Okafor out indefinitely

[Dat2U]

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.

In other words, 'the ship gonna be sinking soon'.

[dckingsfan]

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.

In other words, 'the ship gonna be sinking soon'.

Oh boy... I have a feeling this isn't going to be very fun.

[hands11]

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.

Well Booker is a better rebounder, when he is actually playing. But not the scorer or passer.
AH, Trevor A, and Webster are better range shooters.
And Ves can pass, dunk and set picks.

Closest replacement player at PF would be AH. Experienced and can playing inside and out. More range. So having AH is going to help a lot. From there you turn to Booker and hopefully Kevin for more power. Even Kevin without power can score though. TA and Webster for range.

They should be ok as long as Nene doesn't go down.

[Benjammin]

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.

In other words, 'the ship gonna be sinking soon'.

Thanks Micheal Ray!

[hands11]

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.

A bad back from the start, is the answer to my original question.

As for me leaving out the season(s) that were 7 years ago vs the 6 years since then.. I guess I'm guilty of that. Something in my head told me the the last 6 years was more important then years that were 7 and 8 years ago.

[Nivek]

The Wizards have some options at PF. The trouble is, they're all sorta variations on the same thing. With Nene and Okafor, the team could use various combinations of a POWER forward and a center, as well as stretch 4 options with a center. Now, in terms of realistic options, they're at Booker and stretch guys.

If Okafor has to miss extended time, the most workable solution would probably be to start Nene at C and Booker at PF. Use Ariza and Harrington as stretch fours off the bench.

The problem comes when Nene has to rest. If he's backed up by some combination of Seraphin and Vesely, the team is likely to collapse when he sits. Which means they'll have to play him more minutes, which will put him at greater risk of injury. And if he's out for an extended stretch of games, they're going back to the lottery.

When the front office chose not to add bigs, they were leaving themselves thin behind Okafor and Nene. They really can't afford to lose either guy (or Wall) if they hope to make the playoffs. Hopefully, Okafor will recover fast. We can be certain he'll be diligent in rehab. So there's that at least.

[Ruzious]

When the front office chose not to add bigs, they were leaving themselves thin behind Okafor and Nene. They really can't afford to lose either guy (or Wall) if they hope to make the playoffs. Hopefully, Okafor will recover fast. We can be certain he'll be diligent in rehab. So there's that at least.

Yup - it was their choice. They decided to take that risk - which was like betting on a 6 against an ace in blackjack. Will they own up to it? My guess is they say it was just bad luck. It wasn't bad luck - it was playing bad odds.

[nate33]

This would have been a nice opportunity for Nerlens Noel if we had drafted him...

[Wizardspride]

This would have been a nice opportunity for Nerlens Noel if we had drafted him...

I wouldn't be surprised if both Noel and Len play more games than Emeka.

I hope I'm wrong though....

[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.

In other words, 'the ship gonna be sinking soon'.

Yeah. Probably so.

I have no faith at all that Vesely will help and I think he'll still end up at the end of the bench. But as I've said before, I think there is at least a glimmer of hope with Seraphin. The combination of his late introduction to the sport of basketball and his dramatic improvement in physique gives me some hope that he will improve a lot more than one expects most big men to improve in their 4th season.

Shouldn't Seraphin at least become Kwame Brown with a serviceable jumper? He has the same quick feet, strong base, low post defense, and poor bball IQ. He also has a better work ethic. A veteran Kwame Brown was a rotation player in this league.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Seraphin was worse than Vesely last season. Check out how much better the Wizards were with Seraphin OFF court.

http://www.82games.com/1213/12WAS15.HTM

I don't think starting Seraphin is the best option.

[closg00]

This would have been a nice opportunity for Nerlens Noel if we had drafted him...

You really know how to hurt a guy

[closg00]

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.

A bad back from the start is the answer to my original question.

As for me leaving out the season(s) that were 7 years ago vs the 6 years since then.. I guess I'm guilty of that. I guess my flowed evaluator some how told me that the last 6 years was more important then years that were 7 and 8 years ago.

Is this the same thing as the Flux Capacitor in Back to the Future? Another HOF post hands

[nate33]

Seraphin was worse than Vesely last season. Check out how much better the Wizards were with Seraphin OFF court.

http://www.82games.com/1213/12WAS15.HTM

I don't think starting Seraphin is the best option.

On/off numbers are noisy enough to begin with, and in this case they're even more misleading. Seraphin played lots of meaningful minutes. Vesely played in garbage time against scrubs.

Seraphin pieced together a much stronger and longer stretch of good play 2 years ago than Vesely ever did. And now, there's reason to believe that Seraphin will be improved. If nothing else, we know for a fact that he has improved himself physically.

[barelyawake]

Yeah, the Porter decision was short term probably not good. Though we don't know that for certain. Hopefully it is long term better. We shall see. But again, I still agree with the decision to keep our cap. And we did add Harrington. We can still do all the things you wish they would have done, and I hope don't happen, if Okafor will miss significant time and Seraphin is awful. Again, if Seraphin and/or Ves are useful at all, playing them ups their trade value (which helps us make a larger move if one becomes available). Worst thing to do is panic, especially since tanking another year might be a very good thing. Even with a late lotto pick, we could get a star. This is a historic draft. But, that is all worst case. I don't think we are close to there yet.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Seraphin was worse than Vesely last season. Check out how much better the Wizards were with Seraphin OFF court.

http://www.82games.com/1213/12WAS15.HTM

I don't think starting Seraphin is the best option.

On/off numbers are noisy enough to begin with, and in this case they're even more misleading. Seraphin played lots of meaningful minutes. Vesely played in garbage time against scrubs.

