i had a debate with my friend the other day about the development of Oden, and i said it might have been better to win less games this year and possibly miss the playoffs but feed Oden the ball alot more on offense earlier in the season so he wouldn't be so horrible with the ball. of course my friend felt that we treated oden fine and the playoffs were better this year than forcing the ball to greg so he can improve this year. he says that the offseason should be enough for oden to work on his game. I felt only getting 3 shots a game stunted his growth in that he never got in the feel for any game offensively, and he never got to work on his moves against non-joel defenders, although joel is better than most. i'm sure his confidence and ego took a major hit by getting so limited touches on the offensive side of the ball, and everybody seems to agree we need a whole lost more from oden if we want to win it all. so would we have been better off to take our lumps now while building up oden for the future? or was this season worth the hindered development of oden?
I'm not sure force feeding him the ball and having him fail repeatedly would have done all that much for his development either? I do think that if we had guards who could run the pick and roll or find bigs cutting to the hoop, Greg would have probably gotten a lot more touches and scored more dunks, but that really wouldn't have done anything for his post-up game ... although he'd probably have more confidence in himself. I guess this is just one of those arguments that will have to remain purely academic, because there's no way of knowing what might have happened if things were different.
In the long run, yes, developing Greg would have been better than just improving our record. But it feels good to win some games and make the playoffs too.
Tough call. I think it was really important to get some playoff experience under our belts, but at the same time getting Greg going in the NBA is how we are going to win in the playoffs. I think they could have used him a little more effectively on offense though.
simply forcing the ball to oden would have been a bad idea. actually using oden as a legitimate part of the offense and getting him involved early in games would have lead to more blazers wins, not less.
I agree. The Blazers acting as if Oden were Shaq in his prime wouldn't have done much. Creating a game plan that integrated Oden into the offense better (getting the ball to a moving Oden more) would have helped, both Oden and the team. Oden currently doesn't have the post moves to dislodge a set defender, short of just running him over, but Oden was really effective when he got the ball rolling to the hoop. No defender was able to stop Oden moving in space.
No way should we have "dumbed down" the development of everyone else just for the development of Greg. That sets such a bad example for everyone else on the team it's not even funny. I'd rather have Greg think that he has to work that much harder to get to where guys like Brandon and LaMarcus are than to have everyone else on the team accept slower growth to accommodate Greg. Not to mention that would probably lead to ill feelings toward Greg by his teammates. No thanks. This offseason is going to be huge for Greg. I think last offseason he became enamored with getting big. Now I'm sure he sees that it's much more important to tone his body and work on his agility and athleticism. Getting to the playoffs and getting that late season experience under our belts was huge and will pay dividends next year and for many years down the road. Not going through that pressure, even if it meant forcing Greg to develop faster, would have hindered the overall development of the team. -Pop
Yup. Had they done this, Oden would have been more comfortable within the offense and could have helped the team on that side of the ball against Houston. As it was, they really shouldn't have ever passed him the ball. He just didn't have the comfort level needed to get it done in the playoffs. I don't think this would have cost them a playoff spot, though.
Oden is nowhere near being a primary threat on offense. Did he shoot even one spot-up 10' shot this season? Why not force-feed Przy the ball as well so he can work on improving his limited offensive game? Oden can't stay out of foul trouble, he constantly puts the other team on the line, and making him the focus of the offense is a good idea??? I'd just like to see him figure out how to defend and stay in the game. He isn't Shaq and he never will be, so this "force-feed" argument that is seen repeatedly here baffles me.
I don't think offense was the concern. He couldn't stay on the court due to the foul trouble was the issue. Hell folks it wasn't that long ago that Rasheed Wallace was the guy getting into foul trouble and not able to stay in the game. He eventually got over it. Even if he did get a few T's. Once he can stay in the game long enough to get involved, he will get involved on his own one way or another. You can't get involved from the bench though.
In a word - NO. First, because you can't hold a team, and a fan base, hostage for the benefit of one player. Second, if the team had wanted a scoring threat, they would have drafted Durant. Oden wasn't brought here to score 20+ PPG.
If that was honestly KP's expectation, he should (to steal from Bill Simmons) just go ahead and light himself on fire right now.
that's not what they wanted him to produce initially, but you're crazy if you think they weren't(and aren't still) expecting oden to become a 20/12/3 big man for several championship blazer teams.
If anyone doesn't think Oden is capable of averaging 20/12/3 within a few years, I seriously question how closely you watched Greg this year. Every single one of his flaws are minor and correctable. Foul trouble? Timing? Those are the biggest concerns with him- that's a joke. There is no one in the league that Greg can't muscle in the paint. Even out of shape, overweight and only halfway back athletically from surgery, he's still one of the top 3 strongest big men in the league. There's no question in my mind he will be a franchise-level center 2-3 years from now.
He absolutely should have been force fed the ball against certain defenders. Against many defenders, he should not have been. The goal, IMHO, is to increase his confidence, not to decrease his confidence by having him fail more than he did.
The "in the middle" answers are where I would have gone. Minstrel hit the nail on the head - he was very effective when he got the ball on the move rolling to the basket after a pick - but while the pick and rolls were there - the getting the ball while rolling did not happen anywhere near as much as it should have... Should have really done more with that - because it was a legitimate offensive weapon.
Isn't it better to acquire skills like that in practice, or over the summer? Let Greg play LarMarcus 1 on 1 all summer, develop his post moves against a guy who has a similar body type to most of the center's he'll be going against. Do drills where he gets the ball under the hoop, and LaMarcus tries to block while a guard tries to strip the ball, have him practice going up quick and strong for the jam or the lay in. Do it in practice so you're not embarassed, and you're not costing the team.
Missing the playoffs would've caused an outrage, and been unacceptable IMO. I agree with the whole notion of getting G.O. the ball more on pick and rolls, and using a bit more motion. The other issue was Nate leaving Greg on the bench with two fouls in the first half, or four fouls in the second half. Let him play through it and learn how to play in foul trouble. It was frustrating to see Nate go with Frye when Greg wasn't in foul trouble, and was playing well until he got into foul trouble.
I watched him plenty closely. I think becoming a 20/12 player is probably a stretch, Greg just doesn't have the footwork or post-moves of a polished low-post scorer ... that's neither minor nor easily correctable, it looks like whomever coached him through High school, AAU and college did him absolutely no favors by not forcing him to develop some kind of drop step, a counter or at minimum a consistent hook shot. He was a power player who scored on putbacks and dunks and has never been a dominant scorer at any level of competition. Can he learn these skills? Sure, but it's going to take long hours and years, not something that will be picked up in a summer off-season or two. My guess is that Greg might eventually become a 15/13/2.5 guy in his prime -- I think he'll always be much more of a rebounder and defender than a scorer.
