Emeka Okafor thread

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by F-Dog
I thought the height difference was closer to 5 in.

6'8.5" vs. 7'1" and still growing, right?

Podkolzine doesn't seem like a typical Suns pick to me--guys the Suns target seem to really know how to play 5-on-5. The Suns just had a 'workout warrior' in Trybanski, and they didn't show much enthusiasm for developing him.

If the Suns pick Podkolzine, I'll trust their judgment over my own. In the meantime, I promise you that he'll be a B-U-S-T.

Let's see - a tall, strong Russian that is very raw. Sounds like Big Jake.

Been there, done that.

 

[elindholm]

I wouldn't call Brand a force. Offensively he isn't that good anyway

Heh, okay, sure. His scoring average is higher than anyone on the Suns, but I guess that isn't good enough to count as a "force."

 

[slinslin]

Marbury's was higher and post-Marbury, Amare's will be higher also, possibly Marion's also.

 

[elindholm]

Marbury's was higher and post-Marbury, Amare's will be higher also, possibly Marion's also.

You really think Stoudemire will score 20 points a game from here on out? If that happens, I'll be extremely impressed.

 

[slinslin]

Haven't you noticed the last games?

The 3 games he has started since coming back he is averaging 24ppg in 33mpg.

Could have easily been much more against Golden State.

 

[elindholm]

Haven't you noticed the last games?

No, I haven't. Did the Suns play?

The 3 games he has started since coming back he is averaging 24ppg in 33mpg.

Thank you for the report. I don't consider three games enough to declare a trend, especially since his statistics in one of those games were inflated by an entire half of garbage time.

 

[hcsilla]

slin, no offense, but you are one of the biggest homers who I have ever seen.

 

[Goldfield]

Originally posted by hcsilla
slin, no offense, but you are one of the biggest homers who I have ever seen.

Dont forget about me!

 

[slinslin]

Yeah what has Brand ever done?

Last night is the best example. 33pts 20 boards and his team loses against a Shaq, Malone and Kobe-less Lakers.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
Let's see - a tall, strong Russian that is very raw. Sounds like Big Jake.

Been there, done that.

That's exactly the type of thing you can't do when evaluating players.

On that basis, the next 6-10 high school phenom will turn out to be a ROY.

Fans can afford to think like this, NBA scouts should be fired if they do.

 

[elindholm]

Last night is the best example. 33pts 20 boards and his team loses against a Shaq, Malone and Kobe-less Lakers.

So he was supposed to single-handedly hold the Lakers to less than 33 points? I don't understand this criticism. After Brand and Maggette (who you seem irrationally high on), there isn't a lot of talent on the Clippers. Half of the teams in the NBA are bad, so if you're going to say that there aren't any great players on bad teams, you're eliminating a lot of possible candidates.

 

[slinslin]

Not much talent around Brand?

He had Andre Miller, Lamar Odom, Corey Magette, Quentin Richardson, Michael Olowokandi, Marko Jaric, Chris Wilcox, Chris Kaman, Darius Miles; Melvn Ely, Erik Piatkowski and more around him in the past.

It is funny how the Clippers are no better now with Brand than they were without him.

Brand could have at least hold Slava Medvedenko to less than 20/10.

I don't know why but Brand has NEVER ever in his career made an impact on his team's winning percentage.

 

[SunsTzu]

Personally I feel Brand is much like Marion in the fact he can fill the stat sheet every night, but needs another "star" player to be truly effective.

Also I wouldn't blame Brand for last years failure that team was clearly in disarray and had nothing to do with Brand

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
Let's see - a tall, strong Russian that is very raw. Sounds like Big Jake.

Been there, done that.

Originally posted by JCSunsfan
That's exactly the type of thing you can't do when evaluating players.

On that basis, the next 6-10 high school phenom will turn out to be a ROY.

Fans can afford to think like this, NBA scouts should be fired if they do.

Of course I am kidding, although only partly. The gamble on Big Jake was on a late draft pick while Pavel would be an early to mid lottery pick. I'm not sure the Suns can afford to gamble with a lottery pick. BTW, I did not consider Stoudemire a gamble when they took him, although I thought he would last about four more slots.

 

[sunsfn]

I do not think the suns will draft Podkolzine because of the many question marks he has in his game and health.

In regards to Brand, he is an excellent player.........!
He gets 20 - 10 almost every game from the forward position.

The players on the Bulls and Clippers have not been very good in the past and now a couple of them are playing better, but none of them are 20 - 10 players for most of their career.
Brand helps his teams win, it is the other players on his teams that are not good enough to help the team win.

The clippers are improving and are starting to win these days, but without Brand they would not.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by SunsTzu
Personally I feel Brand is much like Marion in the fact he can fill the stat sheet every night, but needs another "star" player to be truly effective.

Is it reasonable to expect a player to win it all without another star plar player? Perhaps a collection of second tier guys (Duncan and the Spurs or Olajuwon and the Rockets) with at least all star capabilities is enough. But even a healthy Shaq alone could not save Orlando without help.

The chemistry with the Clippers will always be bad as long as as the owner is Sterling (the Bidwill of the NBA). Their two best players wanted to play elsewhere and eveyone else is auditioning for free agency.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
Originally posted by George O'Brien
Let's see - a tall, strong Russian that is very raw. Sounds like Big Jake.

Been there, done that.



Of course I am kidding, although only partly.

I had a hunch, but I figured I'd comment on it anyway, since this way of evaluating seems to be common.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by JCSunsfan
I had a hunch, but I figured I'd comment on it anyway, since this way of evaluating seems to be common.

Let's face it, if Pavel turns out to be Russian for Yao, I would be thrilled to have him. However, I had far fewer doubts that Yao would be effective.

I have a lot of confidence in the Colangelos when it comes to drafting, which is why I am reluctant to use picks just to clear cap space. They went against popular consensus on Marion, Stoudemire, and Carbakapa and looke like they struck gold every time. The deal they made for Barbosa is looking like the steal of the NBA draft.

My only concern is that the Suns have never had a lot of luck in evaluating centers.