is take the "Scoring Pressure" off of him. Nate does have this right (cough, cough) I can't believe I'm saying this. Oden's scoring should come off "garbage plays" like put-backs, cuts to the basket and the occasional pick and roll. He shouldn't have to create his own shot right now. He's just too raw offensively, and I suspect this is one of the main reasons why he turns the ball over so much. Have him concentrate more on the "Defensive End" and protect his arse with some kind of zone, so he doesn't get into foul trouble. The sooner the team stops thinking "I" and more "We", the Blazers will have this problem with Oden always in foul trouble. Maybe Oden should just run away from the cutters. Make Nate force his perimeter defenders to actually defend.
The best way to keep him in the game is to actually have guards and wings that can cut off dribble penetration or at least make it so opposing ball handlers don't have a straight path to the hoop and into Greg's chest. In any case Greg is already focused almost exclusively on the defensive end as evidenced by his paltry 5 or 6 shots per game, taking even more shot attempts away doesn't seem like all that much of an option frankly.
No. His fouls are all tick tack, not him being offensively out of control. He needs to get some isolations and fed the ball continously. The thing is you have to go to him otherwise he gets antsy and then makes stupid fouls.
No most his fouls are from trying to recover after his team mate allowed the perimeter player to dribble past him towards the rim. They are side bumps, or block attempts off bad angles. You are watching last season's games.
I think he would have more shot attempts personally in this system. Like Bynum had for most his first 4 years of playing. He was the beneficiary of Kobe's penetration and ability to toss nice passes to the cutting Bynum.
The Blazers need to change their defensive philosophy. I have said this for 2 years now. They need to keep their centers more stationary, rather than have them darting out to "help." We need our defense to funnel people to the weak side, or side that our center is not on. Most of the good defensive teams do this. You can watch it when you see Brandon having a hard time getting a good shot. Take the pick and roll out of the picture. Press full court with one gurad, and force the PG to go to a certain side
BINGO! Well said... Just because we may not have great "individual" defenders, you can accomplish great defense as a unit.
No I'm not, seen every game so far this year. He is fouling away from the ball many times and its not just because someone else's man gets beat.
I haven't missed a game this season, and have watched them 2-3 times afterwards. I've seen the majority of his fouls, and it's recovering from very bad perimeter D. Just last game his first foul was from a cutter, after Roy had to recover on Bibby's juke on Blake. The second foul was from Bibby penetrating, then kicking out to Johnson, then Johnson 'no-look" to Smith, running directly towards the basket. His third foul was when Crawford penetrated and slashed to the basket, running right into Oden out of position. The 4th foul was Johnson getting a no-look pass on the right wing, and cutting to the basket, forcing Oden to cover, and Johnson dishing to Smith. Forced Oden out of position once again, and even tried to get out of the way and got a foul called on him. Now all 4 of those fouls. Tell me which on was ticky tac?
So now you're blaming others for him getting into foul trouble? While there may be bad perimeter D, he needs to own up and keep himself under control. Centers always have to help out on the weakside, its what they do. I'm at work right now and don't have the luxury of replaying the games or have the luxury of a photographic memory, so I would just have to take your word I suppose.
Actually, the NBA has proven over and over again that the surest way to avoid getting called for fouls is to score lots and lots of points and focus less on defense. Zach Randolph has fouled out just 6 times in 384 games. (Of course, I'd hate for him to go completely that direction, but you get the point.) If the objective is to really keep him in for 30+ minutes a night, make him more of a scorer, not less of one.
I'm sort of half-joking here. But the real point is that Oden plays like a defensive center who has a fantastic backup center. He goes for every block, muscles for every rebound, aggressively comes out on every pick. If he gets fouls quickly, you just throw Joel in there and you don't miss a beat. That was fine for his rookie year, but it's not a long-term plan. He's got to get much better at picking times to be aggressive, particularly when he's on defense or setting picks.
How can you tell a "Defensive" center not to help out on the "Defensive end"? It's programed. The trick isn't to get him into those type of situations. Have the other team mates force the offensive players to give him the best possible defensive position. Like having someone in front of him, while he jumps over them for a nice block. Or take a foul to keep him in the game.
Its not a matter of that. Its a matter of him wanting to be involved in some way. If he's not getting the ball, he's going to feel like he's not contributing so he'll just charge and mow someone over. But I agree, I've stated that our biggest need right now is a veteran defensive stopper at the wings. That would help us so much.
You have a very good point. But when I see him on the floor, especially on the defensive end, the dude grabs every rebound. The other team is usually always "one and done" offensively, and he is an animal on the offensive boards as well. One of the best examples was watching the "Denver" game. His rebounding was "contagious" and even players like Aldridge, Webster and Roy were all rushing to grab a board. So yes, Pryzbilla is a great "back-up" center, but what I see Oden bring is more than just individual allocates. Him, like Roy actually makes others better by aspiring them to do more defensively.
At least mix it up a bit. As the game goes along, and the other team's legs get a little slower, you use other types of D to get it done. And you don't necessarily need to run zone 100% of the time, but when you see a team trying to run the same damn "dribble penetration play to get Oden in foul trouble", you have a counter defense to stop it. I think setting up some sort of zone D will do it. Then when they stop, you resort back to the other D you are normally accustom to.
