Welcome Okafor

[bedjawII]

I would like to share this about Jah.

Okafor doesn't do well in BPM because he doesn't score efficiently (51.8%, when the league average is 53.7%), that scoring inefficiency is exacerbated by high usage, he doesn't get assists or steals at a high rate (few bigs do), and that isn't compensated for by high rebound or block rates, which most bigs have. Okafor is just a bit over the league average in categories where bigs usually have a significant advantage over wings and guards.

When people say he's going to 17/7 on the year as a way of advocating for him, my first thought is that the "7" is a mark against him.

Okafor's rankings amongst the 41 qualifying centers (20 games played, 10mpg) in the NBA:

True Shooting Percentage........37th
Rebound Rate........................37th
Assist Rate............................23rd
Steal Rate.............................35th
Block Rate.............................31st
Turnover Rate..........................9th

Aside from Turnover Rate (I didn't realize he had improved this much in this area), what does he do better than other bigs? Not in an aesthetic, "look at those post moves" sort of way, but in a tangible one. This is why his VORP (-0.7) is so low.

..also explains why Wiggins look so bad in BPM/RPM stats. Key for Jah IMO is for him to get more rebs and deflections on defense and continue to shoot as efficienct as he did this January.

But that's just it! For rookies it's all about aesthetics. Is he flashing enough superstar potential? Rookies rarely show the intangibles that are required of champions. They have to grow into that role. You can't compare Jah who's trying to learn how to be and prove he is a star to a player who's been in the league 5-6 years and has a very defined role which has been tailored to his strengths.

[76ciology]

I would like to share this about Jah.

Okafor doesn't do well in BPM because he doesn't score efficiently (51.8%, when the league average is 53.7%), that scoring inefficiency is exacerbated by high usage, he doesn't get assists or steals at a high rate (few bigs do), and that isn't compensated for by high rebound or block rates, which most bigs have. Okafor is just a bit over the league average in categories where bigs usually have a significant advantage over wings and guards.

When people say he's going to 17/7 on the year as a way of advocating for him, my first thought is that the "7" is a mark against him.

Okafor's rankings amongst the 41 qualifying centers (20 games played, 10mpg) in the NBA:

True Shooting Percentage........37th
Rebound Rate........................37th
Assist Rate............................23rd
Steal Rate.............................35th
Block Rate.............................31st
Turnover Rate..........................9th

Aside from Turnover Rate (I didn't realize he had improved this much in this area), what does he do better than other bigs? Not in an aesthetic, "look at those post moves" sort of way, but in a tangible one. This is why his VORP (-0.7) is so low.

..also explains why Wiggins look so bad in BPM/RPM stats. Key for Jah IMO is for him to get more rebs and deflections on defense and continue to shoot as efficienct as he did this January.

But that's just it! For rookies it's all about aesthetics. Is he flashing enough superstar potential? Rookies rarely show the intangibles that are required of champions. They have to grow into that role. You can't compare Jah who's trying to learn how to be and prove he is a star to a player who's been in the league 5-6 years and has a very defined role which has been tailored to his strengths.

It is from my favorite lakers forum. Lots of stuff you learn over there.

But yeah, the guy had a point. I also asked Pelton of ESPN about it and he told me the same thing about Jah lacking assists, rebs and deflections. I like criticisms for Jah, it helps him grow. Look at how much he has improved his jumper, FTs and defensive rotations.

[CoreyGallagher]

True Shooting Percentage........37th
Rebound Rate........................37th
Assist Rate............................23rd
Steal Rate.............................35th
Block Rate.............................31st
Turnover Rate..........................9th

I have 43 players that qualify, including Jahlil. Regardless, here are his rankings with Ish in comparison to the rest of the qualified Center's season averages.

TS% - 15th
TRB% - 41st (/43)
AST% - 23rd
STL% - 14th (t)
BLK% - 38th (t)
TO% - 2nd

[76ciology]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqXM2RBHnpo[/youtube]
He had Wiggins-Eddy Curry type night where he posted low rebs,assists,stls+blks numbers against the Warriors. 13pts 6/7 shooting and 1/5 from the line.

