To Thompson's and Hawes' credit, they were both able to stay healthy all year and didn't nearly suffer from the foul-itis that Greg did, but I agree perceptions and armchair psychology seem to be driving most of the talk on Oden in the national media.
Thompson was a rookie last year. I think he exceeded most everyone's expectations, considering how many people shredded the Kings for taking him at 12 (roughly, maybe it was 13). He hasn't done anything to warrant a bust label or anything close. Hawes I'm not close to 100% on at this point, since he's been a slow developer, but the talent is there. If Eddie Jordan came aboard as our coach, he would do a terrific job with Hawes, who fits his system perfectly.
Going a little OT here - but forget about Thompson and Hawes - look at the guy that many people thought last year should have won ROY - Al Horford. Last year Horford had a PER of 14.7, FG% of 0.539, TRB% of 18%, ORtg = 108, DRtg = 106. The only place he was higher was his WS of 5.3 - because he played 20 more games and 10 more MPG. The amazing thing about Oden is that still not in game shape, after tons of time off with an extra 20 games of stupid injuries this year - he actually had a better rookie year than Horford had last year... Greg Oden had 2 miserable years of injuries - it's a real shame - I just hope he gets to finally get fully healthy for next year - because when he does - all the mental midgets that whine about him are going to be very busy trying to back-paddle...
If only it was just the national media - it is also people that call themselves fans of this team that are busy shoveling this garbage...
He also was a 22 year-old rookie who wasn't able to consistently start on a terrible team. I think it's way too early to call him a bust, but I think that it's still TBD whether he'll ever be more than a bench player. Hawes is younger than Thompson and I like his upside more. I agree it's too early to call him a bust. Compared to the Grizzlies and Thunder, I agree that the Kings' cupboard is pretty bare. Ed O.
For awhile now I've been thinking that the most important thing Greg needs to work on is his shot mechanics and footwork, but I'm starting to back off of that stance. In the first place he needs to regain the explosiveness and athleticism that marked his playing days in highschool and college, once his body is doing what he'd like it to do I have a feeling his psyche is going to relax and he's going to stop pressing so hard. The most encouraging thing I heard in the radio interview he gave to that Indy radio station a few days ago is that he sounds like he's planning to work his butt off on just that. Of course the footwork and refined skills are going to be important in time, but that's more of a two or three year process in my opinion.
If Greg could stay in the game an extra 10 minutes per game - he will be a fantastic upgrade for Portland - we will move from having a very good center combo to a dominant one - and this without him adding any skill offensively. Regaining his athletic ability will help with this as his body will be able to do the things his brain tell him to and get to places in time, add experience with the game and hopefully some better PG defense from our perimeter guys - and if he stays healthy he is very very likely to be a much better player just from this "natural" healing. If he also adds some simple skills to his arsenal and the Blazers work on getting him the ball on the pick and roll - look out.
6 million Euros is $8,334,000. What does the second pick get for first year salary and how much of the buyout can the drafting team pay? That seems like a huge buyout...is it at all likely that Rubio can/will buy his way out his Joventut contract?
Injuries are a fact of NBA life. When a player misses too many games to injuries, his value decreases. Period. In his career, Oden has played 61 regular season games out of a possible 164. In about 1/3 of the games he played, he took himself out of the equation with foul trouble. You can call it "garbage" - I call it hard reality. At some point, the excuses have to stop.
No. What I call garbage is the people that say he is going to be nothing more than a role-player. If anyone wants to complain about injuries - I have no problems with it. Still sounds rather silly to me - I doubt Greg chose to get injured, but I can not argue with the facts that he did. What I do take exception to is the people that do not see how special of a talent he is when he is not injured.
No, Penelope Cruz is all the reason you need to see that movie. Wowsa. What desert? There was a background? You mean there were other actors in that film? Didn't notice.
OK, I can agree with that. While I don't see Oden ever being a dominant offensive player, he clearly has the potential to be a beast at rebounding and defense. If he fulfills that potential, he doesn't need to put up Shaq-like numbers on offense for the team to win.
If all we're looking for is Penelope eye-candy, might I suggest her fairly recent movie, Volver... she is by far the most beautiful woman in the entire world. I love Spain. In fact, I think I'm going to watch it right now...
To me, he might not want to play in Memphis because they already have a good young PG, so he might not fit in well.
Okay so according to this Memphis is willing to move. http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=12721 I really find it pointless talking about Rubio. There's no way we could get in position to get him without giving up too much. He's the best PG prospect of this draft, but we're not getting him. KP is a wizard on draft day but he's not THAT good. I think what's going to happen is either New York is going to make an offer or if Rubio falls to number three Golden State could make a play at him. If New York is going to trade, Memphis is going to want David Lee and the #8 pick. But they can't deal the #8 pick until draft day and Lee is an RFA and can't do a S&T till July 1st. Memphis would have to draft Rubio and wait till Summer to make a deal with New York. Golden State doesn't have any of those restrictions. So if he falls to #3 then Golden State could offer Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, and the #7 for Collison and the #2. The Warriors might even be willing to move Monta Ellis or Andris Biedrins too. We'll see.
Frankly that would be a fantastic trade for both sides, and it's not completely out of the realm of possibility. The two teams would have a "handshake" agreement in place at the draft and the players concerned and their agents would be told the situation and they'd simply have to wait about a week or so to finalize the deal. The Golden State deal seems less likely, as I can't see many of their players being D'Antoni guys (Maybe Beidrins?)
Seems to me he could probably get a loan to pay this off. If he goes to the bank with the $500k from the NBA franchise, he'll "only" need a million bucks to put 20% down on a loan. He'll make more than that on his rookie deal. Probably wouldn't be a huge amount of interest, given that he could repay it all in 4-5 years. Sucks to be him, though, if he's an NBA washout due to injury or failure to perform. He could go through his rookie contract and not have a dime to show for it if he doesn't get a new contract.
