Minnesota Sports Forum

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I do think people are downplaying WCS a ability to switch out and D up perimeter guys but I think it's partly because they see the other weaknesses in his game. It's a pretty big strength and it's one of the reasons why KG and Ben Wallace were 2 of the best defensive players of my lifetime. I am not suggesting WCS is going to have that type of impact but let's give him his due in his projected strengths. I think there are plenty of weeknesses to nitpick.

KG and Big Ben could rebound though. He's very one-dimensional right now in what he provides, which is a rangy and versatile big that can guard multiple positions and get a lot of deflections. Granted, that's a pretty damn good skill to have in today's NBA, which is why he'll be in the top 10. On the other hand, we know he won't be much of an offensive player or rebounder. And defensively, we really don't know how he'll do when someone puts a shoulder into his chest. Will he hold his ground or give way for easy looks at the rim?

Well said Q. Personally, what I see in watching WCS is the best perimeter and help defender in college. The issue is that he is not nearly the defender on the interior against size....which needs to be his bread and butter in order to become a dominant NBA player. I have not seen this from him.

As far as Okafor not having a face up game, while I agree he doesn't have a fully established face up game he is developing that Duncan jab step and bank shot. His offensive game when it's all said and done will probably resemble Duncan's more than any other player. Now if his defense were as good.

Hicks, There are other skinny-esh bigs that have managed to be good paint defenders. KG himself holds his ground and gets a ton of defensive rebounds. Marcus Camby. Joakim Noah. Larry Sanders.

Then you have others like Ryan Hollins, Gorgui Dieng, and Chris Johnson - just to name a few on the opposite side of the defensive spectrum - that really struggle when up against strength.

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:For almost the entire season, I've been saying to take Okafor and don't look back. I've been wavering lately.

I am still much higher on both of them vs. just about everybody else (although I like Russell as the 3rd guy), I might opt for Towns at this point. The defense. Rebounding. And the 80% ft is a nice element to have.

Yeah, that's where I'm at too. Towns/Okafor 1A and 1B.

Drew, Towns is not some project big man who we would be drafting on potential alone. If you normalize his numbers on a per 36 or per 40 minute basis, they are really impressive. He isn't necessarily dominant in any one area the same way Okafor is, but you definitely see a guy who is more well rounded.

As for Okafor, I've been watching him very carefully on the defensive end this tournament. I'm not seeing the weakness he apparently displayed earlier in the year. He's been very stout in the paint, walling up and often blocking or deterring shots simply by his sheer size and length. And his pick and roll defense hasn't been that bad either.

I think the two areas I don't like about Okafor is that 1) he doesn't aggressively attack the glass, and 2) he appears somewhat out of shape. Those two might go hand in hand.

Nevertheless, his sheer size and outstanding hands will make it almost impossible for him to average less than 10 rebounds per 36 minutes as an NBA Center, which is solid, but not great.

Towns is not purely a potential pick, and I've really liked him for his PER numbers. I think there's a good chance he'll be a really good player, and maybe a great one. I'm just pointing out a possible irony, which is that part of what makes us gravitate away from Okafor toward Towns is counterintuitively because Okafor has really consistently produced offensively. When I think about it rationally, that's really attractive about him. But part of me feels like that makes Towns more attractive, even to me. In that line of thinking, it's like Okafor's a known quantity, you know what you're going to get, and there's just something more intriguing about the potential of a guy like Towns. In other words, my brain says Okafor, but my gut keeps leaning Towns. And ultimately, I don't trust my gut. It's the bird in the hand scenario. So I say Okafor!

Good points on both sides of the WCS debate but I'm just not seeing him being that high of a pick. Other than having an outstanding vertical and crazy lateral quickness for a guy his size I'm not really seeing a guy worthy of a top 10 pick. He's terrible offensively and in my opinion relatively unproven as a defensive anchor.

Offensively he offers nothing, he has no jump shot, can't dribble drive, and has no post game. Just 2 games ago he was defended the entire game by 6'5 215 Pat Connaughton and I can't remember him even attempting a post move. After 3 years I would hope he would have developed something to take advantage of such a huge size mismatch.

Defensively he's talented and very versatile. However, he played mostly PF this season and I wouldn't say he necessarily anchored that defense. I haven't seen much to suggest he'd be able to handle bigger more physical centers at the NBA level. I don't have specifics but last year when he played center there were game I recall him getting pushed around quite a bit by stronger players.

You know who else cannot dribble drive, shoot jump shots, or command a double in the post? Rudy Gobert. And he's OLDER than WCS.

Kaminsky's post moves do not translate to the NBA. He is to slow and too obvious. Okafor showing some major heart after the foul trouble. Great game.

Okafor didn't have a great game, but made some big plays down the stretch. I thought he played solid defense as well.

TRKO wrote:Okafor didn't have a great game, but made some big plays down the stretch. I thought he played solid defense as well.

Yeah me too. It was a bummer to see some of those fouls but I didn't see anything physical tonight that would brand him a bad defender. Duke as usual just had no defensive philosophy. Their bad team rotations got Okafor 3 of his fouls. Yes he shouldn't reach but when you are running to cover bad rotations shit happens.

Would be a shame if Tyus Jones decided to come out now that he was the big player tonight. He would really flourish with another year at Duke.