[ChicagoCaseyParticipant]

One thing I don’t get is when fans/media members knock Jahlil Okafor defensive potential and the fact that he can’t be an elite defender in this league. People bedunk the fact that he have elite measureables with standing 6’11" with a 7’5" wingspan and a 9’2.5" standing reach while also weighing 275 pounds. Those are elite measurements if you ask me. I know he don’t have the quickest feet in the world, but Marc Gasol doesn’t have the quickest foot ever either.

To think about it Marc Gasol didn’t come into the league as a potential defensive stopper. He had slow feet and wasn’t overly athletic for his position. You don’t have to be the most athletic players in the world to be one of the best defenders in this league. Draymond Green came into the league not being the most athletic of guys and not the quickest of foot. Those are two of the best defenders in the league and both players are not athletic and not the quickest of foot. 

You don’t judge defense based on athletic testing. If so players like Shane Larkin would be one of the best defenders in the league, aswell as Andre Drummond ( great sho blocker ). Rim protecting and post defense is based on discipline, IQ, being vocal on defense, and plenty of more intangibles. The fact that people knock centers because that their not athletic confuse me. Yeah, Okafor does not have great defensive IQ and he’s not athletic, but he can be taught that.

I believe Jahlil Okafor is the best player in this draft and he will be a dominate center in the league. With the right coaching and veterans he can become a good defensive players. 

 

P.S. We see alot of players thats ultra athletic be really bad defenively. You have JaVale McGee as the perfect example. He’s long, athletic, and he have quick feet, but he lacks defensive IQ, and he’s not descipline.

 

 

 

 

 

[llperez]

 i think very highly of jahlil. Dude is a phenomanl ball handler and has huge hands finishing all kinds of tough shots in traffic with a combination of tough physical moves and soft touch. Defensively, i think he will always be below average. Bigs are so often judged on how well they rotate and block shots and help on pick and rolls. He wont ever be good at that stuff, but if he can gaurd his own man and be physical and keep guys from getting deep position, i think he will do plenty enough offensively to make up for his lack of defense. I mean shaq single handidly turned guys like mike bibby and troy hudson into superstars by how bad he played pick and roll defense, but he was able to gaurd his own man and be physical. Im not cmoparing jahlil to shaq now though just saying.

[llperez]

 i think very highly of jahlil. Dude is a phenomanl ball handler and has huge hands finishing all kinds of tough shots in traffic with a combination of tough physical moves and soft touch. Defensively, i think he will always be below average. Bigs are so often judged on how well they rotate and block shots and help on pick and rolls. He wont ever be good at that stuff, but if he can gaurd his own man and be physical and keep guys from getting deep position, i think he will do plenty enough offensively to make up for his lack of defense. I mean shaq single handidly turned guys like mike bibby and troy hudson into superstars by how bad he played pick and roll defense, but he was able to gaurd his own man and be physical. Im not cmoparing jahlil to shaq now though just saying.

[220Participant]

 Javale McGee isn’t the best example to pin your argument on seeing as he lacks IQ in general. If he was just had an average IQ every team in the NBA would want him.

[220Participant]

 Javale McGee isn’t the best example to pin your argument on seeing as he lacks IQ in general. If he was just had an average IQ every team in the NBA would want him.

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

 I go back and forth on this topic. As a wolves fan I lean Towns because of his defense but at the same time I feel compelled to defend Okafor when ppl knock his defense. 

I don’t care about the "rim protection" factor. Its one of the most overrated aspects of basketball because as you mentioned, for every jumping jack raw athlete at Center, there are guys like Noah, Duncan, Horford etc. 

The thing that scares me about him is his foot speed. The league is nothing but pick n roll and he is a fish out of water on that stuff. Best way to defend pick n roll is to trap or hedge and he’s sitting in the lane everytime which means career night for NBA Pgs. 

The Gasol comparison is a good one, but also using the best defensive center in the league is probably the outlier. Sure thats the best case scenario but there are alot of directions that can go. 

Does anybody else worry about Jahlils activity level? I feel like he does almost all his work on straight isolation post ups…maybe I didn’t watch enough Duke but I can’t remember him ever really doing a lot of damage dominating the offensive glass or just hanging around the baseline just being active. Could be overanalyzing a 19 year old, could be an issue. That’s the difficult part of picking between him and KAT

 

 

 

 

 

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

 I go back and forth on this topic. As a wolves fan I lean Towns because of his defense but at the same time I feel compelled to defend Okafor when ppl knock his defense. 

I don’t care about the "rim protection" factor. Its one of the most overrated aspects of basketball because as you mentioned, for every jumping jack raw athlete at Center, there are guys like Noah, Duncan, Horford etc. 

The thing that scares me about him is his foot speed. The league is nothing but pick n roll and he is a fish out of water on that stuff. Best way to defend pick n roll is to trap or hedge and he’s sitting in the lane everytime which means career night for NBA Pgs. 

