Knicks · Say ain’t so, Obi Toppin is the pick (page 5)

SupremeCommander wrote:fun fact:

did you know that this past season, Isaac Okoro had 1.1 defensive win shares and Obi Toppin had 2.3 (and 1.6 his rookie season)?

Again, not saying Toppin is better than Okoro, but Toppin's athleticism puts him into play for blocks, and he has an effective field goal percentage of 67.4 percent. No surprise his +/- is really good, even with a poor defensive stance

His PER was 32.5. Zion had a 40.0, Trae Yound a 28.0, and Okoro had 19.1 for comparison's sake

ahhhhh I wish everyone was as excited as I am

Diving into stats, I think it's troubling that a guy who was that dominant athletically only average 1 block and 1 steal a game. Okoro consistently went against guys who had talent to be pros one day. Again, I'm not down on the pick. But the defense is a question mark and goes beyond having a weird defensive stance. Thibs must already have something in mind in terms of scheme, so I'm just going to wait and see.

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

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martin wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

No idea. I'm guessing Thibs had time to sit back and reflect during his brief hiatus, so it's possible he has new goodies to unwrap. Another question....what nickname do we give Obi. I saw someone suggest the "Dunkalorian" on Reddit and I've got to say...I'm all in. Also, Obi "Don't dunk on me."

The Big O

can coaches have nicknames? if so we need to have yoda for thibs

Chandler wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

No idea. I'm guessing Thibs had time to sit back and reflect during his brief hiatus, so it's possible he has new goodies to unwrap. Another question....what nickname do we give Obi. I saw someone suggest the "Dunkalorian" on Reddit and I've got to say...I'm all in. Also, Obi "Don't dunk on me."

The Big O

can coaches have nicknames? if so we need to have yoda for thibs

Yes! And we can Knox Kylo, because he's been a waste of potential so far. Randle can be R2D2 because they have similar moves.

BigDaddyG wrote:

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

No idea. I'm guessing Thibs had time to sit back and reflect during his brief hiatus, so it's possible he has new goodies to unwrap. Another question....what nickname do we give Obi. I saw someone suggest the "Dunkalorian" on Reddit and I've got to say...I'm all in. Also, Obi "Don't dunk on me."

NYStateOfMind wrote:Definitely OB1

BigDaddyG wrote:

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

No idea. I'm guessing Thibs had time to sit back and reflect during his brief hiatus, so it's possible he has new goodies to unwrap. Another question....what nickname do we give Obi. I saw someone suggest the "Dunkalorian" on Reddit and I've got to say...I'm all in. Also, Obi "Don't dunk on me."

LOVE IT

KnickDanger wrote:Dayton's coach is on ESPN with Hahn and Bart (bless 'em, talking hard Knicks and NBA). Of course he's praising Obi but soberly and with details. Particularly interesting and encouraging to me is he emphasizes Toppin's basketball IQ and work ethic.

By the way, does James Harden play defense? Isn't he a former league MVP? If Toppins plays as projected offensively all we need is for him to be adequate on defense.

Welpee wrote:

KnickDanger wrote:Dayton's coach is on ESPN with Hahn and Bart (bless 'em, talking hard Knicks and NBA). Of course he's praising Obi but soberly and with details. Particularly interesting and encouraging to me is he emphasizes Toppin's basketball IQ and work ethic.

Keep in mind, his coach Anthony Grant was an assistant under Billy Donovan at OKC before taking the Dayton job. So he's a college coach with some NBA in his recent background.

By the way, does James Harden play defense? Isn't he a former league MVP? If Toppins plays as projected offensively all we need is for him to be adequate on defense.

NYStateOfMind wrote:Definitely OB1

BigDaddyG wrote:

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

No idea. I'm guessing Thibs had time to sit back and reflect during his brief hiatus, so it's possible he has new goodies to unwrap. Another question....what nickname do we give Obi. I saw someone suggest the "Dunkalorian" on Reddit and I've got to say...I'm all in. Also, Obi "Don't dunk on me."

Get on it Nike

NYStateOfMind wrote:Definitely OB1

BigDaddyG wrote:

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

No idea. I'm guessing Thibs had time to sit back and reflect during his brief hiatus, so it's possible he has new goodies to unwrap. Another question....what nickname do we give Obi. I saw someone suggest the "Dunkalorian" on Reddit and I've got to say...I'm all in. Also, Obi "Don't dunk on me."

Yeah...OB1 seems perfect to me.

CleaverGreene wrote:

NYStateOfMind wrote:Definitely OB1

BigDaddyG wrote:

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

No idea. I'm guessing Thibs had time to sit back and reflect during his brief hiatus, so it's possible he has new goodies to unwrap. Another question....what nickname do we give Obi. I saw someone suggest the "Dunkalorian" on Reddit and I've got to say...I'm all in. Also, Obi "Don't dunk on me."

Yeah...OB1 seems perfect to me.

And now that Portis is gone, the number is available!

KnickDanger wrote:Dayton's coach is on ESPN with Hahn and Bart (bless 'em, talking hard Knicks and NBA). Of course he's praising Obi but soberly and with details. Particularly interesting and encouraging to me is he emphasizes Toppin's basketball IQ and work ethic.

Players with high BB IQs and good work ethics usually find ways to play acceptable D, no. Missed the interview, but were his defensive deficiencies discussed?

Some of the video out there makes it seem that he has no concept on how to defend his position.
The dunks are nice, but isn't Thibs known for wanting players to grind it out on D?

I'm hoping they says things from him on D in any pre-draft workouts he showed teams.

NYStateOfMind wrote:Definitely OB1

BigDaddyG wrote:

Chandler wrote:^^ great question

does anyone have a clue what Thibs will do on defense, e.g., for pick and roll. i poked around some on this thinking Obi might be a liability in a pick and roll and was seeing a lot of criticism about his ICE scheme from Boston/Chicago/Wolves days.

further complicating the picture, someone like Frank has been very good defending PnR yet my memory of Woodson (now assistant coach) was switch on everything

anyone have any thoughts on what to expet?

No idea. I'm guessing Thibs had time to sit back and reflect during his brief hiatus, so it's possible he has new goodies to unwrap. Another question....what nickname do we give Obi. I saw someone suggest the "Dunkalorian" on Reddit and I've got to say...I'm all in. Also, Obi "Don't dunk on me."

ObiAND1

CleaverGreene wrote:

KnickDanger wrote:Dayton's coach is on ESPN with Hahn and Bart (bless 'em, talking hard Knicks and NBA). Of course he's praising Obi but soberly and with details. Particularly interesting and encouraging to me is he emphasizes Toppin's basketball IQ and work ethic.

Players with high BB IQs and good work ethics usually find ways to play acceptable D, no. Missed the interview, but were his defensive deficiencies discussed?

Some of the video out there makes it seem that he has no concept on how to defend his position.
The dunks are nice, but isn't Thibs known for wanting players to grind it out on D?

I'm hoping they says things from him on D in any pre-draft workouts he showed teams.

The Dayton coach was very upfront about Obi's need to improve defensively. He basically said he believes that Obi can become adequate defensively which is fine with his offensive skill set. Obi has acknowledged the need as well. Effort and willingness are something we don't see enough of.