Okafor vs. Drummond

[Scoe]

Poise, Basketball IQ, understanding of opponents, teammates and self. Okafor had all these things from the get go.

If Drummond stays 2-3 years at UConn he's still got the potential for an NBA career that could surpass Emeka's, but if he jumps too soon and before he's developed any kind of offense he's looking more at a Eric Dampier type career.

Well thats a decision he has to make obviously I want him to be here 2-3 years if he does leave early you also have to look at it from the other side. He could learn from a veteran big man, have more practice time, the NBA is a full time job so you can put all your focus on basketball and get paid for it. There are pros and cons to him staying vs leaving. Andrew Bynum was riding the bench his first couple years and learned alot from Kareem, granted he has been injury prone so it was a wise decision to go pro.

 

[Henry]

Those of us that have been around for a while could make an argument that Toby Kimball was the best center Uconn ever had. Although he played in the old Yankee Conference, he had much better stats. In his senior year the team went 23-3.

That's why I said arguably. I never saw Toby Kimball play but his stats are amazing. He did play against weaker competition though. That said, from what people say he was a great player.

 

[dante]

Emeka Okafor is arguably the best center to ever play at UConn. Andre Drummond is probably the most highly touted center to ever play at UConn. Emeka never developed into the type of pro we all thought he would become although he has nothing to be ashamed of. He has had a solid career. Andre Drummond is raw but has the size and skills to become the next Dwight Howard. My question is, if you had your choice which one would you choose?

This is a silly question, I take Drummond.. who's paying for their scholar ship

 

[60'sfan]

That's why I said arguably. I never saw Toby Kimball play but his stats are amazing. He did play against weaker competition though. That said, from what people say he was a great player.

I have wondered if Uconn would win the NC with Kimball at center on the 2004 team. I speculate that they would. In the key game of the march to the 2004 championship against Duke, Okafor got into foul trouble and did not play most of the first half. Charley Villanueva filled in admirably. Emeka's big moment came when he grabbed a rebound in the lane, turned to see no one in his way and slammed the ball home to give Uconn the lead with less than a minute to go.

 

[60'sfan]

I've been around a while and saw Kimball play every home game (and some away games) at UCONN. I used to make the argument that Kimball might be better than Okafor, but stopped once we won in 2004. As great as Kimball was, IMO Okafor was better. Kimball was a better rebounder, but other than that Oak was a better player. I mean nobody I've seen at UCONN could rebound like Kimball, he was a monster off the glass, but overall I'd go with Oak.

If you reversed their time periods and put Okafor on the 1965 Uconn team, would they have done any better. And if you put Kimball on the 2004 team would they still win the NC? Kimball's Uconn team went 23-3 but two of the losses were with him on the bench. He was a fierce competitor. I don't know which one was better either but the argument is legitimate.