The Blazers announcers on NBA TV said that maybe Oden had read Smith's article. Smith was at the game and they showed him on camera while they were talking about the article.
As a dwarf you know about "low blows" don't you Hanky, Oden last night and recently has you looking like the fool you are.
Oden closing in on Dwight Howard's PER... Code: Rnk Player TS% Ast TO Usg ORR DRR RebR PER 1 Tim Duncan 0.568 16.4 8.2 23.8 11.3 29.0 20.5 26.64 2 Dwight How 0.635 7.6 15.6 22.0 13.0 29.4 20.9 24.06 3 Greg Oden 0.677 6.9 17.2 18.0 14.0 26.3 20.5 22.82 4 Nazr Moham 0.584 5.0 9.9 20.5 13.4 23.4 18.4 22.70 5 Andrew Byn 0.629 6.6 11.7 19.6 10.2 22.0 16.2 22.67 6 Marc Gasol 0.676 12.4 14.3 15.7 10.2 25.3 17.8 21.81 7 Al Horford 0.607 13.7 9.3 15.7 9.6 24.5 17.1 20.93 8 David Lee 0.566 13.1 11.6 21.6 7.7 26.9 16.8 20.08 9 Joakim Noah 0.583 17.3 13 15.1 13.0 26.9 19.7 19.59
Guys like Sam Smith never admit they are wrong. But then I seldom do either: http://blogs.bulls.com/chicago_bull...d-sends-bulls-to-third-straight-big-loss.html
"Oden, who isn’t exactly looking like he’s ready to dominate the NBA. But he’s no longer looking lost and though somewhat mechanical, with his strength and size he is becoming something of a force inside." He actually wrote that AFTER last night's ass kicking. Well, he may not be ready to dominate the NBA, but he is certainly ready to dominate Joakim Noah and the Chicago Bulls. Amazing, Oden totally destroyed the Bulls last night 24 PT, 12 REB, 2BLK, 7-8 FG, 10-12 FTs in less than 27 minutes and that only makes him "something" of a force inside. Sheesh. Sam Smith is the ultimate myopic homer. Noah is a good energy hustle guy (like Anderson Varejao), but he's not close to the player Oden is now. Oden already wipes the floor with him - and Noah is 3 years older and has very limited upside. Last night's performance clearly illustrates the difference between a dominant center and a nice hustle guy who is physically overmatched at the center position. BNM
noah has been having a great year. and marc gasol is a beast as well. anyone notice no brook lopez on there? Blowpez is 15th in center PER and is shooting .446. i thought he was supposed to be better than oden too
I kind of doubt he needed Sam Smith to motivate him, what with all the OSU-Florida history, I just think this is the player he's slowly maturing into. Conversely, I really think Noah is still a pretty damn good center, despite the way he played against Oden last night. I think getting bodied up all week by guys like Bynum, Gasol, Nene, etc. and then Pryzbilla and Oden last night has worn him down ... and he alluded to this in his post game comments last night (it probably doesn't help that he was the only front-court player worth a damn on the Bulls roster -- Taj Gibson is ... "raw"). Not to diminish what he does in the hustle department, but the real problem I see for Joachim is that I just don't think he is a guy who can command double teams or score from the block, and I'm not sure he's capable of single covering the truly overpowering physical guys in the league who have both height and bulk advantages. He's still a steal considering his draft position.
Oden is already dominating the league on defense. But, it's not a sexy stat - so most people take some time to figure it out. http://www.basketball-reference.com...t&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=ws
He's a decent center in the East, but when he comes out West and goes up against teams that are long and STRONG, he gets abused. For this reason, I think he'd make a better 4 than a 5. BNM
Last year's 2 Blazer v Bulls matchups... http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200811190POR.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200901120CHI.html yeah, hopefully someday Greg will be able to hold his own with Noah STOMP
He's second in the entire league in DRtg, leading the league in FG%, 2nd in TRB%, 1st in BLK%, tied for 1st in BLKS, 2nd in TS% and top 5 in several other statistical categories. Yet, ass clowns like Bill Simmons continue to call him a bust and Sam Smith will not admit Oden is better than Joakim Noah. And Greg is just getting started. The best is yet to come. BNM
Noah strikes me as a less intense, less intelligent, less crazy version of Dennis Rodman. And he's definitely more of a power forward than a center. You know who would look pretty good next to Noah? LaMarcus Aldridge. Tell LA to put on a little more bulk so he can better defend centers, and he'd be a perfect fit. I wonder how Viktor Khryapa worked out for them...
The trouble is, I don't think he has the right skill-set to be a 4 in today's NBA. His offense is all putbacks and hustle plays to my eye. That jumper of his is ... janky (to be kind). Basically I think he's a much more athletic version of Joel on offense and not quite as cerebral on defense. If he ever develops some post moves he could be pretty good; though at 24 years old, I'm not sure that's in his cards.
Simmons loves scorers and shooters, and Sam Smith is a Bulls employee so he's basically their version of Mike Barret when he writes for them; of course he's going to minimize what Oden did to Noah last night and give faint praise, he's not a reporter.
In their three head-to-head meetings: 11/16/2008: Blazers 116 Bulls 74 Oden: 11 PT, 10 REB Noah: 4 PT, 5 REB 1/12/2009: Blazers 109 Bulls 95 Oden: 17 PT, 13 REB Noah: 3 PT, 2 REB 11/21/2009: Blazers 122 Bulls 98 Oden: 24 PT, 12 REB Noah: 7 PT, 8 REB Average Margin: Portland +26.7 Oden: 17.3 PPG, 11.7 RPG Noah: 4.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG Oden FTW and it's not even close. Yeah, I'd say "he is becoming something of a force inside". BNM
The fact you wonder indicated he didn't. As you know Smith, in case some folks didn't notice, now actually writes for the Bulls, so his bullshit to useful information ratio is higher than ever.