Jahlil Okafor turned back the clock with brilliance in the post during his one season at Duke. In today's fast-paced, guard-dominiated era of basketball, to see the NCAA champions run their offense through a big man who posted historic post efficiency figures in the college game was something special.
But as fun as Okafor's season at Duke was, will it work to the same effectiveness as it did in the NBA?
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Okafor is expected to go either first or second in this year's NBA Draft. Timberwolves President Flip Saunders, who has ownership of this year's first pick, has gone on record to say that while looking for a two-way player (which might lead him to Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns over Okafor) is important, it's hard to look past Okafor's offensive talents.
"Best footwork since Tim Duncan," he said in a KFAN radio interview on May 20.
It's not fair to compare Okafor to a top-three power forward ever, but Saunders knows how hard it is to find a player at any position with a skillset as polished as Okafor's. In the paint, he never drops an entry pass. He's agile for his size and runs the floor much better than most give him credit for. He's comfortable finishing on either side of the rim and doesn't need to start in the post to end up there. Even when catching a pass from the top of the key, he somehow manages to end up in the paint with an easy lay-in.
But his footwork, where most of his effectiveness comes from, seems to be the thing catching most people's eye.
"He has phenominal footwork," ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla told Sporting News. "One of my favorite things about him: While most players play from the outside in, Okafor plays from the inside out."
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But the question remains, good footwork or not, does playing with your back to the basket work in the NBA anymore?
"We've seen a change in the way the game is played, but I don't think they're intentionally leaving the post game behind. Fraschilla said, explaining the lack of big men in today's game. "You can count the number of really good post players on one, maybe two hands right now."
The Grizzlies have two (Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol), the Spurs have Duncan, the Hornets have Al Jefferson and the Kings have DeMarcus Cousins. But most of those guys have some game facing up. When looking at the numbers presented by Draft Express and SportVU, it becomes a bit more clear just how often Okafor plays with his back to the basket.
In short, over half his touches are in post up situations. Second place is Jefferson at 32 percent, and nobody else on this list even hits 20 percent. Even in a changing NBA, the league's best post-up centers are still playing with at least a bit of face-up game around the elbow.
But, in Okafor and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's defense, why try to fix what's clearly working? Okafor finished sixth in the nation in field goal percentage and shot nearly 100 times more than anyone in the top 5. His high IQ from the post allowed him to keep the ball inside as often as he did, and dominated in the process. It's also unclear how this metric accounts for plays like the gif posted above - where he'll start from the free throw line, but still back his way into a point-blank shot.
Another promising part of his game is his ability to pass out of double teams the post, though Fraschilla saw that fall off a bit.
"I think his effectiveness passing from the post fell off a bit the second half of the year," he said. "As the year went on, he started holding the ball out in the air with one hand, like a grapefruit."
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The big, glaring different between Okafor and Towns, the other No. 1 pick possibility, is defense. Okafor is not a shotblocking presence, while Fraschilla referred to Towns as Kentucky's best shotblocker (over Kentucky teammate Willie Cauley-Stein). But while there is a great chance Towns becomes a defense force, the odds that Okafor becomes an offensive force in the NBA are on a similar level.
This greatly depends on what situation he ends up in. He'll need to end up in a system that would be willing to embrace the opportunity to bring back what has become somewhat of a lost art in the NBA. Is it because the league is embracing stretch big men, and the advantages they give, or is the diminishing number of good post players in the NBA creating a false image of the modern big man?
Okafor will have a chance to disspell any notion about old school players not succeeding in a new school environment. Offensively, everything he needs to become a dominant low post presence in the NBA is at his disposal. His career and skills could be a game-changer in the NBA — or confirmation that the NBA is changing.