Welcome Okafor: Thread 2

[76ciology]

Question..

Let's say LMA and Jah switch teams. Will Spurs defense be worse and Sixers defense be better?

[Easymoney]

With both Embiid and Okafor regularly practicing their jumpshot and both showing improvement in those areas, I doubt spacing on offense would be an issue. In fact, I think they would dominant on offense in a way that's hard to comprehend. We're talking about a league that is trying to copy GSW by going small, but don't have the personal to be as successful. Atleast GSW can put in Bogut when teams go big on them....other teams will be so helpless inside against Embiid/Okafor that any offensive advantage gained by going small wouldn't be worth it.

I think teams facing Embiid/Okafor will be more concerned about their defense than we will about ours.

[76ciology]

With both Embiid and Okafor regularly practicing their jumpshot and both showing improvement in those areas, I doubt spacing on offense would be an issue. In fact, I think they would dominant on offense in a way that's hard to comprehend. We're talking about a league that is trying to copy GSW by going small, but don't have the personal to be as successful. Atleast GSW can put in Bogut when teams go big on them....other teams will be so helpless inside against Embiid/Okafor that any offensive advantage gained by going small wouldn't be worth it.

I think teams facing Embiid/Okafor will be more concerned about their defense than we will about ours.

Agree. And I hope you guys realize that shifting heavy perimeter requires you to have two GOAT level perimeter players. Good luck with that. Right now, you can go on and scan the entire league's roster and find yourself an available guy that fits that peg.

[Winejk]

With both Embiid and Okafor regularly practicing their jumpshot and both showing improvement in those areas, I doubt spacing on offense would be an issue. In fact, I think they would dominant on offense in a way that's hard to comprehend. We're talking about a league that is trying to copy GSW by going small, but don't have the personal to be as successful. Atleast GSW can put in Bogut when teams go big on them....other teams will be so helpless inside against Embiid/Okafor that any offensive advantage gained by going small wouldn't be worth it.

I think teams facing Embiid/Okafor will be more concerned about their defense than we will about ours.

GSW is totally popularizing small ball. However, imagine if Shaq was in his prime and he played against GSW. He would destroy Bogut, Ezeli and Green and/or have all of them in foul trouble. The thing about small ball in today's league is the best center is Deandre Jordan who really can't make anyone pay on the offensive end. That's how bad today's bigs are.

Sixers have potentially two bigs that will punish anyone on the offensive end. Who has two quality big men to match up with the Sixers offensively and defensively? Kanter and Adams? Mozgov and Thompson? If Embiid and Okafor develop the way we think they can, nobody is going to be able to deal with these guys.

[Ericb5]

With both Embiid and Okafor regularly practicing their jumpshot and both showing improvement in those areas, I doubt spacing on offense would be an issue. In fact, I think they would dominant on offense in a way that's hard to comprehend. We're talking about a league that is trying to copy GSW by going small, but don't have the personal to be as successful. Atleast GSW can put in Bogut when teams go big on them....other teams will be so helpless inside against Embiid/Okafor that any offensive advantage gained by going small wouldn't be worth it.

I think teams facing Embiid/Okafor will be more concerned about their defense than we will about ours.

GSW is totally popularizing small ball. However, imagine if Shaq was in his prime and he played against GSW. He would destroy Bogut, Ezeli and Green and/or have all of them in foul trouble. The thing about small ball in today's league is the best center is Deandre Jordan who really can't make anyone pay on the offensive end. That's how bad today's bigs are.

Sixers have potentially two bigs that will punish anyone on the offensive end. Who has two quality big men to match up with the Sixers offensively and defensively? Kanter and Adams? Mozgov and Thompson? If Embiid and Okafor develop the way we think they can, nobody is going to be able to deal with these guys.

Good post.

Picture a prime Shaq or Hakeem against the Warriors. You just give him the ball every time down the floor and the defense will very quickly realize that they will have to double and triple team him, and will have to put bigger players in the game.

Now the Warriors would shoot the lights out sometimes and pull away, but dealing with the big center would be death and taxes on the other end. You would force the Warriors out of their game plan in the first quarter.

