So far, Jahlil Okafor doing everything Sixers have asked of him

AT SOME POINT in the infancy of one's sports career, an athlete runs into some kind of high hurdle that takes weeks, months or years to clear. It could be perfecting the use of his nondominant hand in basketball, or skating backward in hockey.

Jahlil Okafor has been playing basketball since he can remember. His father and late mother played collegiately, so there isn't a time in his life where he can't remember playing.
The game has always come easy for Okafor, who is averaging 20.6 points in his first eight games as a pro. Scary easy.

Last season during his only year at Duke, Okafor struggled from the free-throw line, shooting only 51 percent. It was an area Sixers coach Brett Brown zeroed in on after the team drafted him in June. So Okafor opened the season making 15 of his first 19 (78.9 percent).

When Nerlens Noel, who is averaging 9.8 rebounds a game, was sidelined for Wednesday's game against Chicago, Brown approached Okafor about needing him to be a rebounding presence. So Okafor went out and grabbed 15.

Does the game come that easy to the 19-year-old? Could it be that, when he gets older and really learns what the NBA is all about, he'll become whatever type of player he sets his mind to?

"I can't remember anything that came hard to me on the basketball court," Okafor said without a hint of braggadocio. "I've always been a pretty quick learner. I always understood what the coach wanted. There really wasn't anything that I can remember a coach asking me that I couldn't do. The only thing was learning how a coach wanted me to do something, then I would be able to do it.

"I wouldn't call it easy. It's a lot of hard work. The free-throw shooting, I wasn't a bad shooter, it was just mental. I just got into a little bit of a drought at Duke last year. Every other year of playing basketball, I've been a pretty good free-throw shooter."

When he does find a slight deficiency in his game, he seeks help to improve it, and usually does. When his rebounding was below par to begin the season, Okafor approached Brown and asked for help.

"I've seen the rebounding numbers, and I'm not happy with it," the rookie said. "So I've watched film. When we played Cleveland at home, I only had three rebounds. So I asked our strength guy and coach to show me some footage of the rebounding I'm missing and what I'm doing wrong. It was little things. It's not that I'm not trying. I would box out, but I was boxing out with my arm extended, not like this (forearm along his man). That leads to a stronger base. Those are just the little things I have to get used to."

It appears it won't take long for him to do it.

Asked whether Okafor is so good that the game just comes easily for him, Brown replied: "I think he can be. I always go to his body. I go right to his body, and he's been great. Truly. If you see his skinfold and base my comment on data and facts and measurements, he's great. He's brought into that in a huge way. And if we can get him to be in the best shape of his life and hold that, then he will be quicker up and down the floor. He'll be able to get up and down the floor more times. He'll take his normal 10 to 12 steps to get up and down the floor and make them nine and eight. He will be a committed roller, he'll be a committed screener. He's going to chase balls out of his area and go get things. If you take his body and make it perfect, then he responds to coaching. My marching orders are three things with Jah this year: defensive rebounds, screen setting and rolling out of it, and deep catches.

"There are probably four or five guys in the NBA that are heavier than him, bigger. All that matters. How do we navigate that? (Monday), we saw him duck in hard, a few times. He got deep catches and could have had, really, in the mid-30s (in points) and 20 rebounds, if I had played him more and he finished like he normally finishes. He could have had a massive game. I see his ceiling being high, and I mostly love that he is coachable. He truly wants to please, he truly wants to get better. He's been a real treat for me to coach."

How could he not be? It's like a teacher teaching to students who already know the answers.

"He's a big, wide body who knows how to use his body in the post," Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. "He's light on his feet, great hands, a good feel for the game. Okafor probably has a better chance to make an immediate impact just because of his strength inside right now. The sky is the limit. I love his game, I like the way he plays. He plays tough, gritty basketball."
And it all comes pretty easy to him.

There are questions circulating about how exactly Nerlens Noel hurt his wrists, which have cost him two games so far and could lead to more.

On his way to the locker room, a frustrated Noel appeared to take two swings at something — a chair, the hockey wall, maybe. Could he have hurt himself then? Or aggravated his injuries?

If so, who cares? That's just a competitive athlete showing true emotion. If that is the case and the Sixers weren't forthcoming, then that's just silly.

Who: Sixers (0-8) at Oklahoma City Thunder (5-3)

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City

TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/ ESPN (97.5 FM)

Game stuff: The Sixers will get a little bit of luck in this one, as Kevin Durant will be out with a hamstring injury. But that might not exactly be good news for the Sixers. Last season in OKC, with Durant sidelined, Russell Westbrook went for 49 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

Who: Sixers at San Antonio Spurs (6-2)

When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio

TV/Radio: The Comcast Network/ESPN (97.5 FM)

Game stuff: Another homecoming for Brett Brown as he returns to the place where he was an assistant for Gregg Popovich for 12 years. It will be interesting whom the Spurs might sit in this one, as Popovich likes to find rest for his aging stars when he can.

Who: Dallas Mavericks (4-4) at Sixers

When: 7 pm. Monday

Where: Wells Fargo Center

TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/ESPN (97.5 FM)

Game stuff: The Mavs had an emotional game Wednesday, when they beat the visiting Clippers, 118-108. That was big because of the DeAndre Jordan circus this past summer when it looked as if he was going to sign with Dallas. In that game, Dirk Nowitzki had his best game of the season, with 31 points and 11 boards.

Who: Indiana Pacers (5-4) at Sixers

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Wells Fargo Center

TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/ESPN (97.5 FM)

Game stuff: Over his past four games, Paul George has averaged 30.3 points, and their win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday was their fifth in their previous six.

8: That's how many three pointers Isaiah Canaan hit in Oklahoma City last season (on 13 attempts) en route to 31 points. He also had seven rebounds and six assists in the 123-118 loss.

1: That's how many winless teams there are in the NBA right now after the Brooklyn Nets beat the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. That one team is the Sixers.

5: That's how many different starting lineups the Sixers have rolled out in their first eight games.

Blog: ph.ly/Sixerville