The Gasol comparison is a good one, but also using the best defensive center in the league is probably the outlier. Sure thats the best case scenario but there are alot of directions that can go. 

Does anybody else worry about Jahlils activity level? I feel like he does almost all his work on straight isolation post ups…maybe I didn’t watch enough Duke but I can’t remember him ever really doing a lot of damage dominating the offensive glass or just hanging around the baseline just being active. Could be overanalyzing a 19 year old, could be an issue. That’s the difficult part of picking between him and KAT

 

 

 

 

 

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

I think Okafor will do just fine defensively. He has room for improvement, with better conditioning he should have no problem keeping up with NBA centers.

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

I think Okafor will do just fine defensively. He has room for improvement, with better conditioning he should have no problem keeping up with NBA centers.

[sitlbitoParticipant]

I don’t understand why those saying Okafor wll improve defensively feel the need to say "don’t knock him on his athletic attributes" but then bring up …his physical attributes to say he’ll be a good defensive C. The point is that he hasn’t shown any sign of good defense in hs entire year in Duke and that there’s no sign AT THIS POINT that it will change. But that doesn’t mean he’ll NEVER change. It’s just stating a fact.

Now why are there skeptics? Because there’s no one like him in the NBA that’s succeeding. Vucevic? B.Lopez?Al Jefferson? Heck these guys have a better jump shot that he has,not even bringing his FT%. Some might compare him to Gasol,but it’s always hard to compare a euro guy to a College guy.

Apparently,he’s lost a few pounds,so if he gets his effort up ,combined with good defense and shooting teaching,yeah I see the appeal. But don’t say he’ll be a good defensive center just because he’s 6-11 with a 7-5 wingspan.

 

 

[ChicagoCaseyParticipant]

 If you ever read my post you would know that I never said " he have great physical measurments so he will be a good defensive center ". Yeah, I weight physical attributes more than I do athletic attributes. Theirs alot of guys that praised to be great defenders coming out of college mostly based off athletic attributes. If you read my post you would also know that I never mention that he will become a great defender " or " that he’s a good defender now ". All I said was that it’s not all about athletic meaurements to measure how good you will become an elite defender.

So you’re saying you can’t compare players coming from overseas to college>? Huh? LOL. That might be the most idiotic thing I have ever read. And Ii never compared the two players. I compared that he didn’t come in as the defensive players he is now and have the same athletic weaknesses as Okafor in the fact that both came in with slow feet and not athletic. 

LOL @ your second paragraph. First, aren’t Vucevic, Brook Lopez, and Al Jefferson all succeeding in the league right now. And that most believe if Brook Lopez can stay healthy he might be one of the best centers in the league. Al Jefferson just made the all star last season. Vucevic should’ve made it this year. What’s your point? And I see you didn’t even mention DeMarcus Cousins who’s not the most athletic guy in the world. And Okafor do have a 15 foot mid range jump shot.

I don’t believe you got my post. And if you read my post you would understand what I wrote and you wouldn’t try to bring his whole game when all I mention was his defense and players that had his weaknesses that’s all NBA defensive players.

  

 

[sitlbitoParticipant]

 First of all chill out dude. Then again,putting up stats and not winning is not succeeding. Which team is going far in the Playoffs without a good defensive center? NONE. Centers in the conference finals:Bogut,Howard,Mozgov and Horford,Al being the "worst" defensive center between them. Conference semis:Marc Gasol,Deandre Jordan,Joakim Noah,Marcing Gortat. All solid defenders inside,Gortat being underrated on that end, Now the rest of the Playoffs teams centers:Chandler,Omer Asik,Tim Duncan,Robin Lopez,Pachulia,Valanciunas,B.Lopez,Tyler Zeller. There’s a huge dropoff when it comes to the under 0.500 eastern conference teams,other than that EVERY playoffs team has a good defensive center. Jahlil Okafor will give you maybe 22 and 10 at his peak. I’m just wondering with which teammates will he be able to play. Vucevic,Al Jefferson,Cousins,Kanter,Pekovic did not make the playoffs. 

Yeah I got too far in my posts when I talked about offense,but it was a global answer to other posts of this thread. Again chill out.

 

[sitlbitoParticipant]

 First of all chill out dude. Then again,putting up stats and not winning is not succeeding. Which team is going far in the Playoffs without a good defensive center? NONE. Centers in the conference finals:Bogut,Howard,Mozgov and Horford,Al being the "worst" defensive center between them. Conference semis:Marc Gasol,Deandre Jordan,Joakim Noah,Marcing Gortat. All solid defenders inside,Gortat being underrated on that end, Now the rest of the Playoffs teams centers:Chandler,Omer Asik,Tim Duncan,Robin Lopez,Pachulia,Valanciunas,B.Lopez,Tyler Zeller. There’s a huge dropoff when it comes to the under 0.500 eastern conference teams,other than that EVERY playoffs team has a good defensive center. Jahlil Okafor will give you maybe 22 and 10 at his peak. I’m just wondering with which teammates will he be able to play. Vucevic,Al Jefferson,Cousins,Kanter,Pekovic did not make the playoffs. 