Having Embiid and Okafor on the court at the same time will be very difficult for small ball teams to defend.


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[Easymoney]

With both Embiid and Okafor regularly practicing their jumpshot and both showing improvement in those areas, I doubt spacing on offense would be an issue. In fact, I think they would dominant on offense in a way that's hard to comprehend. We're talking about a league that is trying to copy GSW by going small, but don't have the personal to be as successful. Atleast GSW can put in Bogut when teams go big on them....other teams will be so helpless inside against Embiid/Okafor that any offensive advantage gained by going small wouldn't be worth it.

I think teams facing Embiid/Okafor will be more concerned about their defense than we will about ours.

GSW is totally popularizing small ball. However, imagine if Shaq was in his prime and he played against GSW. He would destroy Bogut, Ezeli and Green and/or have all of them in foul trouble. The thing about small ball in today's league is the best center is Deandre Jordan who really can't make anyone pay on the offensive end. That's how bad today's bigs are.

Sixers have potentially two bigs that will punish anyone on the offensive end. Who has two quality big men to match up with the Sixers offensively and defensively? Kanter and Adams? Mozgov and Thompson? If Embiid and Okafor develop the way we think they can, nobody is going to be able to deal with these guys.

Good post.

Picture a prime Shaq or Hakeem against the Warriors. You just give him the ball every time down the floor and the defense will very quickly realize that they will have to double and triple team him, and will have to put bigger players in the game.

Now the Warriors would shoot the lights out sometimes and pull away, but dealing with the big center would be death and taxes on the other end. You would force the Warriors out of their game plan in the first quarter.

Having Embiid and Okafor on the court at the same time will be very difficult for small ball teams to defend.


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Using superstar bigs give you the best chance to beat a team like GSW. One important thing most teams playing copycat don't realize is that you're never going to out small ball the GSW. Their death lineup is a perfectly balanced, well oiled machine. To start, you would need 2 guys shooting 45% from 3 off the dribble and a triple double machine who can also shoot 3's. Teams are just setting themselves up to lose by playing copycat with inferior talent.

If both Embiid and Okafor both reach their ceilings, they could quite possibly be the best twin tower front court in the history of the game. The craziest thing is they'd be playing in a league filled with bootleg GSW teams who don't have the talent to play the style effectively. The only small team that may be capable of beating them is GSW and by then they'll be much older. Even against a prime GSW team they'd have the best chance of beating them as the Warriors would have to play Bogut or they'd get killed inside. If Adams/Ibaka/Kanter was able to have the success they did against GSW, what would prime Embiid/Okafor do? Them going small against us would hurt them far more on defense than it would hurt us.

This is not even mentioning Ben Simmons, who is yet another guy who will need to be doubled and in his prime will know exactly how to got Embiid/Okafor going offensively. The kid may average 10 plus assists a game playing with those guys and shooters.

Like I said in another post, we would be the Bizzaro version of the Warriors. Their inside game is initiated with the space Curry and Thompson provide with their shooting skill, while our outside game will be initiated with the space Embiid/Okafor/Simons create with their complete dominance of the paint.

[CoreyGallagher]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/743089098844426240[/tweet]

[76ciology]

“I think I’ve learned a lot; I’m getting used to defending NBA big men,” Okafor said. “I’m getting used to defending the pick-and-roll when you’re playing against a really good point guard and a really good big man. The coaches have told me that they’re happy with the way that I’m developing and I am as well.”

Many high-level players entered the league as sub-par defenders and later significantly improved once they put in the time and effort (and took advantage of NBA resources), and Okafor has the potential to do the same.

Okafor said that the toughest players to match-up against throughout his first NBA season were Pau Gasol (who was one of his favorite players growing up), DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan. Scheyer, who watched Okafor closely throughout the season, noticed significant defensive progress from his former player.

