I know this will get me lots of but in my opinion you need him to get minutes in order for him to develop. It sucks because it could cost us wins and with Pryz playing so well it's actually going to initially hurt the team. Pryz is fools gold no offense to him, love his play. Pryz will help you win games now but he's not the guy who will get you to the promise land. Greg is a franchise player and the sooner we get him involved the better. He needs to get fed in the post, he needs to play more than 20 minutes a game and he needs to be in at the end of games. Ok fire away, call me
I think its better for Oden if he is eased in to playing more. I'm relatively happy with the time that he is getting. He will slowly gain more playing time and confidence.
Exactly. 20 minutes or so every game, until he's up for 25, then max out at 30, and let him get his legs under him again. I have a feeling we'll see a very different Oden by the All-Star Break, if he stays healthy (I hate adding that part)
He needs a whole year of NBA conditioning before we throw him in there 35 a night and a touch every other time down the floor. He simply isn't in game shape yet due to the micofracture. It took Amare a year and it will take Greg a year to get his quickness back.
He can still improve in 20-25 minutes. In order for him to get more minutes though, he needs to earn them. If he can't prove he's better than Przy, than Przy deserves to play. Oden is like everyone else on the team. You want minutes, earn them. At this point he doesn't deserve to play more than Joel. I don't think giving him more minutes automatically means he'll improve. 20 minutes is more than enough to show what you can do. I'm sure he'll get it eventually, but at this point you go with Joel.
Btw, Oden must be tired because he has 0 blocked shots in his last 3 games. We all know that isn't the real Greg Oden. Patience. Not only is he a rookie, he's a rookie coming off micro-fracture. So not only is he being introduced to players the same size as him for the first time in his basketball career, he can't use his freakish athleticism to his advantage, like Dwight Howard. Sure Oden is still athletic, but he's probably only 70-75% of what he really is athletically. So what you get is a guy with no offensive moves and for the first time doesn't get to rely on his athleticism. Tough.
good post. However, I'm getting pretty tired of the "coming off of microfracture" excuse. He hasn't had pain from the micro surgery in HALF OF A YEAR! He not in basketball shape. It shouldn't take a young kid that long to get into shape, he should be in shape soon. It may take him a little longer to get his quickness back. He's going to get his quickness back. He's going to get his quickness back. Really, he's going to get his quickness back - I think, I hope, don't you think? crap.
I agree. I wouldnt mind seeing Oden get more minutes, especially when he's struggling, so he can work thru it and get used to life as an NBA big man. He also needs something to boost his confidence.
I don't mind seeing him play more when he's struggling, but what worries me is him playing to much when he's tired. Then I think he is more likely to get injured.
if he cant dominate vs the heat, he better check out the d league. college teams are bigger then the heat lol
I'd love to see Greg get more minutes, but that's hard to do when you are racking up 4 fouls in fifteen minutes. All I can say is thank god we've got Joel to plug in there when things have gone South for G.O.
Without Joel's and Brandon's consistent play, it's scary to think where we'd be right now. Joel+Brandon= Our Big Two.
Hell let him play till he fouls out. That's an additional 8 minutes based on the 4 fouls in 15 minutes. He needs court time to improve, sitting on the bench isn't going to help him learn. These guys get hardly any practice time during the season so he's waisting time on the bench. Obviously it could/will likely cost us a few wins but I don't want to waste an entire year seeing him play 15 minutes a game. Let the learning begin.........
Thought about this more as the day went on, and what kind of coach would McMillan be to play Oden more than Przybilla when Przybilla is playing the best ball of his career? How can you do it? You can't. Joel has worked hard and it's showing on the court. He looks good out there with the team, and as said above, is playing the best ball of his career. I think you have to reward him for that. Oden's time will come. He's only 20 years old, and he still has a lot to learn, let alone just get in game shape.
I truly understand what you are saying. Problem is we are talking about a player that's low ceiling is the best Pryz has ever played. Joel has been amazing and probably been our 2nd best player this year problem is Joel doesn't lead us any where but maybe a low playoff spot while Oden has the potential to lead us all the way to the championship. Again I love what Joel has been doing, but I would rank developing Oden above what we are getting from him. Sorry but at a minimum I want to see Oden getting 25-28 minutes a game. Feed him the ball 10-12 times and get him in during crunch time. Speed up the process a little, presuming he's healthy.
I see your point, but I actually think it can be more harmful to a young player's confidence to just leave them out there to founder rather than pulling him when it looks like they are on precipitous slide -- especially a guy like Greg that seems to internalize so much pressure. Being pulled in the middle of sucking it up on the court can be a teaching moment if done correctly.
I have the answer answer fro Oden . . . forget psychology 101 on the guy, get him a cup of coffee before the game so he can WAKE UP!
I think Greg has big time confidence issues! Don't know why but he vanishes, and his body language shows he really is not feeling strong with what he's doing out there. To be honest this is exactly the opposite of how I thought he'd begin his career. I figured he would be so dominant that he'd foul out all the time. Truefully he looks like he's just hanging on out there and his fouls are not ones a big man like him should be making. Doesn't matter if he hasn't played with the starters he's a huge kid that should be demanding the ball down low, he's not! That concerns me. The great centers do, and did from the minute they put their NBA shoes on. If Greg doesn't have Shaq like killer instinct on the low post than him being a franchise center may never happen. I think when Portland drafted him most of us thought on the lines of Patrick, Hakeem, Bill and Shaq. What would you compare him to now? I am far from giving up on him!!!! BUT... he needs to show some real fire. The other centers in the league should feel beaten before they even play him. I don't see that! Let's hope it changes.
I think Greg is smarter than you give him credit. He said clearly that at this point his job is to rebound and play defense - he knows he is not in proper game shape - so he accepts what his job is. He is already an elite rebounder - and I think that once his conditioning will improve you will also see the defense and rotating on smaller players will be much better. I am willing to bet that once these things happen - he will be able to spin away from his defender quickly, he will be used to catching these fast passes in traffic and this entire issue will be no more. Until late January I expect him to go up and down between having dominant performances in short spurts and games where he just tries to blend in. At that point - I am guessing you will start seeing a much better Greg Oden - and he will start to dominate on a more consistent basis around the time we roll into the playoffs.
