Okafor or Towns? Which center is the better pick?

[djphan]

so far the only tools argument i can see with okafor's defense is that he's big... and i'm sorry... that's a pretty weak argument...

[Bknight4three]

New to the thread. Great discussion so far, but how is FT% not being discussed more?

Okafor is currently at 51%. I love Okafor--best post game and feel I have ever seen at his age, but since his offense game is his bread and butter I worry about that FT%. If he was a 75% FT shooter, I'd take him #1 for sure.

Towns, on the other hand, shoots 82% and seems to have a great shooting stroke. Anthony Davis didn't shoot many jumpers at UK because he played on a completely dominant college team just like Towns does. I think this is the why KAT is so intriguing. We haven't seen everything he can do. Maybe he can be a defensive anchor. Maybe he will start making mid-range jump shots in bunches, and that will open up the rest of his offensive game and that combined with his high FT% will lead to him being as efficient on offense as Okafor.

I am still undecided, but leaning twoards Towns.

[Marcus]

New to the thread. Great discussion so far, but how is FT% not being discussed more?

Okafor is currently at 51%. I love Okafor--best post game and feel I have ever seen at his age, but since his offense game is his bread and butter I worry about that FT%. If he was a 75% FT shooter, I'd take him #1 for sure.

Towns, on the other hand, shoots 82% and seems to have a great shooting stroke. Anthony Davis didn't shoot many jumpers at UK because he played on a completely dominant college team just like Towns does. I think this is the why KAT is so intriguing. We haven't seen everything he can do. Maybe he can be a defensive anchor. Maybe he will start making mid-range jump shots in bunches, and that will open up the rest of his offensive game and that combined with his high FT% will lead to him being as efficient on offense as Okafor.

I am still undecided, but leaning twoards Towns.

you pretty much broke down the FT argument. Okafor doesn't hit them and Karl does. Jah stroke isn't broken or anything, he simply doesn't make them. Not sure if its necessarily something he'll correct. We'll see though.

[E-Balla]

New to the thread. Great discussion so far, but how is FT% not being discussed more?

Okafor is currently at 51%. I love Okafor--best post game and feel I have ever seen at his age, but since his offense game is his bread and butter I worry about that FT%. If he was a 75% FT shooter, I'd take him #1 for sure.

Towns, on the other hand, shoots 82% and seems to have a great shooting stroke. Anthony Davis didn't shoot many jumpers at UK because he played on a completely dominant college team just like Towns does. I think this is the why KAT is so intriguing. We haven't seen everything he can do. Maybe he can be a defensive anchor. Maybe he will start making mid-range jump shots in bunches, and that will open up the rest of his offensive game and that combined with his high FT% will lead to him being as efficient on offense as Okafor.

I am still undecided, but leaning twoards Towns.

I don't care about his freethrow percentage mainly because his form isn't busted so I think he can learn. I could always be wrong of course but even then freethrow shooting never stopped lesser scorers like Dwight and he looks like a shoo in for 22+ ppg and leading the league in and 1's one day.

And we know Towns can shoot in bunches it's his inside game that is the issue. Drafting centers that play weak inside is never a good idea if you want a future HOFer center.

[E-Balla]

so far the only tools argument i can see with okafor's defense is that he's big... and i'm sorry... that's a pretty weak argument...

He's big, strong, and quick on offense so if he can use his lateral speed on one side he can use it on the other with practice (Tim Hardaway Jr went from probably having the slowest lateral speed I've ever seen from a guard defensively to being bad but not terrible this season).

[noobcake]

I think this is the why KAT is so intriguing. We haven't seen everything he can do. Maybe he can be a defensive anchor. Maybe he will start making mid-range jump shots in bunches, and that will open up the rest of his offensive game and that combined with his high FT% will lead to him being as efficient on offense as Okafor.

I am still undecided, but leaning twoards Towns.

Why does the argument only go one way? You have not see everything Towns can do so he can do everything? Unproven production now directly translates into future potential?

Maybe with his better physical tools, conditioning and coaching, Okafor will become a dominant NBA defender. See, we can both play this game.