Ended 12 games in January with 17ppg and 60FG%. He shot poorly from the FT line. Was noticeably improved in defensive rotations, ended with .8stls/g and .8blk/g.

[Agnostifarian]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqXM2RBHnpo[/youtube]
He had Wiggins-Eddy Curry type night where he posted low rebs,assists,stls+blks numbers against the Warriors. 13pts 6/7 shooting and 1/5 from the line.

Ended 12 games in January with 17ppg and 60FG%. He shot poorly from the FT line. Was noticeably improved in defensive rotations, ended with .8stls/g and .8blk/g.

This is SICK BALL HANDLING for a player of any size. Forget that Jah has a 9' 4" standing reach and weighs 260 lbs. He learned this **** from Ish! OK4's future in the NBA is THE ONE IN with the four out. He will be (already is) unguardable by one defender in space. Ridiculous!!

[Sixerscan]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqXM2RBHnpo[/youtube]
He had Wiggins-Eddy Curry type night where he posted low rebs,assists,stls+blks numbers against the Warriors. 13pts 6/7 shooting and 1/5 from the line.

Ended 12 games in January with 17ppg and 60FG%. He shot poorly from the FT line. Was noticeably improved in defensive rotations, ended with .8stls/g and .8blk/g.

This is SICK BALL HANDLING for a player of any size. Forget that Jah has a 9' 4" standing reach and weighs 260 lbs. He learned this **** from Ish! OK4's future in the NBA is THE ONE IN with the four out. He will be (already is) unguardable by one defender in space. Ridiculous!!

He's gotta rebound a lot better if he's gonna be the only big on the floor.

[76ciology]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqXM2RBHnpo[/youtube]
He had Wiggins-Eddy Curry type night where he posted low rebs,assists,stls+blks numbers against the Warriors. 13pts 6/7 shooting and 1/5 from the line.

Ended 12 games in January with 17ppg and 60FG%. He shot poorly from the FT line. Was noticeably improved in defensive rotations, ended with .8stls/g and .8blk/g.

This is SICK BALL HANDLING for a player of any size. Forget that Jah has a 9' 4" standing reach and weighs 260 lbs. He learned this **** from Ish! OK4's future in the NBA is THE ONE IN with the four out. He will be (already is) unguardable by one defender in space. Ridiculous!!

He's gotta rebound a lot better if he's gonna be the only big on the floor.

Fwiw (not much), In Jan., sixers is rebounding better with Jah than without Jah on the floor (48reb% vs 45reb%). He's also not been a liability having 104DRTG w/ or w/o Jah in Jan.

But yeah, he needs to spend the entire summer on his rebounding. If he learns how to pad those rebounding numbers, he wouldn't have too much pressure on scoring.

[Sixerscan]

This is SICK BALL HANDLING for a player of any size. Forget that Jah has a 9' 4" standing reach and weighs 260 lbs. He learned this **** from Ish! OK4's future in the NBA is THE ONE IN with the four out. He will be (already is) unguardable by one defender in space. Ridiculous!!

He's gotta rebound a lot better if he's gonna be the only big on the floor.

Fwiw (not much), In Jan., sixers is rebounding better with Jah than without Jah on the floor (48reb% vs 45reb%). He's also not been a liability having 104DRTG w/ or w/o Jah in Jan.

But yeah, he needs to spend the entire summer on his rebounding. If he learns how to pad those rebounding numbers, he wouldn't have too much pressure on scoring.

This is fair, pretty much the only thing that I like that he does on the defensive end is that he's pretty good at boxing out his own guy.

[Agnostifarian]

This is SICK BALL HANDLING for a player of any size. Forget that Jah has a 9' 4" standing reach and weighs 260 lbs. He learned this **** from Ish! OK4's future in the NBA is THE ONE IN with the four out. He will be (already is) unguardable by one defender in space. Ridiculous!!

