Okafor out indefinitely

[FAH1223]

Nene is better at Center. What are you all talking about?

[LyricalRico]

Nene is better at Center. What are you all talking about?

Agreed, the major issue here is minutes. Gotta find someone who can allow the team to keep Nene's mpg around 30 IMO, no more than that. Either one of Seraphin/Vesely morphs into that guy or the team makes a move.

[TGW]

I actually don't mind, just to move Nene to center. The problem is that the options behind Nene are pathetic. I guess Booker is the next in line to get major minutes. No one else is worthy. My rotation would consist of Ariza and Booker at the 4, and Nene and Serpahin at the 5. Vesely sees no minutes.

[dangermouse]

WHY

GOD DAMNIT

WHY CAN WE NEVER HAVE NICE THINGS??????????????????????????????????????????????????

[DCZards]

The problem here is Okafor really was the backbone (pun intended) of the defense. And without him this team is terrible on the boards.

As bad as this team was last season offensively, can we overcome a significant step backwards in defense and rebounding??

The more I think about losing Okafor... it really is pretty devestating. It probably hurts more than losing anyone else other than Wall.

Agreed. Emeka will be seriously missed. The Zards have no one to replace his rebouding, shotblocking or toughness around the basket. I said about three weeks ago that the Zards could not afford to lose Wall, Beal, Nene or Okafor.

[jivelikenice]

Is this a good thing? No. But its not the end of the world either. Okafor is solid and helped our defense tremendously, but for one it sounds like he's confident he'll be back at some point and two, I want to see how the offense look w/o him and Nene clogging up the floor. Okafor is tough on us offensively because instead of knowing what his role should be, he'll shoot 15 footer after 15 footer and forces some post action. This injury forces Wittman's hands and probably forces him to play a lineup w/ more spacing that he otherwise wouldn't have. When Okafor comes back, I'm guessing he stays in a reserve role unless we;re having big issues next to Nene at the 4.

Basically its put up or shut up time for Seraphin and Vesely now. PT was an issue but in 24 hours two members of the frontcourt logjam are now out of the way. All these offseason stories on conditioning and development are nice, but TC is right around the corner and we should quickly learn if they're the same players that they were last year.

[hands11]

The real problem comes with Nene having to play center, and having to play more minutes in general. Then he breaks down and this snowballs quickly and spirals into another losing season.

With the roster as is, the only real hope is Okafor misses very little of the regular season, or Seraphin suddenly gets it and arrives this season as a starting caliber player. To his credit it seems he has worked hard this offseason, so let's see what he does with the opportunity.

Otherwise, if Okafor is out for a long duration a trade probably has to be made.

Asik makes sense. Or maybe go ahead and make the major move for Cousins or Monroe or Aldridge, and giving up draft picks and future cap space in the process?

I mostly agree except I thought Nene would be playing plenty of center this year anyway. This does complicate things. Wow. How does Okafor who takes such good care of himself end up with something like this.

[queridiculo]

Hilarious. Checked in after an extended hiatus half expecting injury related news and thought we dodged a bullet when I saw the Singleton Wiretap headlines...

[hands11]

So what are we looking at with Okafor out?

Nene starts at center? With Harrington at PF? Or start Seraphin at center and keep Nene at PF?

It probably has to be Nene at center, backed up with Seraphin and Vesely.

Harrington at PF, backed up with Booker, and Vesely.

The problem here is Okafor really was the backbone (pun intended) of the defense. And without him this team is terrible on the boards.

As bad as this team was last season offensively, can we overcome a significant step backwards in defense and rebounding??

The more I think about losing Okafor... it really is pretty devestating. It probably hurts more than losing anyone else other than Wall.

Could be lots of things.

Seems they wanted to stretch the floor with a S4. Something like this.

Wall/Manyor
Beal/Temple/Glen
Trevor A/Otto
Webster/AH/Booker
Nene/Kevin/Ves

Booker, Ves.

