Jahlil Okafor Trainer: “Defensively There is No Issue”
By William Lee
Okafor has private workout at Chicago combine gym Friday night. Trainer sez Jahlil dropping pounds http://t.co/L8kRdzcEah
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) May 17, 2015
According to Marc Berman of the New York Post Duke’s freshmen sensation Jahlil Okafor “snuck” into Quest Sports Complex Friday night after everyone involved with the NBA Combine had gone home. National basketball writer Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe also tweeted this out as well.
Just about an hour after draft prospects left Quest Sports Complex, potential No. 1 pick Jahlil Okafor arrived for a workout. #NBACombine
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) May 16, 2015
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With reports of Phil Jackson meeting with Justise Winslow at a hotel nearby the Quest Sports Complex, we can infer that Jackson and the New York Knicks at some point this weekend would have had a private session with Okafor.
The Post was able to interview with Rick Lewis, who has been Okafor’s trainer since eighth grade. Lewis was able to give some insights on Okafor’s conditioning and cited the ankle sprain in February as the reason Okafor got off track conditioning wise.
"“We’ve taken 12 pounds of fat off him since the season ended, not muscle but fat,’’ “His conditioning is building.”“I think he lost his conditioning at end of season because he couldn’t practice,’’ “His body type, he needs to practice and work hard constantly.’’"
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Lewis in the interview refuted that defense is a weakness and a concern for Okafor. Lewis claimed it was Duke’s defensive schemes that made Okafor look more vulnerable defensively, as well as the need to be conservative defensively due to the lack of depth the Blue Devils had in the front court. Which bears out because Marshall Plumlee was the only other center on the team to back up Okafor on the roster.
"“Defensively there is no issue with his lateral movement or rim protection,’’“Every team has a different style of defense and scheme of defense that they promote off the pick and roll. In his last two years of high school, he had an aggressive defensive scheme and had to come up and defend on the pick and roll, and was able to.”“When you get a coach whose assignments are different, he has to do what his coaches tell him to do. The rim protection piece is basically foul trouble. Having guards coming at you, he was trying to stay out of foul trouble, trying to stay on the floor versus being off the floor. You will see his lateral movement and rim protection and see him defend help-side defense and on-the-ball defense. They allow more contract in the NBA.’’"
Regardless if you see Oakfor’s defense as a weakness or not, in most mock drafts Okafor is no lower than a second overall pick. Let’s just hope this upcoming Tuesday New York can get a top two pick in the NBA Draft despite the Knicks sending Steve Mills to represent us in the NBA Lottery…
Next: 2015 NBA Draft: What if the New York Knicks Fall to No. 5?