm not trying to say he runs the floor like a Lebron or KD. When I say he runs like a small forward, I'm just trying to say he is very mobile and runs the floor very well for someone of his position and size. It's like when people say Davis runs the floor like a small forward. You took my quote way too literally.

[Marcus]

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.

Oh come on. It's obvious I was exaggerating a little to put it in perspective. I'm not trying to say he runs the floor like a Lebron or KD. When I say he runs like a small forward, I'm just trying to say he is very mobile and runs the floor very well for someone of his position and size. It's like when people say Davis runs the floor like a small forward. You took my quote way too literally.

I responded to your initial statement with some tongue and cheek about how it was a reach of a comment to make.

YOU responded with something along the lines of me needing to "watch him play" which tells me you actually believed that nonsense about how he runs the floor like a 3.

Just a rebuttle sir.

[yoyoboy]

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



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.

Oh come on. It's obvious I was exaggerating a little to put it in perspective. I'm not trying to say he runs the floor like a Lebron or KD. When I say he runs like a small forward, I'm just trying to say he is very mobile and runs the floor very well for someone of his position and size. It's like when people say Davis runs the floor like a small forward. You took my quote way too literally.

I responded to your initial statement with some tongue and cheek about how it was a reach of a comment to make.

YOU responded with something along the lines of me needing to "watch him play" which tells me you actually believed that nonsense about how he runs the floor like a 3.

Just a rebuttle sir.

Touché. But you've gotta understand I only responded like that because I was already flustered with the previous guys who commented in reply to my post giving one sentence dismissals of thr entire post.

[Marcus]

Oh come on. It's obvious I was exaggerating a little to put it in perspective. I'm not trying to say he runs the floor like a Lebron or KD. When I say he runs like a small forward, I'm just trying to say he is very mobile and runs the floor very well for someone of his position and size. It's like when people say Davis runs the floor like a small forward. You took my quote way too literally.

I responded to your initial statement with some tongue and cheek about how it was a reach of a comment to make.

YOU responded with something along the lines of me needing to "watch him play" which tells me you actually believed that nonsense about how he runs the floor like a 3.

Just a rebuttle sir.

Touché. But you've gotta understand I only responded like that because I was already flustered with the previous guys who commented in reply to my post giving one sentence dismissals of thr entire post.

fair enough.

I was heavy on the Towns train before the season started. Kid needs a lot of work in the post, fully believe that will come with time and coaching. Like his energy, he can however learn to play smarter at times, i think he'll have to adjust to not having that Kentucky frontline to cover for him at the next level. The jumper hasn't shown up this year but i believe its there. I think he fits more NBA teams than Jah does. I also think whoever takes him is looking at a lot of time and effort to get him maxed out.

Good kid, plays hard, high post potential, PnP potential, rim protection potential, has a lot to learn on both ends, thought he could sneak into that top spot, not so sure anymore. Def top 5 depending on who's drafting and where.

[djphan]

whoever said that towns is not a better defender than ok4 is delusional...

[Dcebucks11]

Towns all day

[DickGrayson]

Towns is a BEAST!!!!

[yoyoboy]

Simply put I'll take a great defensive center with good offense over a great offensive center with no defense. Towns all day.

[ColdBlooded]

fair enough.

I was heavy on the Towns train before the season started. Kid needs a lot of work in the post, fully believe that will come with time and coaching. Like his energy, he can however learn to play smarter at times, i think he'll have to adjust to not having that Kentucky frontline to cover for him at the next level. The jumper hasn't shown up this year but i believe its there. I think he fits more NBA teams than Jah does. I also think whoever takes him is looking at a lot of time and effort to get him maxed out.

Good kid, plays hard, high post potential, PnP potential, rim protection potential, has a lot to learn on both ends, thought he could sneak into that top spot, not so sure anymore. Def top 5 depending on who's drafting and where.

I'm the engineer of this train. I do remember seeing you getting on board first, though.

[ColdBlooded]

He also flashed that J today :


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC7bYpik_MM[/youtube]

[cksdayoff]

Embiid, Towns and Noel would make a sick front court

[MinneOOPalis]

Embiid, Towns and Noel would make a sick front court

Not sure...If sarcastic..

[No-Man]

Embiid, Towns and Noel would make a sick front court

Not sure...If sarcastic..

All of them are Centers, ask Utah how well it worked with Favors, Gobert and Kanter.

[E-Balla]

He also flashed that J today :


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC7bYpik_MM[/youtube]

I honestly can't be mad with ending up with any of the top 4 guys this year. Sure I like Jahlil the most but Manny, Jah, KAT, and Doc are all players with the potential to be superstars (and they could all be superstars with the strong foundations they all have).

[HeartBreakKid]

Embiid, Towns and Noel would make a sick front court

Not sure...If sarcastic..

All of them are Centers, ask Utah how well it worked with Favors, Gobert and Kanter.

Favors is a power forward, and Kanter didn't work out because Kanter sucked, not because it was crowded.

[BoutPractice]

Both have significant uncertainties attached to them, and I think a lot is going to boil down to situations.

I'm worried about Okafor's low block numbers... and wonder if he might work as an offensive PF in the NBA instead of a center, paired with a defensive minded center in a twin tower type arrangement. Even better if he could develop a jumper... Alternatively I could see him being a statpadding center on a bad team. He's the toughest sort of player to evaluate: he's both highly unorthodox and so unusually effective you still have to take notice. Because of that unorthodoxy I wouldn't rule him out as a potential superstar... and I wouldn't rule him out as a complete bust either. Meanwhile, Town if he puts it together has the ability to be a true impact player on both ends, someone who helps you win games. But it's not at all sure whether he will...

The guard prospects in this draft seem safer, but the best bigs are tantalizing enough that you can't help but take the chance...

[RightToCensor]

Both have significant uncertainties attached to them, and I think a lot is going to boil down to situations.

I'm worried about Okafor's low block numbers... and wonder if he might work as an offensive PF in the NBA instead of a center, paired with a defensive minded center in a twin tower type arrangement. Even better if he could develop a jumper... Alternatively I could see him being a statpadding center on a bad team. He's the toughest sort of player to evaluate: he's both highly unorthodox and so unusually effective you still have to take notice. Because of that unorthodoxy I wouldn't rule him out as a potential superstar... and I wouldn't rule him out as a complete bust either. Meanwhile, Town if he puts it together has the ability to be a true impact player on both ends, someone who helps you win games. But it's not at all sure whether he will...

The guard prospects in this draft seem safer, but the best bigs are tantalizing enough that you can't help but take the chance...

Perfect explanation.

I'm not sure if Okafor can defend PFs these days with them being able to stretch the floor and drive. Okafor will be a Center, but the thing that is keeping him from being an unanimous #1 pick is his defense. He needs a PF that can block shots from the weak side, provide some toughness on the defensive end, and help Okafor rebound (There are only 6 PFs in the league that average 1 BPG and play 30 MPG).

Towns seems like more of the sure thing than Okafor to me. That's like comparing a healthy Andrew Bynum to Brook Lopez, it all depends on how you think Bynum can develop as a #1 option on offense or if you can hide Lopez's deficiencies enough to win games.

Looking at the Draft Order of who I think teams would pick between Towns or Okafor:

New York- Okafor
Philadelphia- Towns
Minnesota- Towns
Los Angeles- Okafor
Orlando- Towns

[DickGrayson]

Both have significant uncertainties attached to them, and I think a lot is going to boil down to situations.

I'm worried about Okafor's low block numbers... and wonder if he might work as an offensive PF in the NBA instead of a center, paired with a defensive minded center in a twin tower type arrangement. Even better if he could develop a jumper... Alternatively I could see him being a statpadding center on a bad team. He's the toughest sort of player to evaluate: he's both highly unorthodox and so unusually effective you still have to take notice. Because of that unorthodoxy I wouldn't rule him out as a potential superstar... and I wouldn't rule him out as a complete bust either. Meanwhile, Town if he puts it together has the ability to be a true impact player on both ends, someone who helps you win games. But it's not at all sure whether he will...

The guard prospects in this draft seem safer, but the best bigs are tantalizing enough that you can't help but take the chance...

Perfect explanation.

I'm not sure if Okafor can defend PFs these days with them being able to stretch the floor and drive. Okafor will be a Center, but the thing that is keeping him from being an unanimous #1 pick is his defense. He needs a PF that can block shots from the weak side, provide some toughness on the defensive end, and help Okafor rebound (There are only 6 PFs in the league that average 1 BPG and play 30 MPG).

Towns seems like more of the sure thing than Okafor to me. That's like comparing a healthy Andrew Bynum to Brook Lopez, it all depends on how you think Bynum can develop as a #1 option on offense or if you can hide Lopez's deficiencies enough to win games.

Looking at the Draft Order of who I think teams would pick between Towns or Okafor:

New York- Okafor
Philadelphia- Towns
Minnesota- Towns
Los Angeles- Okafor
Orlando- Towns

I agree with most of this.

I see Philadelphia picking Okafor over Towns. Philly has enough raw talent, need someone more solid like Okafor.

[sipclip]

Towns seems to be incredibly overrated defensively. Towns isn't even the best defensive big on his team yet somehow he is a defensive anchor. When you play with a big like Stein it allows you to be a lot more aggressive defensively and that isn't even bringing up the fact that the cats have 3 other solid bigs as well. When you have that type of depth up front it doesn't matter if Towns gets into foul trouble every game but that isn't the case with Okafor. He is basically the only big that they have and he can't afford to get into foul trouble.

[djphan]

so how is it that towns leads kentucky in blocks per 40? or kentucky's defensive ranking last year with stein and dakari?

i mean to me.. the more likely case given the evidence ... towns is just making that much of an impact or the other kentucky bigs are just not that good on defense themselves... in either case.. kentucky is very different once towns is off the floor... and if you are not seeing that.. then you need to pay closer attention...