Why is Oden Stripped and Blocked so Often?

Jermaine was definitely inside the dotted line. Shouldn't that make a difference?

 

Ed if that was the case then you might as well call every inside shot an offensive foul. Because there is always a little bit of a clear out. Brandon would foul out in the first quarter. I just watched the replay about 10 times and did not see it. Now on a previous play he did and was called for it. But this one was a "rookie reputation call". But I will say they gave us a make up call on toronto's next possession. But still we lost 2 pts on the exchange.

 

Greg doesn't trust his knee yet completely, when he does he will take less time to gather himself to go up for the dunk. When he progresses with the trust in his knee, he will have his explosiveness go through the roof without having to gather himself.

 

One reason he gets stripped a lot is guys know that when he has the ball down low their best chance of stopping him is to simply hack at the ball before he goes up. Sometimes it's a clean strip, sometimes it's a foul, and sometimes it's a foul that's not called. He will learn to take better control of the ball in time. With his strength, I would think this is a short-term problem.

I think he will get blocked less when he improves on his ability to create space between himself and the defender, as well as when his general awareness of where the help is coming from improves, and when his timing gets better.

 

I remember an interview last year during a game where Greg was talking about how he does some things differently than Joel. If my memory serves me right, Oden said that he holds the ball higher than Joel around the basket and will not get stripped as Joel does at times. Does anyone else remember that interview?

 

Greg gets hacked a lot down there. Usually that slap at the ball is an automatic foul... sure would be with a lot of other players... but with Oden they are letting it go for some reason. He looks really out of control half the time though and you can't tell what the heck is going on.

The Oden offensive foul was a bad call. You can push someone off within the limits of your own body or you wouldn't be able to jump up. His arm didn't really move outside his frame.

 

Once he learns to take his time, make one move, and go he will be fine. It seems like right now he gets the ball and a million thoughts of what to do next go through his mind. I thought the best posession of the day was when he backed in twice, drew the double, kicked it out and the ball ended up in Rudy's hands for a wide open three. He is very good at passing the ball out of the post, he will get better at scoring.

 

While I agree that he has great hands, it isn't showing right now and that is probably because of his time away from basketball and some nerves. I've seen Greg fumble the ball more times this season than Przybilla. Greg will improve but to say he has great hands right now? No.

 

So palming the ball away from defenders means he has great hands? Or would that mean he has large hands?

Agreed on your sentiment, but he still fumbles the ball far more than Joel as well. Personally, I think the bigger and more significant test is if he catches the ball with ease all the time, and that's can't be said at this time. Although I am confident he will improve as he gets more comfortable on the court.

 

Yep. Practice time I would guess has been minimal considering Oden was hurt for much of the early season. All he needs to do is move his arms up with force and the slapping will go away. Break a finger or two of an opposing player; Greg is strong enough to do this. This stops the slapping. Nobody slaps at Shaq. Instead, they hug him and hope for mercy on the foul.

 

Joel never caught the ball well before this year.

 

Who is working with Greg on these things?

 

wow, something interesting I noticed. Check this out.

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Before his surgery, in summer league, i'm not looking at how fast he is or how high he jumps or how thin he was. Look how quick he went up, and his quick jump, and quick decision making. Even on that hookshot from the post, he made the right move, didnt overdribble or anything.

He will get it back. That Oden is going to be awesome! Specially that physical Oden with the skills that he has gained over the past year and a half. He is going to be Great!

 

Thanks for that vid. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we won't see the real Oden until either really late in the season or next year. His explosiveness and confidence just aren't there yet. We're seeing flashes of it but we're mainly seeing Oden succeed so far because of his size and BBIQ.

 

Yeah. And he is still probably a top 5-7 center in the NBA. He is getting double doubles like a madman... has like 7 throguh his first 15 games, and also has a 13 and 8 game.

HE is going to be top 3-4 by the end of the year. He will be awesome. I have absolutely no doubt about this. He just needs to continue to get healthy, and get his mind/nerves right... the rest will come w/ time.

 

Thanks, that vid was an eye-opener. He was so fluid. Can't wait to see that again, but in the meantime I guess I'll have to be content with double doubles!