Yeah I got too far in my posts when I talked about offense,but it was a global answer to other posts of this thread. Again chill out.

 

[ChicagoCaseyParticipant]

 If you ever read my post you would know that I never said " he have great physical measurments so he will be a good defensive center ". Yeah, I weight physical attributes more than I do athletic attributes. Theirs alot of guys that praised to be great defenders coming out of college mostly based off athletic attributes. If you read my post you would also know that I never mention that he will become a great defender " or " that he’s a good defender now ". All I said was that it’s not all about athletic meaurements to measure how good you will become an elite defender.

So you’re saying you can’t compare players coming from overseas to college>? Huh? LOL. That might be the most idiotic thing I have ever read. And Ii never compared the two players. I compared that he didn’t come in as the defensive players he is now and have the same athletic weaknesses as Okafor in the fact that both came in with slow feet and not athletic. 

LOL @ your second paragraph. First, aren’t Vucevic, Brook Lopez, and Al Jefferson all succeeding in the league right now. And that most believe if Brook Lopez can stay healthy he might be one of the best centers in the league. Al Jefferson just made the all star last season. Vucevic should’ve made it this year. What’s your point? And I see you didn’t even mention DeMarcus Cousins who’s not the most athletic guy in the world. And Okafor do have a 15 foot mid range jump shot.

I don’t believe you got my post. And if you read my post you would understand what I wrote and you wouldn’t try to bring his whole game when all I mention was his defense and players that had his weaknesses that’s all NBA defensive players.

  

 

[sitlbitoParticipant]

I don’t understand why those saying Okafor wll improve defensively feel the need to say "don’t knock him on his athletic attributes" but then bring up …his physical attributes to say he’ll be a good defensive C. The point is that he hasn’t shown any sign of good defense in hs entire year in Duke and that there’s no sign AT THIS POINT that it will change. But that doesn’t mean he’ll NEVER change. It’s just stating a fact.

Now why are there skeptics? Because there’s no one like him in the NBA that’s succeeding. Vucevic? B.Lopez?Al Jefferson? Heck these guys have a better jump shot that he has,not even bringing his FT%. Some might compare him to Gasol,but it’s always hard to compare a euro guy to a College guy.

Apparently,he’s lost a few pounds,so if he gets his effort up ,combined with good defense and shooting teaching,yeah I see the appeal. But don’t say he’ll be a good defensive center just because he’s 6-11 with a 7-5 wingspan.

 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Kinda reminds me of when DeMarcus Cousins entered the league except without the attitude issues. Everyone said he would have zero impact on defence yet each year Cousins leads the league in charges. Even today people say Cuz has empty stats which is true to an extent yet I doubt those charges are empty stats.

People are just hating on Jahlil for no reason. He has great measurements, for his size I think he has great footspeed, his IQ and coachabillity is great, he is a great passer, and has great touch and footwork. He is everything you want offensively from a lowpost player in the league today and defensively he has great upside with a 7’5 wingspan.

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Kinda reminds me of when DeMarcus Cousins entered the league except without the attitude issues. Everyone said he would have zero impact on defence yet each year Cousins leads the league in charges. Even today people say Cuz has empty stats which is true to an extent yet I doubt those charges are empty stats.

People are just hating on Jahlil for no reason. He has great measurements, for his size I think he has great footspeed, his IQ and coachabillity is great, he is a great passer, and has great touch and footwork. He is everything you want offensively from a lowpost player in the league today and defensively he has great upside with a 7’5 wingspan.

 

[Magic JordanParticipant]

There is a part of me that hopes Jahlil ends up with the Lakers.  Even though I know Towns is probably the better fit for todays game, and the Lakers current roster.  I just can’t shake loose the idea of the Lakers zigging while everybody else in the league is zagging and grabbing what would have to be considered a very talented post player.  Especially after watching Lebron control the pace of the Warriors for most of the game from the block.  Granted it’s Lebron James, one of the best passers in the world…. but it tells me that it can be done, even to the team that exemplifies the new NBA the best… the Warriors.  Lebron controlled the whole pace of the game from the block in game 1.  I still think that can be successful in the NBA.

As far as his defensive concerns.  Give me a player with a high IQ, a will to get better and wants to win over the guy that is just an elite athlete.  He can be a good defender, he just will never lead the league in blocks which is such an over rated metric.  He has extremely long arms and a huge strong frame.  He has the tools to take charges and limit opponents fg% at the rim which is really what it’s all about.  I think he will be a fine defender, just maybe not out of the gate.  The pick and roll defense he may never be good at it, but I won’t rule it out because he has great footwork and coordination.

