Niyo: Duke's Okafor is huge MSU target once again
East Lansing — He crossed them off his list nearly 18 months ago.
But Jahlil Okafor once again has Michigan State's undivided attention this week, as the Spartans' prepare for top-seeded Duke — and the Blue Devils' All-America center — in Saturday night's national semifinal game in Indianapolis.
Okafor, once an elite recruit with Michigan State in hot pursuit, is a different kind of target now. It's no longer about courting him, but cornering him. It's not about luring him, but trapping him.
He's far from the only concern for Tom Izzo and his staff as they prep for Saturday's rematch of a mid-November meeting in Indianapolis, an 81-71 victory for Duke in the Champions Classic. But as the Final Four draws near, the 6-foot-11, 270-pound freshman — a potential No. 1 overall pick in this summer's NBA draft — remains the biggest obstacle.
And if we're going to insist on painting the Spartans as underdogs at this stage of the tournament, the proof is quite clearly in the paint.
"But I love playing against that," said Michigan State junior Matt Costello, who'll share the primary defensive duties with sophomore starter Gavin Schilling on Saturday. "It's a chance for you to make a name for yourself."
Passed over
Okafor is used to getting top billing by now. The nation's top recruit picked Duke over a list of eager suitors that included Kansas, Baylor and Michigan State in the end, teaming up with friend and fellow prep star Tyus Jones, now the Blue Devils' starting point guard. And from Day 1, he has been expected to do what Jabari Parker, the No. 2 pick in last year's draft, did as a freshman for Duke.
"No matter how many points he scores, he's the focus of attention," coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday. "He's the top person on every scouting report. People are going to double-team him or triple-team him or figure out how to defend him."
That's what Michigan State has been busy working on, ever since Sunday's exhilarating overtime win over Louisville in the East Regional final. Walk-on Colby Wollenman won't be easily confused for Okafor, but he'll have to do for now, playing the part as the scout-team pivot.
"We're gonna do a lot of different things to try to get him frustrated," said Schilling, the 6-9, 240-pound sophomore who played on the same Chicago-based AAU team (Mac Irvin Fire) as Okafor and Parker.
Offensively, they'll try to get him tired, if nothing else. Okafor isn't much of a rim protector, but he's a presence, nonetheless, and a player who hasn't gotten into much foul trouble, whistled just six times thus far in the tournament.
"I think you've got to put him in ball screens, you've got to make him move, make him do some things," Izzo said. "Hopefully we'll have some wrinkles that we'll try to put in, if there's any weaknesses, to try to find them. That's what these couple of days are for, to find some weaknesses and try to attack them."
Plenty of talent
They didn't exploit many with Okafor in the first meeting. He finished his third collegiate game — and his first real test — with 17 points (8-of-10 shooting), five rebounds, two blocks and two steals. He went on to average 17.5 points and 8.7 rebounds this season, earning AP All-America honors — one vote shy of joining Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky as a consensus choice.
Izzo calls him a "very polished" player, and that's easy to say watching him operate in the post — his footwork, his positioning, a big body with soft hands.
"He's got a quick first step, a very strong body, and a very good touch around the rim," Costello said. "He doesn't step out and shoot the three or anything like that — you know he's gonna stay in the paint. So you can stay in front of him. It's just he gets it up so quick and he's 6-11 with a nice touch."
But after scoring in double figures in 34 of 35 games this season, Okafor was held in single digits in twice last week in Houston, scoring 15 combined in wins over Utah and Gonzaga.
Utah freshman Jakob Poeltl held his ground, but he was helped by a steady diet of double teams. For Gonzaga, it was 7-foot-1 Przemek Karnowski, a 290-pound mountain of a man, leaning on Okafor with a fair bit of success after getting in some early foul trouble. At times, he simply outhustled the freshman.
"But he's still the focal point of your scouting report," said ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg, formerly Virginia Tech's head coach. "Are you gonna double him or aren't you? Where are you gonna double him from?"
Krzyzewski already knows the answer to that, as he said. And he knows it'll be even more dogged than the MSU guards digging hard against Louisville on Sunday, when the Spartans held Montrezl Harrell — a possible lottery pick himself — without a field goal in the second half and overtime.
"Really what our rules are is, every guy's got to guard his man and somebody else's," Izzo said Tuesday, explaining his team's defensive philosophy.
Saturday, there won't be much mystery as to who that somebody else is.
"For us to win," forward Branden Dawson said, "we know we have to contain Okafor."
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