In depth analysis of Okafor

[TheSundanceKid]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

[celticsclay]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

[TheSundanceKid]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

[celticsclay]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him. This is also a small sampling there are literally 200 mentions of Okafor and maybe 4-5 of them are positive. Is it worse cause this happened during a bad game, sure. However, this kind of commentary clearly isn't based on one game. Please think about if fans of their own team this guy how much we really want him.

"Rashaun Holmes isn’t good. He’s a terrible defender and a terrible rebounder, who looks good because Okafor is worse."

"What you have with Okafor? Player that plays one side of a ball well. Kind a. Since he has tunnel vision , poor floor awareness and his shooting from range is myth. And on other side he gives up so many points that it’s even hard to count. And above all, his pick made roster unbalanced with urgency to trade people left and right to make roster balanced again."

"That’s something the church of Okafor members have told themselves to justify that ridiculous pick. Forget Porzingis. You couldn’t trade Okafor straight up for Turner, Booker, Mudiay Trey Lyles or Stanley Johnson. All of those teams would laugh in our face if we offered Okafor for any of them."

"What people drafted behind him are doing doesn’t change the fact that Okafor sucks.

It was seriously ridiculous watching him last night. He’s almost 7 feet tall but plays like he’s 6 feet when he’s under the basket. How many putbacks and layups did he miss or get blocked last night?? And offense is the strong point of his game.

His D is atrocious… it’s like there is no center when he’s in.

My frustration level with him is at an all time high."

"I don’t know how anyone can watch that game and still say that Okafor is a worthwhile building block or should be here instead of NN. The worst argument I keep hearing is that well we can actually get something for NN and not for Oak, well there is a reason for that! Jah is a net negative almost every single night because he is completely incapable of defending, can’t hit a jumper (his form is truly ugly right now), has no ups and routinely gets his shots swatted. As soon as Capela sent that first block halfway down the court on him I knew there was no chance he would do anything worthwhile in this game. "

"I’d do Okafor and a top 15-20 protected first rounder and McDermott in a heart beat. It’d be nice if they threw in the older Grant brother too.
No one would trade that much for Okafor."

"Jahs biggest problem is fact that he can’t contribute in any other way when he can’t score. He is awful rebounder, now it’s more clear that rookie year wasn’t fluke, he will never be great passer, despite being able to block some shots he will never be rim protector because teams isolate him in pick&roll as weak link"

"If Brett Brown was serious about someone earning minutes then he needs to bench Okafor for a while. First of all, it is literally impossible to run a 2016 NBA offense if your center is unwilling to set anything even close to resembling a decent screen, and or roll hard to the basket. For an offensive savant, he has no idea what to do when the ball isn’t in his hands. He spends entire possessions just standing in one spot, completely ruining the flow of the court. Then when Jahlil does get the ball, he attacks the basket with the athleticism of my grandmother and the urgency of her’s. He also has the worst tunnel vision in the entire league, either that or he chooses to give up on his team every game after a couple misses. His "IMPROVED MIDRANGE JUMPER!!!" was a farce, and even if it’s not he has no idea how or when to get his shot off."

[LarBrd33]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Naturally, you're quoting the reaction from fans after his lone terrible performance of the past month.  You ignored the reactions to him dropping 12 points on Charlotte (4-8 shooting), 14 points on the Cavs (7-11 shooting), 15 points on the Jazz (7-14 shooting), 15 points on the Pacers (7-11 shooting), 18 points on the Hawks (7-13 shooting) and 19 points on the Wizards (8-11 shooting)...   He's shooting 52% for the month and averaging 12 points in just 20mpg despite that one Houston performance.   If you were to check the Sixers subreddit right now following his big 19 point performance, you'll see several people making comments like this:

My opinion is and has always been, he has a massive Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. ton of talent. He always has, he went top 3 for a reason.

He just NEEDS to hustle and work on his D like a madman. He can be a good player.