Then put Booker at PF for strength and rebounding. They can also do some Kevin/Nene. Ves can even play PF with those other starters. Just wish he could make a FT.

Thats actually not so bad. This actually kind of opens things up where they were it was clogged at SF and PF. Don't read that the wrong way. Losing Okafor clearly hurts because of what he does and his experience. I felt they could survive an injury to Nene or Okafor for a period but not both. Now they are a Nene injury away from a very non established front court that is undersized where they need experience.

[closg00]

The real problem comes with Nene having to play center, and having to play more minutes in general. Then he breaks down and this snowballs quickly and spirals into another losing season.

With the roster as is, the only real hope is Okafor misses very little of the regular season, or Seraphin suddenly gets it and arrives this season as a starting caliber player. To his credit it seems he has worked hard this offseason, so let's see what he does with the opportunity.

Otherwise, if Okafor is out for a long duration a trade probably has to be made.

Asik makes sense. Or maybe go ahead and make the major move for Cousins or Monroe or Aldridge, and giving up draft picks and future cap space in the process?

I mostly agree except I thought Nene would be playing plenty of center this year anyway. This does complicate things. Wow. How does Okafor who takes such good care of himself end up with something like this.

Because Okafor's injury history is well-known, it was one of things that was discussed often when the trade occurred....and you must know this so don't act surprised.

[Dat2U]

A 3rd of me is actually secretly hoping for one more year of tank so we can get a star in the draft.

This...

I'm hoping this is the beginning of the end for Grunfeld. A painful 22-win season and a couple of firings would be worth it if it meant a front office overhaul & a really high pick in next year's draft.

With Okafor out, it's only a matter of time before Nene (with no minute restrictions) gets ran into the ground and were left with Harrington & EG's kids to get mauled in the front court on a night in, night out basis.

[dandridge 10]

I had to laugh when I saw the wiretap. This team is cursed. While Okafor is not going to be missed too much on the offensive end, he is going to be sorely missed on the defensive end. No one on this team, including Nene, comes close to Okafor, when it comes to rebounding. We are going to get killed on the boards with him out.

[dandridge 10]

A 3rd of me is actually secretly hoping for one more year of tank so we can get a star in the draft.

This...

I'm hoping this is the beginning of the end for Grunfeld. A painful 22-win season and a couple of firings would be worth it if it meant a front office overhaul & a really high pick in next year's draft.

With Okafor out, it's only a matter of time before Nene (with no minute restrictions) gets ran into the ground and were left with Harrington & EG's kids to get mauled in the front court on a night in, night out basis.

Unfortunately, while I think Okafor's absence will call into question the Wiz making the playoffs, I don't think it will put us in position to get a high draft pick. Now, if either Wall, Beal or Nene go down as well, that's a different story. However, I don't think I would wish for that. IMHO, the thing that sucks the most about Okafor missing significant time this season is that it will likely hurt enough to take us out of playoff contention, but will not hurt us enough to land a top pick.

[hands11]

The real problem comes with Nene having to play center, and having to play more minutes in general. Then he breaks down and this snowballs quickly and spirals into another losing season.

With the roster as is, the only real hope is Okafor misses very little of the regular season, or Seraphin suddenly gets it and arrives this season as a starting caliber player. To his credit it seems he has worked hard this offseason, so let's see what he does with the opportunity.

Otherwise, if Okafor is out for a long duration a trade probably has to be made.

Asik makes sense. Or maybe go ahead and make the major move for Cousins or Monroe or Aldridge, and giving up draft picks and future cap space in the process?

I mostly agree except I thought Nene would be playing plenty of center this year anyway. This does complicate things. Wow. How does Okafor who takes such good care of himself end up with something like this.

Because Okafor's injury history is well-known, it was one of things that was discussed often when the trade occurred....and you must know this so don't act surprised.

Well he must play through injury a lot then.

07/08 82 games
08/09 82 games
09/10 82 games
10/11 72 games
11/12 27 games
12/13 79 games

Except for the 11/12 season, that's 13 games between the other 5 seasons.

