October 21, 2015

What they’re saying: Okafor is legit, but can’t play with Noel

By Rich Hofmann
PhillyVoice Contributor

Truth be told, I’m a tad conflicted writing this post. That is because many outlets, but in particular Sports Illustrated, are fans of the format where anonymous scouts deliver scorching hot takes on NBA players and teams. In one sense, it’s great. These people really shoot from the hip, which makes for entertaining enough reading material.

And yet, it’s also bothersome that there is no accountability. It’s totally understandable why anonymity is required, but when reading some of these opinions, you kind of wish these scouts would just put their names on them. This is how you get a (since deleted) SI piece from a few years ago eviscerating the Memphis Grizzlies for trading Rudy Gay midseason. The Grizzlies ended up actually improving without Gay and reaching the conference finals.

SI recently released a post where scouts sized up all 30 teams. Somebody doesn’t believe the Sixers’ young frontcourt will succeed long-term, a reasonable enough opinion:

I don’t see, at all, the combination of Nerlens Noel at power forward and Jahlil Okafor at center. That’s probably how they’ll start. Okafor is legit. You can build your team around him. But Noel’s a center too. He’s not a power forward. How’s he going to go out and guard stretch fours? And then opponents don’t even have to guard him. Noel can’t shoot past 10 feet.

Also, stay woke:

Remember: They scored 92 points a game last season. You can’t win in this league scoring 92 points.

Other Sixers news, notes and analysis from around the web:

Sam Hinkie And The 76ers' Numbers Game: Jonathan Tjarks, Real GM

I’m a big fan of Tjarks’ writing, and his appraisal of the Sixers’ rebuild was spot-on:

The common denominator on Hinkie’s most well-received trades is him taking advantage of front offices operating on a much shorter timetable than the endless vista the 76ers owners provide. The New Orleans Pelicans were trying to build around Anthony Davis immediately. The Sacramento Kings were trying to end a rebuilding process that had stretched out for almost a decade and field a relevant team when they opened a new arena in 2016. Most NBA teams view picks in 2020 as so far in the future they might as well not exist. It’s not hard to win trades in terms of expected value when you are thinking long in a league where everyone else is thinking short.

The real trick is turning all those assets into good players and developing those players into a good team and that’s what we still need to see from Hinkie.

Exposing The Cauldron's Sixers Exposé: Kyle Neubeck, Liberty Ballers

Neubeck pointed out some of the problems with The Cauldron article, but hey, it’s not like the thing didn’t have any merit. Make all of the Shirley Temple jokes you want (and boy, I certainly have), but Embiid certainly sounds like he needs to take more personal responsibility as he rehabs a second time:

It's easy to put the onus on Hinkie or Brown here, as Harris reportedly did, but keeping an adult millionaire away from Las Vegas while the rest of his team is there is ludicrous. Harris cannot and should not have free reign over Embiid's offseason activities (or his off-the-court life generally), and there shouldn't be trust issues between an organization and one of their supposed foundational pieces. Embiid is a professional, and should be expected to act accordingly regardless of where he is, without supervision or babysitting.

Emmanuel Mudiay headlines list of 10 NBA rookies to watch: Marc J. Spears, Yahoo

More scouts! This one is more down on Okafor:

Scout's view: "He's super talented. He is a low-post scorer. But long-term his body kind of scares me. Will he be able to hold weight off?"

Sixers Mailbag #2: Okafor’s Struggles, Noel’s Jumper: Derek Bodner, Philly Mag

Bodner talks about the pesky post position problem Jahlil Okafor has encountered in his first NBA preseason:

With the exception of his first game against the Wizards, I don't think establishing "good enough" (but not great) post position has been the primary culprit. Okafor has never really been a "back his shoulder into you, back you down, and shoot a jump hook" kind of post-up player. He's always kind of posted up far from the basket, then used a combination of spin moves, drop-steps, and deceptively quick drives to get to the basket. I don't think he's going to struggle too greatly getting good position down the line, I think he'll mostly just have to adjust his mentality a little bit and rely less on his ability to start away from the hoop and make up ground.

The Annual NBA League Pass Rankings, Part 1: Zach Lowe, Grantland

Philly checks in at 26th in Lowe’s watchability rankings:

The Sixers aren’t bad to watch. They work their asses off on defense, fast break whenever possible, and play a junior varsity version of Morey Ball on offense — all 3s and rim attacks, only the Philly players aren’t good enough to actually make those shots. Fitting Noel’s herky-jerky drives and developing elbow jumper around Okafor’s post-ups will be a fun day-to-day challenge. Brett Brown always looks like he’s about to run onto the court and execute the damn play himself. And who knows, by the end of the year, Joel Embiid might dunk in a layup line again!

Sixers' injuries only compound their glaring point guard problem: Matt Moore, CBS Sports

“Sixers, point guard” is likely the weakest position in the entire NBA, and Moore digs into the subject a little bit:

The bigger issue is that the Sixers are actually missing Wroten and Marshall, despite neither being very good point guards or shooters. The entire Sixers' offense is largely designed for the point guard to be an important engine for it, and they straight up have not addressed that need in their ongoing pursuit of "the process."

Unrelated, but I didn’t know where to stick this hype video. Even if the team is terrible, these are always a good idea: