Okafor says he will play against Spurs

[TheProfessor]

New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor says he'll play in season-opener; Byron Scott says Okafor will start

LINK (http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ssf/2009/10/new_orleans_hornets_center_eme_5.html)

Injured New Orleans Hornets center Emeka Okafor pronounced himself fit Tuesday and ready to play in Wednesday night's nationally televised season opener at the San Antonio Spurs.

Okafor worked for the third straight day in Tuesday's practice and said afterward he planned on playing against the Spurs.

"It's to the point where I wanted to get it manageable and that's where it is now," Okafor said of the sprained right second toe that kept him out of all eight preseason games and sidelined him for a month. "That's what it is now. It's manageable. I'll just go out and do what I have to do."

Okafor spent some post-practice time going over the offense in a walkthrough with the rest of the Hornets' starters, a clear indication of the team's plans to play their prized offseason acquisition against San Antonio.

"I feel better than what I did (Monday)," Coach Byron Scott said. "In looking at him today, I thought he looked good. I put him with the starters and he fit in pretty well with them. He still has a real good grasp of what we're doing and the guys took him to the side to try to show him some other things. That was a good sign. He really pushes himself. He went the whole day today. He didn't take any time off.

"I'm ready for him to play. If he wakes up (Wednesday) morning and we go through walkthrough and he feels good, then he'll be the starter."

[G-Nob]

Translation: The docs said the toe was okay and they are threatening to fine his azz for missing practices and now the toe is feeling so much better.

[I. Hustle]

That strained second toe is nothing to laugh about. Joey C sprained a toe and we all know what happened to him.

[Obstructed_View]

Emeka pulling a Michael Strahan? Kind of a strange move to pull on your new team.

[jb4g]

dude is going to get abused tommorrow night

[TIMMYD!]

dude is going to get abused tommorrow night

Used and abused.

[peskypesky]

put the Beast on him

[AussieFanKurt]

I heard he was having arguements with his teammates

[Chieflion]

I heard he was having arguements with his teammates
Of course. When you were once the franchise player of your team, get traded, you have to look up to Chris Paul as the number 1 guy, technically look down but who cares. An argument has to start, plus he is missing practice. No one is going to get better by missing practice.

[EricB]

Actually some players on the team thought he was being a wuss and not playing through a little bit of pain. Theres been articles written about it.

[AussieFanKurt]

What a little bitch. I used to respect him

[completely deck]

Wait, he didn't play a minute for any of the preseason and he wants to play in a "for real" regular season game? Haha, h-okay bud. Go for it!

[jmanu20]

I don't understand why some still think Chandler for Okafor was a good move. Okafor might be a more complete player than Chandler, but Chandler worked well in the Hornets' system (the Paul to Chandler alley-oop play gave the Spurs consistent fits) and defended Timmy better than most centers in the league do. Timmy should have some fun tomorrow night, who's going to guard him.....Hilton Armstrong,? LOL!

[K-State Spur]

I don't understand why some still think Chandler for Okafor was a good move. Okafor might be a more complete player than Chandler, but Chandler worked well in the Hornets' system (the Paul to Chandler alley-oop play gave the Spurs consistent fits) and defended Timmy better than most centers in the league do. Timmy should have some fun tomorrow night, who's going to guard him.....Hilton Armstrong,? LOL!

Well, if Chandler's toe is really a long term issue, you got a competent big for damaged goods.

If it's not, you gave away the perfect big man to team with Paul for a guy that would seem to be a bit of a square peg.

[Obstructed_View]

I don't understand why some still think Chandler for Okafor was a good move.

Premature ejaculation forum. Can we wait until the guy has played ONE game with the team? :lol

[completely deck]

I don't understand why some still think Chandler for Okafor was a good move.

other than Hornets fans, I don't know anyone who thought that was a good move. And I doubt most Hornets fans thought it was a good move.

[Obstructed_View]

It's funny how Chandler getting a few alley-oops over a flu-ridden Tim Duncan a few years ago suddenly makes everyone think he's the second coming of Hakeem.

[timtonymanurich]

other than Hornets fans, I don't know anyone who thought that was a good move. And I doubt most Hornets fans thought it was a good move.

