Not to beat a dead horse but the two players selected directly after Greg Oden are now All-Stars. Could there be too much pressure for Greg to live up to his selection? He has to prove he can stay healthy for an entire season. He has to live in the massive shadow of Durant until he can prove he can even be mentioned in the same breath as KD. He did have a +23 PER (with a defensive rating of 100) but was still very raw on the offensive end. Durant has a +25 PER with a defensive rating of 102. His offensive game is insane with a scoring average of 29.6 It's to the point where how can you even defend this pick? injuries aside, KD is clearly the better talent.
who cares. Greg just needs to focus on Greg and the Blazers. No pressure. It shouldn't motivate him either. The only thing holding him back is his health. The rest will come. He does not lack skill.
I completely disagree, I wouldn't think twice if I knew both were going to stay healthy, Oden is a better talent at a position far harder to find than Durant. Greg was starting to do a lot of nice things on the offensive end. I like the future of the small foward position in the hands of Nicholas Batum. The argument is perfectly legitimate now that Oden has had such injury issues, but if both were healthy I don't think twice about taking Oden.
Back when the 2 where in college, the arguments in favor of Durant always came back to one point: KD is one of those people who lives/eats/sleeps basketball. If KD was a foot shorter, he would be Spud Webb. He would somehow find a way to still be a basketball player. If Oden was a foot shorter, he would be in dental school. I'm sure Oden feels pressure from the situation. Whether it motivates him, I am not so sure. He strikes me as the type of player who just doesn't get fired up about much of anything.
Oden's been excellent when healthy. Are you saying he's been injured due to feeling too much pressure?
I keep hearing this, how is Oden a better talent? Because he's bigger? Kevin Durant is almost a year younger and has has drastically improved his defense since coming into the League. He went from a defensive rating of 110 to 102 in two years. Greg was becoming a threat from the block but Durant is a threat from mid-range, three point-range, slashing, and even from the block. You can't compare the two here, if ever. Oden does have a significant advantage as a rebounder, though. But his 'potential,' even healthy, doesn't come close to what Kevin Durant is already doing.
Durant is a scorer and offensive player. He's the centerpiece on a team, not a complimentary player. Oden is the center on a team (not position wise). He took his team to the national championship game. He gets double teams when he gets the ball in the post, making the game easier for others. Everyone knew that Durant will win scoring titles, while Oden will win rings. It was said by KP on draft day and I agree with him. This is how its always been. Who cares if Durant plays better defense? there's a lack of good, big defensive centers who can still draw a double team when they get the ball.
C'Mon, Al Horford is an all-star for the same reason Jamal McGloire was. They NEEDED a 2nd center in the east.
If that were true Joakim Noah would have a HUGE advantage here. He really should have been an All-Star this year. Same with Brook Lopez, if they were just looking for a second center.
We've heard that Durant is the better talent for sometime, but that just seems to be the thing to say when comparing smaller players to bigger players. Is Brandon Roy more talented than Shaquille O'neal? Maybe, he can do more things. It all depends on your definition of "talent." There aren't many 7 footers with Greg Oden's athleticism, defensive timing, and presence around the paint area. Kevin Durant is no defensive stopper, give me Nicholas Batum on the defensive end all day. Good luck at trying to win a championship with a bunch of perimeter players, even with a offensive superstar like Roy and Durant together. Jordan was the only one without a legitimate inside threat. Greg Oden will be an offensive threat if he wasn't already, don't fault him for the coach's mistake. Oden's impact on both ends of the floor far outdoes Durant's IMO.
Lopez is clearly better, Noah is comparable. The only reason why Horford went is because his team wins more.
And don't completely shortchange Durant's rebounding ability. He often gets double doubles and averages over 7 rebounds per game.
1) Durant can draw double teams and make the game easier for others. 2) Why can't one win scoring titles AND rings if surrounded with the right supporting cast? Jordan did it.
That's silly. That's like saying Oden's impact on both ends of the floor far outdoes Kobe's. Yes, Kobe. That's the level that Durant is achieving. Put a Pau Gasol on OKC and Durant would win rings before you knew it.
I keep hearing the Jordan comparison, and I just roll my eyes. Durant is more Dominique Wilkins/Clyde Drexler than Jordan. People forget Jordan just wasn't a good defender, he was the best wing defender in the league. As for the help Jordan had, Pippen was a unique talent. He could just fill the stat box as a sidekick or be an MVP candidate when leading a team--it's a rare commodity to have a superstar willing to sublimate their game that way. I'm not sure there's a Pippen in the entire league, much less on the Thunder. Like I've said before, if you want to win your fantasy league, take Durant. If you want to win an NBA Championship, take Oden. The only thing that's making us regret the choice is the injury situation. If both had been playing, both teams would be happy with their selections. Hell, GO's been so banged up he hasn't even found his role on this team. I'll be interested to see how GO is doing once he's played 200+ games in this league (insert asinine joke how that game will be played when he's 31). The bottom line is that while we haven't seen Durant's best, we haven't even gotten a real chance to see even a fraction of what GO can do. Once he's conditioned, once he's comfortable in our system and our players are comfortable with him, once the officials have figured out how to ref him and once he's figured them out and once he can get into a freaking flow for more than 20 games, then let's judge him.
