no, this isn't a who's better question. i was watching orlando play to see how howard gets his points, and he doesn't have a huge offensive game either, he gets most of his points off of good plays from his guards and getting the ball when he initially gets good position in the post. alot of his points seem to come when he's on the move, like he'll catch the ball when he's already moving towards the hoop. we seem to only give oden the ball when he's standing still instead of when he's moving around. now watching how we use oden, i notice he doesn't get set up from our guards very well, outside of the ocasional drop passes by blake, which makes you wonder whey they don't do it more often. roy never seems to look to pass to him when he drives, you'd think with yao always bumping into him in the paint, oden/joel would be open alot, but i never actually see him passing it to them when the oposing C comes to help out. and he really never gets the ball when he initially gets position in the post, they wait until he gets pushed out a little before throwing it in to him. i think nate does a horrible job with our centers. and who cares if oden picks up his 4th foul in the 4th quarter, why throw him on the bench so quickly, let him use all 6 fouls, what good are saving his 2 fouls and not playing him an extra few minutes?
If Greg goes to a big-man camp this summer (too bad Pete Newell died this year) and does nothing but work on technique I think you'd start to see some massive improvements in his game on the offensive end. I also really hope the team can find a big man coach for Greg and LMA; I love Mo Lucas, but with his deteriorated health and extended absences from the team I've got to believe that's had a little bit of a negative impact.
By my count, he has been posted up 9 times in the past two games. He is 1-5, with 2 TO's, and he kicked out for two scoreless possessions. 2 points, 2 turnovers, and 0 fouls drawn, is not good in 9 possessions. He did a nice job off the pick and roll tonight, and I was thrilled to see him get the ball with forward motion, and finish around the rim.
Should we abandon all hopes of him posting up in his career? When he posts up, he will draw defenders. He will score, he will get better. The problem is that when you only feed him sporadically, you're not going to get good consistent production. What if Rudy was only allowed to shoot one 3-point shot per game throughout the year...he wouldn't have the right rhythm as he does now.
I thought you wanted him to get posted more this series. If you are talking about his career, then I totally agree with you. As he fully recovers from microfracture and develops a go-to-move, with a counter move to compliment it, then I think he will be someone we want to put up 8-16 times a game. To me, it's clear he is not ready for a stead dose of post ups, and the playoffs is not a time to develop anyone.
Bingo. The time to develop this facet of his game was the regular season. Unfortunately Portland dropped the ball there and now is paying the price. Of all the issues folks have had with Nate this year, this is the only one I feel is completely justified. If pounding the ball inside to Oden meant a few more loses throughout the year, so be it. Portland needs his inside score right now, and Oden through no fault of his own isn't really up to the task.
When Oden comes back next season he will be more explosive. Remember when Zbo had his surgery, the first season back wasn't too stellar, as he had no lift. We have seen many times this season where something you would have though would have been a dunk ended up being short from Oden. Next year another 4 or 5 inches on those jumps, and watch out.