Yet further evidence as to why N.O. hasn't and will NOT make it past the second round for some time.:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao

[timtonymanurich]

Dallas friggin lost their opener to Washington tonight.... either the wiz ARE that good, or Dallas is really THAT Bad. I think it's the latter.

[completely deck]

Dallas friggin lost their opener to Washington tonight.... either the wiz ARE that good, or Dallas is really THAT Bad. I think it's the latter.

I think you posted this in the wrong thread.

[redzero]

I don't understand why some still think Chandler for Okafor was a good move. Okafor might be a more complete player than Chandler, but Chandler worked well in the Hornets' system (the Paul to Chandler alley-oop play gave the Spurs consistent fits) and defended Timmy better than most centers in the league do. Timmy should have some fun tomorrow night, who's going to guard him.....Hilton Armstrong,? LOL!

Yeah, trading a player who was experiencing constant injury problems for one fresh off playing 164 straight games, made no sense at all.

[Obstructed_View]

The last two seasons:

Chandler
77 games, 8.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.28 bpg,

Okafor
164 games, 13.5 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.7 bpg

[BRHornet45]

other than Hornets fans, I don't know anyone who thought that was a good move. And I doubt most Hornets fans thought it was a good move.

son I have been one of the biggest Chandler supporters from day one. I hated whenever they tried to dump him last year, and I hated whenever they traded him for Okafor this year. Most people look at Okafor's numbers and compare them to Chandler's and automatically just assume "Okafor is better" ... sure his numbers ARE better, but like what was mentioned above Chandler had great chemistry with the team and Paul.

I am hopeful and supportive of Okafor, but I hated to see Chandler go. It annoys me how the organization was so quick to dump him simply just because of one "off" year due to an injury ... BUT then again, none of us know just how bad Chandler's toe really is.

[BRHornet45]

The last two seasons:

Chandler
77 games, 8.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.28 bpg,

Okafor
164 games, 13.5 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.7 bpg

son where are you getting your numbers from? .. Chandler has played in 124 games over the last two seasons, not just 77. Oh and over the last two seasons he has averaged 10.3 ppg and 10.2 rpg. get your stats right.

[Interrohater]

son I have been one of the biggest Chandler supporters from day one. I hated whenever they tried to dump him last year, and I hated whenever they traded him for Okafor this year. Most people look at Okafor's numbers and compare them to Chandler's and automatically just assume "Okafor is better" ... sure his numbers ARE better, but like what was mentioned above Chandler had great chemistry with the team and Paul.

I am hopeful and supportive of Okafor, but I hated to see Chandler go. It annoys me how the organization was so quick to dump him simply just because of one "off" year due to an injury ... BUT then again, none of us know just how bad Chandler's toe really is.
Chandler just had that length and a real thug quality to him that always made me think "Fuck man, that dude is annoying as hell." From what I've seen, Okafor doesn't have that ability to get under your skin and throw you out of your game. It's a demoralizing thing, I'm sure, to constantly get dunked on and have alley-oops thrown down multiple times for easy buckets when it's a tight game.

[BRHornet45]

Chandler just had that length and a real thug quality to him that always made me think "Fuck man, that dude is annoying as hell." From what I've seen, Okafor doesn't have that ability to get under your skin and throw you out of your game. It's a demoralizing thing, I'm sure, to constantly get dunked on and have alley-oops thrown down multiple times for easy buckets when it's a tight game.

lol Tyson Chandler is the farthest thing from a thug ... just ask Ghazi's wife.

[Obstructed_View]

son where are you getting your numbers from? .. Chandler has played in 124 games over the last two seasons, not just 77. Oh and over the last two seasons he has averaged 10.3 ppg and 10.2 rpg. get your stats right.

NBA.com's page for Chandler (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/tyson_chandler/career_stats.html) has two separate rows for 2008-2009 for some reason, one showing he played in 45 games, one showing he played in 32 games. I'm not sure why it's done that way but it's the reason I thought they were the last two years.

Thank you for catching the mistake. I'm glad I bothered to do all that math for nothing.

Okafor's still far better than Chandler.

[timtonymanurich]

I think you posted this in the wrong thread.

I think you think too much.
This is a Pro-Spurs, anti-Dallas thread.:bang:bang