 

 

[Magic JordanParticipant]

There is a part of me that hopes Jahlil ends up with the Lakers.  Even though I know Towns is probably the better fit for todays game, and the Lakers current roster.  I just can’t shake loose the idea of the Lakers zigging while everybody else in the league is zagging and grabbing what would have to be considered a very talented post player.  Especially after watching Lebron control the pace of the Warriors for most of the game from the block.  Granted it’s Lebron James, one of the best passers in the world…. but it tells me that it can be done, even to the team that exemplifies the new NBA the best… the Warriors.  Lebron controlled the whole pace of the game from the block in game 1.  I still think that can be successful in the NBA.

As far as his defensive concerns.  Give me a player with a high IQ, a will to get better and wants to win over the guy that is just an elite athlete.  He can be a good defender, he just will never lead the league in blocks which is such an over rated metric.  He has extremely long arms and a huge strong frame.  He has the tools to take charges and limit opponents fg% at the rim which is really what it’s all about.  I think he will be a fine defender, just maybe not out of the gate.  The pick and roll defense he may never be good at it, but I won’t rule it out because he has great footwork and coordination.

 

 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Okafor may not be the quickest of players but for a guy his size he has good passing ability and is a good ball handler. He has a decent basketball IQ and looks fairly coachable so with his size and wingspan he should be able to become a good NBA defender to add to his potentially first rate offensive game.

[HitsterParticipant]

 Okafor may not be the quickest of players but for a guy his size he has good passing ability and is a good ball handler. He has a decent basketball IQ and looks fairly coachable so with his size and wingspan he should be able to become a good NBA defender to add to his potentially first rate offensive game.

[IlladelphParticipant]

 I think that Okafor has been unfairly built up to be the Next Great Thing.  He is a skilled offensive player, with very good footwork for the college level.  He has good size, and he showed at Duke that he could pass out of the double and triple team.

Offensively he is very good on the blocks, at least at the college level.  There is no reason to think that this will not translate to the NBA level.   He is good at getting position and can feel his defender and react very well.  This type of skill is rarely seen at the college level.  Hence, he got built up by the media and fans as the next great thing.

The only problem is that for a modern big man, he is lacking an offensive game beyond his comfort zone in the blocks.  He cannot shoot the three, cannot make his free throws, and never demonstrated a mid-range game.  He was very good against college players within 6-8 feet from the basket, but he doesn’t have much away from the rim.  Compared to Karl Towns who is now being referred to as the prototype for the new NBA big man, he is very limited offensively away from the basket and may not be able to space the floor as well as Karl Towns who can shoot the lights out from anywhere on the court.

Ultimately I think Okafor will have a good solid NBA career.  His upside is less than Karl Towns, but he will get his points, and improve his defense to at least be considered average.  

It is also a little unfair to be compared to KT whose defensive game and offensive game are unbelievable and will only get better.  KT also has a very high IQ, and understanding of the game.  Minny will be very happy to get him, and he will make Wiggins look like a rock star.  Minny with KT will be contending in a few years.  Though I think that if you look at KT’s personality and overall package, he would fit more the personality of the Showtime Lakeshow.

[IlladelphParticipant]

 I think that Okafor has been unfairly built up to be the Next Great Thing.  He is a skilled offensive player, with very good footwork for the college level.  He has good size, and he showed at Duke that he could pass out of the double and triple team.

Offensively he is very good on the blocks, at least at the college level.  There is no reason to think that this will not translate to the NBA level.   He is good at getting position and can feel his defender and react very well.  This type of skill is rarely seen at the college level.  Hence, he got built up by the media and fans as the next great thing.

The only problem is that for a modern big man, he is lacking an offensive game beyond his comfort zone in the blocks.  He cannot shoot the three, cannot make his free throws, and never demonstrated a mid-range game.  He was very good against college players within 6-8 feet from the basket, but he doesn’t have much away from the rim.  Compared to Karl Towns who is now being referred to as the prototype for the new NBA big man, he is very limited offensively away from the basket and may not be able to space the floor as well as Karl Towns who can shoot the lights out from anywhere on the court.

Ultimately I think Okafor will have a good solid NBA career.  His upside is less than Karl Towns, but he will get his points, and improve his defense to at least be considered average.  

It is also a little unfair to be compared to KT whose defensive game and offensive game are unbelievable and will only get better.  KT also has a very high IQ, and understanding of the game.  Minny will be very happy to get him, and he will make Wiggins look like a rock star.  Minny with KT will be contending in a few years.  Though I think that if you look at KT’s personality and overall package, he would fit more the personality of the Showtime Lakeshow.

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