Link Hmmm. Top 4? Cleveland, Lakers, Boston, Blazers (above Magic and San Antonio)? Chemistry is an unpredictable science.
Talal brooklyn new york: do you believe lebron is coming to the knicks in 2010? SportsNation David Thorpe: Yes. Fail.
hard to argue...joel is better then oden at the moment. durant is that scorer we need badly and plays a position we have needed for 6 years, sf! 2 years from now...i dont know
Offense isn't our problem. Defense is. GO changes the way we play defense and the way teams attack us.
I will grant that Durant is looking a LOT better since PJ went. But that's just utter bullshit. Unless, of course, he thinks we're ALREADY a top four team. But who knows with Thorpe? He's full of it. (His rookie rankings are bizarre. He's got Westbrook above Rose. No GM in the league [other than Sam Presti] would swap them. He's also got Rudy above Oden. I love Rudy, but Oden is already more important, and ranks higher in just about every "super stat".)
I said it prior to the 2007 draft, and my opinion hasn't changed. Defense and rebounding wins championships. Oden gives you both. If the goal is to be a championship contender for several years, I'd still take Oden over Durant right now. Yes, Durant is a great scorer, but the NBA is littered with great scorers who never won a title. Durant would help the Blazers win more regular season games this year, and probably next, but if you want to win a title (or titles), you take the big man. BNM
Key words were "right now" Also an interesting trade scenario with Conley, Gay, Warrick for LMA and Outlaw. I say nay nay, but interesting that it was brought up by somoene in Memphis
That is what I was thinking. I agree that right now, with Durant on the team instead of Oden, the Blazers would be better and a contender (that I think would lose in the second round or western conf finals). But center and PG positions are the hardest to fiil. I would rather be trying to fill SF or hoping Batum/Webster/Outlaw/Rudy works out than having Joel as the only legit center and trying to find another center out there. Man am I hoping for a big night for Oden tonight. He has had good games, but without looking it up, I don't recall Oden putting back to back solid efforts out there (maybe once???). Anyways, he had a solid game against Chicago, but back to back games . . . that is another milestone for Oden? I think it is jsut a matter of time (probably next year) where you can count on his production on a nightly baasis and his no show games will be the exception.
Plus, Sam Dalembert seems to have good games against Portland. That may just be my perception, but I'd love to see Oden win the center battle tonight. Last night there really wasn't another center on the floor. Well, Aaron Gray I suppose, but Dalambert is a much better C than Aaron Gray.
players like rolando blackman, xaivier mcdaniel, bernard king, etc, will always be remembered as great scorers, but not much else. i still like greg, durant would be nice too, whatev
Yea . . . I read the comments from Bull fans in the thread about centers having good games against the Bulls. Still, good game for Oden (if nothing else avoiding the fould the Bulls were trying to draw on him). . . and if Oden can have a good game against Philly (especially against a Dalambert) . . . that is a good step (putting back to back games together) Unless he has already done this and I forgetting about it . . .
Just a quick check of the Game Log shows Oden went 15/15 and 8/10 back-to-back against LAC and SAC, then 16/10, 13/11 against TOR and BOS. But your point's still valid...consistency isn't a big part of Greg's resume yet.
It wasn't early into Durants rookie season either. He was shooting really poorly. Greg is less than 1/2 way through his rookie year. Let's not forget that.
Thorpe is entitled to his opinion, but I'll take Greg thank you very much. And I'd take him right now. We simply don't need a 'Durant-type guy' on this team. Roy and Aldridge are our go-to guys, why do we need three? It is a great luxury to have Oden and Joel, and it helps them both to know the other is available. It's great not having to rely on an undersized PF to back Joel up. Now, if we go small it's because we want to. That's now, and I imagine this decision being even easier in the future, at least for me. Because I'm a homer.
On the negative side, Durant is also averaging almost 5 turnovers a game over his last 5 games, and his AST/TO is comparable to Yao Ming and Amare Stoudamire as opposed to the elite players at his position. He stagnates an offense, doesn't he?