[Bknight4three]

I guess I would be interested to see Okafor's high school FT numbers. If it is an anomaly that is one thing, but I don't trust 7 footers to develop as FT shooters.

[Greek]

Reading all of the posts without having the opportunity to watch any of two, i tent to believe that KAT will have the better career. Why? much better on D, with some floor spacing potential. Thats the new era what is about. Just my 2 cents as an outside observer

[noobcake]

If you guys are so enamored with your center shooting jumpers, go draft Myles Turner. He has 3 point range.

[Marcus]

I guess I would be interested to see Okafor's high school FT numbers. If it is an anomaly that is one thing, but I don't trust 7 footers to develop as FT shooters.

its always been low. I do wanna see however if he keeps the routine he used in the SDSU game. He simply caught the pass from the ref and pretty much went str8 into getting the shot off, no dribble, no spinning the ball just catch and go. Allows for less thought and more reaction which i think is a problem with a lot of bigs too much thought.

I know coach Pop made that reference to Duncan's elbow jumper and free throws and how it fluctuated up and down. He said something along the lines of he knew/knows when Timmy was gonna miss the jumper because he would hesitate. When he caught it and shot it he was more accurate. Also when Timmy stopped hesitating at the line right before the release his FT% went back up.

Jah can hit elbow jumpers off the catch so the same principle could apply and possibly help his efficiency at the line.

[Greek]

A very nice article on nbadraft.net about the rebirth of C's. And i said way better defensive potential, something that you ignored.

With potential number one overall selections, Karl Anthony Towns a bigman with great face up skills, or Jahlil Okafor, a far more classic-style of back to the basket bigman, perhaps we will see something shift again if these two live up to to be the stars everyone predicts them to be. A dominant bigman is always in demand, but it seems, whether these offensive minded bigs live up to their hype or not, that perhaps what we are seeing is a different way of defining bigman dominance. And both the league and the game of basketball are better for it.

http://www.nbadraft.net/rebirth-bigman

[Marcus]

Reading all of the posts without having the opportunity to watch any of two, i tent to believe that KAT will have the better career. Why? much better on D, with some floor spacing potential. Thats the new era what is about. Just my 2 cents as an outside observer

They both play this week on TV during the tourney. Take a look, should be a good time.

[djphan]

He's big, strong, and quick on offense so if he can use his lateral speed on one side he can use it on the other with practice (Tim Hardaway Jr went from probably having the slowest lateral speed I've ever seen from a guard defensively to being bad but not terrible this season).

the quickness on offense part is also hard to swallow... the side to side movements that are required on defense are not used on offense by anyone...

and don't get me started on tim hardaway jr...

[Marcus]

He's big, strong, and quick on offense so if he can use his lateral speed on one side he can use it on the other with practice (Tim Hardaway Jr went from probably having the slowest lateral speed I've ever seen from a guard defensively to being bad but not terrible this season).

the quickness on offense part is also hard to swallow... the side to side movements that are required on defense are not used on offense by anyone...

serious question.

will there be anything anybody can say about Jah or anything Jah can do to sway your opinion of him? or that you'll even accept about him without some sort of negative reply to it?

just asking because its coming across as less of a conversation and more like bashing Jah in order to praise Karl.

[ibraheim718]

He's big, strong, and quick on offense so if he can use his lateral speed on one side he can use it on the other with practice (Tim Hardaway Jr went from probably having the slowest lateral speed I've ever seen from a guard defensively to being bad but not terrible this season).

the quickness on offense part is also hard to swallow... the side to side movements that are required on defense are not used on offense by anyone...

serious question.

will there be anything anybody can say about Jah or anything Jah can do to sway your opinion of him? or that you'll even accept about him without some sort of negative reply to it?

just asking because its coming across as less of a conversation and more like bashing Jah in order to praise Karl.

Come on man. Why waste your time asking that when you know what the answer is?

[Marcus]

the quickness on offense part is also hard to swallow... the side to side movements that are required on defense are not used on offense by anyone...

serious question.

will there be anything anybody can say about Jah or anything Jah can do to sway your opinion of him? or that you'll even accept about him without some sort of negative reply to it?

just asking because its coming across as less of a conversation and more like bashing Jah in order to praise Karl.

