Jahlil Okafor is making a bad situation worse in Philly

[rondohondo]

everything people loved and hated about Jahlil Okafor coming out of Duke and all of his strengths and his weaknesses were on full display on Sunday. On one side of the ledger, he had 31 points and 8 rebounds on 19 shots. On the other side, he had the worst plus/minus (-28) of anyone on the team. When Jahlil is holding the ball in the mid to high post, he's not looking to pass and there's no room for anyone else to cut to the rim. The odd thing is that he was a pretty good passer at Duke - has he decided to go full YOLO and just put up as many numbers as possible? As far as his defense goes, the less said about it the better. The basic problem is that he's slow and he's checked out on that side of the ball. You can be one or the other and survive in the NBA. You can't be both.

There's just a ceiling on how good your team can be when you are playing a sieve at the front of the rim - especially when there are a lot of young players in front of him who are making mental mistakes and giving up penetration - and it doesn't matter how many points he's scoring on offense if he's giving up just as many on defense.

There's no better example of the effect that Jahlil has on his teammates than Nerlens. When Jahlil is in, Nerlens is floating around the perimeter on offense, not doing anything all that useful and trying to take guys off the dribble and aimlessly firing bullet passes through traffic. On defense, he's chasing perimeter 4's around the 3-point line and he's way out of position to grab rebounds. When Jahlil is out, Nerlens is a rim-rolling menace on offense and a high-level rim protector on defense.

http://patternofbasketball.blogspot.com/2016/02/76ers.html

thought this was kind of an interesting article for c's fans

[Granath]

Part of it is skill.
Part of it is will.
Part of it is coaching.
Part of it is the system.
And very likely part of it is due to the losing atmosphere that Philly has created.

I think the situation would be very different if Okafor were playing for this Celtics squad.

[number_n9ne]

Who's this author, JTjarks? Also, how credible is his blogger account? Idk if I'd call this an article. It's more of a fan post.

[max215]

Who's this author, JTjarks? Also, how credible is his blogger account? Idk if I'd call this an article. It's more of a fan post.

Zach Lowe shared it on Twitter, so I'm going with pretty legitimate.

[Atzar]

I agree that his defense sucks and he can't effectively share the court with Noel, but I fundamentally reject any argument that tries to treat single game +/- as a meaningful measure of anything.

[Smartacus]

Part of it is skill.
Part of it is will.
Part of it is coaching.
Part of it is the system.
And very likely part of it is due to the losing atmosphere that Philly has created.

I think the situation would be very different if Okafor were playing for this Celtics squad.

Agreed, what are his options in Philly? Kick outs to Jakar Sampson, Jerami Grant and TJ McConnell, these aren't exactly the most cerebral off ball players that constantly cut and find holes in the D? Ish Smith seems to prefer to work with Nerlens Noel.

This selfish balling might actually be more of a result of Elton Brand's veteran leadership. "You just get yours big fella, take it from me it's how you get paid."

I'm not going lose my head if we don't end up acquiring him, but this report doesn't sour my opinion on how well he'd play here, he's got the ability to dominate when focused and we have the structure to keep him on the right track.

[PhoSita]

No new ground covered here.

Jahlil is in a horrible situation for his skillset and, it seems, his personality.  The team around him is not constructed to help him succeed, and he doesn't have the tools to make that team better.

High usage rookies almost always make their teams worse.  Lots of words have been generated about how Jahlil has failed to carry the terrible Sixers out of the depths.  I haven't read much about how ineffective Emmanuel Mudiay has been.  Deangelo Russell isn't winning games for an NBA team anytime soon, either.

I suspect it has something to do with the other two high profile rookie big men in this draft, who have been really good and have helped their teams compete more often than anticipated.  Jahlil is almost certainly not ever going to be on the same level as Towns, and he may never have the two-way impact and versatility of Kristaps.  But I think that says more about how strong the top of the 2015 draft was than it does about Jahlil.

Personally, I look at that Philly situation with Okafor in the inverse way -- I continue to be really impressed that a rookie, recently 20 year old big man can be averaging so close to 20-10 despite having so little offensive skill around him, on a team whose only competent point guard is Ish Smith.  I mean, for goodness sake, look at the shooting percentages of the guys who share the floor with him.

