Where is Jahlil Okafor?

[PhilasFinest]

They are letting Bayless play with damaged ligaments in his wrist that will require surgery in the offseason. Nerlens Noel elected to get surgery that the medical staff did not suggest. Okafor playing hurt would be consistent with what I'm seeing from those two guys.

Bayless' injury might eventually require surgery, but its also an injury that is simply based on tolerance. If he wants to try and gut it out, then they likely will give him the green light too, but if its hindering his ability to play (like now) he will be out.He has missed multiple games from it.Its not like he has a torn ACL and they are forcing him to play.

Noel had a somewhat simple clean up done on his knee...Its something that he obviously elected to do, but was also something that likely needed to be done eventually and him opting to do so immediately was smart considering he is in a contract year and unhappy with the team to begin with.

If Okafor has any type of damage or an injury that could worsen through playing, then I HIGHLY doubt the Sixers would be lifting medical/minutes restrictions on him and parading him out there nightly. He may be out of shape, or struggling with recovering....but I really don't think the Sixers are going out of their way to play an injured player. It stands to gain nothing for either party.

I've heard that this is a different medical staff than the one that was around for the Bynum trade, and if that's so, what's their experience with professional athletes? Sam Hinkie was a genius all the way up until he was fired. I suspect the Sixers medical staff will also be considered competent all the way up until they are replaced. Nerlens Noel elected to get surgery, what was his option? Play through pain? Why? That's incompetence. I believe that we are seeing Okafor play through pain and his knee may never heal properly. The news about his knee was murky. This is a secretive organization when it comes to injuries a little like the Patriots, but why are the players given such great latitude to play with an injury? Bayless and Noel were okay'd to play with injuries that could be fixed through surgical means.

So they are secretive and quick to push injured players to play, yet they have Embiid on a STRICT 24 minute restriction, rest him during back to backs, and even tell him "No more" during games where we could win?? Sorry, just doesn't make sense to me.

Bayless got the green light after peaking during recovery/treatment. His injury is likely something that will not be further harmed if he plays and is reliant on HIS personal level of comfort/tolerance while playing. He played a few games, is obviously in pain and has been OUT. They aren't forcing this kid to play, but opted to give him a choice in the paths they take to dealing with non serious injuries. You can play through some injuries without doing further damage if you can manage the discomfort. Same likely went for Noel, who in a contract year and being disgruntled likely opted to just get the procedure done now rather than risk it impacting him down the road.

Your literally implying that the Sixers medical staff is overlooking injuries on certain players and clearing them healthy when not....I really can't picture this. It would be extremely negligent on every single medical professional (who are usually world class, renowned doctors & therapists) involved.

[PhilasFinest]

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[Ericb5]

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This just shows those statistics for this season which is a small sample size, and Okafor is back to full strength just in the last few games. The idea is that Okafor's shot chart wont look like that if he is given more time to develop his skills out in space.

I'd be curious to see this shot chart for last year for Okafor just to get a more accurate picture of where he stands today, but I think that he will get better at scoring farther and farther away from the basket the more he works on it.

Embiid is a freak of nature as to why he can score it for all over the place so far. Okafor isn't a freak of nature, and needs to build up those skills.

[spikeslovechild]

I thought it may work early but I'm not so convinced. For the simple reason Embiid is going to demand attention. Most of Okafor value right now is as a scorer. He doesn't rebound. Though he should. He provides average rim protection though the numbers should be better. He puts the ball through the hoop though not as well as last year.

In other words in order for him to be successful he needs to run the offense. He isn't even doing that on the second unit. Why would sharing the load with Embiid be something we would be looking at? The only way it makes sense is if it somehow lights a fire under his ass because tactically it doesn't make sense until he plays better without the ball.

[Sixerscan]

Well I'm sure it will kind of work as everything with Embiid "works" to some extent. I'm not sure why it would work any better than the other guys we've been playing embiid with, and there's reason to think it will be worse versus certain matchups.

[sixerswillrule]

This just shows those statistics for this season which is a small sample size, and Okafor is back to full strength just in the last few games. The idea is that Okafor's shot chart wont look like that if he is given more time to develop his skills out in space.

I'd be curious to see this shot chart for last year for Okafor just to get a more accurate picture of where he stands today, but I think that he will get better at scoring farther and farther away from the basket the more he works on it.

Embiid is a freak of nature as to why he can score it for all over the place so far. Okafor isn't a freak of nature, and needs to build up those skills.

Okafor took 76% of his shots from inside of 10 feet last season so the shot chart is probably about the same.

[LloydFree]

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I don't think the biggest issue with Embiid and Okafor is on the offensive end of the court. I think it is workable offensively. They just have to play Okafor in the low post as the Center and have Embiid play as the stretch 4. Defensively, it doesn't work. Okafor is incapable of guarding any Power Forward and if they play Okafor as the Center, it makes the team weak at two positions. Okafor doesn't protect the basket and you have Embiid chasing Stretch 4s all over the perimeter. Guys are focused on the offensive ramifications of this, when it's the Defense, not Offense, that will suffer from the pairing.

