Meh, whatever. Stick to your guns, and I thank you for posting about a player who is as puzzling as anybody on the roster right now. This team has players, but only one received national attention as a HS player, and only one dominated the NCAA tournament as a freshman. What happened to that guy? That's my main question.
Perhaps so. Then again, when Oden is destroying the league in three years, I'll remember what he posted and laugh when he claims to be Greg's biggest fan. My own personal satisfaction, I suppose.
I agree. I've never in 11 years of posting on forums seen a Laker fan spend so much time posting about the Blazers and insulting Blazer fan via PMs.
I already AM Greg's biggest fan. Read my post. I WANT him to be good. Want him to get good numbers. Want him to make All Rookie team. Don't tell Roy, but I think Bayless, Outlaw, and Oden are my three favorite players. I love it when we see flashes of Oden's potential. I think I love Bayless and Oden because I know they are both going to be near superstars in this league and it's fun when I get to see them flirt with the future. I like Outlaw because he's a wicked dunker, can hit threes, can occassionally dominate any defender, and can hit big time clutch shots. Of course, I love Roy too, but those are three I get really excited about.
I hope the guy dominates as well. That said, why can he dominate on some nights and then disappear like this against teams with no centers. Brook Lopez kicked his ass tonight. Why? I am going out on a limb and guessing Greg is hurting and won't tell anyone. I really do hope I am wrong.
Thank you...but you will get a lot of shit for this! You cant compliment a Lakers fan on the Blazers board!!! ....and she does have a sweet ass...oh that fateful day over a year ago when I decided to place that ass in my sig....memories
Perhaps because Oden has played like Yinka Dare that past two games after dominating a donut Chicago squad? Why do you individually call KingSpeed out for posting about a starter (and future centerpiece?) who seems to be regressing or invisible when he plays against teams that have somewhat of a post presence? BROOK LOPEZ dominated Oden tonight. Why? Isn't that a fair question without it being a criticism?
I questioned his seeming to call Oden a bust (which is what Sam Bowie is generally invoked to mean) and then basically saying he knew Oden wasn't a bust. It sounded like he then just created the thread to be provoking. He answered my question. So it was a good interaction. I think that's a mischaracterization. Oden scored pretty easily on Lopez, then drew fouls from Lopez and blocked Lopez. What he struggled with was defending the pick and roll, especially when Harris was getting into the paint at will. When Oden and Lopez were in direct competition, individually, Oden was pretty easily superior. He had trouble with his team defense tonight. Is it concerning? Not really. He's a rookie, about 30 games into his career. I expect him to make lots of mistakes. If a year from now he's struggling with the same things, I'll be quite concerned.
their stats per 36 minutes are very similar. oden with 12.7 and 11.2, bowie with 12.3 and 10.7. oden gets to the line more and turns it over less, while bowie has more assists and blocks and fouls less. field goal percentage is almost identical. so i wouldn't exactly say that oden is having a much worse rookie season than bowie.
this is correct. the only times lopez scored on oden were when oden came too far over to harris and left lopez wide open. that in itself is definitely a problem, but that is definitely not lopez dominating oden.
I'm not saying I am unwilling to make excuses for Oden as well, but Nic Batum has almost made Oden look like an afterthought rookie the past two games, and Bayless finally showed that he's the next Devin Harris tonight.
EXACTLY what I posted in the "Why so little time for Greg?" thread: Um... we gave the ball to Oden, he backed Lopez in and scored easily. Then, on the other end, he blocked Lopez. Lopez started stepping out for open jumpers while Oden tried to protect the basket from a driving Devin Harris. Lopez made a couple. Oden got yanked. Played a little at the top of the second half and that was it. Was never given a chance to really play. Yes, he played 12-13 minutes, but they were in two short stints where he never had a chance to get comfortable. Look at Bayless tonight. Tonight was the FIRST game all season where Bayless KNEW he would get big minutes. So he relaxed and dominated. Greg would do the same thing if we showed him some confidence, left him in the game, and gave him the damn ball.
had the team just gotten oden the ball when he got position, oden would have either gotten easy points or lopez would have been on the bench with foul trouble. then you don't really have to worry about josh boone knocking down jumpers. of course a couple of times oden gave lopez layups.
Batum has been the most impressive relative to expectations, since little was expected of him. Oden, in my opinion, has been the best of the four rookies objectively but since so much (unrealistically, but not unsurprisingly) was expected of him, he seems to be having a poor season. His main problem, to me, is that he hasn't yet learned to play aggressively without fouling. Which leads to him playing actively and then sitting down quickly due to fouls, which leads to him being more passive so as not to draw fouls, which causes McMillan to pull him. Until he conquers that problem, he's going to seem extremely inconsistent.
