Overreaction Theatre: Jahlil’s Debut

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

After Tuesday night, we now have 17-plus minutes of game film featuring Jahlil Okafor against actual NBA-level competition. Personally, I think we should completely throw sample size out the window and evaluate how the rookie big man affected the Sixers offense in his debut.

Against the Wizards, the Sixers sported a 101.6 offensive rating when Okafor was on the court. That figure would still have been in the bottom half of the league last season, but up significantly from the Sixers’ league-worst 93.0 mark. A large part of the Sixers’ offensive success came due to Okafor’s ability to hit tough mid-range shots (6-10 on field goals for the game, with about 3/4 of those coming with Marcin Gortat’s hand in his face). It wasn’t what anyone would call good offense, but part of the reason to have truly gifted offensive players is to get you points when the offense breaks down. Okafor did that on Tuesday.

The other thing talked about constantly in regard to Okafor’s effect on the offense is his ability to get teammates open outside shots because of the attention he draws on the interior from the opposing defense. Actually, the Sixers only attempted 4 threes when Okafor was on the court Tuesday. If we extrapolate those 4 attempts across 17 minutes to a 48 minute game, the Sixers would have attempted a little over 11 threes, well down from the 30 they attempted in Tuesday’s contest, and the 26.3 three point attempts per game last season.

I went back and re-watched each of those 4 attempts to see how Okafor affected the play.

Attempt 1, 1st Quarter (miss):

Robert Covington and Okafor run a dribble-handoff around the arc. Okafor tries to repost but is still about 15 feet away from the basket. After Covington feeds it back to Big Jah, Otto Porter feints at the double team and Okafor dishes it back out to Covington for a decent look. The shot is no good, however.

In theory, this is exactly the sort of play where Okafor can get open looks for others. As we saw throughout the game, he needs to work on getting deeper post position; then, when he kicks out, the recovering defender won’t be able to get back as quickly.

Attempt 2, 1st Quarter (miss)

Nerlens Noel drove the lane and spun around, with Bradley Beal dropping down to help contest the play. Noel kicked it back out to JaKarr Sampson, who fired it up with the shot clock running down as Beal made a nice effort recovering to contest the shot. Jahlil was on the other side of the court, uninvolved in the play.

Attempt 3, 2nd Quarter (make)

Robert Covington pulled up and drained a three in transition. Okafor was trailing the play, barely across half-court when the shot went up.

Attempt 4, 3rd Quarter (make)

This play was similar in principle to what we talked earlier with Jahlil, but it came off a Nerlens Noel post-up. With Noel having the ball about 10 feet away, John Wall drifted very far off Isaiah Canaan looking to help if needed. Noel kicked it out to Canaan who rose up immediately and drained it. Okafor was on the other end of the court, not involved in the play.

Thus, sample size being what it is, we only have one play where Okafor affected a play where his teammate put up a 3-point attempt. Again, impossibly small sample size and I’m sure things would be different with an actual playmaker at the point instead of Isaiah Canann (who literally had a pass clang off the backboard in this game). Nevertheless, be sure to keep an eye on how Okafor affects the offense Thursday night against the LeBron-less Cavaliers.