It's all true.  Kid has flaws, but continues to have obvious all-star potential.  He's still only 20 years old.

[alldaboston]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Not according to your friends over at ESPN:

But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor

[LarBrd33]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Not according to your friends over at ESPN:

But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor

How a player is "seen" isn't always reality.  That was the entire point of that post.  Yes, Julius Randle is seen as a better player than Smart, but I still have Smart over Randle.  Yes, Smart and Randle are seen as better than Okafor, but I still have Okafor over both of them.  I literally said that:

It absolutely confirms that Julius Randle is now seen as a better prospect than Marcus Smart.  But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor...

Luckily neither matters... as I still personally feel Smart is a better prospect than Randle barely.  And I'd take Okafor over both of them.   

Kind of scummy for you to take my quote out of context.   How a player is "seen" by the masses and how I see the player are two very different things.   My opinion matters more.

[celticsclay]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Naturally, you're quoting the reaction from fans after his lone terrible performance of the past month.  You ignored the reactions to him dropping 12 points on Charlotte (4-8 shooting), 14 points on the Cavs (7-11 shooting), 15 points on the Jazz (7-14 shooting), 15 points on the Pacers (7-11 shooting), 18 points on the Hawks (7-13 shooting) and 19 points on the Wizards (8-11 shooting)...   He's shooting 52% for the month and averaging 12 points in just 20mpg despite that one Houston performance.   If you were to check the Sixers subreddit right now following his big 19 point performance, you'll see several people making comments like this:

My opinion is and has always been, he has a massive **** ton of talent. He always has, he went top 3 for a reason.

He just NEEDS to hustle and work on his D like a madman. He can be a good player.

It's all true.  Kid has flaws, but continues to have obvious all-star potential.  He's still only 20 years old.

You are being inaccurate here. You really can't find more than 1 or 2 people that like Okafor as a future star over there (if any). I didn't see a single positive post about him. On here, sure we have players that some hate (brown, smart etc), but there are not players EVERYONE hates, especially young players. Why can't you just acknowledge what the fans over there think?

[alldaboston]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Not according to your friends over at ESPN:

But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor

How a player is "seen" isn't always reality.  That was the entire point of that post.  Yes, Julius Randle is seen as a better player than Smart, but I still have Smart over Randle.  Yes, Smart and Randle are seen as better than Okafor, but I still have Okafor over both of them.  I literally said that:

It absolutely confirms that Julius Randle is now seen as a better prospect than Marcus Smart.  But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor...

Luckily neither matters... as I still personally feel Smart is a better prospect than Randle barely.  And I'd take Okafor over both of them.   

Kind of scummy for you to take my quote out of context.   How a player is "seen" by the masses and how I see the player are two very different things.   My opinion matters more.

I mean, this is rather ironic, because you've taken my quotes out of context plenty of times before.

[LarBrd33]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Naturally, you're quoting the reaction from fans after his lone terrible performance of the past month.  You ignored the reactions to him dropping 12 points on Charlotte (4-8 shooting), 14 points on the Cavs (7-11 shooting), 15 points on the Jazz (7-14 shooting), 15 points on the Pacers (7-11 shooting), 18 points on the Hawks (7-13 shooting) and 19 points on the Wizards (8-11 shooting)...   He's shooting 52% for the month and averaging 12 points in just 20mpg despite that one Houston performance.   If you were to check the Sixers subreddit right now following his big 19 point performance, you'll see several people making comments like this:

My opinion is and has always been, he has a massive **** ton of talent. He always has, he went top 3 for a reason.

He just NEEDS to hustle and work on his D like a madman. He can be a good player.

It's all true.  Kid has flaws, but continues to have obvious all-star potential.  He's still only 20 years old.

You are being inaccurate here. You really can't find more than 1 or 2 people that like Okafor as a future star over there (if any). I didn't see a single positive post about him. On here, sure we have players that some hate (brown, smart etc), but there are not players EVERYONE hates, especially young players. Why can't you just acknowledge what the fans over there think?

