I was wrong Mek should play the 4

[Dexmor]

I made a post saying Mek should stay at the 5 to keep his quickness advantage but I was completely wrong. LB and the FO are right when they say Mek should be moved to the 4.
Mek seems to be insecure overall in his game which might explain the 8 foot airball and the airball on a free throw in the 4th. Maybe his man always being taller then him might help with that. It would also explain why he doesn't demand the ball ever. Why he nowhere near vocal enough.

After watching the Wizards game Blatche had a field day with Mek because of the 3 inch height advantage he had. Also Mek is 6'10 in shoes so he is closer to 6'9 really. No matter who he plays besides Shaq he outpowers them so that is an advantage that would only intensify playing the pf's. He would be stronger then his man every single game and be just as taller if not taller except when playing the Spurs and Celtics and Mavs and Raptors and Lakers. His confidence could even go up playing against a physically weaker often shorter oppenent. Alot of players who could be playing the C spot prefer the pf spot because it gives you more freedom in alot of ways. On defense you can roam more which could really increase his blocks and on offense you can also roam more and he can totally play bully ball.
Plus with the current starting frontcourt we are decent at rebounds but our pf getting 7 isn't the best. If we had a 7 footer at C a 6'10 pf and a 6'8 sf we go to one of the tallest lineups in the league and size matters.
Diaw actually has some post up advantages at pf like vs Jamison so imagine what Mek could do. Blatche would also not have been able to get away with all the stuff he did with a typical 7 footer.
Diaw at the 3 on the Bobcats at least seems like he might look for his shot a little more and on this team we need that. He is deadly from 3 which is were he would be alot of the time, he can drive and still get planted in the post when he wants to. He can make plays from anywhere. He has looked really good for us when he has played at the top of the key wheather it be taking a 3, making the right pass or going in for a drive.
Bell and Felts and DJ would have alot of good height to throw it into with the big 3 upfront.
If Mek is going to break out from good role player to that guy he needs to be moved to the pf spot.
He can just run over the 4's of the league and dunk it on them. He doesn't even lose on athletism or quickness as he is quicker and more athletic then people tend to think.

[fatlever]

blatche and mcgee seemed to give okafor because of their speed, not height, at please from my pov.

[Liver_Pooty]

Id rather keep Okafor at Center as opposed to him playing PF and guarding the Nowitzkis of the world.

[SCBobcat]

Nazr airballed that free throw late in the 4th, not Mek.

[Bassman]

Okafor doe NOT have the physical skill set or shooting ability to play the 4. He has great difficulty generating any offense, has poor hands and does not have the footwork or speed to guard 4's in space. All of these limitations are exacerbated when having to range out from the paint. Down low, Okafor can use his strengths to better advantage. He will always be undersized compared to the bigger bigs, but you can't make him into something he's not.

[BigSlam]

Nazr airballed that free throw late in the 4th, not Mek.

EO50 did as well a few weeks ago against the GSW's - not that this changes anything, he should still play the 5.

[Walt Cronkite]

I think Mek could be a good 4 beside a c that complimented his skills, but his real value comes from being a very good undersized 5.

I realize how sad that is, so spare me.

[fatlever]

4 or 5, doesnt really matter as long as he is paired up with another 4 or 5 that compliments his skills, like walt said.

you cant move him to 4 and pair him with diop. that would be a nightmare on offense.

you cant play him at 5 and pair him with dudley. on defense thats no good.

boris is a good compliment to okafor on both ends of the floor. and against 75% of the league they matchup nicely.

[Walt Cronkite]

What he said

[BigSlam]

you cant move him to 4 and pair him with diop. that would be a nightmare on offense.

And if the opposing team had a mobile big with range, a nightmare on defense too.

[Dexmor]

I don;t think they should play him next to Diop. As a matter of fact I am completely against trading Ray anyway after the last couple games. Mek airballed an 8 footer vs the Wiz or Sixers I can't remember which one but I know because the guy was saying "see I am always saying he needs to be more aggressive and that is part of it, you know you can hit an 8 foot shot just step up and hit it"
at that point I realized Mek is 6'10 and built like a pro wrestler but on the inside he is a 5'1 125 pound man with no confidence. It would explain alot.
Maybe playing him vs guys he's bigger then and not smaller then might help. Nazi did get an airball to but I am not confusing it. Mek also airballed a free throw in the 4th vs GS and then missed the next. Either his confidence is low, he doesn't have what it takes to be that guy or he has no killer instinct.
It's not as easy as he is unselfish.


