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Okafor After Four

But... he sat out my legendary preseason!

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But... he sat out my legendary preseason!

As I alluded to in the last post, four games is a tiny sampling of the NBA season. But we have to be thrilled with Okafor thus far.

A quick glance at his statistics indicates he's been playing at a high level. Duh. More interestingly, he hasn't done anything totally exceptional or unsustainable in four games.

For example, he's shot well from the floor. 54.5% from the field is pretty good, but it's less than his career high of 56.1% last year. It's also right on line with 53.5% the year before and 53.2% the year before that. Basically, 54.5% is where Emeka should be around for the year.

He's converting on 83% of free throw attempts... about 23% higher than his career rate. So that won't stand up. However, his true shooting has remained similar to last year's since he's going to the line less. So the unsustainable free throw percentage is basically a wash, not affecting his overall performance.

His offensive rebound rate- 11.2%- is .7% below his career. His defensive rebound rate is 29%, 4% higher than his career rate. But with David West's pathetic attempt at "rebounding," Okafor figures to have plenty of defensive rebounding chances.

Basically, the jump in Okafor's overall numbers (PER, etc.) may or may not be sustained through the season. It's four games. But breaking down his performance into component pieces suggests that there's nothing flukey about Okafor so far. Knock on wood that he stays healthy. But he's only going to get better with Chris Paul- I feel he's been mostly doing his own thing offensively... as he starts to play off Paul, he should only improve.

Emeka Okafor has been excellent, and we have no indications that that's going to change.

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Comments

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Any thoughts on his defense?

Hasn’t showed a natural defensive IQ to make up for the lack of playing time with his new team. Seems he’s been a liability on the defensive end for several games.

by PhilippeinBoston on Nov 4, 2009 9:14 AM CST reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, I purposely left out any defensive metrics. Way too small a sample for D, and I can’t really tell if he’s great or not just with my eyes. We should have a better picture in a couple weeks as he adjusts to West.

by atthehive on Nov 4, 2009 11:04 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Wrong

I don’t even understand that comment, but Okafor’s defense has been the lone bright spot because since 2007-2008 DX forgot how to defend & hit the glass, and it’s not like Julian Wright takes the pressure off Emeka to head off driving opponents in the lane. Okafor’s been awesome, and don’t get me wrong I’m not trying to be a jerk PhillipeinBoston, but your comment seems uninformed and phrased dyslexically.

by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Nov 4, 2009 9:30 AM CST reply actions   0 recs

i entered 2 disclaimers

there was not even an argument presented, the pc’ness is not lacking for want of effort, it’s desirable to promote spirited debate and if the other side presented a non-quantitative ‘intangibles’ kind of argument, present a better way to trigger a meaningful exchange.

by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Nov 4, 2009 2:20 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

Totally understand where you're coming from

Just thought the “phrased dyslexically” was a bit over the top.

by atthehive on Nov 4, 2009 2:44 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

ah

i can see how that could be perceived as inflammatory, and for any of that potential connotation which was absolutely not imbued by this author i retract that portion & retain the rest. I have absolutely no clue what “Hasn’t showed a natural defensive IQ to make up for the lack of playing time with his new team. Seems he’s been a liability on the defensive end for several games” means as an independent argument, or how, in the alternative, it at all addresses your post.

by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Nov 4, 2009 6:51 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

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