He continues to show slight improvement on his typical Okafor numbers from last year.   Per-36 this month of 21.4 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks with 52% shooting.   He needs to work on his defensive aggressiveness, but for 20 year old, he clearly continues to have star potential.  He's performing far better than any single 2016 draftee... which makes sense as he was widely seen a superior prospect to anyone other than Ben Simmons in this draft (some had Ingram slightly ahead of him as he and ingram were similar tier-2 prospects).

[LarBrd33]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Not according to your friends over at ESPN:

But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor

How a player is "seen" isn't always reality.  That was the entire point of that post.  Yes, Julius Randle is seen as a better player than Smart, but I still have Smart over Randle.  Yes, Smart and Randle are seen as better than Okafor, but I still have Okafor over both of them.  I literally said that:

It absolutely confirms that Julius Randle is now seen as a better prospect than Marcus Smart.  But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor...

Luckily neither matters... as I still personally feel Smart is a better prospect than Randle barely.  And I'd take Okafor over both of them.   

Kind of scummy for you to take my quote out of context.   How a player is "seen" by the masses and how I see the player are two very different things.   My opinion matters more.

I mean, this is rather ironic, because you've taken my quotes out of context plenty of times before.

I don't recall ever pulling a quote of yours from a different thread.  I seriously doubt I've ever done that.  Aside from a couple rare instances, I can't keep track of what one person says from thread to thread... so it's highly, highly doubful I've ever seen something you've written and tried to disprove it by using a quote of yours from an unrelated thread.

[celticsclay]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Not according to your friends over at ESPN:

But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor

How a player is "seen" isn't always reality.  That was the entire point of that post.  Yes, Julius Randle is seen as a better player than Smart, but I still have Smart over Randle.  Yes, Smart and Randle are seen as better than Okafor, but I still have Okafor over both of them.  I literally said that:

It absolutely confirms that Julius Randle is now seen as a better prospect than Marcus Smart.  But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor...

Luckily neither matters... as I still personally feel Smart is a better prospect than Randle barely.  And I'd take Okafor over both of them.   

Kind of scummy for you to take my quote out of context.   How a player is "seen" by the masses and how I see the player are two very different things.   My opinion matters more.

I mean, this is rather ironic, because you've taken my quotes out of context plenty of times before.

Going down with the ship eh LB? What were his per 36 numbers when he fouled out in 20 minutes? Guess he would have got 11 fouls?

Here are some more goodies

Take Holmes for example. Horrible rebounder last year. He noticeably has changed his game up to improve his defensive rebounding and the stats show. In this short season he is up to 25% defensive rebounding rate, up from 11%, and his block rate has only dropped a tad (.2%). Okafor, on the other hand, has switched from playing starters to back ups, has dropped considerably in his obpm, rebounding percentage, free throw percentage, etc. I have no clue how his dbpm has increased cause it literally looks like he has no idea where to stand on defense. He has shown zero signs of improvement in any facet of his game, and his "generational" post moves has given a shooting percentage of 38.7% percent from 3-10 feet, down from 46.3%. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on the last set of stats cause of his injury, but acting like this is some echo chamber bs is preposterous. If someone that was picked 3rd overall hasn’t shown any improvement in any facet he’s gonna get crap.

"I’m only moving Noel if I get a great offer… I was hoping that moving forward with Okafor as the backup center would be OK, i’m starting to lose faith in that. I know it’s early, but the "rust" theory is bullEdited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline., it’s been several weeks since he’s been playing and practicing, and he’s regressing on offense and defense"

"Some of Okafor’s proponents have held up his DBPM as a measure of improvement on that end, but I ask of them, what of his OBPM, which is -4.1 (down from 2.6 last season)? If Okafor isn’t going to be efficient or good offensively, he essentially provides incredibly minimal value to a basketball team.

