Who cares. We have a better record than every single one of those teams. We've moved beyond ROY awards or worrying about them.
the guy just wants people to read his article. i'm disappointed i even clicked on it. his statement that oden isn't among the top 20 rookies in the league isn't even worth discussing.
I think we need to realize that Oden is a long term thing and shouldn't be judged on his rookie year, after coming off of MF surgery. Otherwise, we'll all be short sighted morons.
Dave who? The guy who wrote that must know a whole lot about the Portland Metro Area. Oh wait, he knows jack shit. From now on he shall be known as Suck-A-Bag-Of-Dicks Dave.
Ugh.. yeah, who cares about what says.. Haven't even heard of him. Sounds like the same type of guy who on the Fifth Quarter tonight wanted to cut Greg, then he swore live on the air and they immediately cut him off.
The guy's a total idiot. He's been an Oden hater from day 1, His stupid T-Mobile Rookie Rankings aren't based on anything remotely measurable. They are simply stupid Dave's fave rookies. So, Oden who has averaged 9.0 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.1 BPG and has shot 0.568 from the field in 46 games - most of them as a starter on a team that is currently the 4th seed in the Western Conference isn't "worthy" of making his top 20 rookies. But, Roy Hibbert, who is averaging 6.2 PPG, a lofty 3.0 RPG , 0.9 BPG with a 0.494 FG% in 52 games - on a team that's 10 games under 0.500 and currently in 12th place in the (L)Eastern Conference makes his top 20. As does JaVale McGee - 6.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.0 BPG, 0.486 FG% on a team that's dead last in the Eastern Conference and currently 33 games under 0.500. The guy is a clueless hater. Ask any coach in the league who has had a bigger impact this season, Greg Oden, Roy Hibbert or JaVale McGee. I bet everyone of them would say Oden. Ask any GM in the league, if the draft was today, if the choice was between Greg Oden, Roy Hibbert and JaVale McGee who would you draft. Again, I'm betting every one of them would say Oden. There is absolutely no sane or justifiable reason to have Hibbert and McGee ranked above Oden in his pathetic Rookie Rankings. BNM
I understand your point BNM, but consider this: who is the most valuable rookie on the Blazers? You can argue that Oden is our *best* rook....when he plays. OTOH, has he really been more *valuable* than Batum or Rudy? Batum may not average 9pts/7boards......but he is out there EVERY night, busting his tail on defense. Frankly, I'm more offended at the lack of recognition Batum gets.
Batum does get looked over by so many people. Rudy is also often times referred to as a one-trick-pony because of his role in our offense and his.. not so great defense but he makes the tiny plays that may not seem like much but they are big because they are the exact right ones that need to be made.
I LOVE Batum, but Oden is our best rookie - By FAR. It's really not close. Our three biggest weaknesses last season were: rebounding, interior defense and points in the paint. Nobody even talks about the first two any more. With Oden, those have gone from weaknesses to strengths. As far as points in the paint go, the team has improved, but I think they still under utilize Oden on offense. When he does get the ball, he scores, gets fouled or draws a double team in most cases. Again, Batum has far, far exceeded my expectations and has a very bright future, but frankly, we get outplayed and out scored at the SF position in almost every game. He has to go head-to-head against some of the top players in the league - and he usually comes up short. That's not an insult. It's a fact, and perhaps not entirely fair. You can't really expect some skinny 19-year old rookie to hold his own against Lebron, or even guys like Hedo, Artest, Tayshaun Prince or Josh Howard. He's clearly overmatched by those guys and it shows in the box scores. How often has Batum dominated an opponent this season? How many times has he been dominated and outscored by 20 or more points by the other teams starting SF? On the other hand, Oden has dominated the opposing center more times than he's been dominated. Granted, he's had it handed to him a few times by some veteran centers, but he's also dished out his fair share of domination against the weaker center in the league. BNM
Go GO! I like that he doesn't worry about the haters (or at least says so). He isn't a bust based on an incidental injury like this... he'll be back. It has been a bit worrying that he's been hurt so much, but a bunch of it still might just be bad luck.
While I agree that it is a bit early to call him a bust.. how do you ignore all of the warning signs? 1- His attitude.. its not that he has a bad attitude.. just no fire. He doesn't seem to really care on the court. Have you ever seen a great player that didn't play with some passion or fire? I have not. 2- Multiple injuries - enough said. 3 - Lack of Skills. - I understood Oden was not a polished offensive player coming into the NBA.. but did anyone really think he'd be this bad? His footwork is terrible, he has virtually no post moves, it often seems like he just chucks the ball at the rim and sometimes he gets lucky and it goes in.... even defensively he's worse than I thought he'd be.... terrible footwork and constant hacking and reaching. While it's too early to call him a bust.. it is clear that we should be very concerned about how things are going with Oden.. because we cannot win a ring without him being dominant. It just won't happen with this team.
Who cares? Message boards and blogs are making guys like this obsolete. Because everyone has an opinion, and these national sports writers are less informed than the actual fans reading them.
The fortunate thing is that reality is not a debate. It's not dictated by what people believe. Even if everyone decides now that Oden is a bust, that doesn't decide what will happen. Oden will determine that by his play. If, in three years, he's doing great, it won't matter a whit what people are saying today. The really promising thing is that he's been playing well when healthy, outside of the fouls. If he weren't producing even when healthy, I'd be worried.
One may argue about who has been the most valuable rookie to the Blazers this year. But to say Oden is not in the top 20 rookies, that the world class future hall of famers BNM cited are all better rookies than he, is absurd. Rookie sensations are all very well, some like Shaq, LeBron and Roy turn into all stars, but a lot flame out. I mean, who would you rather have, Harold Minor, who was called Baby Jordan his rookie year, or Dirk Nowitzki, considered a bust his rookie year? This is the kind of crap that makes Greg wonder if the city is still behind him, although written by someone who appears to know little about the city or the team and does not appear to have talked to GO or his teammates.
