Emeka Okafor Starting for Pelicans

[Dogdeacon]

Feel free to spend as much of your time this actively angry as you want, but it's really a bad look when people are trying to spin Emeka Okafor as a better player than DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins is better player (4 at least the 3rd time) but a hothead like all those defending him and Emeka is not a hothead like all of us on the calm, cool & collected side of righteousness & the UConn Huskies.

 

[Stainmaster]

Cousins is better player (4 at least the 3rd time) but a hothead like all those defending him and Emeka is not a hothead like all of us on the calm, cool & collected side of righteousness & the UConn Huskies.

Righteousness? Give me a break. You are way too worked up about this.

 

[Paesano]

Feel free to spend as much of your time this actively angry as you want, but it's really a bad look when people are trying to spin Emeka Okafor as a better player than DeMarcus Cousins.

Listen, I know it isn't healthy. But it got ugly in the 90s and many of us have a hard time forgetting. People can argue all they want about Cousins. For me, if I were a GM, I would never put him on my team. I view him as a net negative. Okafor is a net positive. Big time. Now, he may not be starting center material at this point but I would take a lot of other starters over Cousins and Okafor would be my first choice as a backup.

 

[Matrim55]

Listen, I know it isn't healthy. But it got ugly in the 90s and many of us have a hard time forgetting. People can argue all they want about Cousins. For me, if I were a GM, I would never put him on my team. I view him as a net negative. Okafor is a net positive. Big time. Now, he may not be starting center material at this point but I would take a lot of other starters over Cousins and Okafor would be my first choice as a backup.

Cousins is a singular talent. But he's yet to show he's talented enough to build a winning team around, and he's yet to show he can be a supporting player who adds value when the team isn't built around him. He basically condemns you to 30-to-40 wins per year, which is NBA purgatory.

I wouldn't touch him unless I had a Pop-level coach.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Righteousness? Give me a break. You are way too worked up about this.

Huskies & righteous are synonymous like Calipari & dirty. My personal mood regarding the inexplicable Cousins water carriers is better described as flummoxed.

 

[Stainmaster]

Huskies & righteous are synonymous like Calipari & dirty. My personal mood regarding the inexplicable Cousins water carriers is better described as flummoxed.

I should've known better to expect anything besides unvarnished emotion.

 

[Walker11]

Feel free to spend as much of your time this actively angry as you want, but it's really a bad look when people are trying to spin Emeka Okafor as a better player than DeMarcus Cousins.

I take ownership in hi-jacking this thread by feeding Deacon but I appreciate someone else realizes the absurdity of his comments. I will agree with @Paesano in that if I am building a team as a GM, I do not want Cousins. This is not to take away from the fact that he is one of the most talented big men to ever play. But I am not going to build a franchise around him. In a world where the Warriors and now the Rockets look unbeatable against mortal teams, I would take a risk on a healthy Cousins if I am a pseudo contender/playoff team without much future cap flexibility but I sure as hell wouldn't sign him as a GM with a barren roster.

 

[awfuldan]

Signed for the rest of the season. That's a big deal! Go Emeka! He's been playing really well for the Pelicans, all things considered.

 

[gtcam]

Demarcus Cousins is, and always will be, better and more valuable than Okafor.

Cousins is a great talent and most every GM would love to have that talent on their home floor
Emeka is talented, ultra intelligent and I am sure a great team mate as well as mentor

Cousins, at this time and place is a better and more valuable player
Emeka will always be a better and more valuable person and mentor

 

[gtcam]

The war against the war never ends. Do people really not know why Calipari is hated by UConn nation? Is an annual history lesson needed?

I think the only place the Squid is liked/tolerated is in certain parts of Kentucky and hated everywhere else
If his team doesn't make it to the dance he won't even be tolerated in Lexington

 

[nomar]

Pelicans Rumored to Sign Emeka Okafor for Remainder of Season

Okafor, 35, is averaging 3.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in six games with the Pelicans. New Orleans had exhausted its two 10-day contracts with Okafor, who had not played in the NBA since the 2012-13 season due to a chronic back injury.

"It was essentially a four-year process," Okafor told William Guillory of the Times-Picayune. "I just took my time making sure, not only the initial injury [was healed], but to recondition and rehab everything. ... figured while I'm waiting for my disc to heal, I can take the time to heal other things. When I come back, [I can] feel nice and bouncy and rejuvenated."

***
The Pelicans have outscored opponents by 9.3 points per 100 possessions with Okafor on the floor, per Basketball Reference, and he hasn't been a glaring minus on offense. It only makes sense for them to keep riding this good wave for the remainder of the season.


What a cool story. He's been out of the league for 5 years! I have to say, I kept Googling him over the years to see what his status was. I never gave up hope that he'd come back, since he kept saying he planned to return.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Maybe Cousins can coach big men at UConn if Okafor takes his job?

 

[superjohn]

I take ownership in hi-jacking this thread by feeding Deacon but I appreciate someone else realizes the absurdity of his comments. I will agree with @Paesano in that if I am building a team as a GM, I do not want Cousins. This is not to take away from the fact that he is one of the most talented big men to ever play. But I am not going to build a franchise around him. In a world where the Warriors and now the Rockets look unbeatable against mortal teams, I would take a risk on a healthy Cousins if I am a pseudo contender/playoff team without much future cap flexibility but I sure as hell wouldn't sign him as a GM with a barren roster.

He's very talented and very much not a winner but one of the most talented big men to ever play the game?

 

[Walker11]

He's very talented and very much not a winner but one of the most talented big men to ever play the game?

Don't see why not.

 

[MrP]

Great write up on Emeka in Deadspin, with an off-hand reference to Drummond as well:

https://deadspin.com/its-2018-and-emeka-okafor-is-playing-in-the-nba-1823315419

 

[awfuldan]

14 points (5-5 shooting) 4 rebounds 1 block 1 steal and another win for the Pelicans and Emeka.

 

[KEMBAKEMBA]

Huskies & righteous are synonymous like Calipari & dirty. My personal mood regarding the inexplicable Cousins water carriers is better described as flummoxed.

Agree on everything. What I hate most about the recent unearthing of cheating is that its so bad THEY ALL WILL GET AWAY WITH IT. The NCAA is a joke and we are the punch line because we did it the hard way......

 

[Scoe]

14 points (5-5 shooting) 4 rebounds 1 block 1 steal and another win for the Pelicans and Emeka.

Crazy to be away from the game for 5 years and playing in the most athletic game in all of sports amongst kids who a lot are 10 years younger then Emeka, this should be a bigger story maybe it will by the playoffs if NO can get in.

 

[Poe]

I’d like to see a list of players that have made it back to the league after being out for 5 years. I bet it’s a small lists of players.