He's gotta rebound a lot better if he's gonna be the only big on the floor.

Fwiw (not much), In Jan., sixers is rebounding better with Jah than without Jah on the floor (48reb% vs 45reb%). He's also not been a liability having 104DRTG w/ or w/o Jah in Jan.

But yeah, he needs to spend the entire summer on his rebounding. If he learns how to pad those rebounding numbers, he wouldn't have too much pressure on scoring.

No argument on the rebounding! Expect Jah's assist numbers to go up. Look how wide open TJ and RC3 are at the three point line.

[Ericb5]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqXM2RBHnpo[/youtube]
He had Wiggins-Eddy Curry type night where he posted low rebs,assists,stls+blks numbers against the Warriors. 13pts 6/7 shooting and 1/5 from the line.

Ended 12 games in January with 17ppg and 60FG%. He shot poorly from the FT line. Was noticeably improved in defensive rotations, ended with .8stls/g and .8blk/g.

This is SICK BALL HANDLING for a player of any size. Forget that Jah has a 9' 4" standing reach and weighs 260 lbs. He learned this **** from Ish! OK4's future in the NBA is THE ONE IN with the four out. He will be (already is) unguardable by one defender in space. Ridiculous!!

Agreed.

People spend so much energy focusing on what he is bad at, but that play is a great example of something that he can do, that very few men of his size in the history of the NBA could have done.

It is a ridiculous display of his talent that he was born with.



Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[Eyeamok]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqXM2RBHnpo[/youtube]
He had Wiggins-Eddy Curry type night where he posted low rebs,assists,stls+blks numbers against the Warriors. 13pts 6/7 shooting and 1/5 from the line.

Ended 12 games in January with 17ppg and 60FG%. He shot poorly from the FT line. Was noticeably improved in defensive rotations, ended with .8stls/g and .8blk/g.

I hope everyone realizes he is only going to get better. Let that sink in for a minute or two.

[Eyeamok]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqXM2RBHnpo[/youtube]
He had Wiggins-Eddy Curry type night where he posted low rebs,assists,stls+blks numbers against the Warriors. 13pts 6/7 shooting and 1/5 from the line.

Ended 12 games in January with 17ppg and 60FG%. He shot poorly from the FT line. Was noticeably improved in defensive rotations, ended with .8stls/g and .8blk/g.

This is SICK BALL HANDLING for a player of any size. Forget that Jah has a 9' 4" standing reach and weighs 260 lbs. He learned this **** from Ish! OK4's future in the NBA is THE ONE IN with the four out. He will be (already is) unguardable by one defender in space. Ridiculous!!

Agreed.

People spend so much energy focusing on what he is bad at, but that play is a great example of something that he can do, that very few men of his size in the history of the NBA could have done.

It is a ridiculous display of his talent that he was born with.



Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

That is more than just talent that is hard work and talent.. He may have had the ability to do these things. But what you/we are seeing here is hard work, paying dividends. For a big man to pull that off in the NBA says a lot. Hard work makes it look easy.

It is quite obvious that Jah has spent a lot of time on his offensive game. I have no doubt he is a hard worker. Working hard is part of his makeup which is a good thing. Because if he is no stranger to it then getting him better on the defensive end should just be a matter of time. And guess what he is on the right developmental squad to do it.

[Ericb5]

This is SICK BALL HANDLING for a player of any size. Forget that Jah has a 9' 4" standing reach and weighs 260 lbs. He learned this **** from Ish! OK4's future in the NBA is THE ONE IN with the four out. He will be (already is) unguardable by one defender in space. Ridiculous!!

Agreed.

People spend so much energy focusing on what he is bad at, but that play is a great example of something that he can do, that very few men of his size in the history of the NBA could have done.

It is a ridiculous display of his talent that he was born with.



Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

That is more than just talent that is hard work and talent.. He may have had the ability to do these things. But what you/we are seeing here is hard work, paying dividends. For a big man to pull that off in the NBA says a lot. Hard work makes it look easy.

It is quite obvious that Jah has spent a lot of time on his offensive game. I have no doubt he is a hard worker. Working hard is part of his makeup which is a good thing. Because if he is no stranger to it then getting him better on the defensive end should just be a matter of time. And guess what he is on the right developmental squad to do it.

I have no doubt that he works hard on his game, but that kind of move is not something that you can learn how to do unless you have exceptional talent. It is a good demonstration of how gifted he is.

The fact that he works hard, and is improving is why we shouldn't think about trading him. He can be a really good player.

[76ciology]

There are very close similarities with Okafor (age 20) and Eddy curry (age 21) in the ff:
Height, Standing reach and wingspan
SF drawn
And 1
REB%
BLK%
STL%
VORP
OBPM
ORTG & DRTG

Brightside? He's a much better scorer than both Eddy Curry and DMC coming into NBA, on offense. He has shown willingness to adjust his game, shown by improvement in on court defensive impact in January where he's not a negative. His rim protection numbers are similar to Marc Gasol in terms of points saved/36 (Gasol at +2 DBPM). I also think Jah is way more coachable, mobile, skilled and has higher basketball IQ than Eddy Curry. But for now, he really needs to improve his rebounds + deflections (STOCKS) numbers.

[Agnostifarian]

There are very close similarities with Okafor (age 20) and Eddy curry (age 21) in the ff:
Height, Standing reach and wingspan
SF drawn
And 1
REB%
BLK%
STL%
VORP
OBPM
ORTG & DRTG

Brightside? He's a much better scorer than both Eddy Curry and DMC coming into NBA, on offense. He has shown willingness to adjust his game, shown by improvement in on court defensive impact in January where he's not a negative. His rim protection numbers are similar to Marc Gasol in terms of points saved/36 (Gasol at +2 DBPM). I also think Jah is way more coachable, mobile, skilled and has higher basketball IQ than Eddy Curry. But for now, he really needs to improve his rebounds + deflections (STOCKS) numbers.

And he has to set better picks. That should be easy to learn.

[Dave321]

FYI,
According to this article, the offensive player Okafor is guarding one on one has a worse field goal percentage than that player's average vs the rest of the league. Of course, this does not reflect team defense, but it is encouraging. Scroll down to the Okafor evaluation.

http://www.nba.com/2016/news/features/scott_howard_cooper/01/20/2015-16-rookie-ladder-week-13/

[76ciology]

FYI,
According to this article, the offensive player Okafor is guarding one on one has a worse field goal percentage than that player's average vs the rest of the league. Of course, this does not reflect team defense, but it is encouraging. Scroll down to the Okafor evaluation.

http://www.nba.com/2016/news/features/scott_howard_cooper/01/20/2015-16-rookie-ladder-week-13/

Yes, we've known that he's a good individual defender. Problems lies in rebounding/defending outside his range, which is an issue for a C and not much issue for a PF.

[76ers]

His free throw shooting seems to be regressing as well.

[Skates]

His free throw shooting seems to be regressing as well.

It has, but he looks like he worked hard at it and has a good touch, so I worry about this less than the defense and rebounding. Part of the FT issues is going to be conditioning and not being too winded to concentrate when he gets to the line. Okafor has some beautiful moves, but he exerts a lot of energy with all of those fakes and moves down low and facing up. He needs to not only become more efficient at scoring, which getting fouled and hitting FT's would do, but to be more efficient on offense with his energy expenditures.

[ankle420breaker]

I honestly haven't thought this defense has been all that terrible. It hasn't been good, but for a 19 year old rook with a reputation of being invisible on that end of the floor I don't think he's been as bad as advertised.

Rebounding definitely needs to improve. He's been wildly inconsistent in this department. There's no reason why he shouldn't be a presence on the glass every game and no reason why he shouldn't develop into a perennial double-double guy.