<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Next June?s NBA draft has been dubbed the Greg Oden Sweepstakes. Celtics [team stats] coach Doc Rivers has referred to the 19-year-old Ohio State freshman as ?Bill Russell.? Most league general managers and scouts, convinced that the era when a Tim Duncan or Ralph Sampson chose the warmth and enjoyment of college over a quick jump to the pros is over, already have Oden tabbed for a walk to the Madison Square Garden podium in a new big-and-tall suit four months hence. Many point to the surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right (shooting) wrist as a determining factor. The injury, according to common wisdom, taught Oden that life is short in NBA terms, and that now is always the time. Oden, probably in a sane attempt to insulate himself from the excitement that has reached a third-degree state among victory-starved Celtics fans, sounds like he doesn?t understand the fuss. This affable 7-footer said he enjoys life as a student, including the ebb and flow on OSU?s Columbus campus, watches lots of movies with his teammate and high school pal, Mike Conley Jr., and still addresses adults as ?Sir.? An ambitious Oden wanted to start, immediately, as a finance major, until worried advisors talked him out of the course load. ?They told me that all of the math courses I?d have to take during the winter wouldn?t necessarily be good because of all the traveling that we do,? he said Monday. ?So right now I guess my major is ?undecided.? ? Undecided perhaps, but also unhindered in his academic progress, thanks to the more standard curriculum. As of last week Oden was nursing a 3.7 grade point average -- perhaps the surest sign of all that in this special case, the academic side of life isn?t the forced march that greets some Div. 1 athletes in their first year. Which brings us back to that prickly title -- the Greg Oden Sweepstakes. Oden, bemused, took a long, thoughtful pause. ?It?s not my sweepstakes at all, because Kevin Durant is really doing his thing this year,? Oden said of the explosive Texas forward -- another freshman -- who already seems to be the consensus No. 2 pick. ?I really don?t know about all of these things people are saying. I don?t listen to it. ?I hear a lot about me and Kevin Durant,? he said. ?But I know he?s a much more advanced player right now than I am.? Beyond more immediate joys and concerns like the success of his hometown Colts and the goal of beating Wisconsin for the Big Ten championship, this is as far afield as Oden cares to look. ?Honestly, I don?t think it?s got through to him at all,? OSU coach Thad Matta said of the NBA. ?He and I have had one discussion about it -- we?ll talk when the season?s over.? That?s good enough for Oden. ?Whatever happens, I won?t even be talking about it until the season?s over,? he said. ?It?s not something I?ve talked about with people.? Not even his parents, Zoe and Greg Sr.? ?I haven?t talked about it with ANYBODY,? he repeated. </div> Source
Bill Russell, come on. People have to stop attaching huge expectations to these kids. Bill Russell is one of the greatest baskeball players ever to play. Let Oden be Oden. And I wouldn't even consider taking Durant over Oden, cause Oden looks like he can dominate at both ends of the floor.