“He’s such a gifted scorer naturally, but I thought he made great strides on the defensive end,” Coach Scheyer said. “I saw consistent effort on that end, and that’s something that people tried to pick on about him. I thought defensively he improved throughout the year, with his ball-screen defense, help-side defense and all that. … He loves the work. He wants to develop, and he loves the game so he’s always trying to get better. He’s constantly doing what’s necessary to take that next step in his game.”

Okafor finished the season ranked fifth among players averaging 30 or more minutes in points per game from the elbows – trailing only Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol, Blake Griffin and Chris Bosh. He also had the seventh-best point percentage from the elbows among qualified players – behind only Darren Collison, Andrew Wiggins, Kevin Durant, J.R. Smith, Jae Crowder and Serge Ibaka. It’s clear that Okafor’s offensive arsenal, which already included a vast array of post moves, is continuing to expand.

Not much of a fan of Jah during interviews. Seems like a very reserve guy. The article sounded like the writer needed to get extra sources to put more substance.

[76ciology]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jahlilokafor/status/746199790661185536[/tweet]

I hope so

[Unbreakable99]

Good 2 minute video listen. Good to see Jah doing good for others.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hooplife1891/status/747093327271473162[/tweet]

[lotto29]

Question..

Let's say LMA and Jah switch teams. Will Spurs defense be worse and Sixers defense be better?

YES! Absolutely, undoubtedly yes. Why is that even a question?

[lotto29]

The delusion going around this thread is off the charts.

[Ferulci]

Question..

Let's say LMA and Jah switch teams. Will Spurs defense be worse and Sixers defense be better?

Probably as much as going from Stauskas to Tony Allen. Aldridge is a very good defender. He was the one guarding Dwight during Portland/Houston series, is very quick on his feet and has very good length.

[76ciology]

Question..

Let's say LMA and Jah switch teams. Will Spurs defense be worse and Sixers defense be better?

Probably as much as going from Stauskas to Tony Allen. Aldridge is a very good defender. He was the one guarding Dwight during Portland/Houston series, is very quick on his feet and has very good length.

Between the two, on eyetest for me, Jah is more mobile and both have the same standing reach 9'3" and around same wingspan 7'4-7'6".

I focus on individual defense, for like Jah, I don't think LMA would look good if he plays center for Sixers and is asked to anchor the defense. And like LMA, I think Jah's inability to anchor D wouldn't be an issue if he plays with defensive wings like Danny Green and Kawhi instead of among the worst defenders in the league like Stauskas, Canaan and Ish.

..again
http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/200746/tracking/defense/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season
http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/1626143/tracking/defense/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season
Jah better at defending shots inside 6 ft, only slightly below inside 10ft.

BLK%
LMA: 2.8%
JAH: 2.9%
*LMA's 2.8% is tied second highest for his 10 year career

Jah's allowed FG% at the rim is similar to DMC, Horford, D12, Towns (also similar on vs off DRTG) and Mahinmi.

If your case is LMA is better defender than Jah, I'd give you the benefit of the doubt. But I don't see how it's similar to a stauskas vs. tony allen comparison on defense.

[USWAY]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZihwmQ3PaC8[/youtube]

Saw this today. Obviously highlights, but he's pretty damn filthy for his age. Has a much quicker first step than I thought when watching during the season. Two things I confirmed from this though is that 1) it took him half a season to get his jumper looking smoother than most of the players on last years team (not saying much I guess) 2) He sped up the pace of his moves to the basket as the season went along, so damn slow at the beginning of the year.

He worked pretty much every big man in the league in this vid. That's gonna be hella valuable for someone down the line, even if it isn't us.

[cksdayoff]

doing his thing at 19/20 years old. and some people here want to give up on him smh

[Unbreakable99]

doing his thing at 19/20 years old. and some people here want to give up on him smh

He's so great yet his trade value is not high. The rest of the NBA doesn't think highly of him.

[LongLiveHinkie]

Their loss.

[CoreyGallagher]

I've sort of been avoiding discussion of Okafor and Noel, I just want to see how both/either play with Simmons.

[LongLiveHinkie]

If NBA teams are so down on him, then I guess if the Sixers didn't take him at three, he would have fallen all the way to the second round then, huh?

Riiiiight