The last few games it has looked like all the fouls are starting to mess with Greg's head. I agree some are ridiculous (it boggles my mind that refs officiate games based on reputation and not action), but I have to admit quite a few of them are his fault and are avoidable. He's just going to have to learn when to go for blocks and when not to, when to try to move his feet in front of a driving guard and when not to, how to avoid letting floppers like Okur & Gasol get the better of him, and when to just realize he can't make a play and not try to compound the problem with a silly reach in foul. I think playing the last 5 in a half minutes last night in a tight game, making some big plays, and helping his team win was big for him, cause it appeared he was getting into a funk again. Labeling him 'clutch' is probably jumping the gun, but he is a proven 'winner'. Even though I think he's just a shell of what he'll become, he showed his value in many ways last night down the stretch. From that great screen he had to free up Rudy (I believe) for the jumper, that huge block, the fact his teammates got a few layins simply because Memphis' help defense didn't want to leave Oden, etc. There are soooo many ways in which I think Oden will improve drastically if he can just have a nice healthy offseason.
Not always. He had 3 more blocked shot attempts last night, at least a few of them were on shots that he would have dunked.
It might cost the management and coaching staff some money, but I think it is high time that the Blazers called out the NBA on how Greg is being officiated. He gets hammered on one end, and then looks at somebody wrong (I remember one where he wasn't even near the guy) and he gets called for a foul. I know some of what he does he hammers guys here and there. But not at the rate the NBA is calling it.
I suspect that after the season, the Blazers will request a meeting with the head of NBA officiating. They will create a video collection of things that were fouls on Oden and things that weren't but were called anyway. It will also include GO getting hammered on one end and barely touch his opponent on the other. The meeting won't be confrontational, it will be merely to help the NBA better referee Greg in 09-10. And I suspect that Oden won't suffer from the same foul problems next year.
You forgot the most important part of the video - the film of Stern sneaking a dead hooker out of his hotel room!
I prefer two of those blocks attempts where Gasol actually didn't get any part of the ball but just Greg's arms, no foul was called, and they called it a blocked dunk.
Some of that is operating by instinct to attempt things he can normally do but his body won't let him right now, since he's still recovering his explosiveness from the microfracture surgery. Next season, I think a lot of those seemingly bad decisions on what to try to block will turn into spectacular blocked shots.
Heh, those are the kind of fouls I don't mind at all. If our centers racked up 10 fouls every night doing that, we win. Because there's nobody on the other team left standing.
Exactly. It's the fouls where Oden shows on a pick and roll and the defender runs straight into him that are pissing me off the most. Greg has rights to his position too.
late in the 4th quarter...... Blazers down two..... Game 2 against the Rockets..... key game..... Greg Oden grabs the rebound and dunks it for the TIE!!!! Told y'all he was clutch. How many game tying in the 4th quarter shots has Durant hit in the playoffs? How many will he hit next year? The year after? 0,0,0
See, this is what I'm talking about Eric. In one thread you're questioning whether Oden will be a disappointment, and then here you're calling him clutch. It's just very strange.
I think that so much of his fouls are because he is tentative. Look at Joel. Houston games excluded, he hasn't really been in much foul trouble at all this year. Maybe I just don't notice it because I'm always like, "Cool, now we get to see Oden," but I don't think so. But what does Joel do to not get fouls? He still plays pretty aggressive and gets quite a few blocks. I think he just knows where he's going, where he needs to be to get in the right position, and is very focused on his positions. Greg hasn't learned that yet, and trust me, he will. But when he's playing with 5 fouls he, like Joel, is concentrating on being in the right positions to not draw a foul. Pretty soon he, like Joel, will just have that as second nature. He won't be able to avoid all fouls, obviously, but he'll learn to put himself in positions to not draw nearly as many. I can't wait to watch him grow into a great player.
I don't think he gets rattled. He's been through pressure-packed situations before. I thought it was telling that Brandon, Greg, and Rudy were the ones in Game 1 that didn't have that ruh-roh look on their faces.
