Oh, my. Oden was wonderful last night. The way he handled Duncan was beautiful. I almost cried when he made those two hook shots over him. Anybody else see the look on Oden's face during the game? You could see him getting more and more confident as the game went on. Last night was Oden's coming out party, as far as I'm concerned. To play that well against Duncan means he is now a force to be reckoned with. I only see blue skies ahead for Oden, if he can stay healthy. He is going to be good. VERY good. You can mark it down. I'll still take Oden over Durant!!!! Anybody else?
I'm yer huckleberry. Duncan has lost a step, but Oden did two big things last night that will make him tough to stop if he can continue to do them: 1 - He was calmer out there on offense. He got good positions, but didn't flail around getting it. He backed Duncan down more methodically. He let himself take a breath before starting his move. He collected himself. As a result he was in control, and looked great. 2 - He turned down his defensive intensity a little, from 11 out of 10 to 8 or so. Still very effective (4 blocks!) but he didn't swat at every fly entering his house. He kept himself in the game for two tough minutes after picking up his fifth, including a blocking a big drive to the basket. He played defense smarter, not harder. He didn't try to block Jefferson's dunk, etc. And it worked! He was still a force on defense!
Of course I agree. I've always believed in Oden. Interesting that 3 of his 4 fouls were also VERY questionable. Especially that block on Ginobli. It was nice to see the RG react as they did. It's time for Nate to say something.
Even the ESPN commentators were making positive remarks about him. I watched the NBA recap from 12 am to 2 am and was impressed by his efforts.
Okay I thought I was a wuss last night as well. There were three times when I was getting all choked up. Oden blocking Duncan, that post move where we drop stepped under the basket for that great lay-in, and when Oden got that nice dump in the 4th from Roy. The last really choked me up because Roy made it a point to get Oden involved in the paint. Maybe it was all my frustration just let loose last night. I know this is just one game, but seeing the "team" force feeding Oden's inside game was exactly what he needs to gain confidence. And the great thing is, if you look at the stat line, you wouldn't have thought it was an impressive performance by Oden. But if you watched the game, it was everything all of us fans want out of him.
I thought as the game went on Oden got stronger and more confident. Defensively he was figuring things out, and talking with the experienced guys on the bench to help him get past some problems he was experiencing early. The offense will come. Most of his moves are nice and strong, and he isn't running anybody over, but he is moving them out of the way. Once he gets to the point where he doesn't show the ball so much, it will help out a lot. It might help if refs would call some of those fouls when guys hammer his arms. That has to hurt, some of those fouls were really hard that they didn't call.
Yeah I hated when Oden was called for the foul on Duncan, then Duncan did the exact same thing on him and no call. Guess that's what years in the NBA and being labeled one of the best defensive bigs each and every year gives you. Some day, I hope that Oden gets the benefit like Duncan does.
It's interesting that his offense is coming from soft shots, instead of trying to go and dunk hard every time.
I loved that they played Oden straight up. Most teams are going to double him auto for good reason. That will just open up other things for us. Great game!
I think he needs to actually shoot that jumper more often. It will open up his game, and open up the spacing on the floor for his game, and open up lanes for cutters.
Exactly what I was thinking. The Spurs played him straight up which allowed Oden to slow down a little. No reading where the double team was coming from and only one person to worry about. Great game by Oden but most teams are going to double him forcing him to make a quick decision or make a quick offensive move. He's just going to need a good year of getting 10-12 touches a game to get more comfortable.
Yeah, G.O. looked real good. And I think part of it too was he was able to bang down low with a big guy his size like Duncan, rather than smaller guys like Landry, Hayes and Horford, who were grabbing and clawing at him all the time and getting away with anything they want. We'll see how he does against Al Jefferson and Ryan Hollins against the Wolves..
What I was more impressed with was how he handled Tim on the defensive end. He was defensive stopper down there.
Nate told Greg to focus on two things - defense and rebounding. Through 6 games, Greg Oden is leading the league in total rebound percentage (TRB%) at 24.5% and block percentage (BLK%) at 8.9%. The kid is definitely a force. Now if we can just get his minutes up to about 30 MPG and get him 10 - 12 FGA/G. Last night's game was his best of the regular season, but he did the same thing, or better, regularly during the preseason. The big difference? In preseason Oden had between 7 and 13 FGA in every game. During the regular season, he's had only 3 - 9 (last night) FGA. Get him the ball, and he'll produce. BNM
