+1

Steroid Boy,

re: J-Smoove/Dirk pic

Do you have the pic of the next frame where the ball is going in the basket?

Capone - Picks have been PM'd. I seriously doubt more than one of those guys gets taken, but if so, I'd probably be entertaining trades.

you are welcome to PM me as well, im always around and don't even have a pick this round.

I guess. I'm also the only person who brought it up, so since it looks like whoever got him would have received this advantage I don't see the problem. No one has a legitimate argue as to why they should have him instead of me.

Assani was doing what he thought was right, not trying to give anyone an advantage or anything like that. Me and him have argued throughout this thing as much as any people over various things.

Z wasn't in the league for pretty much two years, it isn't a huge stretch to say that you get him when he comes back from a multi year injury. I also pretty much lose an entire season with him, so I don't see how this is a crazy stretch of the rules by Assani. If anything it seems like a late clarification. He made a couple posts throughout the thread that he felt the 24 rule shouldn 't be as strictly interpreted as it was being.

It would have been a lot easier for him to just not do anything, but I think he was cool about it. I didn't ask to change my pick, or tell him how to rule on it. Once I was given the opportunity to, I waited to see what other posters thought and no one but Victor had a problem with it (and I think his issue is with the eligibility of Z, which is understandable).

shoulda used this pic

Done.

Love the Okafor pick and was looking at him for my next pick. He's sort of injury prone, but he's a double double guy who blocks a good amount of shots.

I like the Okafor pick a lot also.

um that how anything on that wikki page describes how petrovic is a lot more likley to get into a car crash than any other NBA player.

I don't watch Okafor play (don't watch Bobcat games ldo) but I have heard a few times that his defense isn't nearly as good as it was in college and that his D in the NBA is overrated. Anyone who has seen him play a decent amount in the NBA that can shed some light on this?

I like the Emeka pick. 82 games this year is a good sign for the future. Only other downside is the FT%, which has a downward trend from bad to horrible. Yuck.

I thought for a minute that LBJ was going to get paired with Z when you picked in the 3rd. It would be the Cavs with much better role players.

D

this is correct.

I'm a little meh on Okafor. He's a + player but he's not really great at anything. Most importantly, he's actually kind of bad on defense despite coming into the league expected to be a force.

ok glad to hear someone else heard/thinks this because I have heard this before also (hence what I said like 3 posts above), just wanted someone to confirm.

his D is overrated, but I also might underrate him because his blocks and Drebounding are at elite levels, and those are positives on the defensive end.

Okafor's bad at defense like Rashard Lewis is bad on offense...basically he's just not the best in the league at it.
If that's your definition of bad I agree. If you mean kind of bad, like average or worse, you're wrong.
The knock on Okafor(besides injury ldo) is that people expected him to be an incredible force on the defensive end (On a Duncan/Olajuwon/Mutombo level). In reality he has great defensive instincts but he's not bi and athletic enough to be dominant in the nba like he was in college. Still he remains a very solid defensive player.

kc,

what makes you think he's 'actually kind of bad'?

Can't speak for kc but I heard Okafor's 1v1 man defense is pretty bad. His help d is good though.

For this spot in the draft I think Okafor is solid value. His rebounding and blocks are huge, and he isn't a black hole on offense.

Yo KC, where da round 3 recap at? I need my Easter egg fix.

D

james,

Here's some data from 82games.
Bobcats: http://www.82games.com/0708/0708CHA.HTM
Okafor on/off court: http://www.82games.com/0708/07CHA14D.HTM
Okafor by position: http://www.82games.com/0708/07CHA14C.HTM

Now, I'm not sold on Roland Rating (it's a more advanced +/- metric), but general trends are easy to follow, and being at even 0 is not very good for a guy with high hopes.

The on/off court data shows a couple interesting things. -1 on defense is OK. The team gives up a slightly better shooting % when he's on the floor.

The by position data is probably the best thing to look at. Okafor splits time as a PF and C, mainly used as a C on that squad. And that's where we see the real problems. Focusing on the C position, we see he's letting his opponent shoot 52% eFG% (FG% adjusted for 3s). That's pretty high. His opponent's PER is 20 at the C spot, which is very high. Whether it's technique or just not having the body for it, he's getting torched in the middle.

Of course, as a disclaimer, there could easily be a team factor to this. They're a bad defensive team. It's easier for the opposing center to score if your lane is constantly penetrated by guards. So I'll concede that.

His #s do fare a good deal better at the PF spot, and many have suspected he's not cut out for the center role in this league. Horace Grant is largely in the same role.. a natural PF who can fill the C role if you need him to, but he's better at the 4. So I'm not sold on both manning up an undersized line when some teams are sporting lines of KG/Lambs and Ewing/Nance.

Round 4 pick#123 Emeka Okafor



Emeka Okafor is a very solid defensive presence. He’s a very good rebounder and shotblocker, and his biggest strength is help defense, which is why he’ll form a great combo with Horace inside.
He is a decent scorer. Has some post moves and can finish around the rim. Averaged 14 points on 55%Ts. Since I have a tremendous offensive duo on the wings I don’t need my big to score a lot. They just have to be able to occasionally take advantages of mismatches and score off Lebron dimes. Okafor’s offense is good enough to do that.
I chose him mostly because he fits in my overall strategy. After my Petrovic pick, I needed to go for some defense. A shotblocking/ rebounding center was the best way to go, and this defensive frontcourt guarantee that my team defense will be solid (let’s not forget that James defense is pretty good and improving)
Injury and his apparent regression this year are a concern, but not as much as one might think. He did play 82 games this year and there’s little reason to think that his career will be seriously put in jeopardy. Worst case scenario, he gives me a couple of 65 games; 10/9/2 seasons at the center spot, which would not be horrible value at this point.

My team so Far:
Drazen petrovic
Lebron James
Horace Grant
Emeka Okafor

Shareef! I was wondering when he'd go. I half-considered him for my team.

Guys my pick is gonna take some time probably. Tough decisions. Might be reaching hard.

shareef is an enigma. always great numbers for a long time on absolute crap teams. also, i dont think ive ever seen him play.