Thabeet

[joober jones]

The thing with Emeka Okafor is that he puts up good numbers and is a solid NBA center, but he does everything so quietly you hardly notice him doing it. If I didn't obsessively monitor the NBA stats of every UConn player I'd probably be calling him average too.

 

[intlzncster]

People tend to forget that teams literally did not attempt shots in the paint when Thabeet was in there. I wouldn't say he was a better overall defender than Emeka, but I think teams were actually more scared to take it to the hoop against Thabeet. A guy would get swatted twice and then jack up quick shots the rest of the game.

He was absolutely dominant. A once-in-a-decade collegiate shotblocker. The question was whether he could do anything else at the next level. The answer (contrary to our hopes and predictions) turned out to be: not really. But he can improve. And you can't teach 7'3".

I'm one hundred percent in agreement with this. Thabeet was frightening. But I still maintain Emeka was a better defender overall.

I also shouldn't have said Emeka was "average" in the NBA, as a several posters have mentioned, he has put up the annual double/double. But for your number 2 pick, that seems pretty average. I want my number 2 center pulling 20/10 or something, but that's just me. I guess there's not too many of those guys around anymore though.