<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Son of Mavs Man @ Jun 7 2006, 07:12 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I know there are many who fall into this category:When the Magic took Howard No. 1, I called them stupid. "Take Okafor, he's proven, he's great. Forget about this kid who dunks on 5-foot-tall white guys."Then, I ate my words, because now, nobody in their right mind would want Okafor over Howard. Anyone else fall into that category and feel like owning up to it?</div> Haha, I made fun of idiots like you back then. All great HS talents beat up on sh*tty competitions, scouts see the talent and thats why they get scholarships.
Of course great high school prospects beat up on small guys, but how many of them turn out to be duds? My point exactly. Don't go high and mighty on me like you scouted Dwight Howard.
I think that Okafor has a good future in this league. He is already a good shotblocker and post defender overall, and offense in the NBA will come to him. He has a nice young talented supporting cast around him and I think that will help with his play and overall confidence.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pistonfan11 @ Jun 7 2006, 03:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think that Okafor has a good future in this league. He is already a good shotblocker and post defender overall, and offense in the NBA will come to him. He has a nice young talented supporting cast around him and I think that will help with his play and overall confidence.</div>Yeah, I can only imagine the lineup of Felton, Wallace, Morrison/Gay/Roy, Okafor, Brezec will look like in 3 years with May off the bench. Charlotte has a real good future and nobody talks about it, but should. When this young core comes together and learns together, they are going to be a good team sooner rather than later. They could be a playoff team in 3 years.
Not to mention they have the third pick of this draft. They just need to keep stacking the young talent and keep the wasting to a minimum, as soon as this team breaks out they will be like the Bulls of this year. As for Okafor he did pretty well his first season but injuries can leave a lasting mark, just look at what it did to T.J. Ford just when he was getting to be a good player.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Son of Mavs Man @ Jun 7 2006, 06:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Of course great high school prospects beat up on small guys, but how many of them turn out to be duds? My point exactly. Don't go high and mighty on me like you scouted Dwight Howard.</div> Not many people as good as Dwight Howard (who played a lot of good HS teams) in HS turn out to be duds, he was #1 in his class for a reason.
When Orlando had to choose between Howard and Okafor, I thought they would chose Howard due to the fact that Okafor had some injury issues in college and they were still dealing with the Grant Hill situation at the time. I felt that both players were deservant of the first pick because of what I had heard of them, but I though Orlando would be hesitant of Okafor regardless of how minor the injury may have been in reality. I assumed they would take Howard because he had no injury history as far as we knew and had tons of potential. I thought Okafor would make more of an impact right away because of his college experience and I thought he would be NBA-ready off the bat. To be honest, Howard was a question mark to me because I hadnt seen or heard much about him. I knew Okafor was good from watching him at UConn, so I figured Howard ought to have alot of promise as well. This season, Howard broke out and I absolutely love his game, I think he is one of the best big men this league will have for years to come next to Chris Bosh. The two of them will be the Duncan/Garnett combo of the future and I think Howard is like a more atheltic version of Duncan. I think both teams made the right choice with the pick, but I hope Okafor can regain his health and come back next year and continue to improve his game and that team. With a healthy Okafor as well as the improvement of Gerald Wallace and Felton, that team is going to continue to get better and become a solid club. Along with Toronto, I thikn Charlotte and Orlando have alot of potential ahead of them and are in good positions to succeed..