This wasn't inteded to be a keep Felton post but thinking about it we should because he is the only guy who does have that in him mentally. He just needs to hit the jumper about 5 percent more and were set. If they give away Felton it will go along with drafting AMMO as boneheaded things Bocats have done to prevent ourselves from being good.

[Liver_Pooty]

lol, if everyone in the NBA would "just" make 5% more of their shots than all-stars would become superstars, and superstars would become hall of famers. Felton doesnt have the kind of form or release on his shot that would allow him to improve his shooting percentage. Watch Augustin shoot a jumper, then watch Felton. Its like night and day.

[thruthefire]

I don;t think they should play him next to Diop. As a matter of fact I am completely against trading Ray anyway after the last couple games. Mek airballed an 8 footer vs the Wiz or Sixers I can't remember which one but I know because the guy was saying "see I am always saying he needs to be more aggressive and that is part of it, you know you can hit an 8 foot shot just step up and hit it"
at that point I realized Mek is 6'10 and built like a pro wrestler but on the inside he is a 5'1 125 pound man with no confidence. It would explain alot.
Maybe playing him vs guys he's bigger then and not smaller then might help. Nazi did get an airball to but I am not confusing it. Mek also airballed a free throw in the 4th vs GS and then missed the next. Either his confidence is low, he doesn't have what it takes to be that guy or he has no killer instinct.
It's not as easy as he is unselfish.

This wasn't inteded to be a keep Felton post but thinking about it we should because he is the only guy who does have that in him mentally. He just needs to hit the jumper about 5 percent more and were set. If they give away Felton it will go along with drafting AMMO as boneheaded things Bocats have done to prevent ourselves from being good.

Hey, i'm new here, and i'm not trying to pick a fight, but don't you think that's rather ridiculous? You're assuming that he has no confidence based on the fact that he airballed a free throw and a shot. I remember Emeka airballing a couple of free throws his rookie season and there is no way his confidence was low then. How often does he airball 8 footers? He stepped up and hit a couple of 17 footers last night and took a nineteen footer, so I don't think confidence is the problem. I agree, "it's not as easy as he is unselfish," but he is certainly not lacking confidence in the player he is or the man he is. I believe the real problem is, he just isn't a great offensive player, which is why he will shy away from posting up from time to time. He battles with opposing centers all game long and doesn't back down. He's not afraid to let the ref have it when he believes he or she made a bad call, so he certainly doesn't have the mind of a 5'1, 125 pound man.

[fatlever]

welcome to the board thruthefire.

i have been begging mek to start taking those 12-15 foot jumpers for 4 years. he is finally starting to pull the trigger with some confidence. if mek could just become as good as PJ brown from 12-15 feet, he would improve his offense by leaps and bounds.

[Paydro70]

PJ Brown is asking a lot... he's a career 79% FT shooter who routinely scored the majority of his points off his midrange J. If Emeka could do that, while still having the rest of his package, he'd be headed towards HOF level.

It's never going to happen... I'd be happy if he could shoot .650 from the line and hit 10 footers with consistency. He almost never shoots from outside 15 feet, and he still is only connecting at a rate of .379 outside 6'.

[Dexmor]

I gave 3 reasons on why his offense can be the way it is. You made it sound lke I said it's 1 thing and then tried to rebutt that. I said either he is lacking confidence or a killer insticnt or competetiveness and used more examples then just the airball. People put words in peoples mouth to make another person look bad or try and win an arguement like it's some kind of comptetion,


If you look at Emaka's size, power, talent, athletism and everything else like good school and age and tell me he averages 13 points and 11 rebounds on a bad team with no offense? You can't tell me he is not missing something. What it is I don't know.

[fatlever]

well, i think we all agree that mek lacks aggression in the post. he doesnt always go up strong, he fades away from contact (at times) and he doesnt always post strong and give a good target, instead he'll let himself get pushed out of position.