I know his best case scenario is he basically is an elite offensive player who can provide adequate defense in stretches, but he’s so far away from both of those that it’s hard to see through the tunnel."

"Like it or not, the team is committed to Okafor and is going to let Noel walk or trade him. That’s just the reality of the situation.
Oak is on a rookie contract and even if he is just a bench guy, he can still contribute. It doesn’t matter if he was the 3rd pick or the 30th pick. he’s on the team and not leaving. "

" Surely Okafor is supposed to be a building block and he’s been really anything but since he’s been here. If he showed something, like any signs of life, I’d be willing to hold onto him. It seems weird to hold those players to the standard we should expect from a 3rd pick, especially from a decent draft class."

"It’s hilarious how quickly Okafor went from franchise player, to pretty good starter, to starter, to power 6th man/Kanter type, to "let’s get back anything we can for him"."

[LarBrd33]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Not according to your friends over at ESPN:

But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor

How a player is "seen" isn't always reality.  That was the entire point of that post.  Yes, Julius Randle is seen as a better player than Smart, but I still have Smart over Randle.  Yes, Smart and Randle are seen as better than Okafor, but I still have Okafor over both of them.  I literally said that:

It absolutely confirms that Julius Randle is now seen as a better prospect than Marcus Smart.  But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor...

Luckily neither matters... as I still personally feel Smart is a better prospect than Randle barely.  And I'd take Okafor over both of them.   

Kind of scummy for you to take my quote out of context.   How a player is "seen" by the masses and how I see the player are two very different things.   My opinion matters more.

I mean, this is rather ironic, because you've taken my quotes out of context plenty of times before.

Going down with the ship eh LB? What were his per 36 numbers when he fouled out in 20 minutes? Guess he would have got 11 fouls?

Here are some more goodies

Take Holmes for example. Horrible rebounder last year. He noticeably has changed his game up to improve his defensive rebounding and the stats show. In this short season he is up to 25% defensive rebounding rate, up from 11%, and his block rate has only dropped a tad (.2%). Okafor, on the other hand, has switched from playing starters to back ups, has dropped considerably in his obpm, rebounding percentage, free throw percentage, etc. I have no clue how his dbpm has increased cause it literally looks like he has no idea where to stand on defense. He has shown zero signs of improvement in any facet of his game, and his "generational" post moves has given a shooting percentage of 38.7% percent from 3-10 feet, down from 46.3%. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on the last set of stats cause of his injury, but acting like this is some echo chamber bs is preposterous. If someone that was picked 3rd overall hasn’t shown any improvement in any facet he’s gonna get crap.

"I’m only moving Noel if I get a great offer… I was hoping that moving forward with Okafor as the backup center would be OK, i’m starting to lose faith in that. I know it’s early, but the "rust" theory is bull****, it’s been several weeks since he’s been playing and practicing, and he’s regressing on offense and defense"

"Some of Okafor’s proponents have held up his DBPM as a measure of improvement on that end, but I ask of them, what of his OBPM, which is -4.1 (down from 2.6 last season)? If Okafor isn’t going to be efficient or good offensively, he essentially provides incredibly minimal value to a basketball team.

I know his best case scenario is he basically is an elite offensive player who can provide adequate defense in stretches, but he’s so far away from both of those that it’s hard to see through the tunnel."

"Like it or not, the team is committed to Okafor and is going to let Noel walk or trade him. That’s just the reality of the situation.
Oak is on a rookie contract and even if he is just a bench guy, he can still contribute. It doesn’t matter if he was the 3rd pick or the 30th pick. he’s on the team and not leaving. "

" Surely Okafor is supposed to be a building block and he’s been really anything but since he’s been here. If he showed something, like any signs of life, I’d be willing to hold onto him. It seems weird to hold those players to the standard we should expect from a 3rd pick, especially from a decent draft class."

