The San Antonio home win aside, is there any question that this is a much better team when Greg is in the lineup? Honestly I feel like I've been having deja vu to last year's 'playing not to lose' jump shooting team that get's abused in the post and has next to no inside game (though LMA has improved somewhat). Get well soon big guy.
I definitely agree, we are a better team with Greg. I can't stand it when we become a jump shooting team
We're definitely better with him. I think that most of the frustration is his lack of court time due to his injuries and not so much his abilities. I hope that this can one day blow over and he can at least be a healthy contributor. I believe in him.
we're better with him, but he needs to be more agressive on both ends and out of foul trouble. our ceiling is huge with him playing on his game.
Dude, Greg was in foul trouble 90% of the time he was on the court. And who's bagging on him?! If you're insinuating me, surely you jest.
Fez, your avatar is classless. Kind of what I've come to expect from you though. Before, your Oden hate was just funny, now it's just fucking old.
We're 11-5 without him. Without him, we've beaten Houston, Orlando (in Orlando), Atlanta, and San Antonio twice. Like Fez said, a lot of the time Oden is on the bench in foul trouble. He hasn't really had much impact this season. That said, I'm holding onto his most recent performance against the Knicks as my hope for the future.
There have been some quality wins in there without him, but on the mean this is a much better rebounding and inside oriented team, better able to physically dominate the paint when Greg is available.
I completely agree. The Blazers have gone from one of the best rebounding teams in the league to below average without him in the lineup. The Blazers style of play dictates that they win the rebounding war in order to have a good chance to win, and even if he was only putting down 10 points, those are points in the paint, which the Blazers need more of.
Although I would prefer to see him play 30 minutes, I would take 12 minutes and 6 fouls from Greg tomorrow night. As long they are 6 HARD fouls to the body of a driving #24.
Three things happen without Oden: -Portland's rebounding prowess disappears when Przybilla isn't in the game -Portland's perimeter defense is even more exposed with no big man to close the lane when Przybilla isn't in the game -Portland has no low-post presence on offense, ever. Oden's scoring game is far from refined, obviously, but he still draws consistent double-teams, something that Przybilla does not do despite superficially similar scoring numbers. Those double-teams in the post are gold for all the jump-shooters on team. Portland is an elite jump-shooting team when Oden is pulling an extra defender...they're significantly less so when there's no one to draw defenders away from their man. So, yes...even at this early stage, when Oden is so disappointing to a certain segment of fans, he's absolutely a game-changer. A player who can change the game like that when he's at the worst he'll ever be in his career has an immense ceiling.
I don't see much evidence that we're better with Oden in the lineup. For starters, he gives the other team more foul shots and thus more opportunities to score because he fouls so much, and because he's too slow to rotate effectively on defense. He also gets the ball slapped out of his hands more than Pryzbilla does, and is not as effective as Pryz at blocking shots. Like you, however, I'm hoping that he continues to improve. Otherwise, he may replace Sam Bowie as the most disappointing first-round draft pick in Blazers history.
Oden began the season getting the ball stripped left and right. After his first 10 games, I can count on one hand the number of times he has had the ball stripped. Pryz has hands of stone, but is still a great player because he know his limits. Your logic never ceases to amaze me. In nearly identical playing time for both players down to the seconds, Oden BPG 1.2 Pryz BPG 1.0 Learn the game, then post.
So you're saying Przybilla gets the ball stripped out of his hands more than Oden? You've got to be joking. Learn the game, then post.
People who disappointed in Oden you have your reasons and rights. Keep in mind how many big man came in dominated the first year? We had J. O'neal for 4 years traded him and than he blossomed. Look it Bargnani, he took 2+ years, now he is showing signs. Bynum averaged 1.6 points as a rookie... WOW what a bust. We have a guy basically out of high school after a major injury. We need to have patience and support him. Fine you want to critique him, fair but don't spew your garbage around here "I do like that we're 11-5 without him..but in some aspects, we're also 39-23 without him too." "Dude, Greg was in foul trouble 90% of the time he was on the court. And who's bagging on him?! If you're insinuating me, surely you jest". Give him credit where credit do. Yes he intentionally ran into Maggette to get hurt. Greg gives us a lot, size, defense, dept, and a year or two from now he will be the one who take us to the promise land.
