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[QUOTE="SUMBA, post: 1318209, member: 913"]
Okafor would have dropped 35 on us and Rak would have fouled out in the first half. At times we tripled Okafor and still couldn't stop him. The secret to stopping Okafor is making him set up farther out than he likes. If he gets both feet in the paint he is unstoppable. The problem with trying to get him to set up farther out is that he is 6 11 and 270 lbs. To size and strength add great footwork and balance and one can see why NBA scouts are drooling over the kid. I don't think there is a player in the college game today who can handle him straight up.

The difference in the game was that their non post players stepped up and ours didn't. I am not being negative, that is simply an objective comment. Duke overplayed the passing lanes into the post and dared our guys to shoot and we shot 30.6% for the game. On the other hand Winslow, who I think is vastly overlooked as a player, lit us up. It is a clear choice of pick your poison: Okafor in the paint or Winslow on the perimeter. As impressed as I am with Winslow, I would rather have him shoot from outside than Okafor down low.

On our end, Duke was willing to give Roberson free reign on offense. He got his points but Duke assumed he couldn't beat us by himself. Roberson scored 9 points and grabbed 4 boards in the first five minutes. Then Duke cheated a bit more his way and he scored 7 more points  and grabbed 5 rebounds.

The point is, a team has to do what gives them the best chance to win. Letting Rak go up against Okafor one on one does not give us the best chance to win. I could be wrong but I think Okafor has a game similar to Olajuwon's.
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