[celticsclay]

No new ground covered here.

Jahlil is in a horrible situation for his skillset and, it seems, his personality.  The team around him is not constructed to help him succeed, and he doesn't have the tools to make that team better.

High usage rookies almost always make their teams worse.  Lots of words have been generated about how Jahlil has failed to carry the terrible Sixers out of the depths.  I haven't read much about how ineffective Emmanuel Mudiay has been.  Deangelo Russell isn't winning games for an NBA team anytime soon, either.

I suspect it has something to do with the other two high profile rookie big men in this draft, who have been really good and have helped their teams compete more often than anticipated.  Jahlil is almost certainly not ever going to be on the same level as Towns, and he may never have the two-way impact and versatility of Kristaps.  But I think that says more about how strong the top of the 2015 draft was than it does about Jahlil.

Personally, I look at that Philly situation with Okafor in the inverse way -- I continue to be really impressed that a rookie, recently 20 year old big man can be averaging so close to 20-10 despite having so little offensive skill around him, on a team whose only competent point guard is Ish Smith.  I mean, for goodness sake, look at the shooting percentages of the guys who share the floor with him.

I don't have chance at the moment to investigate twitter, but I will say if Zach Lowe is sharing this and thinks it is an accurate portrayal of Jahill write now that holds a little water with me because I think he really gets the NBA and does great analysis.

[Denis998]

He has no one to pass it to :/

[GreenFaith1819]

"Trust the Process", though.

[colincb]

I agree that his defense sucks and he can't effectively share the court with Noel, but I fundamentally reject any argument that tries to treat single game +/- as a meaningful measure of anything.

Single game +/- is worthless. However, Noel is the only guy with a positive overall Block +/- on the Sixers for the season, though he does it on the defensive side of the ball. Okafor is the worst Sixer starter on the same stat because he impacts both sides of the ball negatively.

Both Noel and Okafor could fit if you have players around them who complement their strengths. However, I think Noel is more likely to be elite at what is his strength and have more upside at what is his weakness. I don't think Okafor is really a plus player in the long-term while I expect Noel to be. Still wouldn't use the BKN pick on either. Sixers really need Embiid to recover and stay healthy AND/OR be very lucky in the draft to have any chance of The Process succeeding.

[PhoSita]

I don't have chance at the moment to investigate twitter, but I will say if Zach Lowe is sharing this and thinks it is an accurate portrayal of Jahill write now that holds a little water with me because I think he really gets the NBA and does great analysis.

Zach Lowe ‏@ZachLowe_NBA 9h9 hours ago

.@JonathanTjarks nails why I'm already having trouble figuring out whether Jahlil even belongs in the ROY race: http://patternofbasketball.blogspot.com/2016/02/76ers.html …

Haralabos Voulgaris
‏@haralabob

If Okafor was who the Celts were after in their "blockbuster"  trade - they escaped by not getting him imo.

@ZachLowe_NBA 5h5 hours ago

Zach Lowe Retweeted Haralabos Voulgaris

I am skeptical he was the target, though more optimistic about his future.

Basically, Zach Lowe seems to agree Jahlil's not having a great rookie season, at least not compared to Towns & Kristaps. 

At the same time, he doesn't appear to be as negative regarding Jahlil's future as many on here.

[Celtics4ever]

I think even those running the team, know the team culture is bad.   What a dreadful place to come into the league.

[max215]

I think even those running the team, know the team culture is bad.   What a dreadful place to come into the league.

Just a random thought: think about how happy D'Angelo Russell was on draft night to avoid this mess. Boy, was he in for a surprise.

[KG Living Legend]

Part of it is skill.
Part of it is will.
Part of it is coaching.
Part of it is the system.
And very likely part of it is due to the losing atmosphere that Philly has created.

I think the situation would be very different if Okafor were playing for this Celtics squad.

 
 Part of it is skill,
 When he plays defense, I feel ill.

 He wont pass the ball,
 Im talking not at all.

 Maybe he should take a new plight
 And not start any more fights

 Should have been a rapper
 Got to take a break and use the Crapper!