Minnesota Sports Forum

GymRat wrote:

TheSP wrote:Right now Okafor is below TheSP on my board. There is no way his mother loves him with the way he shoots free throws!

But where do you rate Towns, above or below yourself? :LOL:

Towns can do no wrong! My wife has been very clear about this, wrong is my specialty.

A well written, fair article in support of Okafor:
www.canishoopus.com/2015/6/3/8721085/in-praise-of-jahlil-okafor

TRKO wrote:A well written, fair article in support of Okafor:
www.canishoopus.com/2015/6/3/8721085/in-praise-of-jahlil-okafor

Really good article, TRKO...thx for posting. We need to keep an inventory of these positive Okafor articles or videos to include in an optimism thread in case Flip goes that way. Still hoping for Towns, but articles like this make it easier to see why Flip is on the fence.

If only we had the KG of even just 4 or 5 years ago. He would be the PERFECT fit next to Okafor because he could defend, dominate the defensive glass, and space the floor a bit. Oh, and he could play 30+ MPG.

longstrangetrip wrote:

TRKO wrote:A well written, fair article in support of Okafor:
www.canishoopus.com/2015/6/3/8721085/in-praise-of-jahlil-okafor

Really good article, TRKO...thx for posting. We need to keep an inventory of these positive Okafor articles or videos to include in an optimism thread in case Flip goes that way. Still hoping for Towns, but articles like this make it easier to see why Flip is on the fence.

I think Flip sees the offensive potential and feels if he can get him to play average defense he will have a superstar. I mean 66% from the field is outstanding. He isn't playing the DeAndre Jordan offense either. The article states he dominated the scoring column better than anybody since Shaq. I mean Shaq is the standard for offensive dominance. Okafor is no Shaq, we probably will never see another Shaq in our lifetimes though. Also if you put any stock in Vashro's stuff, and I don't he puts him at a 59% chance of being a stud or star and only a 5% chance of being a bust.

You may want Towns and may like what he brings to the table more, but Okafor is a heck of a prospect and brings a ton to the table and will make us a better team.

Q12543 wrote:If only we had the KG of even just 4 or 5 years ago. He would be the PERFECT fit next to Okafor because he could defend, dominate the defensive glass, and space the floor a bit. Oh, and he could play 30+ MPG.

He showed us last year he still has a little bit of game, just wish he could play starters minutes and game load. He is going to be a great asset to Towns or Okafor.

You simply can't expect Okafor to shoot 66% from the field in the NBA, though. That's just not going to happen.

Camden0916 wrote:You simply can't expect Okafor to shoot 66% from the field in the NBA, though. That's just not going to happen.

I agree, but doing it in the NCAA is crazy in and of itself. He wasn't just catching lobs like Jordan either. He was creating his own shot for the most part. He is going to be a very efficient scorer.

Here's my issue with Okafor and it's actually kind of the same situation we found ourselves with Love, Pek, and Rubio: While they all might be very good players, they force you to go find very specific types of people to help compensate for their weaknesses.

In Love's case, he has to play next to a defensive-oriented Center that can contest shots in the paint (Mozgov is the first guy he's ever played next to that could do this).

With Rubio, you need to have him paired up with multiple shooters/scorers (we might have the right mix in this case with Martin/LaVine/Wiggins/Shabazz).

With Pek, you need a mobile, rangy PF and/or SF along the front line to help provide weakside help (we don't really have this, except for KG, who is old and can't play much anymore).

Drafting Okafor means we need the same thing we need with Pek - an Ibaka/KG/Amir Johnson type of PF.

Drafting Towns on the other hand seems to be an easier fit in that you don't need to go find a very specific player-type at PF, especially if he really does reach his potential as a space 5 and interior defender.

(the other thing with Towns is it could lead to all sorts of interesting inverted offensive sets, with the likes of Shabazz and Wiggins posting up smaller wings in the paint - which we know they can do - with Towns pulling the opposing Center out of the lane and giving these guys a lot more room to operate. Oh, how much easier would things be if the likes of Andrew Bogut, DeAndre Jordan, Tyson Chander, and Rudy Gobert aren't parked in the paint on defense! They are rendered virtually useless if having to follow KAT out to the 3 point arc).