2010 wrote:E-Balla wrote:2010 wrote:
"Literally"...really? I recommend you read my detailed post again, or either you don't understand what "literally" means. I clearly stated you don't pick Okafor betting he improves defensively. You pick him with the mindset of trumpeting his offensive strengths and with the intention of building a roster around him that will mask his weaknesses. I said, then if he improves defensively consider it gravy. But I wouldn't go betting on it. That's not "hating". Y'all ninjas just sensitive. Lol
Here's your post:
2010 wrote:I don't know what some of you dudes are not getting. There's no bias against Okafor. It's just that the things he lacks are the things you can't teach!
* You can't teach having a motor
* You can't teach shot blocking instincts
* You can't teach having a nose for the ball and the anticipation to rebound out of your area
* You can't teach defensive awareness
* You can't teach lateral quickness
* You can't even always teach FT shooting (Shaq, DeAndre, Big Ben, Rodman, Rondo, etc.)
If this wasn't the case how come a dedicated hard worker like Amar'e never improved defensively? Just because you come into the league at 19 doesn't mean you are destined to improve your weaknesses.
You basically you're saying he can't improve because even though people impove these things all the time it's impossible to improve them. Now if I said you can't improve your weak base, smoothness in the post, offensive IQ, defensive discipline, etc. I'd be the equivalent to the crap you keep posting.
The other end of the spectrum is others arguing that he doesn't have the issues that I say you can't teach. They say he played the way he did defensively due to a myriad of excuses:
* Coach K wanting him to conserve energy for offense and to avoid foul trouble
* Lack of conditioning
* Lack of reps
* Only being 19
* Needing to be coaches up
You quoted the wrong post. Cuz then I went into details stating I would not be drafting him under the premise that he will be improving on these deficient areas. I'd draft him based on his offense and build a supporting team around him to hide his weak areas. If he improves, then just consider it gravy. Again, I see no hatred in those words. The ones who are gonna turn to hate are you people banking on him morphing into a whole 'nother player and when he doesn't y'all gonna say he regressed and commence to picking him apart ruthlessly.
You keep saying he won't improve and you still don't get it? No one says he doesn't have those issues. What we actually say is that we've seen players improve on those issues before and he was a pretty good defender overall in college so why can't he be average in the league after he puts in some work?
If you don't have any logical answer to that you're going to be called a hater.
Frye didn't regress. Shump didn't regress. THJr didn't regress. Toney Douglas didnr regress. They just didn't meet your expectations. The league made an adjustment to them and figured them out. Not every young player is going to develop their weak areas or make a significant jump. When that happens the ability usually was there all along. Just circumstance and opportunity is the thing that allowed it to shine through. Except for Jumpshots and certain skill areas.
Rookie Frye averaged 12/6/1 on 48% shooting with a
career high - meaning it's the best he ever played statistically and it's really not even close - 18.1 PER. 2nd year he averaged 9/6/1 on 43% shooting with a 10.5 PER.
Iman Shumpert averaged 9/3/3 as a rookie on 40% shooting with a 10.8 PER. By his 3rd year he averaged 7/4/2 on 38% shooting with a 9.6 PER.
Tim averaged 10/2/1 as a rookie on 43% shooting with a 12.7 PER. Last year he averaged 11/2/2 on 39% shooting with a 12.1 PER. I'd like to note I'm not soured on Tim and I think he can be a decent 7-8th man next year if he improves.
Toney averaged 9/2/2 as a rookie on 46% shooing with a 14.9 PER. By his third season he averaged 6/2/2 on 32% shooting with a 7.1 PER (worst in the league).
How are those examples not clear regression? We aren't over here expecting everyone to be a star but when you're 20-22 years old I don't want to see you start playing worse.
