Yes I know his points weren't great, but did any of you get the sense that GO has started to figure Yao out? I think Greg knows that if he uses his speed, and stays infront, that he can out finesse Yao. Personally I think Greg is getting tired of Yao's shit and would love to break loose on him for one play. Let's hope he does, cause if Yao gets out of rythem and no Wafer that puts the whole game on Artest and Scola and I can live with that. The baby steps GO is making is starting to look like the player we all were so excited to get!
I think the officials allowed him to foul Yao and get away with actions that would have been called in Games three and four. GO was allowed to be agressive with Yao and it helped his confidence. We'll see how the refs call Greg in Game Six.
I also think Nate took Greg out of the game right as Go was starting to get into flow. He was disrupting out there, maybe not pretty but it was working.
I'm starting to wonder if they think the Rockets shorts are toilet paper the way Przybilla and Oden seem attached to Yao's left thigh. Oden is picking up a few things, but it's really Przybilla doing the heavy lifting (wiping?) in this series.
I wouldn't necessarily call being physical with Yao "Fouling". Yao sure does cry alot for being a 7'6 big man. Greg's no different with his hands then Joel, except Greg gets fooled by the hooking of the arms by Yao. Watch Yao do it to Greg all game long. Pryz basically pushes his ass into Yao and doesn't get the call, I think it's because Joel's bent over touchin his toes and Greg just bodies him.
If he's allowed to be physical and play playoff-type basketball, then G.O. can hang with Yao on the defensive end but if they're going to call those crap fouls again for touching him, then it's not going to go well.
I cannot fathom why the blazer guards seem to think that the only way to get oden the ball is back-to-the-basket. Didn't the P&R work like 3 times in a row in game 3? just let the man run and dunk. He'll rack up drawn fouls like it's cool.
Oden's defense on Yao in game 5 was great. If given a bit more leeway to be physical (the same leeway all established centers get), his reputation for defensive excellence is clearly justified. It's when Oden either commits silly fouls (which I think are due to being inexperienced with NBA speed of the game) or when officials decide that Oden must have fouled because Oden tends to foul a lot that his defense suffers.
Agree. Did you see the aggression with which he attacked his two blocks in the 4th? Wafer's reverse layup in particular. It's as if he realized "they're letting me play" and went off. A couple of dunks in there would've really gotten him going, imo. I don't know that I've seen anyone's defense feed so much off of what they're doing on offense. Usually it's either scorers who reluctantly D up for a stretch (Roy against 'Melo and Joe Johnson comes to mind) or defenders who are great on D no matter what (Joel, Dikembe, Birdman, Camby, Lue, Raja, Bowen, etc).
Oden isn't comfortable with his back to the basket right now because he didn't get enough plays called for him during the regular season. Now is not the time for him to learn. If Portland hits him while he is moving towards the hoop, then he can be very effective. Not sure why our Pick and Roll is so one dimensional.
Since the refs use the player's style to determine when a foul should be called, I think Oden should knock the living shit out of guys. Then when there is just a little contact the refs won't think it is such a big deal. This works for Artest, so it should work for Oden going forward. My biggest problem with Oden's fouls are that they are pussy touch fouls. I don't care if he fouls out of a game as long as the dudes he fouled remember the beat down he game them for days afterwards.
imagine greg with a full training camp under his belt... i bet his steps forward from this year to next year will be huge
I just want to see GO grab the ball deep in the paint put a spin move on Yao and dunk it with energy and stare right at the camera with a look of "I HAVE ARRIVED PUNKS!!!!!!" This can also be achieved with the pick and roll but which ever way some damn aggression is massively needed. You can almost see that rage brewing in him, when he goes off OH MAN!!!!
It probably will in the long run, which is what's so exciting about Oden. Unfortunately, you can't just flip a switch in one game and see it happen. It's taken years of grabbing, elbowing, hacking and also really good legit defense for Artest to get to where he is. Oden would foul out in the first half if he played that physically. You'd think by now Oden would have a feel for when he's about to get called for yet another ticky tack foul. It does make you wonder why, if he knows it's coming anyway, he doesn't just charge at the ball for the "steal" and level the other guy. Unfortunately for us in this series, I think he's in that crappy middle ground. He's too well-coached to pull stunts like that, but he's too poorly reffed (and too slowed from the injury) to play defense the right way. If only he could just watch some old videos of Ha Seung Jin..... Man, did I just say that?
This is my point exactly.... if you're going to get a stupid punk foul make it count and send a message! Houston does it to us every game, time to return the favor, this is the game to do it in!
I watched some video on Greg a few months back while he was at Ohio State. He has slowed down a lot and I think the micro-fracture surgery and his rookie curve have a little to do with hit. IF he works hard this off season on his core strength and offensive moves (like a 5-10 foot shot), I really think he will develop into a great third option on this team. He is very strong and now that the refs are letting him push back, he should hold his own. Because is isn't a good offensive player and Yao is so big, I don't think we will ever see a lot of offense this series from him. Just a terrible match-up with a center with limited shooting range.
Anyone else think that he's got the 12-foot jumper in the rep-a-twah, but totally afraid to bust it out?