[PhilasFinest]

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I don't think the biggest issue with Embiid and Okafor is on the offensive end of the court. I think it is workable offensively. They just have to play Okafor in the low post as the Center and have Embiid play as the stretch 4. Defensively, it doesn't work. Okafor is incapable of guarding any Power Forward and if they play Okafor as the Center, it makes the team weak at two positions. Okafor doesn't protect the basket and you have Embiid chasing Stretch 4s all over the perimeter. Guys are focused on the offensive ramifications of this, when it's the Defense, not Offense, that will suffer from the pairing.

Agreed 100%.

[SelfishPlayer]

Bayless' injury might eventually require surgery, but its also an injury that is simply based on tolerance. If he wants to try and gut it out, then they likely will give him the green light too, but if its hindering his ability to play (like now) he will be out.He has missed multiple games from it.Its not like he has a torn ACL and they are forcing him to play.

Noel had a somewhat simple clean up done on his knee...Its something that he obviously elected to do, but was also something that likely needed to be done eventually and him opting to do so immediately was smart considering he is in a contract year and unhappy with the team to begin with.

If Okafor has any type of damage or an injury that could worsen through playing, then I HIGHLY doubt the Sixers would be lifting medical/minutes restrictions on him and parading him out there nightly. He may be out of shape, or struggling with recovering....but I really don't think the Sixers are going out of their way to play an injured player. It stands to gain nothing for either party.

I've heard that this is a different medical staff than the one that was around for the Bynum trade, and if that's so, what's their experience with professional athletes? Sam Hinkie was a genius all the way up until he was fired. I suspect the Sixers medical staff will also be considered competent all the way up until they are replaced. Nerlens Noel elected to get surgery, what was his option? Play through pain? Why? That's incompetence. I believe that we are seeing Okafor play through pain and his knee may never heal properly. The news about his knee was murky. This is a secretive organization when it comes to injuries a little like the Patriots, but why are the players given such great latitude to play with an injury? Bayless and Noel were okay'd to play with injuries that could be fixed through surgical means.

So they are secretive and quick to push injured players to play, yet they have Embiid on a STRICT 24 minute restriction, rest him during back to backs, and even tell him "No more" during games where we could win?? Sorry, just doesn't make sense to me.

Incompetence can be found in inconsistency as well as consistency. The Sixers medical staff do not have to be consistently wrong in order to be bad at what they do. People and organizations make mistakes, even when they are qualified to make you believe that they aren't. Nerlen's Noel believes that the SIxers medical staff made a mistake so he elected to get his own surgery. Bayless feels pain, you can see his wrist in discomfort during the game, especially after he hits the floor. So he plays some games, then he misses others due to the same injury? HE NEEDS SURGERY PRONTO! Okafor can be seen touching and favoring his injured knee, he even wears a large brace of some sort over his knee/leg that I don't think he had to start the season. He reminds me of Elton Brand when he initially came back from surgery, you could tell that he wasn't the same player even for those last few games with the Clippers, but the Sixers signed him to "The Philly Max."

[SelfishPlayer]

There are these things called the high post, the low post, and the mid post that are being glossed over in this thread for the dumbed down spread the floor offense that is trending throughout the NBA right now even though only two teams have a shot at winning a championship with it, GS and CLE. Just because Okafor is on the low post while Embiid is on the court doesn't make Okafor the center. Anyone remember the early 2000 Sacramento Kings? Anyone take a look at the 2016 Spurs with Gasol and Aldridge? Embiid is clearly better in the high post while mixing in the rest. Okafor is best in the mid post, I wouldn't call either of them a low post player when matched against players that have great size and athleticism for post defense. The Sixers can in fact run an offense that has NO LOW POST PLAYER! the low post can be clear for Embiid and Okafor to face up and drive on their defender.

[Kolkmania]

There are these things called the high post, the low post, and the mid post that are being glossed over in this thread for the dumbed down spread the floor offense that is trending throughout the NBA right now even though only two teams have a shot at winning a championship with it, GS and CLE. Just because Okafor is on the low post while Embiid is on the court doesn't make Okafor the center. Anyone remember the early 2000 Sacramento Kings? Anyone take a look at the 2016 Spurs with Gasol and Aldridge? Embiid is clearly better in the high post while mixing in the rest. Okafor is best in the mid post, I wouldn't call either of them a low post player when matched against players that have great size and athleticism for post defense. The Sixers can in fact run an offense that has NO LOW POST PLAYER! the low post can be clear for Embiid and Okafor to face up and drive on their defender.

Spurs DRTG with LaMarcus Aldridge AND Pau Gasol is 110.6 compared to 107.2 and 101.5 when either one of those two guys is on the court without the other. I doubt the offense will be very efficient, but it might work against some match-ups, the defensive end is problematic.

