October 30, 2015
After his 26-point effort on Wednesday night in Boston, Jahlil Okafor had his performance compared to some of the greatest NBA debuts of all-time.
Unfortunately for the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, and David Robinson, they weren’t rookies during a time when technology allowed their fathers to talk smack for the whole world to see. What a time to be alive:
Let me know if any other rookie get doubled this year #hesgoingtobeaproblemNba
— Chukwudi (@DaddyofaPro) October 29, 2015
Chucky Okafor was right to point out the extra attention his son was receiving from opposing defenses. Boston head coach Brad Stevens sent the first double of the rookie’s career two minutes into the second quarter. Least surprised of all was Jahlil.
“He whispered to me during the game and said, ‘Coach, I’ve been double-teamed my whole life,’” Brett Brown said. “I said ‘I can see why’ a few times.”
Okafor is someone who has been the best in his age group since the time he was 12 or 13 years old. For those types of players, making the adjustment to the NBA can be especially difficult because you’re not the cream of the crop for the first time in your life. It very well might prove to be that way for Okafor, but not if opening night is an indication of anything.
“I thought that he handled [the double-teams] well,” Brown said. “You could see he was looking around to pass. I thought that sometimes he waited a bit too long with an extra dribble.”
The one major blemish on Okafor’s final line was eight turnovers. In my unofficial count of seven doubles thrown his way, I found two of those turnovers. Let’s take a look at the first one.
In these first couple of shots, you will see the initial post-up. Early on, Brown has liked starting his guards/wings low and having them set a diagonal screen on Okafor’s man so the big fella can establish decent position. Hollis Thompson does an acceptable job of that here.
As Brown noted at yesterday’s practice, the Celtics were mostly sending the other big man across the lane Okafor’s way. This time, it’s Jonas Jerebko doubling off Jerami Grant. See that white arrow that is pointing Grant toward the basket in the second shot? Yeah, he doesn’t do that.
I think Grant should have, though. In the third shot, Jerebko has arrived on the double. Isaiah Thomas has T.J. McConnell still on the strong side of the floor. Evan Turner has stuck with Hollis Thompson at the top of the arc. The key to making this double work is at the bottom of the screen, where (Boston accent) Mahhcuss Smahhtt can credibly guard both JaKarr Sampson and a stationary Grant on the weak side. If Grant follows Jerebko and dives to the rim (which he’s good at), Smart would be forced to a make a decision.
This way, Smart has the best of both worlds. Okafor ends up trying to do way too much and dribbles the ball out of bounds.
“Last night, it was big-big,” Brown said. “So what do you do to combat that? We just went through it today, post spacing was the number one thing with an offensive focus.”
I want to highlight one other play where Okafor doesn’t necessarily handle the double well but the result ends up just fine. The rookie runs the floor and gets pretty good post position against Amir Johnson in transition. Because not all of the Sixers are down the floor yet, this is an intelligent double by Jerebko right as Okafor catches.
One retreat dribble here would be fine, but Okafor will have to learn to hold his position better against a double or make a quicker decision. On this play, he far too easily retreats back to the sideline and puts himself in jail. Luckily, though, the sea somehow parts. Okafor steps through the double and whips a bullet cross-court pass to a wide-open Thompson for a corner 3. An impressive play from Okafor, even if the execution was way off.
The Sixers and Okafor were sloppy against the double in Boston, but as Brown notes, they’re missing key personnel that could thrive in that specific scenario. Shooters like Robert Covington and Nik Stauskas can make teams pay if the floor is spaced properly. Here are some more doubles that Okafor faced on Wednesday.
“With two big men, we better have space,” Brown said. “And it’s four spots plus skill package, shooters.”
If I were to bet, Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors won’t need any help one-on-one against Okafor tonight, which wouldn’t be an indictment of his skills. Utah’s frontcourt simply presents a much greater challenge than Boston’s. It should be fun.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
