TRKO wrote:Tim Duncan has a mid-range game and isn't much of a free throw shooter either. Okafor was starting to use that Duncan bank shot.
Another thing I saw from Okafor that I really liked was his ability to dribble out of trouble and to beat his man off the dribble. He has solid handle for a big.
But Duncan has not ever been Okafor bad as a free throw shooter. His worst season in college was senior season and he had FT% .636 then. In NBA Duncan's FT% has had pretty high variance for a player that has shot a lot of them every season. His best year was 12-13 with .817 FT% and worst was 03-04 with .599 FT%. What is strange is that he has not constantly improved his free throw shooting but that it seems that every now and then he has really good season and some times pretty bad ones too.
99-00 he had .761 FT%, 00-01 .618 FT%, 01-02 .799 FT% then 03-04 .599 FT% in seasons 04-12 it didn't vary that much it was between .63 and .73 and then 12-13 he had that .817 FT%.
While he isn't as bad as Okafor, he isn't good. Okafor is developing that mid range bank shot game. I think he will have a solid mid range game. That being said a majority of his scoring will be done in the paint.
TRKO wrote:Tim Duncan has a mid-range game and isn't much of a free throw shooter either. Okafor was starting to use that Duncan bank shot.
Another thing I saw from Okafor that I really liked was his ability to dribble out of trouble and to beat his man off the dribble. He has solid handle for a big.
But Duncan has not ever been Okafor bad as a free throw shooter. His worst season in college was senior season and he had FT% .636 then. In NBA Duncan's FT% has had pretty high variance for a player that has shot a lot of them every season. His best year was 12-13 with .817 FT% and worst was 03-04 with .599 FT%. What is strange is that he has not constantly improved his free throw shooting but that it seems that every now and then he has really good season and some times pretty bad ones too.
99-00 he had .761 FT%, 00-01 .618 FT%, 01-02 .799 FT% then 03-04 .599 FT% in seasons 04-12 it didn't vary that much it was between .63 and .73 and then 12-13 he had that .817 FT%.
Correct, and his FT average in college and the pros is almost exactly the same...just south of 70%. I get the Duncan comparisons when it comes to footwork, post game and a developing bank shot. But they are not really comparable at the FT line, and certainly not at all comparable on defense.
TRKO makes a good point, though, about another skill of Okafor's. The draftexpress scouting video has examples of him calmly dribbling out of trouble when he was doubled...very impressive for a center. He's also a good passer out of the double team. Doubling Jahlil has not been an effective strategy in college, and likely won't be effective in the NBA.
Ok, he's a beast. A 20-10 machine. Has limitations. Sounds like Love. Or Al. The scariest thing I read in LST's post was that once he faced tougher competition his numbers dropped off. Hack -a -Oak WILL happen
Love and Al Jefferson came through here and did what they did, about half the game played at an all star level, the other half not so much.
Sure wish I had a crystal ball to know whether Pek's surgery will allow him to play again. If Pek is your man in the middle, Towns seems like the perfect compliment to him.
papalrep wrote:Ok, he's a beast. A 20-10 machine. Has limitations. Sounds like Love. Or Al. The scariest thing I read in LST's post was that once he faced tougher competition his numbers dropped off. Hack -a -Oak WILL happen
Love and Al Jefferson came through here and did what they did, about half the game played at an all star level, the other half not so much.
Q's post was a good one I think the only thing I took issue was him putting him as a 10 rpg guy. I posted that here after the above post because quite frankly as Wolves fans we probably overrate that 10rpg mark at little a little but because we have had that luxury for around 2 years and some terrific double double guys like Googs KG Al and Love. I think the idea Okafor is the next Al or Love is a legit worry. Of course it's far from a failure if you only get someone as good as Al with the #1 overall pick but it would be nice to get a more complete player.
The Rage Monster wrote:Great work. Point 1 is the main reason I'm leaning Okafor, his low post skill are elite and that's really the only elite aspect I see in any of the top few guys. Towns looks good overall and in theory he'd be perfect for this team but he's currently not elite on either end of the court. Maybe Towns will develop but everything with him is purely projection at this point. Unfortunately the only top pick in recent memory who didn't demonstrate some elite ability was Anthony Bennett.
2.3 blocks in 20 minutes a game is elite. That's 4.4 blocks on a 40 minute per game basis. Compare that to Okafor's 1.8 blocks per 40 minutes. I should mention that Towns' rebounding stats at 20 minutes per game translate to 12.7 boards per 40 minutes. That may not be elite but it's really good and better than Okafor. I'll add that Towns' ball handling and soft shooting touch are rare in a 19 year old center with a freakish 9'5" overheard reach. Which reminds me: Towns' overhead reach is elite by NBA standards.
It is great to extrapolate Town's 20 mins to astronomical 40 min stats, but contextually a bit problematic to me. Towns got much of his playing time against NCAA bench players in a down year for the SEC. He clearly has more of an affinity for shot blocking based on game footage, but the rebounding and assists should be taken into the context of how each player was used. Their comparable stats in Rebounding and assists are generally a wash because Towns just didn't get enough pt for much of the year. Both have the potential to be somewhere around 10 rpg in the NBA as far as I see it there is really not a clear winner in either of these parts of their game. In a pinch I would say that Towns will be a slightly better rebounder due to his hustle and Okafor will be a better passer/assist man due to his feel for the game. Ultimately both have potential in both of these areas and are fairly well-rounded as I see it. The debate between the 2 for me is really more about offense v defense and strengths and weaknesses in those areas.
60WinTim wrote:Sure wish I had a crystal ball to know whether Pek's surgery will allow him to play again. If Pek is your man in the middle, Towns seems like the perfect compliment to him.
That's exactly where I am, Tim. If Pek can play 65 games, Okafor becomes almost redundant. While Okafor has a far superior post and passing game compared to Pek, Pek is a better free thrower and rebounder. And their defense is remarkably similar, but I would give a slight edge to Pek. IF Pek's surgery keeps him on the court a lot more, Towns becomes a much better choice in my book.
60WinTim wrote:Sure wish I had a crystal ball to know whether Pek's surgery will allow him to play again. If Pek is your man in the middle, Towns seems like the perfect compliment to him.
That's exactly where I am, Tim. If Pek can play 65 games, Okafor becomes almost redundant. While Okafor has a far superior post and passing game compared to Pek, Pek is a better free thrower and rebounder. And their defense is remarkably similar, but I would give a slight edge to Pek. IF Pek's surgery keeps him on the court a lot more, Towns becomes a much better choice in my book.
I don't think Pek should factor at all in making the decision. Just pick the best player. If that's Okafor, then so be it.
Okafor's room to operate in the post is getting so much bigger at the NBA level. It is extremely difficult to be a post player in college because everybody just packs the paint and crowds you. That's what happened in the tournament games he struggled in. That's why he even started throwing in some elbow jumpers and the bank shot because he had no room in the post. It is more of a 1v1 battle in the NBA until you demand a double team. Also to those making comparisons to Al, Al a year ago anchored a top 10 defense in the league and Okafor is bigger and longer than him.