Seraphin pieced together a much stronger and longer stretch of good play 2 years ago than Vesely ever did. And now, there's reason to believe that Seraphin will be improved. If nothing else, we know for a fact that he has improved himself physically.

Last season Kevin Seraphin played over 1700 terrible minutes in his THIRD NBA season. Vesely was better in what was his SECOND season, scrub minutes or not.

Two years ago, Kevin did put together a very good stretch, where he had consecutive double doubles. That same year, rookie Vesely was not a bad player. The last 15 games when Seraphin played his best, Vesely started right with him. They won 8 of 10 and 6 straight games. People forget that Vesely didn't play terribly his first season. He just was far worse than players drafted after him, Faried, Thompson, and Leonard.

Seraphin has had an additional NBA season. Both KS and JV should be improved physically this season.

I think Vesely is a better replacement for Okafor but I think Seraphin certainly can get his scoring groove back.

[hands11]

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.

In other words, 'the ship gonna be sinking soon'.

Yeah. Probably so.

I have no faith at all that Vesely will help and I think he'll still end up at the end of the bench. But as I've said before, I think there is at least a glimmer of hope with Seraphin. The combination of his late introduction to the sport of basketball and his dramatic improvement in physique gives me some hope that he will improve a lot more than one expects most big men to improve in their 4th season.

Shouldn't Seraphin at least become Kwame Brown with a serviceable jumper? He has the same quick feet, strong base, low post defense, and poor bball IQ. He also has a better work ethic. A veteran Kwame Brown was a rotation player in this league.

Wall, Beal, Trevor A/Webster/AH, Ves, and Nene. I want to see it first before I totally discount it. Those prayer can spread the floor and Wall can drive. Nene is a great passer. And while Ves doesn't have any offense to speak of, the little he does is cutting to the basket. Nene will either hit him or fake it and score from that fake with a mid range ( crossing my fingers ) or drive.

As long as there is shooting, ball handling, range and post scoring, Ves can play the glue guy some. The blind spot with those line up could be rebounding unless Ves finds his VesSanity.

As for Niv's post. I would still bring AH off the bench. You want to split up the inexperience. Let AH play with Kevin as center. I think the last thing they want to do is pair Ves and Kevin with the second string SG.

Its put up or shut up time for Ves and Kevin.

[Nivek]

It's a distinction without much meaning, but Vesely was worse last season than Seraphin. Both guys were among the league's least productive players, though.

[hands11]

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/9/19 ... on-wizards

The team played a four perimeter player sparingly last season, using a converted small forward at the power forward spot for only 540 minutes over the course of the year. The results were surprisingly good, as the team outscored opponents by more than six points per 100 possessions with four perimeter players on the floor at once. This should in theory improve with the addition of Harrington, whose most natural position is as power forward in a small lineup and who should have less trouble guarding big men than one of the team's converted small forwards.

--

They are more vulnerable, but they should be able to adjust. They should send Nene back to wherever he was resting and rehabbing until the season starts. Put him in bubble wrap or something.

[nuposse04]

How many teams in the eastern conference will completely physically imposing to us up front though this season?

ATL-Horford/Milsap: I'm pretty sure Nene/Booker could hold their own

Bos: Oly/Green/Bass: Not that concerned at all tbh

CHA: Zeller/Jefferson: Could be potent offensive but Zeller's lack of superior standing reach and strength doesn't make him physically hard to guard, dude has skill though. Jefferson will prolly have his way with us, not sure why, but he does.

CLE: Side Show Bob/Bennett/Thompson: W/o Bynum I'm not really as concerned. If Bynum is back could be problematic. Truth be told I don't even think Okafor could have delt with Bynum that well.

DET- Drummond/Monroe: This could get ugly. Drummnond could eat us alive on the boards. I think Booker is strong enough to deal with Monroe and laterally quick enough but his reach could be an issue

INDY: Hibbert/West: Okafor usually defends Hibbert well, he will be missed here.

Miami: Oden/Bosh/LbJ/Battier: Not concerned with Miami's size, just their stretching ability. I have no faith Oden or Beasly prove to be worth a flying **** this season.

Knicks: Melo/Chandler: Chandler could be an issue on the offensive boards, but that is about it physically speaking.

Nets: Lopez/KG/Blatche: Kinda **** on this one.

ORL: Vucivic (however you spell it)/T. Harris? : Not worried about this one physically either.

MIL: Sanders/Henson/Illy: Actually kind of concerned here. All of those guys are above average and Henson could really break out this season. I thought we could have easily handled them this season, but without Okafor manning the middle could be an issue on the boards.

PHI: Hawes/Young/Noel: Not concerned, they're in full tank mode.

Raptors: Val/Amir: Amir is underrated in my book. Val should have a great season. Our guard play would have to come up big against them. They will present a physical challenge this season. Don't sleep on dat dude from
Baylor either.

Bulls: Noah/Boozer/Taj: Physically, Boozer is the only guy that concerns me, but Nene should be strong enough to deal with them. Noah and Taj make up what they lack in strength and size (although Taj has good reach i think) with effort. Will be a test to see how bad the bench "wants it."

I think the team defense as a whole shouldn't experience that bad a drop off, but my major concern is defensive rebounding. Jan is more of an offensive rebounder then Defensively. What is a bit hopeful is that both Beal and Wall do rebound well for their position. As do Ariza, and I think Porter (bit of an extrapolation but he played the 4 in college so I don't think he minds getting in the middle and grabbing a few).

I am dejected and expecting the worst regarding Okafor...but I don't think the team is completely hopeless. This era of "small ball" might help stave off the effects.