Thoughts on Okongwu?

[AHF]

15 hours ago, bleachkit said:

We just might have the next Nerlens Noel. Im trying to get excited about that.

I think he'll end up with a stronger base than Noel which should help a bit on both ends of the floor.  He'll never have Noel's height so a bit of a tradeoff.  Whether he can learn to do some things that Noel can't offensively is a key.

[RedDawg#8]

15 hours ago, Buzzard said:

Or Big Ben. His measurements as a pro: 6'9" in shoes,  240 Lbs,  and a 7'2" wingspan.

His size is almost identical to Udonis Haslem too

[JayBirdHawk]

This is what I want to see, aggression:

 

 

[Spud2nique]

I wouldn’t worry about Yek Gwu or OO on aggression. Moot. He’ll be fine.

[Atlantaholic]

I really hate the way Okonguw has looked out there the last couple of games. He isn't a factor rebounding either defensive or offensively, he looks short out there. Defense is mediocre at best. One thing that bothers me is when he is around the ball he doesn't really attack it, kind of tips and fumbles it away. Yes, he is super young, but I would hope to see some improvement from game 1 to game 20 and I have seen none. He needs more minutes obvs, but it's hard to keep him out there some games because he is such a massive liability on both ends. Knight on the other hand...

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, Atlantaholic said:

I really hate the way Okonguw has looked out there the last couple of games. He isn't a factor rebounding either defensive or offensively, he looks short out there. Defense is mediocre at best. One thing that bothers me is when he is around the ball he doesn't really attack it, kind of tips and fumbles it away. Yes, he is super young, but I would hope to see some improvement from game 1 to game 20 and I have seen none. He needs more minutes obvs, but it's hard to keep him out there some games because he is such a massive liability on both ends. Knight on the other hand...

Calm down Sparky, he will be fine. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

Quote

"For me, since I wasn't at training camp, I was basically just thrown out into the fire," Okongwu said of starting the season with a foot injury. "When I'm going up against different players, they know all the tricks against someone like me. I'm just learning on the fly. I just don't have as much experience as I would have had if I had been in training camp. If I was in training camp, I would be a bit more polished."

Even as Okongwu strives to learn more, he remains largely undiscouraged.

"It's fun. I've experienced a lot of ups and downs. At the end of the day, it's a learning process and I'm having a lot of fun doing it. I'm a perfectionist. I want to make sure that I'm doing everything right. When I'm not, sometimes I can get a little down on myself. But I continue to stay confident and work."

 

[mrhonline]

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

[JayBirdHawk]

8 minutes ago, mrhonline said:

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

One more time, lol

[sturt]

Learned me something just now, but probably something others already knew.

 

Had previously understood Bruno to be the first Angolan-born NBA player.

 

While that is true, technically, the first NBA player with roots in Angola is another Hawk. Capela was born in Switzerland, the son of a mom from The Congo, and dad from... yep... Angola.

 

Okongwu, most probably realize, is the son of Nigerian parents.

 

So what about Nathan Solomon... Kapahulula... Knight... ? No direct African descent, but someone needs to ask about that middle name... sounds more like a South Pacific tie-in, but who knows.

 

 

[Atlantaholic]

2 hours ago, mrhonline said:

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

"Bigs take longer to develop."

Not all of them develop. Okonguw is dreadfully undersized. Why did we waste a 6th pick on a PF that can't stretch the floor??

[sturt]

For those of us old enough to remember drafts that were almost completely centered on seniors... 22 year olds... it's a bit nuts I think for most of us to think back to that time and imagine as difficult as it was to hit on one of those draftees, how much more difficult it would be to hit on one of the juniors of a given year... then, how much more daunting to hit on one of the sophomores... and freshmen? You gotta be kidding me. Much too much projection, far too little actual game experience.

But this is our world now... predominantly freshmen or sophomores valued highest now year-in-year-out. And of course, it's one thing to have that paradigm when life is normal, and the G-League fully functioning... quite another when a season gets sliced back, and severely so for our three 2019 rookies... and now for our G-League team to be temporarily defunct.

What I've said about Bruno applies equally to OO, with the exception that OO's family loss occurred when he was much younger. Hawks U is not a thing these days. Practically can't be.

And fans like us just need to get that, and keep telling ourselves, "Be patient."

To be sure, there's a lot  to like about what both OO and Bruno displayed in college, and what each has on occasion flashed (oh so briefly, I know) up here. Both of them truly have a solid shooter's stroke, and both of them were among the most athletic bigs coming out, which should translate eventually to some increasingly consistent production... but probably not until both have had the benefit of a normal off-season program, training camp, a full regular season, and potentially still, some G-League time.

 

[Spud2nique]

Okongwu time to step up with JC on the shelf.

[bleachkit]

I'm rooting for the guy. He's a smart, high character person. I also think he is going to be solid on defense eventually. But I don't see any semblance of an offensive game. Maybe with enough minutes he could manage to get 10 points on dunks and put backs. But clearly Nathan Knight has a far more versatile and natural offensive game. We see it every year, what you did in college or high school doesn't mean jack shit in the NBA.

[kg01]

Time for Knight to step up.  I'll look for OO next year after he's had a real offseason.  He needs time.

[txsting]

GWU really needs 4+ inches of height on his hair.  He really does look small out there, which is my biggest disappointment.  I think he'll grow (as a player) leaps and bounds with a real offseason.

[sturt]

Patience.

 

 

 

Interesting maybe only to me... for Gallo, Clint, and JC, each first surfaced above the 1.0 VORP mark (arguably, a sign of becoming a solid NBA player) in the year their total NBA minutes surfaced above the 3,000 mark.

Right now, our three young bigs have about 30% of that (Bruno), about 7% of that (OO), and about 5% of that (Knight). In other words, even when you combine the three, you still don't even get to half of that 3,000 mark.

 

 

[Spud2nique]

On 3/30/2021 at 7:44 PM, Atlantaholic said:

Why did we waste a 6th pick

We didn’t. 

[macdaddy]

Great game from OO last night.

[Gray Mule]

Hopefully, our Agent 0017 gave us a tiny sample of what he can bring.  I'll say that spud is relieved because this was his personal choice @#6.