For the people who say that Okafor only has to guard the opponents PF, you don't think the opponents will run 1-4 P&R's? These PF's tend to have superior range than the C's so Okafor can't sag back in the paint.

[76ciology]

Actually, the biggest hurdle is the transition defense via cross match and we saw that with Jah/Noel experiment. And quite frankly, it's still a problem even on our most traditional line-ups where our guys aren't coordinated to whether to guard their match-up or the one closest to them.

We know PFs will guard Embiid. So when we miss our shot, who will run down the floor and chase opposing PFs? Is it okafor who is at the paint being guarded by opposing C? You'll see Biid/Jah being confused on the assignments and sometimes RoCo will end up chasing the PF that will leave opponents wings open.

Offensively, it can work with Jah being spaced by 4 shooters including biid. But again, Jah's motor with his lack of aggressiveness to attack the basket at high frequency on offense will continue to have a problem. Will he continue to burn the shot clock with his lifeless hand-offs?

What if we force the defense to switch on D with Jah/Biid pick and roll. Then have Jah attack smaller PFs at the post with Biid spacing the floor. Similar to the 1-3 pick and roll.

While I don't know how Biid at the post against a smaller PF with Jah spacing the floor for him will work. Maybe Jah attack closeouts via driving to the basket?

I don't think halfcourt D will be a big problem than most think. Jah is an above average individual defender, I've seen and recorded footage of him being a good individual defender against quicker guys. Much more against stretch 4s.

With biid, jah can step out on PnR D for he has Biid who is at the paint to protect the rim. Remember that Biid basically camps in the paint on D since he guards the opponents non spacer C. It's a similar defense the Grit and grind Grizz or Spurs (TD&LMA) had, it can be very effective.

For it to be effective, Jah needs to have a big leap on his appetite for driving to the basket. Maybe he needs to ask help from Tony Wroten. Then the team needs to run a different scheme on their transition and halfcourt D. I'd suggest guarding closest guy on transition D then Jah stepping outside on pick and roll D. NBA rewards on making high risk plays nowadays, specially on D.

...anyway, lets just wait how it performs next game) and after It. There will DEFINITELY be some growing pains for our team at it's most conventional line-ups still fail to execute the simplest schemes.

[SelfishPlayer]

We know PFs will guard Embiid.

Woah, stop right there. If that's the case, Embiid will put up monster numbers and the Sixers will be in great position to win the basketball game.

[76ciology]

We know PFs will guard Embiid.

Woah, stop right there. If that's the case, Embiid will put up monster numbers and the Sixers will be in great position to win the basketball game.

Look deeper, and try to back read my post why it's not THAT ideal.

I'd rather have the PF guarding Okafor and have 4 guys spacing the floor.

Similar to this..

[SelfishPlayer]

Sacramento Kings with Chris Webber and Brad Miller operating a sophisticated offense with two big men positioned in all of the post positions that I listed above. Of course they did so with true NBA quality guards while the Sixers have Sergio and Henderson.

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[76ciology]

Sacramento Kings with Chris Webber and Brad Miller operating a sophisticated offense with two big men positioned in all of the post positions that I listed above. Of course they did so with true NBA quality guards while the Sixers have Sergio and Henderson.

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Nope. Offensively, it's Jah who needs to step up and adjust his game. He needs to be more aggressive in attacking to the basket and getting to the line. We are one of the top teams in 3s and assists.

If there are any fault with our perimeter players its that most of them are poor defenders while it's only RoCo who can provide positive impact on D at the perimeter.

[Kolkmania]

We know PFs will guard Embiid.

Woah, stop right there. If that's the case, Embiid will put up monster numbers and the Sixers will be in great position to win the basketball game.

Look deeper, and try to back read my post why it's not THAT ideal.

I'd rather have the PF guarding Okafor and have 4 guys spacing the floor.

Similar to this..

I'm not sure if that's an efficient shot attempt. Also look at all the possible dig situations, extremely hard for Okafor to limit his turnovers. I'd rather see him putting more effort in gaining deeper post position.

[SelfishPlayer]

Nope. Offensively, it's Jah who needs to step up and adjust his game. He needs to be more aggressive in attacking to the basket and getting to the line. We are one of the top teams in 3s and assists.

Why would a bench player like Jahlil Okafor need to step up his game to be more aggressive when I mentioned the names of two starters in Henderson and Sergio? The Sixers are ranked 26th in the NBA in offensive scoring. That's not because of their reserve big man averaging 10.7 ppg in only 21 mpg which is a greater scoring average than Sergio, and Gerald the two starting guards on this team. Jahlil Okafor is currently ranked #62 in the entire league in points per 48, that's higher than the Sixers starter at PF Ersan ranked #79.

[SelfishPlayer]

Also look at all the possible dig situations,

That's because the Sixers have so many perimeter "floor spacers" that do not demand proper respect. It wouldn't look that way if Okafor were driving to the basket for the Trailblazer's or Rockets.

[Sixerscan]

This thread is like an alternate universe sometimes.