Mehmet Okur needs to learn how to block out
Utah center Mehmet Okur has played pretty well against the Lakers; he’s averaging 18 points and 11 boards against L.A., which is a pretty nice jump from his regular season stats. But the guy needs to stop flopping in crunch time and get his team a defensive rebound.
With 1:53 to play and the Lakers leading, 101-100, Okur was positioned for a defensive rebound when Gasol gave him a little shove in the back. Okur, like most international players, overreacted to the contact, trying to draw a foul. The refs didn’t bite and Gasol gathered the rebound. The possession eventually ended with a Lamar Odom dunk.
With 0:21 to play and the Lakers leading, 105-102, Okur again had position – this time in the lane – when Gasol put a forearm in his back and pushed him three or four feet towards the basket. When Sasha Vujacic’s missed shot came off the rim, Okur left his feet and again overreacted to contact from Gasol, taking himself out of the play once again in an attempt to draw a foul on Gasol. The refs didn’t bite and Gasol got an easy dunk that put the game away.
Had Okur lowered his center of gravity and stood his ground, I don’t think that Gasol would have been able to move him so easily. Those two offensive rebounds decided the game, and those are calls that you just don’t get in crunch time.
Otherwise, Okur played pretty well in Game 5, posting 13 points and 13 rebounds, but if the Jazz have a chance to come back and win this series, he’s going to have to realize that he’s stronger than Gasol and that he needs to use leverage to move the longer Spaniard out of the way.
He was horrible. How do you get pushed around by Pau Gasol? Not like we are talking about a big bruising center here. Okur had to be tired at the end of the game and pretty much gave up. He was standing straight up and really gave no effort to go after those rebounds and tried to flail his arms for a foul call. I don’t think Utah can win with him. I think they would do better with a defensive minded player at the center spot in IMO.
Great site by the way added to my RSS feed list.
That is the knock on foreign players. For as fundamentally sound on offense they aren’t on defense.
Dannie – glad you like the site. We’re trying to put 8-10 posts a day covering the major sports, so be sure to come back and comment when the spirit moves you.
But back to Okur… given the fact that he’s been playing for Jerry Sloan for a few years now, it’s surprising that he can’t do something as fundamental as box Gasol out. All he has to do is locate Gasol, and get his backside into Gasol’s upper leg and he’d be able to keep him out of the lane. The fact that Gasol was able to move Okur down the lane is a travesty.