"It’s hilarious how quickly Okafor went from franchise player, to pretty good starter, to starter, to power 6th man/Kanter type, to "let’s get back anything we can for him"."

Well it's a real shame those random sixers fans aren't running the team, because we could probably acquire Okafor for far cheaper than he's worth.

[GratefulCs]

Okafor for jerebko plus fillers sounds fair


I mean, it sounds like Okafor is useless

I suppose we might as well give him a chance to stay in the league

[celticsclay]

Okafor having a nice stretch of games recently. 19 pts on 73% shooting against Washington and 18 on 54% against the Hawks. He went up against two top centers in those games as well. I watched a bit of the Hawks game and whilst he was quite slow footed he showed good defensive positioning and had a nice block as well. I'd say he's about where KO was in his 2nd season but with more strength. You could definitely make him a good team defender and one on one he has the strength. He positions himself well to deny drives by the opposition guards.

He and Embiid seem to be rotating games. When Okafor starts he does well, off the bench he seems to have bad games.

Offensively he has some beautiful moves. He'd be the kind of go to guy in the post we would want in the coming years

Edit: in those two games his stats were 22mins, 18.5ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 62.5% efg, 110.5 Offrtg, 102.9 Defrtg, 33.8% usg and 15.4% ast%
I know it's only 2 games but it's nice to see

are you skipping the last game where was like 2-10 got blocked repeatedly and was benched for Holmes? I really encourage people to read liberty ballers. The majority of fans strongly prefer Noel which should tell you something 🤔

Was that the one against Houston? I didn't include it in the stats as I was just doing the last two games he started. In the Houston game he came off the bench. Not an excuse for bad play necessarily though. I did caveat above saying he plays well when starting but poorly off the bench.

I think part of that is the style he plays. He's a go to kind of player rather than a role player. When he comes off the bench they don't use him as that, instead they use him as a screener, I think he tends to get lost on the court. When he starts it is generally because Embiid isn't playing and that means he can be the go to guy on the team.

I heard the 76ers announcers saying the team is looking to try playing them both together which would be interesting, not sure I see the benefits of that myself.

this is kind of the issue. He is only really effective if he can serve as the focal point of an offense. However he has so many flaws that you will be a bad team if he is the focal point of your offense.

Certainly that is something he needs to adapt. He isn't always going to be getting the ball. Further, in our offense it's all about finding the best option on each play. Having said that I believe that is something that can be learnt with relative ease if you have trust in your teammates, and if he came to the Celtics I believe he'd have that trust.

What he can provide this team is a serious inside scorer who would demand double teams consistently in games. This would open the game up for our guards as well. Now it's obviously a trade off, we lose some of our dynamic run and gun style but that is a compromise on both sides, Okafor would need to accept that we play at a higher pace and adjust his contributions to that. But I don't think it can be argued that an interior presence would be great for our playoff hopes when things slow down into the half court.

People also have concerns on his attitude which I completely understand. I think that coming onto a veteran team that can help give him the experiences he wants (winning, playoffs, competition) would make him more humble in his work and encourage him to get the best from himself.

Here are some actual quote from Philly fans about OKafor from their game thread against Houston. Please note this is not me cherry picking this is the general vibe and didn't really see a single positive statement about him.

You're not proving anything by quoting 76ers fans on Okafor.  It's a frustrated fanbase filled with a bunch of people who can't agree with each other on any of their prospects.  Some love Noel.  Some love Okafor.  Some hate Noel. Some hate Okafor.  They all love Embiid and that's about it.   And they all cherish Sam Hinkie for bringing them the gift of one of the brightest futures any team in the league has.  Beyond that, it's a contentious group that can't decide how they want to build around their superstar prospects.  You'll find just as many people on Celtic forums dumping on Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown... two players Jahlil Okafor remains a better prospect than.  Just yesterday we had fans claiming Jaylen Brown's defense was garbage and that Marcus Smart was still a bricklaying chucker.  It is what it is.  For the time being, Okafor is a superior prospect to any young prospect on the Celtics... warts and all.

