Who is this Emeka Okafor?!

[MattD]

he didnt disappear in the second half or anything tonight... oh wait

[TheBeagle]

he didnt disappear in the second half or anything tonight... oh wait

I'll have to say his disappearance had less to do with him than with his teammates. They'd pass the ball to him occasionally, he'd get triple teamed at times, he'd kick out, and then wouldn't get the 2nd feed. Mek was pretty strong tonight with 13 and 15, he just got absolutely nothing from Nazr (3 rebs?!?!?!?!). Poor FTs, deplorable defense, and poor 2nd half offensive execution did us in tonight; Mek held his own.

[MattD]

yeah your right... we all sucked...

[amour217]

[Slam]

I've really enjoyed EO50 over the past 3 years and supported him 100% although about 4 weeks ago I thought trading him would be the best idea - and the jury is till out on that one!!.

I love his intelligence, his ability to learn, his workman like approach to the game and his evolution. The one thing that I have always questioned about him though is his aggression. Is he too nice?

There is something about watching Amare jam the ball down someone's throat or Chris Wilcox soar in for the monster one hand jam or a fit (or even busted) K-Mart double hand slap the backboard after swinging from the rim just fresh from dunking over 3 defenders that really gets the juices flowing.

Our boy, although he can do a lot of things, has never done that. Until latley.

I love the power dunk not just because it's breath taking for the fans and creates a big time buzz with noises of "ohhhhhhhh's" and "ahhhhhhhhh's" from the crowd and the collective audience at home, but also because it sends a clear and decisive message to the opposing team. That message: "if I catch it, I'm down low and you are trying to guard me, you'd best be wearing your hard hat".

EO50 has always seemed more content with his spinning hooks with both hands or his attempted bank of the glass than dunking the ball with authority.................that was up until about 3 weeks ago. Then something changed. Emeka got angry!!

So my question is, can aggression like that be taught? Can it be discovered? Can it be a learnt skill or is it something that some people are just born with and others only dream about (or think it's not that important?). The way I see it is that EO50 has a new found aggression that has come about one of two ways. Those ways:

1. It's always been there, but he has been busy working on other aspects of his game to unleash it. He's been working on that 15ft baseline J, those nifty little hook shots with both hands, his drop step and his posting. Now he's decided that he's happy with the other aspects of his game that it's time to "let the big dog off the leash". He's a big, strong unit and he knows that if he goes up hard people will have trouble stopping him. It's been there all along but the time is no right to flex his ample muscle.

2. Jay Schwartz has gotten into his ear and told him that every time he plays like "toodles" he's costing himself money and the potential of a big deal over the summer. So EO50 comes out, plays strong for a few months, gets his money only to revert back to "toodles" next year because being aggressive really isn't in his nature.

So which one is it? Or am I selling the situation short and there are more than 2 options? Maybe I am over thinking the whole thing??

Either way, the "angry" EO50 has a MUCH greater effect on the game than the "toodles" EO50.

[Muttley]

"toodles"... that's good.

We've all seen both sides of Oak. I like that he's been developing these other aspects of his offensive game, but you're right on about him. Sometimes when he plays it seems as though he has no idea how powerful of a force he can be. Lately, we've been fortunate enough to see him unleash "the big dog." I hope that we'll be able to see that night in and night out for at least a few years to come.