Mehmet Okur Player Preview 2009-2010
by BC7 on Oct 29, 2009 3:14 PM MDT
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via www.babakus.com
When the Jazz lost to the Lakers in the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs, the focus immediately turned to the potential free agents on the roster. Kyle Korver, Carlos Boozer, and Mehmet Okur all had player options for the 2009-2010 season, and all of them opted-in. Of the three, only one has been signed to an extension. Just a couple of days after opting in Okur signed a 2-year $20.8 million that will keep the 6’-11" Turk in Jazz colors through the 2011-12 season.
Memo had a big year for Utah in the ’08-’09 campaign averaging 17 PPG, and shooting a career best 45% from 3-point range, good enough for 6th in the Association. Okur was also one of the team’s best free throw shooters averaging nearly 82% from the charity stripe. Okur battled a few injuries down the stretch of last season which cost him 10 games, including the first three games of the playoff series against the Lakers. Upon returning he was clearly not at full strength playing only 21.5 MPG and averaging a paltry 4 points per contest.
Aside from the hamstring injury at the end of last year, Okur has been one of the most reliable Jazzmen over his first five seasons with the team averaging 77.6 games played per season. This has been crucial for a team which was plagued by injuries to two of its biggest stars last year.
While Okur will never be known as quick on the floor, a big weapon for him that he has continued to improve on is his ability to pump fake from the outside and get past his defenders to the rim. Add that to a hook shot that he has added to his arsenal this off-season and Okur becomes one of the most versatile big men in the Association.
As I mentioned in my Carlos Boozer season preview, having Boozer on the floor helps create spacing on the floor that is desperately needed for Utah’s offensive to be efficient. No one benefits from this more perhaps than Okur. When the Jazz have another low post presence it allows Memo to roam a little bit more around the 3-point arc while his defender has to help double down on Boozer (or Paul Millsap) on the block. Not only does this free him up for the outside ‘J’, but it also gives him the ability to do the aforementioned pump fake and drive to the dish.
A reoccurring theme for the Jazz in past seasons has been off the court family issues. With the well publicized Derek Fisher issues of a couple of years ago, and Boozer’s sons battle with a disease of his own, one thing Jerry Sloan mentioned that would be crucial for the year would be not only the health of his players, but also his players families. The reason I mention this is Memo’s wife, Yeliz, is pregnant with their second child and is due around the all-star break. While I obviously wish nothing but the best for the Okur family, it is worth noting how much this will weigh on Memo’s mind throughout the season.
As I did with the end of the Boozer preview, I am not going to make any grand predictions on what Okur will do this year, I instead will hope that you all will comment on this preview and let me know what you expect. How will the contract extension affect his play? Now that he is secured for a couple of years will he relax and "slack off", or will he work hard and prove he is worth the money he said he deserved this off-season? Much like with Booz, I can’t wait to find out.
All comments are the opinion of the commenter and not necessarily that of SLC Dunk or SB Nation.
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the thing i like about memo
is that he spends summers adding weapons to his arsenal. with a lot of players, you just hear about them “working out” and “getting in shape.” memo, on the other hand, spent last last summer working on his post moves, and last summer working on the hook, and that’s why he comes back all the more versatile every year.
by moni on Oct 29, 2009 7:16 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
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