When looking at the box lines from Jahlil Okafor’s first week in the NBA, it would be hard not to get immediately drawn to the “PTS” column. All things considered, the first-year center has shown he can make a difference on offense, collecting 60 total points over the course of three games. During that span, he’s converted 25 -of 49 field goal attempts (51.0%), and 10 of 13 free throw tries (76.9%). Okafor’s also already manufactured a pair of 20-plus point performances, becoming just the fifth Sixer rookie (Jerry Stackhouse, Allen Iverson, Speedy Claxton, and Michael Carter-Williams) to reach that mark twice in his first three outings.
As encouraging and important as his scoring has been, Okafor, if you listen to his head coach tell it, seems to be more focused on figuring out how to better contribute on the opposite end of the court. Despite dropping 24 points on Cleveland and its seasoned frontcourt, Okafor didn’t lose sight of the fact that he ended the game with one defensive rebound.
“The best thing that I have heard in a while was going into the locker room after the [Cavaliers] game, and having him come to me and say, ‘I have to be a better defensive rebounder,'” said Brett Brown on Tuesday.
“You just want to hug him right there and then on the spot. Anybody that has that mindset to truly want to do it, that’s the starting place. I think that is going to be one of the next things that just keeps making him have the ability to end up having a hell of a career, maybe even a great career.”
After Brown retold the interaction he had with Okafor following the Sixers’ 107-100 defeat to the Cavs, the conversation was brought up with the big man himself. A reporter, referencing Okafor’s “better defensive rebounder” comment, asked, “What made you say that?”
“Because I want to be a better defensive rebounder,” replied the 19-year old, in deadpan, matter-of-fact fashion.
Okafor was responsible for 4.9 defensive rebounds per game during his lone season at Duke. He believes that by putting in additional work with the Sixers’ strength and conditioning staff, he can become more equipped to handle the demands of battling bigger, older, more experienced low-post foes.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Okafor said about making the adjustment from college. “I’ve always been a physical player. I like [the NBA] more so than college, I wasn’t able to bang. Definitely not in high school. If I touched anybody, it would be an offensive foul. It’s nice to be able to go against bigger guys, and be able to bang.”
Nerlens Noel, who’s one of 13 NBA players currently averaging at least 10 rebounds per game, said he doesn’t feel the need to give his partner any new pointers.”Jahlil just has to continue to feel it out,” said Noel. “I had low defensive rebounding numbers, too. You know you just got to feel it out. It’s a matter of time before getting in that 10 to 15 [rebound] range, but he should be totally fine.”
Practice Pointers:
A day after earning a start in his season debut, Robert Covington sustained a right knee sprain during Tuesday afternoon’s practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Covington first hurt the knee in the Sixers’ pre-season finale, when he was diagnosed with an MCL injury.”We’re not sure what’s going to be his status,” Brett Brown said about whether Covington will be available for the Sixers’ game in Milwaukee on Wednesday. “We’ll determine that more [Wednesday].”Covington hit on only one of nine field goal attempts Monday versus Cleveland, but Brown said he was pleased with the contributions Covington offered on defense.
