# The where is Okafor thread



## Kapitalistsvin

*The monitoring Okafor thread*

OK, I loved the pick of Okafor instead of D.Howard. It gave the club some legitimacy from day one, D.Howard might not have flourished in a small club like this, Okafir had some rutine to build on.

But last year he looked bad as he came back. He had´put on too much mussle he says, but all the fancy Hakeem stuff seemed to confuse in too.

I have not seen him yet this year, but I have been reading boxscores, and it doesn't look great. But that could all be a matter of getting back in the rythm.

What does people who have seen him think?

Where is he in his development, will he be back as the old solid rookie-Okafor? Has he added something to his shooting and lowpost game? Does he look as confused and insecure as last year?


To a succesful return of the anchor of the team :cheers:


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## Goubot

Not gonna lie, I haven't seen much of Okafor in the NBA, but a friend has told me that Okafor has faced a ton of double-teams yet the Bobcats have a tendency to keep forcing him to shoot. If that's true, his shooting percentages should rise this year with more offensive options around. I'm rooting for him and hope that he's injury free and productive this year. 

He did have a good game yesterday, but he's been iffy throughout the preseason.


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## nutmeged3

I think hes going to be fine he hasn't played in almost half a year and is rusty right now. I don't know if he gets back to rookie form but if he provides 10/10 and play strong defense then I'm happy, thats all we need from him Gerald, Felton, and Morrison can handle the scoring. 

Hes looked pretty horrible all preseason but, like Goubot said, last night he went 14/8 without Felton, Bezec, Brevin and Gerald playing and with Kevin Burleson as his point guard.

I'm more worried about Morrison because besides the first game his shot hasn't been falling


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## Kapitalistsvin

BoxScore suggests it was a good game tonight... only the FG% looks very bad. Anyone seen it... is it just very difficult hustle baskets, or was he forcing it? - forced to forcing it?


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## Diable

For the record we never had the oppurtunity to select Dwight Howard because the Magic had already taken him.Right now he looks like he'll be the best big man in the East this season and Okafor looks like a great big question mark.


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## step

> Right now he looks like he'll be the best big man in the East this season and Okafor looks like a great big question mark.


Being part of the olympic team has really worked wonders with the youngings, Howard's taken such a giant leap forward that it's quite shocking. I just wonder what Okafor could of looked like had he been able to participate, it really would make the downtime of last season almost irrelevant. Now he's forced to play catchup, which is a lost cause if he continues to miss those type of opportunities.


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## PFortyy

i like okafor...he is a very underated player


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## Kapitalistsvin

Bammm... Okafor sent a message tonight. I love what I find in the boxscore. What does you diehards say? Did you see the game and did he play as well as it seems?


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## Kapitalistsvin

Sure looks like the kid is back for real. Lets compare stats between D.Howard and W.Okafor for a minute:

28 pts, 18 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk, 56FG%

Howard:
8 pts, 10 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 0 blk, 60 FG%


Okafor might not have lost that battle just yet.


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## billfindlay10

IS that the line Okafor had in his last game? 28 and 28 is unheard of!


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## nutmeged3

He had 18 rebounds not 28


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## Kapitalistsvin

Arh.... damn... I got a little carried away. But watch out, 28 is next in line.


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## nutmeged3

lol, It's all good 28/18 is still an awesome game


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## billfindlay10

I am glad to see Okafor bounce back.....he seems like one of the good guys!


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## Kapitalistsvin

Well, Okafor more and more seems like one of the bad guys - the bad *** guys that is. Damn, he came so quickly from nowhere to the absolut top. If this keeps up his an allstar. Even in preseason he was still strugling... and here he is. Best in blocks, fifth in rebounds and with prettey good points and steals as well.


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## step

> EX-CONN MAN: Quick-name the player who is in the top 5 of the NBA in both blocks and rebounds. Three ... two ... one ... Bzzzzz. Time's up. Not Yao. Not Dwight. Nor any player on that powerful Jazz frontline. Try my "below the rim guy," Emeka Okafor. He is the lone bright spot in Charlotte, and looks like an All-Star. First in blocks, fifth in boards. -- David Thorpe


From ESPN Daily Dime I believe, damn straight!


