Sunday, April 1, 2007

Greg Oden is great? Explain to me why

For me, this picture perfectly sums up Greg Oden's game

Show me something, anything for cripes sake. Greg Oden is a talented player. He can shoot with both hands (from the free throw line in particular, if you hadn't heard. Thank you Billy Packer. I was not aware because I didn't hear you first 7,000 fucking times.). His range is 10 feet at best. I wouldn't guard him if he were standing with the ball on the foul line. He seems fairly athletic for a man of his size. Every now and again he even runs all the way down the court. He can sometimes gain perfect position on the block. When he gets the ball in the low block, scoring is second nature. He can also play D when his man keeps him inside. He can do all of these things. But from what I've seen, he can't do any of them for 3 minutes straight. Don't let anyone fool you, the guy's not lazy. He just gets lost sometimes. He has a tendency to follow his man to the high post and not rotate down even when the ball is swung to the opposite side or someone begins to penetrate. He commits dumb fouls. Really dumb fouls. And he doesn't change his play to reflect the manner in which the game is being called. And don't give me this shit that the refs should give him the benefit of the doubt in the way they do Shaq. They already do. The moving pick against Georgetow WAS a moving pick. He jammed his hip out and clipped the guy like he was doing the Electric Slide. The Green "charge" was questionable, but after he got called for it, he did the EXACT same thing in the second half with 3 fouls! Fortunately for him, Green went for the steal instead of establishing position and taking the charge. His fouls were cheap and stupid (though not as bad as Hibbert's slaps) and NONE of them were hustle fouls or a result of overaggressive and hard play. He seems to tire much more easily than guys one inch shorter than him (Noah, Horford) and he cannot pass the ball worth a lick, though in his defense he is not asked to very often. Worst of all, he just doesn't really care. I hate to gauge people like this in the same way we do political candidates we see on TV for 30 seconds at a time, but I haven't seen any desire on the court whatsoever. I feel like Oden would have reacted the same way had they won or lost, and that's troubling. Say what you will about Noah, but no one wants to win more than he does (and I hate the motherfucker). For me it comes down to this: What has Greg Oden done to earn such high praise? This team beat Georgetown without him and likely would have had he not even been on the team. What the F is so great about Greg Oden? I really want an answer because I don't see it. Why is he better than Andrew Bogut was when he was coming out? Why wouldn't I take the "Elton Brand clone" Al Horford over Oden without even really thinking too hard about it? Other than a warm body in the middle, what does Oden give that team? Why wouldn't they be better off with Shawn Bradley or Gheorghe Muresan? I've never seen Oden take over a game, or even try to. I've never seen him ask for the ball or D up a guy like he was intent on shutting him down. I don't care about his demeanor, but I do care about his passion and performance. I've been waiting for Greg Oden to live up to the hype now for about a dozen games that I've actually seen him play. And it leaves me wondering if we'll be waiting for him to take over in the NBA in the same way we waited for Olowokandi, Eric Lindros, Drew Henson or every other player with world class skill who never developed the desire to be great. If Greg Oden is so fucking good, why is he playing so fucking bad? Explain that to me, because I honestly can't figure it out.

11 comments:

Imam Me said...

Every NBA GM, college coach, and sports analyst says that he's still a work in progress but will be good. I guess you know more from your couch.

Have you ever seen him play in person? If so, how many times and how close were you to the action? There are subtle nuances to basketball that cannot be seen from TV.

But then again, maybe you're right and the entire world is wrong.

Dashiell said...

"Every NBA GM, college coach, and sports analyst says that he's still a work in progress but will be good."

Yeah ... and they're ALWAYS right.

mmmm beefy said...

He is averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. this is all on sheer athletic ability. when he develops the low post game and a little more game awareness he with be very hard to stop

Imam Me said...

thank you mmmm beefy

They are not ALWAYS right (find me any prognostic professions where people are always right). When their salary and living is tied to making predictions I would venture to say that they are more often right than not.

With the exception of Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale, of course.

Anonymous said...

To bobbybeingmanny:

Wait, GM's college coaches, AND sports analysts say he will be good? Well then....

Seriously, "If this" and "If that" is great, but frankly it doesn't translate in the pros. Look at all the HG players taken on the premise that "if they develop an actual game". Kobe won w/ Shaq & Phil and KG has been out of the first round once ( with Latrell & Sam C. ). Other that that, name another person everyone thought would be good that actually, you know, went on to be good. How's Marvin Williams upside in Atlanta working out?

If you're one of the worst teams in the league, can you really afford to wait around and see? People say Oden is the next Russell, but they're forgetting that Russell actually dominated games as early as college. He didn't sprout into a force just in the pros.

I may be wrong. However, I can't think of anything worse for a guy who is perceived as not motivated than to get to the next level, get a bunch of guaranteed money, then told to get better.

JG said...

"I say fuck a lot therefore my thoughts are, like, super-vaild."

Your blog sucks. I've only read it three times, but I'm basing my entire opinion on that small sample size.

Teams gear their entire game plan around preventing Oden from scoring; and when he does get the ball, he scores. And he changes how teams attack the basket on the other end. He also has the look of a 27 year old at 19, and uses this to his advantage with the ladies.

He didn't dominate Memphis? They tried their best to keep the ball from him and he scored 17- ON ONLY 8 FGA. Georgetown played him extremely well yet still couldn't completely stop him in the second half. And he played a hell of a game on the boards.

Also, are you ignoring the great regular season Oden had; the season that lead them to that 1 seed? Or do you think college basketball starts in March?

Yeah, he commits dumb fouls, too many for a college player. So did a guy named Hakeem Olajuwon, and he turned out okay.

Imam Me said...

THANK YOU JIM!!!

Why does every blog now need to say "fuck him/them" or "he/they suck". Instead of writing an intelligent post on how Greg Oden may be overvalued and how his level of intensity needs to get better, it instead just says he sucks.

PS, it's just one year (aka small sample size). Instead, I'll just refer you all to a well thought, intelligent discussion. Enjoy.

http://www.nbadraft.net/prevenas077.asp

the butler said...

Damn, dude. Looks like Oden's family has been reading you a lot.

I don't think Oden will be a bust or anything- but as a Grizzlies fan (yeah, I know it sucks to be me) I'm hoping for Durant or even Brandon Wright.

Imam Me said...

Oden's team didn't win tonight, so I guess smitt is right. Sorry I ever posted on this topic. Greg Oden is not good.

G.C. said...

He showed a lot more passion tonight and called for the ball MANY times.

Maybe that's why they lost.

His previous demeanor was part of the game plan.

Robvious said...

How 'bout that Greg Oden?