Not sure how many have noticed, as he's had limited floor time the last two games, but Greg for the first time is reminding me of the Oden I expected out of College. Perhaps it's him getting into better physical shape ( he's slimmed down a lot since the start of the season), or maybe it's a confidence thing. There's just been an aggressivness when he's been on the court that wasn't there prior to the Sacremento game. He's made really nice basketball moves, setting good screens and rolling to the hoop with strong finishes. He's jumping higer and last night made a few really important plays down the stretch to help win that game. Anyways, just something I haven't seen mentioned, and I wanted to give the big guy his props. Great win last night, the Garden was electric!
Yes, I agree. He had that explosive dunk off the pick and roll against the Kings - and he was fast on the court last night. He is starting to regain his fluidity - it will probably be another 2 months until he is fluid and fast most of the time everynight - but the signs are really encouraging.
What the Blazers need to buy ODEN is a full length mirror to put next to his locker!!!!! He needs to remember he's a 7 foot nightmare on the floor and stare into that mirror before every game and say.... " I'm scary! I'm huge! and People Don't Want To Be In My Way!!!!!"
Yeah, I think we're slowly starting to see what Greg is going to bring. In his first game back, if Shaq had dunked on him, Greg probably would've shrunk like a turtle. But last night, he brought it right back with two dunks, a huge block and a left-handed hook over Shaq. It's a shame he didn't get more time out on the floor, but he's looking better and better each time.
The most encouraging thing (to me) about Oden last night wasn't his dunks, or his block on Amare. It was his block on Nash (or was it Barbosa?). I remember, as the play was happening, "oh great, there is a wide open lay-in, with nobody even near him". Then, the next thing I know, Oden had swatted it off the backboard. He seemed to have been completely out of the play, but all of the sudden he sent the ball sailing. It was beautiful, and a glimpse of just how quick, agile and athletic he can, and will be.
Yes, but I'm wondering if we didn't see the "quick, agile, and athletic" Oden last night only because he was playing Shaq. He seemed extra-motivated to have a good game, which makes me think he's been dogging it a little in the other games. I hope I'm wrong. At any rate, I was very encouraged to see how quickly he can still move. I think the injury/rehab stuff is old news by now. Oden needs to light a fire under himself and make sure he plays hard every night.
Dogging, no dogging, no player wants to make the Shaq highlight reel especially with a Shaq motivated NOT to pass his torch on to you!!!!!! Shaq is the measuring stick for Greg and I think we'll see a much more aggressive Greg now this hurdle has been cleared!
out of his funk!?! Do the words MICRO FRACTURE SURGERY mean anything to you!?!? Amare Stoudemire has just this year reached full performance. Due to Oden's injuries he has had barely any time to hone his skills because he's been so busy rehabilitating. After all the KID has been through I can't believe anyone could questions his effort^^^^^^^^^ GET THE F*** OUT
Nope. His block on Amare (who is a big, strong, quick and great leaper) was where he looked quick, same with the recovery to block Nash or Barbosa (can't remember which one it was). His game against Shaq was not one of speed but of strength trying to hold him down. As I said - this is the 2nd game in a row where you saw a couple of quick athletic freak possessions from Greg - and these are pretty much the first two this year - so I think we are slowly starting to see the real Greg coming out - and in two months he is going to do it consistently and everyone that was calling him a bust will be claiming that he knew he would be a stud and always said so.
Re: out of his funk!?! Ah, I see! It's just a coincidence that he happened to get his quickness back on the night he faced Shaq!!! OK, I get it.
I think he's just gradually getting his legs under him. He just had his first three day break between games all year, it probably let his legs recoup a bit. This ten day stretch with only two games is a very welcome break for the entire team, but espeicially the rookies, and especially the rookie coming back from injury. And no the rehab is not old news, since it usually takes longer than twenty some games to recover from microfracture surgery. Not surprisingly, he seems to be showing a little more personality on the court the last few games as well.
Yet he was sitting on the bench with a glum look on his face when Brandon scored his 50th point . . . I don't know, man. I want to give Oden every break in the world, but I think Adrian Wojnarowski is right in the article he wrote today. Oden has been feeling sorry for himself for a long time, and he needs to snap out of it.
Re: out of his funk!?! It might be a coincidence, except his explosiveness started to show a little in the Clippers game and then again against the "mighty" Spencer Hawes and "terrifying" Brad Miller. I'm not saying that Oden has or hasn't taken it easy or been passive at times, but the hard reality of MF surgery is that it takes a helluva long time to come back to 100%
Re: out of his funk!?! I think you're right on both counts. I'm willing to be patient with Oden. If he keeps showing the fire that he showed last night, he's going to be alright.
No, I don't think you do, since you apparently want to overlook all the times last night he was clapping, smiling, and joking with teammates on the bench. Let's overlook all that and just focus on the five second clip where he didn't have a big smile on his face. You read way too much into way too little. Lighten up.
Actually, I'm basing my impression of Oden on the entire season, during which he has looked mighty glum most of the time. You almost want to put your arm around him and tell him that everything is going to be alright. That said, I will agree that there were flashes of the old Greg last night. I did see him smile as the team came out for warmups. I'm hoping that we'll see more and more of this, and that Oden will finally start having fun on the basketball court!
The dude was probably still pissed from getting that 5th foul for his "magical" strength ability to finger-push Shaq out of bounds. douche bag refs. Oden's got people to fuck up and shit to do Shooter, I'd be pissed too and not wanting to suck roys balls on his 50th point.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-royblazers121908&prov=yhoo&type=lgns I think Adrian Wodjnarowski writes a good article but he makes an awful lot of assumptions (hey that's his job, he's a columnist not a reporter). 1) I don't think the Conley talk was ever initiated by KP; Mike Conley Sr. sees his son's NBA future slipping away and probably thinks reuniting him with Greg could help save it and it's been a poorly kept secret that the Grizz have coveted Outlaw since last season. 2) I do think Greg has been a little morose, but claims to his state of mind based on watching his facial expressions from across the court or on TV just rings a little hollow; after all it's not like Greg checked out of the game and never got his head back into it last night -- he had some huge offensive boards in the stretch that helped secure the win. I think he just wants to play well and he's not living up to his own expectations, that's gotta be tough for a young kid. ps. I fully agree with Wodj's assessment that Roy is the heart, soul and lungs of this team. No doubt about it.