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## nutmeged3

Another strong game last night....7 blocks!! And he had over 20 points for somethin like the 4th straight game


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## Kapitalistsvin

Okafor seems to play much stronger as a C. Couldn't the team pound the ball even more inside, let him try and go completely nuts...

How is his passing out of the post? Does he start to see double teams? Does he seem to develop some nice post moves?


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## Kapitalistsvin

Hmm... foul trouble I gues. Did you see it? Did Wade drive him down drawing all those fouls? Did he get in trouble when trying to go for the block?


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## Pain5155

okafor for MVP


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## JNice

Pain5155 said:


> okafor for MVP


Now let's not go crazy.


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## nutmeged3

I didn't see the game on Saturday night but so far the thing I've loved most about Okafor this season is his development of that 15-16 foot jumper and the Duncan bank shot. If he could just get his free throw shooting up he could be our first All-star.


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## Kapitalistsvin

The blocks are huge to me... it keeps an intimidation factor to Bobcats' D, even with Ammo in there. But sure, the added range and production on the offense i also pretty sweet.


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## nutmeged3

Oh, don't get me wrong I love that he's getting the blocks but hes always been known as a good defensive player. Even when we drafted him he was projected to be a good defensive player but his offensive game was in question. This season hes proved he can be the go to player scoring wise on top of getting 10+ rebounds and 4 blocks a game.

Just look back 6 months ago on this boards posts and you'll see all the doubters, myself included, glad to see him doing well. Just gotta get the rest of the team on board


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## Kapitalistsvin

nutmeged3 said:


> Oh, don't get me wrong I love that he's getting the blocks but hes always been known as a good defensive player. Even when we drafted him he was projected to be a good defensive player...


Yea, I know he should be good on D... by at least I didn't expect him to be one of the best shotblockers in the league (don't book the celebration just yet, AK is only just warming up). There's a big difference between the guy who can get the occasional block, and a beast who is allready in the head of the people driving to his basket.


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## Kapitalistsvin

He aint looking to good lately, but a bit shorthanded tonight, so this is the time for Mekka to retake the stage.


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## Kapitalistsvin

Okafors numbers are still less than superheroeaque... what happened? Did Brezec get in his way? Well, tonight it gave a victory so I can't be too bad. But it still puzzles me with Okafors numbers.


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## nutmeged3

Last night he didn't play bad, he had 18/8. The shooting touch wasn't there as much but he played well enough. He also had a key block in the closing minutes to help secure the victory.


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## Kapitalistsvin

Yea, youre right... that game wasn't too bad. Hope the three games before that were just a mini slump.


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## Kapitalistsvin

Looks to me like he's trying to be too cute. Don't fall in love with all these fadeaway hooks. Just slam the damn ball. Rebound, block, slam... that worked so wonderfully untill that Orlando game when everything just went in. Since then it sounds like Mekka is trying out his Hakeem imitation again.


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## nutmeged3

It seemed like after the 1st quarter that Okafor played very well in, Duncan adjusted his game and beat him.


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## Kapitalistsvin

Again tonight we see a Mekka in numbers that look bad. Why only 27 minutes?

He only had 3 PF and 1 TO, shot 6 of 10... looks like a guy that should be on the court to me!


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## Kapitalistsvin

Just watched the opening of last nights game... Okafor looking good. What happened, how did he dissapear from the boxscore like that?


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## nutmeged3

The thing i've been noticing recently is during the first quarter Okafor will play great D and do well on his man. After that he'll either end up in foul trouble quickly and sit or the opposing player will adjust to his defence and figure out how to beat him.

On top of that we havn't had a close game in about 4 games so Melvin Ely's been playing at the end and Okafor hasn't been getting as many minutes as he usually does.


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## Kapitalistsvin

Im looking forward to seeing the rematch between Howard and Mekka... I really really really hope that May will be buried on the bench, and that Mekka will step it up in the 25 pts, 15 reb, 6 blk way that we know he can!


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## Kapitalistsvin

Couldnt May and Brezec be packaged for Milsapp, Harpring and Brewer? May and Okafor just gets in each others way. I think Milsapp could be a tremendous hustle player for the Cats.

I think Okafor can be the teams primary low post scorer, no need to have May as a starter then, as he isn't much good on D.

A player with range and D would be perfect. Darko for one!


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