Is Oden partly a victim of the Deron Williams treatment?

I remember thinking that Deron Williams was a pretty big disappointment because Keith Macleod (sp.? He's in the D-League now) was started ahead of him and Williams just didn't seem to do well when he got a chance to play, but it was just Sloan's method of breaking in rookies. I also remember hearing/reading that Nate was purposely allowing Oden to be out on the perimeter guarding wing players on switches so that he got better at moving his feet. Is it possible that a lot of the coaching decisions that are mystifying us (not much pick and roll, making Oden switch on to smaller players) are things Nate is doing as sort of a baptism of fire for Greg? It seems to me that he's likely to have the same attitude to rookies as Sloan (and yes, Nate is starting Batum, but (a) Batum doesn't play long, (b) Batum plays defense, and (c) Sloan did the same thing with Kirilenko) and also has the luxury with a decent team and an amazing backup to not have to baby Greg or try to protect him so that he stays on the court longer and is fed the ball more. Sound plausible?

 

I tried, I really really did ... but I just dont see it. Plausible? Yes. Likely? No.

 

I think it's possible, but I have no idea how you'd be able to prove it, short of having a really frank heart to heart with Nate.

I will say I hadn't thought of it until you mentioned it Rasta ...

 

Totally sounds plausible. I'm really looking forward to next season, mostly because I want to see how Oden, Batum, Bayless, and Rudy develop over the summer.

 

Of course, the risk is that you break a player's spirit that way. Sloan, of course, would not conceive such a thing possible or basically assume that if a player could get defeated that way then they're a big baby who's never going to make it anyway. I can see Nate worrying about that with Oden, but I think he figures that Oden is smart enough to make it work for himself and laying the foundation for an all-round game is worth it. I can just see Nate not wanting anybody to get a sense of entitlement, no matter how highly rated.

Still like to see some more pick and rolls, though...

(Incidentally, has anyone looked back at Joel Przybilla's stats as a rookie? How were his fouls/minute?)

 

Hey if it works for Sloan I'm not going to question it, he's a sure-fire first ballot HOFer for a reason. I do think the team should resist the temptation to treat Greg like he's "special", but I'm sure that the coaches and management are aware that injuries often have as much of a psychological component to them as a physical one and I have no idea what would or wouldn't be more effective with Greg; maybe he kind of needs the kid glove treatment right now?

As for Joel's foul rate it's kind of hard to compare since he only played 8.2 minutes per game, but he did rack up a whopping 1.7 fouls per game for 0.2 fouls per minute. Greg on the other hand averages 23 minutes per game even and 3.8 fouls per game for a rate of 0.16 ... so I guess you could say he's ahead of the curve

For Comparison's sake, D. Howard averaged 32 minutes per game and 2.8 fouls his rookie season for a rate of 0.09 fouls per minute

 

Nate plays 4 rookies in a 9 man rotation and starts 2 of them. He also had a Rookie of the Year just two seasons ago.

How can anyone possibly compare him to Jerry Sloan in terms of how he treats rookies?

 

Nate did say he's trying to keep Oden from learning bad habits like backing to the basket as Shaq does instead of moving is feet and staying with the player. In the short term his game is going to suffer, but in the long term he'll be a better player.

 

it really is all about the long term, we need him to kill for us the next 10 years, not this year, we have pryz to take his slack right now.

 

Does anyone really think that Greg can stay with Tony Park or Nash etc????

 

Does anyone really think that Greg can stay with Tony Park or Nash etc????

What center in the league has/can stay with the quick guards??

 

Still doesn't answer why Roy was a Rookie of the Year under Nate on a team that included Zach Randolph. Or is your position that you agree that Nate and Jerry Sloan have similar views on rookies? If so, the evidence in Portland seems to contradict that viewpoint. I know you're m.o. is to dispute pretty much any opinion I have, but in this case, it doesn't seem to hold up to the actual facts.

 

Oden is a victim of his teammates not throwing him the ball early, and of his coach not drawing up plays for him.

 

That's much closer to the truth than to blame Nate for freezing out rookies. I'lll add Oden is also a victim to varying degrees of effort, the committing of silly fouls, and a still-developing game.

 

Part of the problem is, Oden is trying to cover for the guards and SF which are allowing the penetration. If he lets the guy go by untouched, he gets yanked by Nate. If he tries to stop them, and committs a foul, he gets yanked by Nate. Sometimes he does nothing wrong, and is not in foul trouble, and gets yanked by Nate. Is there a pattern here?

 

Yeah, it's called "The Nate McMillain rotation" and it can not be broken.

 

That may be true, but then why isn't Przybilla racking up fouls at a similar rate while playing with worse defenders such as Outlaw and (when Blake gets back) Rodriguez?

 

Well, seeing as that is the purpose of the thread, I found my posts to be relevant and on-topic. So if you found my opinion to be "lacking", at least frame it in the proper context of the thread at hand. Or don't, and continue to let personal grudges impact your posting patterns.

As for Roy, Deron Williams was also a very polished college player who left after 3 seasons, one of which with an NCAA title game on a team that lost 1 game all year prior the UNC game. Perhaps you could start another thread detailing how Nate is holding back Oden without using Jerry Sloan as a comparative tool? Or how about a thread comparing Nate's use of the polished Roy versus Sloan's use of the polished Deron Williams? Either would suffice.