Minnesota Sports Forum

mrhockey89 wrote:

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.

Watch a highlight video of Towns on youtube and tell me that's not an elite tool box he's working with. Towns has an advanced handle and can score in a variety of ways. The fact that he's also one of the top defenders in the nation didn't hurt either.

I really think we're in a no lose situation at #1 (unless we get cute)

I am with you here, I think both will be all stars at least some time in their careers, the question to me does one become a superstar or could one be the best player on a championship team (I expect Wiggins to be that but in general)

Solid analysis. This is a two horse race right now, with Okafor likely in the lead. The question is can Towns show enough over the next month for the Wolves to roll the dice. But I can live with either guy, assuming the Wolves really put in the work over the next month, which they surely will.

One other thought: Towns looks to have the better smile. If Kahn was still here we probably would have already announced him as the pick.

Also I read bill Duffy who is Okafor agent used to be roommates with Flip

IM a fan of either, but one thing that scares me with Okafor is his athleticism, and at times slow pace. He has unbelievable skill set, knowledge and understanding of the game....but this is an ideal example of a long player, who is big at age 18, not having a ton of athleticism for the next level.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2404118-blown-dunk-by-jahlil-okafor-has-coach-krzyzewski-livid-off-the-bench

lol. Sorry!

mrhockey89 wrote:Good post Q, and I think you could add that Jahlil is likely to add a mid-range game in the next 2-3 seasons as well which should make his game even more reminiscent of Duncan's offensively, which would also potentially make him a very good pick-n-pop player in time.

The real question with him is WILL HE ever develop a defensive game, or will he be a more fundamentally sound, less athletic version of Amare (with more strength of course)?

Yes, Q did a nice job making the case for Okafor. But let's not get carried away. I wouldn't count on a 50% free-throw shooter developing a mid-range game. Instead I'd expect in Okafor a pure low post scorer who becomes a liability on the offensive end as opponents employ the hack-a-for. And I think Q would ultimately concede that poor defenders in college generally don't become good defenders in the NBA. And mediocre rebounders generally don't become good rebounders. I think Q would also concede that Okafor's poor defense can't be explained away by foul concerns.

Q did a nice job. But I still agree with Q in believing Towns is the right choice. :). I don't even think it's close.

lipoli390 wrote:

mrhockey89 wrote:Good post Q, and I think you could add that Jahlil is likely to add a mid-range game in the next 2-3 seasons as well which should make his game even more reminiscent of Duncan's offensively, which would also potentially make him a very good pick-n-pop player in time.

The real question with him is WILL HE ever develop a defensive game, or will he be a more fundamentally sound, less athletic version of Amare (with more strength of course)?

Yes, Q did a nice job making the case for Okafor. But let's not get carried away. I wouldn't count on a 50% free throw shooter to develop a mid-range game. Instead I'd expect a pure low post scorer who becomes a liability on the offensive end as opponents employ the hack-a-for. And I think Q would ultimately concede that poor defenders in college generally don't become good defenders in the NBA. I think he'd also concede that Okafor's poor defense can't be explained away by foul concerns.

Q did a nice job. But I still agree with Q in believing Towns is the right choice. I don't even think it's close.

All things I pointed out in my rebuttal earlier in the thread. Yes, Towns is the guy to grab at No. 1.

lipoli390 wrote:

mrhockey89 wrote:Good post Q, and I think you could add that Jahlil is likely to add a mid-range game in the next 2-3 seasons as well which should make his game even more reminiscent of Duncan's offensively, which would also potentially make him a very good pick-n-pop player in time.

The real question with him is WILL HE ever develop a defensive game, or will he be a more fundamentally sound, less athletic version of Amare (with more strength of course)?

Yes, Q did a nice job making the case for Okafor. But let's not get carried away. I wouldn't count on a 50% free-throw shooter developing a mid-range game. Instead I'd expect in Okafor a pure low post scorer who becomes a liability on the offensive end as opponents employ the hack-a-for. And I think Q would ultimately concede that poor defenders in college generally don't become good defenders in the NBA. And mediocre rebounders generally don't become good rebounders. I think Q would also concede that Okafor's poor defense can't be explained away by foul concerns.

Q did a nice job. But I still agree with Q in believing Towns is the right choice. :). I don't even think it's close.

Lip, you may be right, but I'm also expecting him to be able to eventually turn into a 65% FT shooter. 8.5 rebounds a game as an 18 year old isn't simply mediocre, in my opinion.

I also agree Towns is the guy I'd prefer, but I think you're selling Okafor short a bit.

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.

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.

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%.