<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> LAS VEGAS ? For the second time in three days, one of the NBA's marquee rookies was welcomed to the big time by getting his first shot of the game swatted by Mavericks center DeSagana Diop. Greg Oden, like Kevin Durant on Friday, learned that this is no pitty-pat competition. Even at the summer-league, the talent is far above the college level. The early returns on Oden, the No. 1 draft pick, are that he won't have any trouble being physical. He has 19 fouls in two games, including nine Sunday. Since it takes 10 to foul out in the NBA Summer League, he stuck around to the end in the Mavericks' 72-68 victory. Oden finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four blocks. But the Mavericks said Oden's impact is going to grow stronger over time. "He's stronger than a lot of guys in the league already," Diop said of Oden, a 7-foot, 250-pound 19-year-old. "I was kind of surprised for his age to be that strong. The fives [centers] better get ready for Oden." As for his game-opening block on Oden, Diop just smiled and said: "That's what I do." He also blocked Durant's first shot Friday. Oden also made his debut Friday, and the difference that one summer-league game made was clear. On Friday night, he had 10 fouls in 20 minutes. On Sunday, he had nine in 28 minutes. </div> Source: Dallas News
It's nice to see that the impact of two summer league games already has incredulous, impulsive sportswriters trying to pump up DeSagana Diop against Greg Oden.
Well for Oden it's nice to not just play against tallent better than college, but a real NBA C who gets minutes and is a good defensive C, not some offensive guy he can just kill on offense all day. He had some nice moves inside against Diop, and wasn't affected by anything related to strength. He had no problem backing down guys and making strong moves on them.
I realize, I just get annoyed when sports writers and refs gang up on young players. Andris Biedrins, for example, led the NBA in fouls last year, and he was getting one of the hardest whistles I've ever seen.
^Well, refs give credibility to certain players, IMO. Like Dwyane Wade gets every call. He dribbles the ball up the court, some tries to steal it, foul. He goes up, a little contact, FOUL! So, it happens.
