Well Duncan necessarily isn't a center, but those two definitely had a "head to head" match-up when they played. What is striking to me, is how Oden rises to the challenge against the bigger centers he's played so far. Oden vs. Duncan: Basically shutting down Duncan in the 3rd and 4th quarters Oden vs. Okafor: Okafor was a complete and total "non-factor" in this game Oden vs. Chandler: Chandler was a non-factor Oden vs. Noah: Held noah to 7 points, 7 rebounds and a -11 +/- rating I am curious how Oden will respond to the bigger, more known centers like Howard, Bynum, and Lopez (not in the same stature of Bynum and Howard, but very strong center)? I would love to watch a rematch of Yao and him as well. Unfortunately Yao is injured...
Yeah... in the rematch with Yao I am fascinated to find out how quick Oden will go the bench with 2 fouls after Yao runs down the court, gets next to him and flails. One two or three minutes?
I think his point is that Yao is a cheater and has Stern's trained monkeys (the refs) sucking on his wang for the betterment of NBA marketing in China.
Oden has definitely improved... but the fact remains that if you want to you can draw a foul on almost every play. Not just on Oden... you can do it to anyone really... but thankfully some players are have enough self respect to not do that.
Oden is bigger and stronger than most centers. Let's face it, Noah and Okafor are power forwards trying to play the five. Chandler is legit, but that dude really isn't quality right now. Duncan is getting old, so I don't think he's a good measuring stick either. Here are the centers that we can measure Oden against: Dwight Howard Yao Ming *if he comes back Brooke Lopez Shaq *he's still hard to defend
I'd say the four guys I'd measure him most against are: Yao Ming Dwight Howard Andrew Bynum Shaquille O'Neal Brooke Lopez is a good young big man, but not great or all that physically imposing. I'd put him in a group with Chris Kaman, Al Horford and Andris Biedrins. The second tier of centers who should be some kind of challenge. In terms of productivity, Shaq belongs in this tier also, but he's still physically imposing that he's still a measuring stick, IMO.
So if the only legit measurements for him are 3 All-Stars and Bynum, that de facto puts him into an elite category, no?
No Brian. I'm just curious how he plays against those types of centers. It's not the "end all" measurement, because truly "dominant" centers dominate everyone, just would be nice to see him hold his own against them.
no, it gives him a chance to be....consistency is key...Oden has had amazing games, they just have been spaced out
AND THE LAKER FAN GETS IT! Yes the best measurement is consistency. Once Oden can come in and always give us 15-20 points, 10-12 boards and 3 blocks each game, will be when he finally turns the corner. Those games against the elite centers are just us wanting to see if he is getting better handling other centers that dominate the game. Howard man-handled Oden last season. I would love to see him at least make things really hard for him this season. If he was able to get those centers in foul trouble, then I will be ecstatic!
I knew I was forgetting someone Bynum definitely belongs on the list. I would argue that Lopez makes the list though. I think he is a step above Kaman and Biedrins. Horford is another power forward posing as a center.
Oden, per 35 or 40 minutes (like most top centers play) could be the best statistically in the league (he's already among the leaders in FG%, Blocks and even boards), his problem isn't consistency, his problem is fouls. If 6 fouls wouldn't foul you out we'd be winning a championship, the problem is that for him to play 35-40 minutes you'd have to sacrifice some of his defense (or play better perimeter defense). The reason we're the best defensive team and not the best offensive team is Joel taking about 10-12 of Oden's minutes that could be translated to about 10 extra points. But since Joel is also a great defensive Center (and less foul-prone) our defense doesn't miss anything by playing him.
If Joel was even a 10 ppg scorer, we would have an unstoppable front court. With that said, it's pretty damn good as is
