I wanted to look at some comparisons to determine how well Oden's rookie year is going. Oden averages less minutes than all these guys did, but I went with the per 36min to even it out. I chose Horford, Okafor, and Howard because they were all at the top of double doubles for rookies. In 2004-2005 Okafor led the rooks with 47 double doubles, Howard had(32). Btw the sophomores that season were Chris Bosh(32) & LBJ(25). In 2005-2006 Rookies Chris Paul(21)+ 2 Triple doubles, Raymond Felton(13), Sophomores Howard(60), Okafor(16) In 2006-2007 Rookies Sheldon Williams(8), Paul Millsap(7), side note Aldridge(6), Roy(4), Sophomores Deron Williams(30), David Lee(29), Chris Paul(27)+1 TD. In 2007-2008 Al Horford(25), Luis Scola(10). Sophomores Aldridge(19), Josh Boone(13), Rudy Gay(10), Brandon Roy(10). In 2008-2009 so far Greg Oden(10), Brooke Lopez(6), Jason Thompson(5). FYI Both Lopez and Thompson have played 6 more games than Oden. Sophomores Luis Scola(9), Horford(7), Durant(5) and again all have played more games than Oden. Here is a per 36 minute comparison with the leading big men minus Sheldon Williams. PHP: Rk Player Season Age G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS 1 Al Horford 2007-08 21 81 77 2540 4.7 9.5 .499 0.0 0.1 .000 2.2 3.0 .731 3.5 7.6 11.1 1.8 0.9 1.1 1.9 3.8 11.6 2 Dwight Howard 2004-05 19 82 82 2670 4.7 9.1 .520 0.0 0.0 .000 3.7 5.6 .671 3.9 7.2 11.1 1.0 1.0 1.8 2.2 3.1 13.2 3 Greg Oden 2008-09 21 26 19 596 4.6 8.6 .531 0.0 0.0 3.6 5.5 .648 4.3 7.3 11.7 1.1 0.7 2.0 2.4 6.0 12.7 4 Emeka Okafor 2004-05 22 73 73 2600 6.2 13.9 .447 0.0 0.0 .000 2.9 4.7 .609 3.8 7.2 11.0 0.9 0.9 1.7 1.7 3.0 15.3 Personally I find it encouraging that Oden is set to have the most double doubles of any rookie since Okafor and Howard.
His stats look pretty good when extrapolated out to 36mpg. However, I think one problem with that method is the fact that he has had a lot of foul trouble and would not be able to play 36mpg. That said, Oden is coming off of micro-fracture surgery, and not having played ball in 18 months. So, things are looking encouraging. It is pretty clear to me that he is starting to get some of his speed and power back, and wouldn't be surprised to see his stats improve dramatically by the end of the season.
Coincidentally, his fouls per-36 are 6.0 exactly. So, if Nate just let him play until he fouled out, he could play 36 minutes, exactly.
I'm looking forward to Oden's free throw shooting percentage going up... he's got potential to be a very good free throw shooter and sub-65% leaves a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully Nate starts to let him play more, even if it results in him fouling out. Ed O.
Agree. Agree. Later in the game I'd rather have Oden play with the fouls. You know Priz can come in and do the job if G.O. fouls out and it would focus Oden on playing without fouling. That said, he's had a couple good games and that makes me very happy!
