Who expected him to dominate? I saw a lot of posters thinking 13/10 was reasonable for him, and I think he'll start to get close to that in the second half of the season.
Great article. Very perceptive. What's interesting to me in all of these Oden articles, is that he never mentions his surgery. He never says, "I don't feel as quick or as strong as I used to." That tells me that either A) He doesn't want to use the surgery as an excuse, or B) The surgery really is NOT holding him back. If it's B, then we have all seriously overestimated his talent. If it's A, then he will come along, and we just have to be patient with him.
He was a physical freak in his workout numbers. He's not a physical freak right now. One major thing happened between then and now. I think we'll see the "real" Oden next season. Meanwhile, this year's version is learning how to play without physically dominating opponents.
You know, I'm beginning to believe that Odens struggles aren't all about Greg, or his diminished physical skills after his surgery. Being lucky enough to have seen all of the Blazers games this season, Greg has made huge strides in looking more and more comfortable on the court and at ease with his role. What I'm seeing though is a lot of Greg getting position on the block and not getting an entry pass, and Greg rolling to the hoop after a pick and being ignored. His fouls are definitely holding him back, but if he was in the same role as Shaq with the Magic, Howard with the Magic, or Robinson with the Spurs, I think he'd be putting up similar type numbers in his rookie season. Those teams put their prize rookie centers in the block and force fed them for 30 minutes a night. Right now Greg is the 4 option in the starting 5 and getting 20 minutes a night. I'm not sure that it's really anyones fault, I hope that with time this will change. I think Greg handles the ball well enough to run the offense through him, and in time I'm sure Nate will adjust the offense to do this. For now, I think this will be a season for Greg to just get his feet wet and stay injury free. Just a lay mans opinion...
Great post, jwhoops. I agree, man. Even though I do think a few of his problems are due to his rust/lack of explosiveness.
