Who is this Emeka Okafor?!

[MattD]

Mek is a solid double double guy,

Wrong.... Wrong. Wrong. This is where he is looked at incorrectly. Let me just check his averages, o ok 12 points 10 rebounds. Hes solid, not great not bad. WRONG. He goes out some nights and is unbelievable, 18 points 15 rebounds 4 blocks. He looks like a stud. Fine everyone has great games, then he manages to come back out two nights later with 4 points on 1-7 shooting with 2-8 freethrows and grabs 6 boards. Eventually, it averages out to be 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The inconsistency is where we are killed. How are we supposed to have a foundation when a pillar is shaking. Consistency and Chemistry make teams. We have neither right now (chemistry between coach and player that is), and thats why with a talented roster we are not as good as we should be. Mek is not worth more then 6-7 mill a year in my opinion. I dont know if I would even want him back, his chemistry with vincent is obviously disastrous. Take note he never plays at the end of close games.

Say what you like, but I'd rather have a player who averages 6 points 8 boards, and does it every night then have mr zero to hero to zero.

Remember the old bobcats who played musical chairs for whos turn it was to score a lot that night. How did that work out? Yeahhhhh

[BIGCatBobcat]

Matt I gotta say youre right. As I finished my post, I just like him because he is our guy, but team comes first.

[MattD]

Matt I gotta say youre right. As I finished my post, I just like him because he is our guy, but team comes first.

yeah I didnt mean to come down hard, but its just the way I feel, and I love the guy too, he is the Bobcats guy you know? But sometimes, when a team wants to "elevate" themselves, they need to take their roster seriously and not spend a lot of money on a player who isnt worth it or maybe is not even helping the franchise with his play. Recently though, I have to say, Mek has been looking better. Still sign him to a shorter like 2 year 13 million contract, and then if he has shown he is ready to step up and be a difference maker, give him the big bucks. Not yet though, not now. And if he wont accept it, move on, they are going to be some nice FA's on the market

[willyfray]

I think that part of the reason he has transformed himself, to some extent, over the past few weeks is not only because of the challenger in Nazr, but also because Mek is in a contract year and wants to prove that he deserves "Dwight money." I agree that he certainly does not deserve that kind of money, but, looking at it from a smart, business perspective, as Emeka would do, having seriously majored in business at UConn, I would say that he has a chance to get a pretty large contract, judging from the increased openness of Bob Johnson's wallet, the loyal nature of MJ (as we have seen in his hirings), the loyal nature of Bernie, who will not want to see Emeka, his first draft pick, leave, and the dumb-blonde-ness of Vincent. In addition to the fact that he is now surrounded by more talent than he ever has been since his college days, Emeka has more reason to play as hard as possible because the Bobcats have a seriously legit chance of making the playoffs (one game out as of last night!). Also, the addition of Nazr makes comparison of his current numbers to his pre-Nazr numbers somewhat skewed, because he can worry less about fouling (leading to more blocks) with Nazr as back-up instead of Gerald. With this wider distribution of fouls, he plays longer, and, thus, gets higher numbers. Hopefully the main reason that he is improving his stats is that he has genuinely turned it on because of an increased desire to win, but I doubt that this is the truth.

[MattD]

Will... all that is true, but heres the problem. Vincent doesn't like to play them together. Go figure?

I think the ultimate decision would be ditch Vincent and see how it goes, because in some ways I am afraid we are not seeing the "real" okafor that we should be under this idiot coach

[willyfray]

When I was saying that Nazr had helped him, it was more that Emeka was freer to play tougher defense and get more breaks because he had real help, which he has never had before, except for the small amount of games that May has played in. That's a good point about Vincent, though, another reason why we should get rid of him.

[dav7z]

Oka shows flashes of being a beast .Then other times hes seems below average. Vincent could play a big role in that. I remember in his rookie year he was MR. consistant now he's any thing but that.
Either he has got very complasent because of the big bucks or the coaching or somthing is holding him back.

I have noticed more fire and better play the last two weaks. I think thats due to it being a contract year.The next 40 games is going to play a big part in what size contract he gets.

[Keetch]

I've noticed a huge upgrade in Mek's play the last 5 games (since MLK day against San Antonio). I don't have any idea why, but I'm sure there's a reason; he's probably just stopped listening to Mokeski and Radio is all. In any event...I LIKE IT. Seeing Mek excel is very exciting to watch.

Lately, Okafor is hitting jumpers from 15 feet with consistency which is something he totally wasn't doing before. That plus he's slamming the ball down for 2 like every opportunity and not relying on weak and defendable bank shots.

His weakness will always be his hands. They're just not great and probably never will be. He'll go through spells where he's fumbling the ball; and that's pretty frustrating for a Center, but not all that uncommon.

Lately he's been playing like an All-Star. Will it keep up? Well, if he can do this now, he can do it later; so why not? Bobcats coaching is the only why not I can think of.

Okafor and Crash on defense are pure joy to watch, and for the past 5 games, Mek's offense has been almost just as fun.

[Muttley]

Lately, Okafor is hitting jumpers from 15 feet with consistency which is something he totally wasn't doing before. That plus he's slamming the ball down for 2 like every opportunity and not relying on weak and defendable bank shots.

Yeah, where the hell did those jumpers come from? They're usually pretty dead-on too. I don't know where they came from, and I don't care, just keep hitting them.

It's gotta be the coach...

[amour217]

It's gotta be the coach...