Player Jahlil Okafor

[DrKlahn]

I just worry that if I'm able to figure out that Oak has a FT problem and a possible aversion to drawing contact because of it, then surely there are opposing coaches and scouts who will figure it out as well.

 

[DrKlahn]

Howard's a 57% career FT shooter and one of the best defensive big men ever. There are three players in the Hall of Fame with a sub 60% free throw percentage: Wilt, Russell, Rodman. Shaq will be the fourth. So if Okafor is going to be one of the 3-4 greatest big men in history, or if he is going to be a once in a generation defender, then nobody will care about his free throw shooting. Otherwise you really need to get it up to the high 60s.

 

[DrKlahn]

Out of 771 NBA players with 5000+ career points, there are 22 with a sub-60% free throw percentage. Besides the guys already mentioned, the rest are generally defensive curiosities like Ben Wallace and Bruce Bowen, or they are utterly forgettable players like Rasho and Brendan Haywood and Emeka Okafor.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Yes that was the point of the Howard comparison. Okafor projects to be a better Al Jefferson everywhere but the FT line, which I guess is fine for a #1 pick. If you know for sure you're getting a poor FT shooting Al Jefferson for the next 15 years, you're happy with that at #1. I think the team with the 1st pick will bite the bullet and accept that, due to a lot of hype and fans' love for offense, but I think the team with the 2nd or 3rd pick that gets Towns is going to be ecstatic.

 

[DrKlahn]

None of this is going to affect his draft position, that much is for sure. If Towns passes him (quite possible) it will be for other reasons.

Towns is 73% on the line. Why couldn't K have coached the Dominican team?

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

If Duke vs Kentucky happens and it's 40 minutes of fouls in the paint, we are mostly looking at

SF Lyles (68%) vs Winslow (57%)
PF Towns (73%) vs Jefferson (56%)
C Cauley-Stein (61%) vs Okafor (50%)

Duke with its great offense loses in a FT battle against Kentucky and its giant terrible shooting team. Depressing. That's just how bad Duke's bigs have been at the line so far.

 

[rome8180]

I really feel like he should shoot better, based on his touch and ability to hit much more difficult shots from equal distance while defended.

 

[childress22]

I really feel like he should shoot better, based on his touch and ability to hit much more difficult shots from equal distance while defended.

He needs to just bank that shit.

 

[rome8180]

Yeah, he should also stand as far to the left side of the paint as legally allowed and start with his back facing the basket.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Since the Furman game, Okafor's foul drawing has skyrocketed. Some of it may be opponents wanting to hack him more often, most of it is probably due to the early lack of fouls being a fluke.

Okafor has put up 0.80 FTA/FGA since Furman, and his season FTA/FGA has nearly doubled, to 0.41. Mason Plumlee as a senior was at 0.69 FTA/FGA.

He is not avoiding contact anymore, if he ever was. He'll probably be around 0.70 FTA/FGA for the rest of the season, which means the difference between being a high 50s FT shooter and being a low 50s FT shooter will be enough to determine the outcome of at least a few games.

 

[DrKlahn]

Perhaps, but there are other benefits to Okafor drawing lots of fouls, such as reducing a future #1 pick to a cameo role last night.

 

[rome8180]

Another obvious improvement is his rebounding. Great to see a player who is already so dominant in one facet make rapid strides in others.

His defense is more than acceptable to my mind. So really the only element where he needs to improve is FT shooting.

One interesting thing is that he shot around 67% in both his junior and senior high school season, but significantly lower in all other venues on a much lower sample size. Was that caused simply by being more comfortable in his role in high school? Or playing more games more often? If he could get his percentage up to 67% that would be huge.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

He's really close on Kenpom POY as well. NPOY and 8 other McDonald's All-Americans just isn't enough to win a national title this season.

 

[Thain]

Going to abuse BJ Anya.

 

[rome8180]

I love how he's universally regarded as a really nice young man, yet they chose a picture where he's giving a demonic sarcastic clap.

 

[torontoduke]

Pure badass. He is unguardable vs. most teams.

 

[rome8180]

The lone highlight of tonight's game. Just an amazing offensive player.

I mean: 1) that pass he made where he didn't even secure the ball. Just caught it one handed and immediately batted it back out to the perimeter, leading to Winslow's drive.

2) That crazy left-handed scoop shot he made in traffic. (I think there was a terrible pass before that and he basically saved the possession.

3) That pass out of the triple team to Amile for the layup.

 

[deepdarkblue]

His hands are the most amazing thing about him for me. I can't recall a Duke center in this century that would have been able to catch and pass like Jahlil can, and it's kind of startling to me when I realize it. When the ball goes in the middle, I'm confident that Jah will both catch it and hang onto it. I can't even remember the last time I felt this way. I'm not used to having a big guy who doesn't fumble a pass or have the ball stripped away from him every other time he touches it.

 

[rhfarmer]

It's too bad Okafor wasn't born into a basketball universe where his skills were more important. He's pretty polished, but he's a Wes Unseld in a Kevin Durant era.

 

[childress22]

His hands are the most amazing thing about him for me. I can't recall a Duke center in this century that would have been able to catch and pass like Jahlil can, and it's kind of startling to me when I realize it. When the ball goes in the middle, I'm confident that Jah will both catch it and hang onto it. I can't even remember the last time I felt this way. I'm not used to having a big guy who doesn't fumble a pass or have the ball stripped away from him every other time he touches it.

Laettner was pretty good at catching and passing, IMO, but he didn't have Okafor's wide latitude of where the ball can be passed to for him to still catch it.