GT: Wed Oct 28th: Charlotte @ Boston 7:30pm

[fatlever]

"toe"son chandler?

[dmutombo321]

He's Okafor's equal on the boards and, like Okafor, is also a shot blocker. Unlike EO he has legit center size.

He's a good bit away from being Okafor's equal on the boards and probably won't ever get there. He does have legit center size, but he's also not as athletic. He's not Okafor's equal as a defender and, again, probably never will be.

Keep in mind that lopez only turned 21 a few months ago. Don't be deceived by his 14, 8 and 1 rookie numbers (which were still impressive and good for 3rd place in ROY votes) as he was eased into the line up and saw inconsistant minutes early in the year.

13, 8, and 1. Lopez wasn't eased into the lineup and he didn't see inconsistent minutes early on in the season. He was terrible the first six games of the season, which is why he didn't play much.

Is Lopez on his way to being one of the 50 greatest? No, or course not. But when its all said and done he will have had some 20-10 years and maybe even an allstar appearance or two.

Not seeing him as a 20+ point scorer at all.

I agree with Hollinger: Despite my admiration of his rookie campaign, I have to treat it with a small bit of suspicion given the expectations that accompanied Lopez entering the season. It's obvious that Lopez is going to be a very good player for the next several seasons, but the question is how much better he can get from here. He's neither an overwhelming athlete nor a tremendous shooter; it's more that he's pretty good across the board.

Additionally, the players that tend to improve the most as youngsters are the ones who have high turnover rates and strong athletic indicators (rebounds, blocks, steals, free throw attempts). Lopez's rookie numbers were unimpressive in all of those areas except blocks, which makes me question how much upside remains.

When you look at picking the top 6 centers in the league, after Howard, Bynum and Yao (when healthy) GMs would universally select Lopez at 4-6. Okafor, or Chandler for that matter would not even be in the discussion.

He's younger, so I don't doubt that, but I don't think he'll be better.

He's a good bit away from being Okafor's equal on the boards and probably won't ever get there.

?? Huh?, he just grabbed 15 rebs last right. And in the second to last game of the season last year, he snared 20 boards against Okafor. I fully expect Lopez to avg double figure boards this year.

He does have legit center size, but he's also not as athletic. He's not Okafor's equal as a defender and, again, probably never will be.

If you look at their combine numbers, Okafor edges him negligably in the sprint, lane agility, vert leap, etc but honestly, lopez is much bigger guy who measured over 7 ft in shoes and thats to be expected. In terms of blocked shots, lopez averaged more than Okafor last year (1.8 to be exact [since I consulted ESPN to be perfectly accurate this time]) while playing fewer minutes.

In terms of cerebral play as it relates to defensive positioning, Okafor is one of the best in the league and Lopez certainly lags behind him. However, he's also a 21 yo kid. And despite all of Okafor's defensive cerebral prowess, it was often times not enough to offset his lack of size in trying to defend some of the larger, more physical centers.

Lopez wasn't eased into the lineup and he didn't see inconsistent minutes early on in the season. He was terrible the first six games of the season

He most certainly was eased into the lineup early on. He averaged under 18 minutes per game his first 6 games and started none ofthem which is about as inconsistant as it gets. But, you are right about those 6 games being terrible. However, remember that this was a 20 year old kid playing his first 6 games in the NBA facing the likes of Beindrins and Shaq.

Once he started getting regular minutes, he began to produce. He had 25, 9 and 4 in his first NBA start. He had some inconsistant play throughout the season but really started to put things together the last few months.

All I can say is we'll revisit this topic mid season and compare his performance to Okafor's. I really do think Lopez is going to make you eat your words.

I relish these types of prediction bets. I'm occasionally off the mark but very rarely. Slam and I had a friendly "wait and see" wager a few years ago concerning Durant's eventual position in the Pros that I still rag him about from time to time.

[dmutombo321]

If Okafor ever posted 0 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 turnovers in a 33-point loss, I'm guessing he'd earn another insulting nickname.

haha... i'm all for giving tyson an insulting nickname i just havent thought of anything clever.

chandeleir seems too obvious.

tyson chicken?

Mr. Whipple

[Bassman]

dmutumbo said it all, and right on. We were on the wagon and screaming for Lopez draft night. He will be the real deal. Better than Okafor over time. Certainly better than what we went for.

Geez, some things about Larry are TOO old school. NBA Championships are no longer won by having great point guards. It's power, pop and depth that wins the ring. Power on the front line never goes out of style, and power forwards/centers matter in this league...with the accent on power. They must be towers of rebounding and defense, but they also need to have scoring punch. And you need the pop of a star SF or SG who can score at will. Lastly, quality depth matters, particularly in the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, PG's are important. But unless your PG is also your deadly go-to scorer, they only need to be good enough to run the team well, defend, and hit some open shots.

[doc.end]

I agree. On the other hand Augustin, Ajinça, Henderson, Brown and cash considerations is pretty decent crop from last two years. On court it doesn't matter that muh but at least DJ is much more likeable than any of Lopez brothers.

(on the other hand Brook could even love wearing My Little Pony bag)

[Paydro70]

Brook wasn't of Okafor's caliber rebounding last year, but he wasn't terribly far, and could certainly make that leap this season or later. Okafor is already outclassed offensively, the question is whether Lopez becomes as good a defender... though since some people seem to think Okafor is average at best as a defender maybe he is already there.