Who's it going to be, Towns or Okafor at #1?

[ABQCOWBOY]

Lots of split opinion on this one. Who do you guys think goes #1 overall in the upcoming NBA draft?

 

[jterrell]

i don't think there is much doubt.
towns.

80+% Ft shooting big man who can defend and score with back to the basket.

 

[Tabascocat]

Towns.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

KAT if they're smart.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

Can this just be merged with the offseason NBA moves thread?
Sorry ABQCOWBOY, no offense...

​

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

i don't think there is much doubt.
towns.

80+% Ft shooting big man who can defend and score with back to the basket.

And pass, and shoot, if you watch his HS, and DR national team progress.


But Flip, is Flip.... so....To Be Continued....

 

[DOUBLE WING]

It will be Towns, but I don't think it's as cut and dry as some are making it seem. Okafor is the most skilled offensive big man since Tim Duncan.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

It will be Towns, but I don't think it's as cut and dry as some are making it seem. Okafor is the most skilled offensive big man since Tim Duncan.

You mean most skilled from the low block? Because he can't shoot outside of 15 ft, Towns can. He can't face you and put the ball on the floor, Towns can... And even though he can pass out of the post... Towns can pass all over the floor.

That being said.. Flip likes Okafur.

 

[DOUBLE WING]

You mean most skilled from the low block? Because he can't shoot outside of 15 ft, Towns can. He can't face you and put the ball on the floor, Towns can... And even though he can pass out of the post... Towns can pass all over the floor.

That being said.. Flip likes Okafur.

Yeah, most skilled in the post is what I meant to say.

 

[jterrell]

It will be Towns, but I don't think it's as cut and dry as some are making it seem. Okafor is the most skilled offensive big man since Tim Duncan.

Okafor is a great prospect but he has to add range and he is unlikely to ever be very athletic. He can clear a phonebook but probably not two.
He also has to learn to move laterally on defense.

Towns really has no holes in his game. He is an excellent defender with soft shooting touch and a good post up game.
He isn't as good as Okafor in iso's but you can let Towns switch a pick and roll and he'll allow a PG defender to recover.
Okafor was murdered on that in college.

Because Okafor had the offense run through him and was easily Duke's best player he is getting a lot of love but KAT is a freak who happened to be part of the deepest collegiate team in NBA history.
He was still easily the best player on the team but the team concept won out.
It was not unlike Jordan at UNC under Dean Smith.

Teams will love both these guys for good reason but KAT is the prototype big man.
He is Pat Ewing.

People comparing Okafor to Duncan are just wrong. Tim came out averaging 20 points and 15 rebounds, almost 4 blocks and 3+ assists per game.
Okafor is ~1.5 blocks, 1.3 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 17 points per game.

Okafor took 420 shots last year, Duncan took 385 as a senior.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

Okafor is a great prospect but he has to add range and he is unlikely to ever be very athletic. He can clear a phonebook but probably not two.
He also has to learn to move laterally on defense.

Towns really has no holes in his game. He is an excellent defender with soft shooting touch and a good post up game.
He isn't as good as Okafor in iso's but you can let Towns switch a pick and roll and he'll allow a PG defender to recover.
Okafor was murdered on that in college.

Because Okafor had the offense run through him and was easily Duke's best player he is getting a lot of love but KAT is a freak who happened to be part of the deepest collegiate team in NBA history.
He was still easily the best player on the team but the team concept won out.
It was not unlike Jordan at UNC under Dean Smith.

Teams will love both these guys for good reason but KAT is the prototype big man.
He is Pat Ewing.

People comparing Okafor to Duncan are just wrong. Tim came out averaging 20 points and 15 rebounds, almost 4 blocks and 3+ assists per game.
Okafor is ~1.5 blocks, 1.3 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 17 points per game.

Okafor took 420 shots last year, Duncan took 385 as a senior.

yes.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

Just putting this here for fun.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Towns does have a hole in his game. He does not play aggressive Offense against bigger, more physical players. It's something that he will have to work on. He's still young (both of these guys are) so they will get stronger but as of now, that is something Towns will have to improve on.

 

[jterrell]

Towns does have a hole in his game. He does not play aggressive Offense against bigger, more physical players. It's something that he will have to work on. He's still young (both of these guys are) so they will get stronger but as of now, that is something Towns will have to improve on.

What games do you have as examples of that?

Okafor and KAT never matched up directly. Can't think of other big center types who pushed KAT around.
KAT was often just not a big part of the offense because they shared the ball so much at Kentucky but I didn't see him ever struggle when receiving the pass.
Kentucky plays a dribble drive/motion type offense.
Duke played counter and attack which means getting in a lot of ISOs where Okafor was asked to win 1 on 1 match ups and he definitely did.

KAT had 25 in the semis and 31(of their 64) in the finals for Kentucky. The better the opponent the more he showed out as the true best player for Kentucky.

Kentucky lost 1 game all year and had average wins in the 18-19 point range per game. KAT often played less than 20 minutes in games because of score.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

What games do you have as examples of that?

Okafor and KAT never matched up directly. Can't think of other big center types who pushed KAT around.
KAT was often just not a big part of the offense because they shared the ball so much at Kentucky but I didn't see him ever struggle when receiving the pass.
Kentucky plays a dribble drive/motion type offense.
Duke played counter and attack which means getting in a lot of ISOs where Okafor was asked to win 1 on 1 match ups and he definitely did.

KAT had 25 in the semis and 31(of their 64) in the finals for Kentucky. The better the opponent the more he showed out as the true best player for Kentucky.

Kentucky lost 1 game all year and had average wins in the 18-19 point range per game. KAT often played less than 20 minutes in games because of score.

Texas, UNC, that I saw. Saw it some against Wisconsin as well. He goes to a fadaway at times, rather then going strong and creating the foul.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

In the modern NBA, you have to like what you see from Towns. He has the mobility to play the transition game and to defend the perimeter. Those are two huge things. I actually see Towns as more of a Power Forward. Okafor is a Center. He has some limitations and when I watch him, the two things that bother me are his FT shooting and his lack of effort on the defensive perimeter. He doesn't hustle to get out and defend. I honestly don't know if it's lack of mobility to be honest. To me, when I watch him, he just doesn't look like he's giving the kind of effort you would like to see to get out and defend like he should. That's actually surprising to me because that's not what you normally see from a Duke team.

I like both players but I don't feel like either is a can't miss prospect. JMO

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

Okafur is Brooke Lopez (in type). He can only play center because his movement is restricted (he's 270 @ 19).... Towns is modern NBA big, where positions are undefined, he can play center because he can defend the basket, defend the pick and roll, and close out on shooters (which he did on Jerian Grant well late in the elite 8 game)

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Here is a link of a couple of clips from KAT's workout in L.A. His shooting kills from the three are impressive but his ball handling skills for a man his size is remarkable.

http://www.lakersnation.com/video-k...uley-stein-workout-in-los-angeles/2015/06/01/

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

Here is a link of a couple of clips from KAT's workout in L.A. His shooting kills from the three are impressive but his ball handling skills for a man his size is remarkable.

http://www.lakersnation.com/video-k...uley-stein-workout-in-los-angeles/2015/06/01/

watched this on a few other sites.... WCS was impressive with his ability to knock down the baseline jumper, and handles for a 7fter as well..
And Russell was just, Russell. I'm praying he falls to three to the sixers.

 

[Risen Star]

All that matters is who's going #3 to participate in the future Sixers dynasty.