Okafor--the latest Duke flop
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Attention: Bacot and Carey come to UNC, Roy develops and prioritizes bigs!!
You will get more touches, be the focal point of the offense, become a better defender and rebound like a beast after your time here!!
And you'll have a chance to win a NATTY!!
As much as I would love to call him a flop as a former Dukie, I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. He's a traditional post-up, back-to-the-basket center who entered a league where everyone (including centers) is shooting 3's. Coupled with that, he was drafted to a Sixers team that already had Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid on the roster. Noel eventually was traded to Dallas, while Embiid exploded once he got healthy. Clearly the front office and coaching staff view Embiid as the future of their team down low. Okafor needs to find another team to have any chance of success in the NBA. Even if that happens, the odds are still stacked against him with the way the center position is evolving in today's NBA.
So in other words he is a old school power center that was able to exploit an advantage in college that didn't translate to the NBA game? In even more other words, what he came to duke with pretty much all he left with, in even more more other other words, he was not developed at duke but more just passed along. Well now I see how that No Child left behind stuff really works! LOL
Hold on here, guys .... let's be respectful and spell their name right ... when l was at UNC we spelled it dook!
I agree, he would do well in Cleveland. None of their players, except for Lebron, play any defense either so he would fit right in.
It's as much about the team he's on and the players around him as it is his style of play. He wants out, and will most likely get his wish. If he fails elsewhere, which he probably will, he's definitely a flop considering all of the hype coming out of the draft.
NBA is mostly situation you IN, then talent. With that said, most teams don’t want him. Not a good rebounder and plays ZERO defense. Plus small ball is the IN style and he can’t really get up and down the court.
I don’t feel sorry for him either.
I don’t feel sorry for him either.
Winslow is another player who hasn't lived up to the hype so far in his NBA career.
Another guy who has quickly been passed by due to the evolution of the NBA game. He is essentially a less fat Eddy Curry.
C'mon now. Not cool to bang on Oden. That poor guy has had more bad luck with his health than any player I can think of. A friend of mine happened to run into him at an event a few months ago and struck up a conversation and said that Greg was pretty open about his physical and emotional travails. Appaently he gave it a last try overseas but decided he'd had enough. IIRC he went back to finish his degree and was a manager (of all things) on the basketball team. My friend also remarked that Greg looked genuinely sad when he talked about his basketball career.
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Oden could have put away some of his money. He got a 2-year contract with Miami a few years ago.
Brice was drafted later in the first round. The expectations are a lot higher for lottery picks, especially when a guy like Okafor is drafted in the top three. Johnson may develop in the future and definitely can bring value to a team with defense and rebounding. That's not Okafor's game.
Okafor is a flop pure and simple my bulls who are a mess and in desperate need of a back to the basket big wouldn't even make a trade for him from Philly and they were asking almost nothing for him... The bulls said and Philly says he doesn't have a good work ethic doesn't play hard on defense, and doesn't seem to want to get better. Add his off court issues and you have a man being quietly phased out of the league
Brice will fine when he leaves that circus run by Doc Rivers.
Brice is a more all around player.. Can shoot the mid range..rebound and plays defense and can get up and down the floor. Okafor is pretty one dimensional. The league is going to a "positionless" kind of game. Bigs need to be able to play on the perimeter etc. Okafor is pretty much done unless he adds to his game.
U gotta be able to shoot and defend on the perimeter these days in nba. Or u will be gone. Regardless of playing the one or the five. Playing in the lane with your back to the basket shootin hooks is a fast track to the d league or over seas. Ask hansbrough.
I have no idea if he's hurting financially --- shouldn't be after the asian deal --- but it has to hurt knowing your dream is over prematurely.
I wasn't equating the two, just pointing out some disappointing news with one of our young guys.
I believe the flop designation was applied when his team decided not to give him the option year AND could find not one taker on the trade market. It is distinctly possible that the blind eye puke coaches took to his attitude, penchant toward the kindness; and laziness just might have set him up for failure!
But what do I know about the inner workings of the rat kingdom?
But what do I know about the inner workings of the rat kingdom?
not because of his production.....more so because of the style of play they want to go with
You have a point there, but still off court issues say thisan won't be in the league much longer. Which would still make him a flop even with the scoring ability Beasley acafed what 11-12 points a game? The dude is considered a collosal flop how come okafor gets a pass?
Beasley was a beast in college and yeah has avg 13 ppg over a 9 year career....everybody isnt going to translate to league how they played in college...oak doesnt get a pass....he has only been in the league for 3 seasons only playing 1 game so far this season..104 total games in basically 2 years...year 1 with 30mpg he avg 18 and 7....year 2 minutes dropped and he went to 12 and 5.....philly just not a good fit for him how they want to play...his style of play, he needs a good fit...and needs to get his def and reb up...his game may need to be transformed
Oden couldn't stay healthy. No one can control that, so I don't think he should be considered a flop.
Hey, if you want to annoint Okafor a bigger flop than Oden you get no argument from me
Anthony Bennett? Hasheem Thabeet? Jan Vesely? Derrick Williams? Dante Exum? Alex Len? Thomas Robinson?
Although I don't think Okafor will do too much, there's been plenty of other total busts picked in the top 5 since Oden.
Okafor isn't exactly in an ideal situation, given that he barely gets any playing time. I've also heard it said that he has a bit of reputation for being sulky and lack of focus so that's clearly on him.
I still think it's still a bit early to call him a bust given that he's only 22. But those that have mentioned the change in style of big men pinpoint the reason why he hasn't done very well. If this was the 90s, a guy like him would probably doing better. However, given that he's pretty one dimensional, it hasn't translated well.
If he goes to another team that suits his playing style and he still doesn't play well, then you can probably call him a flop.
I still think it's still a bit early to call him a bust given that he's only 22. But those that have mentioned the change in style of big men pinpoint the reason why he hasn't done very well. If this was the 90s, a guy like him would probably doing better. However, given that he's pretty one dimensional, it hasn't translated well.
If he goes to another team that suits his playing style and he still doesn't play well, then you can probably call him a flop.
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