Not according to your friends over at ESPN:

But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor

How a player is "seen" isn't always reality.  That was the entire point of that post.  Yes, Julius Randle is seen as a better player than Smart, but I still have Smart over Randle.  Yes, Smart and Randle are seen as better than Okafor, but I still have Okafor over both of them.  I literally said that:

It absolutely confirms that Julius Randle is now seen as a better prospect than Marcus Smart.  But it also confirms that Marcus Smart is seen as a better prospect than Noel or Okafor...

Luckily neither matters... as I still personally feel Smart is a better prospect than Randle barely.  And I'd take Okafor over both of them.   

Kind of scummy for you to take my quote out of context.   How a player is "seen" by the masses and how I see the player are two very different things.   My opinion matters more.

I mean, this is rather ironic, because you've taken my quotes out of context plenty of times before.

Going down with the ship eh LB? What were his per 36 numbers when he fouled out in 20 minutes? Guess he would have got 11 fouls?

Here are some more goodies

Take Holmes for example. Horrible rebounder last year. He noticeably has changed his game up to improve his defensive rebounding and the stats show. In this short season he is up to 25% defensive rebounding rate, up from 11%, and his block rate has only dropped a tad (.2%). Okafor, on the other hand, has switched from playing starters to back ups, has dropped considerably in his obpm, rebounding percentage, free throw percentage, etc. I have no clue how his dbpm has increased cause it literally looks like he has no idea where to stand on defense. He has shown zero signs of improvement in any facet of his game, and his "generational" post moves has given a shooting percentage of 38.7% percent from 3-10 feet, down from 46.3%. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on the last set of stats cause of his injury, but acting like this is some echo chamber bs is preposterous. If someone that was picked 3rd overall hasn’t shown any improvement in any facet he’s gonna get crap.

"I’m only moving Noel if I get a great offer… I was hoping that moving forward with Okafor as the backup center would be OK, i’m starting to lose faith in that. I know it’s early, but the "rust" theory is bull****, it’s been several weeks since he’s been playing and practicing, and he’s regressing on offense and defense"

"Some of Okafor’s proponents have held up his DBPM as a measure of improvement on that end, but I ask of them, what of his OBPM, which is -4.1 (down from 2.6 last season)? If Okafor isn’t going to be efficient or good offensively, he essentially provides incredibly minimal value to a basketball team.

I know his best case scenario is he basically is an elite offensive player who can provide adequate defense in stretches, but he’s so far away from both of those that it’s hard to see through the tunnel."

"Like it or not, the team is committed to Okafor and is going to let Noel walk or trade him. That’s just the reality of the situation.
Oak is on a rookie contract and even if he is just a bench guy, he can still contribute. It doesn’t matter if he was the 3rd pick or the 30th pick. he’s on the team and not leaving. "

" Surely Okafor is supposed to be a building block and he’s been really anything but since he’s been here. If he showed something, like any signs of life, I’d be willing to hold onto him. It seems weird to hold those players to the standard we should expect from a 3rd pick, especially from a decent draft class."

"It’s hilarious how quickly Okafor went from franchise player, to pretty good starter, to starter, to power 6th man/Kanter type, to "let’s get back anything we can for him"."

Well it's a real shame those random sixers fans aren't running the team, because we could probably acquire Okafor for far cheaper than he's worth.

You are ignoring the larger post that you really can't find 76ers fans that think Okafor is some big future star, at least not ones that post on that site (and they seem pretty knowledgable and regularly are basing their arguments on advanced stats). We have many people here that actually still think Smart will be a star or that Brown will grow into one. We haven't had a guy the fanbase gave up on like that in his second year anytime I can remember (aside from late round guys like Young and Melo). Are you actually watching the games or just looking at box scores? All the things these guys mentions is stuff that wont really show up in a box score (aside from +-).