The Sixer Sense
Fansided

Three Things Jahlil Okafor Can Improve his Game Quickly

By Mike O'connor

Dec 3, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) and Boston Celtics forward Amir Johnson (90) reach for loose ball during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) and Boston Celtics forward Amir Johnson (90) reach for loose ball during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
Dec 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) scores against the Toronto Raptors during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. The Toronto Raptors won 123.114. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) scores against the Toronto Raptors during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. The Toronto Raptors won 123.114. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Less Slow Post-ups, More Quick ISOs

As it stands, Okafor’s post-ups are not providing maximum efficiency. Okafor’s offensive play-type stats are very revealing.

Unfortunately, Okafor’s post-ups account for 39.6 percent compared to 21.9 percent for isolation. As noted on the previous slide, Okafor has a tendency to dribble the air out of the ball on his post-ups.

Jahlil Okafor is very adept at taking bigs off the dribble, a skill that is considerably underutilized.

Notice how much better Jahlil Okafor is when he makes quick decisions to attack as opposed to taking several back-down dribbles.

Conventional thinking in today’s NBA says that isolation situations are generally inefficient.

But Okafor’s high relative efficiency makes his isolating a viable part of any offense. No matter how much teams try to avoid it, isolation will always remain a major part of NBA offenses.

Next: Philadelphia 76ers’ Draft: Jayson Tatum Shining Early

Having a player like Jahlil Okafor to shoulder that burden in an efficient manner is a huge plus. The Sixers must figure out how to prioritize his isolations over his post-ups to maximize efficiency.