Okafor vs. Drummond | The Boneyard

Okafor vs. Drummond

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Henry

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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?
 
Anyone would give up Drummond to get Okafor on this team.

I think Drummond will have a better NBA career assuming good health.
 
Drummond might be too nice of a kid to be Dwight v2. Howard is not a jerk or anything but he will not be denied around the hoop. Not sure if Drummond has that same instinct to battle hard in the paint as he likes to go to the spin and fade away.
 
Huskies2324 said:
Drummond might be too nice of a kid to be Dwight v2. Howard is not a jerk or anything but he will not be denied around the hoop. Not sure if Drummond has that same instinct to battle hard in the paint as he likes to go to the spin and fade away.
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drummonds problem isnt being too nice its his lack of a skillset.
 
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Gotta get AD some summer work with the best low post man of all time...Hakeem. Learn that Dream Shake!!
 
Okafor. He was dominant. Drummond isn't there. Yet.
 
I think you need to compare Okafor as a Fr to Andre this year. I love Okafor, but think Andre might be better as a Fr, the stats probably are similar as Fr. The thing is, what will AD be as a Jr-hope we get to see this. I'd bet they'd win a NC with him here as a Jr. Don't forget all the pro's EO had playing with him during his UConn career-taking nothing away from him! His work ethic was something AD could learn to reach greatness at UConn and the next level.
 
Andre is way ahead of where Okafor was as a frosh offensively and considerably behind defensively. Overall, I think Drummond is somewhat, marginally, better as a frosh than Okafor was. If you're comparing frosh Drummond to Jr., National Player of the Year candidate Okafor, why?
 
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I agree that Drummond has a high ceiling but as a freshman they had similar stats. Okafor was more of a defensive player though. Okafor averaged 8 points, 9 boards, and 4 blocks. Drummond averages 10 points, 7.6 boards, and 2.5 blocks.
 
It's not arguable that Okafor is the best center to play at Uconn - not sure where that debate even starts. I don't think Emeka's pro career is much short of what anyone should have expected - he was undersized for an NBA center and has maximized his physical talents into a solid NBA career.

It's hard to even compare these two based 2/3 of one season for Drummond. They're so absolutely different - Okafor, for everything he was, still somewhat mechanical. He wasn't a fluid athlete. But he was smart, disciplined and instinctive.
Andre is so raw and his motor and instincts are still developing. I don't see the Dwight Howard and Andre comparison - Dwight was a kid that grew up a guard and had a serious growth spurt. Anthony Davis actually reminds me more of him as far as athletecism, with much less muscle obviously.
 
Meh.
I still think Drummond has the capacity to put up a 20/20 game in March, if he gets motivated.
For my money, I take AD 1st year versus EO 1st year, but you wouldn't go wrong with either.
 
Okafor vs. Drummond?

Let's be real.

They're playing tiddly winks compared to Godzilla vs. King Kong or Optimus Prime vs. Megatron.

Now those are battles for the ages.

For the record, a little birdy in Storrs told me that Drummond wear Jake Voskuhl pajamas at night to keep him safe.
 
Chin Diesel said:
Okafor vs. Drummond?

Let's be real.

They're playing tiddly winks compared to Godzilla vs. King Kong or Optimus Prime vs. Megatron.

Now those are battles for the ages.

For the record, a little birdy in Storrs told me that Drummond wear Jake Voskuhl pajamas at night to keep him safe.
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That will be good if it teaches Andre how to set screens like Jake.
 
why go here, give AD more time, its unfair. No matter what no one I can see will be better than Oakafor in college. Equal maybe but not better. He'll be number one in my book for years.​
 
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If Andre averaged the same minutes as freshman Mek I think he would have better offensive numbers. Or even if he could hit a free throw. Is he the worst ever? Even Boone shoot a better %. I would take freshman Mek though because of the defensive presence. Over 4 blocks a game.
 
You know Okafor gets killed mainly because he's not Dwight Howard and he's been stuck in small markets. His rebounding numbers are outstanding, his offense just never really translated.. that being said he's not that bad offensively. He's averaged a double double for his career... that's nothing to sneeze at.

That all being said Drummond has more upside... he just more athletic... more explosive.
 
are we talking Mek as a junior vs Drummond now? Or when they were both Freshmen?
 
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.
 
RuffRuff said:
It's not arguable that Okafor is the best center to play at Uconn - not sure where that debate even starts. I don't think Emeka's pro career is much short of what anyone should have expected - he was undersized for an NBA center and has maximized his physical talents into a solid NBA career.
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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.
 
60'sfan said:
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.
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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.
 
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Mek has had a good not great thank god he wasnt taken over Howard or he would really be trashed by the media and fans. Coming out of college Mek was more NBA ready at the time (rookie of the year) and Howard had the bigger upside.

For college I take Mek, NBA Drummond, if Drummond were playing Mek today, Mek would destroy him im talking about the 04 Mek, if AD does go pro after this year he would get destroyed by Mek.
 
Dogdeacon said:
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.
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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.
 
60'sfan said:
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.
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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.
 
Henry said:
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?
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This is a silly question, I take Drummond.. who's paying for their scholar ship
 
Henry said:
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.
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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.
 
Hugo said:
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.
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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.
 
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