Come on man. Why waste your time asking that when you know what the answer is?

im a glutton for an admittance of guilt i guess. its a flaw of mines.

[ibraheim718]

New to the thread. Great discussion so far, but how is FT% not being discussed more?

Okafor is currently at 51%. I love Okafor--best post game and feel I have ever seen at his age, but since his offense game is his bread and butter I worry about that FT%. If he was a 75% FT shooter, I'd take him #1 for sure.

Seriously? So ft% is the determining factor? So obviously you would've passed on Shaq and drafted Zo instead.

[Bknight4three]

New to the thread. Great discussion so far, but how is FT% not being discussed more?

Okafor is currently at 51%. I love Okafor--best post game and feel I have ever seen at his age, but since his offense game is his bread and butter I worry about that FT%. If he was a 75% FT shooter, I'd take him #1 for sure.

Seriously? So ft% is the determining factor? So obviously you would've passed on Shaq and drafted Zo instead.

Really? I have watched both players a lot and think they are basically dead even. So yes, if Okafor shot 75% from the FT line that would be a "determining factor" for me. That doesn't mean I would have passed on Shaq for Zo. Come on.

There is a twenty page thread with people disagreeing about who is the better player. People were breaking down everything-- even college defensive efficiency numbers and other cloudy stats, so I was surprised that nobody had brought up the fact that Towns could be the best FT shooting center in the NBA while Okafor's unbelievable post skill could be compromised down the stretch of games because he can't make free throws. We are talking about equal prospects here. Something has to be the "determining factor" for why you pick one guy over the other.

[djphan]

serious question.

will there be anything anybody can say about Jah or anything Jah can do to sway your opinion of him? or that you'll even accept about him without some sort of negative reply to it?

just asking because its coming across as less of a conversation and more like bashing Jah in order to praise Karl.

i've mostly just been responding since the conversation tilted towards Okafor and that's where a lot of false statements lie.... and people just seem to want to keep arguing on those points for whatever reason... it might seem like bashing but it's more just lazy analysis...

which is fine.. this is a msg board on the internet... i make a statement.. i get retorts and vice versa....

if i see something off with what you're saying.. i'm gonna call you out ... and ppl seem to have this tendency to throw wild statements about okafor's defense... such as defense doesn't matter for centers... really? or trust me he has tools.. yea ok... or it's not that bad he tries sometimes... huh? and it strikes a chord with me... and i challenge ppl...

if it sounds like bashing then maybe you should probably re-think some things.... there isn't anything emotional in what i'm writing... unless you think there's something wildly off base or biased in what i'm saying in what you quoted me...

the quickness on offense part is also hard to swallow... the side to side movements that are required on defense are not used on offense by anyone..

hummm....

[ibraheim718]

New to the thread. Great discussion so far, but how is FT% not being discussed more?

Okafor is currently at 51%. I love Okafor--best post game and feel I have ever seen at his age, but since his offense game is his bread and butter I worry about that FT%. If he was a 75% FT shooter, I'd take him #1 for sure.

Seriously? So ft% is the determining factor? So obviously you would've passed on Shaq and drafted Zo instead.

Really? I have watched both players a lot and think they are basically dead even. So yes, if Okafor shot 75% from the FT line that would be a "determining factor" for me. That doesn't mean I would have passed on Shaq for Zo. Come on.

There is a twenty page thread with people disagreeing about who is the better player. People were breaking down everything-- even college defensive efficiency numbers and other cloudy stats, so I was surprised that nobody had brought up the fact that Towns could be the best FT shooting center in the NBA while Okafor's unbelievable post skill could be compromised down the stretch of games because he can't make free throws. We are talking about equal prospects here. Something has to be the "determining factor" for why you pick one guy over the other.

Whoever thinks they're equal prospects or that they're dead even is being subjective. So let me be subjective for a moment.. they're not dead even.

And more to the point his form is fine.. his trajectory isn't. He was taking too long with his routine and now it's been shortened and since then he's 5 for 8. Not a big sample size but still there appears to be an improvement. He's not going to be Shaq or Dwight at the line because his form isn't anywhere near that bad. His free throw shooting is a non-issue.. sorry it just is.