Sure, he made a few rookie mistakes such as getting pump-faked by Parker for that silly foul. However, he also had some very meaningful minutes of play. He altered, if not blocked, shots. He teamed up with Brandon for at least one dunk. His presence was felt out there and I felt he played an important part in that comeback and ultimately the win. Good on ya, Greg! 21 Minutes 8 Points (4-5) 8 Rebounds 2 Blocks 5 Fouls (at least 2 of them ticky-tack)
and he did it all despite only being given the ball a single time in a post up situation. well i guess rudy's great pass should count as well.
Greg played well and made his presence known in that second-quarter comeback. I love what he's bringing off the bench. That one play though where he just didn't get enough lift on his dunk was kind of weird, but probably one of those weird flukey things. Oden's bringing it though
Yeah it will be great when he actually gets a healthy chance to work on his footwork/lowerbody. Your gonna see him dominate! Oden canceled out the great Tim Duncan tonight, and without any legs he nearly dunked on 7'6" Yao Ming! Texas has got nothin on us. . - - RIP CITY --
It looked like he was hit in the back on that play. I don't know if that's why he was short, but it could have been enough to make the difference.
It looked like Ime ran into his side and knocked him off on this play. No foul called, of course - as Oden was on the receiving side.
With as big and strong as he is, I'm really surprised at how easily he gets blocked or thrown off kilter on his dunk attempts. No doubt that he'll get that corrected, but he seems to miss a lot of them.
was his lift really a problem on that? it looked to me like he got up to dunk it and just slammed the ball down on the front of the rim. it wasn't a lift problem, just simply a missed dunk.
He bent forward either expecting contact or had received some... I don't even think he was looking at the hoop when he tried to score there.
well charley rosen wrote a dumbass article talking about how joel is a much better player than oden at this point. i won't waste anyone's time by posting it, i wish the guy who posted it where i saw it had told me who had written it so i wouldn't have wasted my time.
It was a dumb article, but I'm not so sure I wouldn't the premise is wrong. If I needed one game to win (say, Game 7 of a series) I would want Pryzbilla right now. He'd bring that interior toughness/defense and rebounding for sure. You generally wouldn't worry about fouls with him, either, or him turning the ball over when he receives it in the post (because he doesn't). I think Oden will be better, obviously, but if he becomes a Pryzbilla-type rebounder and defensive post presence (does anyone in the NBA play Yao better?) with a better offensive game I'm thrilled.
Clearly, having BOTH Joel/Oden right now is a luxury. I love Greg coming off the bench. He still picks up a ton of fouls, but it doesn't handcuff us as bad (most nights) b/c we can go right back to Joel. There are games like Monday vs the Grizz where Joel picks up a couple of quick fouls and we have to go to Greg early. That was scary when both of them were in foul trouble early. Even though Oden hasn't been a mountain of production since he came back, he is valuable. I mean, when he was out and we had to go with Frye to spell Joel . . . that was ugly. You know if Greg is in there teams aren't going to get those cheap points (offensive rebounds, tip ins, layups, dunks) Even if he gets in foul trouble and it's only 11 minutes that night, it still gives Joel his breather. And on those rare nights when Greg gets 18/12, then you're playing with house money.
Ime definitely hip checked him at just the right moment to mess up the dunk. And that dribble drive was sweet. I certainly didn't expect that.