But that wasn't my question. I asked, how does someone who takes such good care of himself end up with something like this. Just genetically has a bad spin ? Something he did ?

[leswizards]

I think (maybe foolishly hope) that this injury is going to effect the Wizards a lot less than people fear. Nene is an above average power forward. He is an excellent Center. Okafor is an above average Center. Consequently, the Wizards are actually making themselves better at the starting center spot. The question is can they replace Nene at power forward without losing too much. I am hoping between Seraphin, Booker, Vesely, Harrington, and Ariza that they can.

As a side note, Ariza traditionally has been awful at the power forward spot. However, last season, in very limited minutes, he was actually very good at power forward. With this injury, maybe the Wizards can see if with age is Ariza developing into a very good stretch power forward.

[nate33]

I think (maybe foolishly hope) that this injury is going to effect the Wizards a lot less than people fear. Nene is an above average power forward. He is an excellent Center. Okafor is an above average Center. Consequently, the Wizards are actually making themselves better at the starting center spot. The question is can they replace Nene at power forward without losing too much. I am hoping between Seraphin, Booker, Vesely, Harrington, and Ariza that they can.

As a side note, Ariza traditionally has been awful at the power forward spot. However, last season, in very limited minutes, he was actually very good at power forward. With this injury, maybe the Wizards can see if with age is Ariza developing into a very good stretch power forward.

I agree. I think we are just as good or perhaps marginally worse with Nene at C and one of Harrington or Booker at PF. If Ariza adds a little weight and commits to playing PF full time, we could actually be better.

[Ruzious]

While I understand the reasoning from those who think Ariza can do a good job at PF, I think his lack of mass and strength will prevent from being effective there for more than a few minutes a game. Okafor is not a great player by any stretch, but the quality behind him is so bad that - if he is out for the season, the team will end up with another losing record, imo.

Being out "indefinitely" for a Wizard means being out definitely.

[verbal8]

The question is can they replace Nene at power forward without losing too much. I am hoping between Seraphin, Booker, Vesely, Harrington, and Ariza that they can.

This is the biggest problem with the Okafor injury. The PF situation now looks terrible. You potentially have Harrington starting and Vesely and/or Seraphin getting significant minutes.

[nate33]

Seraphin is going to get his chance. We'll see if all that offseason work on his body will pay off in the games. If he puts it all together, he could be a starting PF who slides over to C when Nene sits.

There's also an opening for Vesely at starting PF. Nene has enough offensive skill at the 5 to make up for Vesely's utter lack of offensive skill at PF. It remains to be seen if Vesely can guard anybody at PF without getting overpowered.

[closg00]

I mostly agree except I thought Nene would be playing plenty of center this year anyway. This does complicate things. Wow. How does Okafor who takes such good care of himself end up with something like this.

Because Okafor's injury history is well-known, it was one of things that was discussed often when the trade occurred....and you must know this so don't act surprised.

Well he must play through injury a lot then.

07/08 82 games
08/09 82 games
09/10 82 games
10/11 72 games
11/12 27 games
12/13 79 games

Except for the 11/12 season, that's 13 games between the other 5 seasons.

But that wasn't my question. I asked, how does someone who takes such good care of himself end up with something like this. Just genetically has a bad spin ? Something he did ?

Why do you foolishly attempt to clown this board Hands? Did Okafor's career begin at the 2007/8 season? Hmm, you somehow left-out the 70+ games Okafor missed over the 05/06 & 06/07 seasons.

About Okafor's back, read his draft card before he was even drafted.

The other big concern for Okafor is his health. He suffered a hairline fracture in his back in March and played through the pain most of the year. Bad backs scare the daylights out of every GM in the league. They're difficult to fix, and back problems have a tendency to reoccurr. Every GM to whom I spoke is concerned about it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft/d05 ... erId=18626

I hope this answers your question, he came to the NBA with a bad back and he subsequently suffered other injuries. Okafor ended the prior season with reduced minutes because of injury.