Why even bring it up in your argument if your going to put a disclaimer that you don't think its a great stat?
MacGrady's best season statistically was a 42-40 season for his team. Unfortunately, some great players get stuck on bad teams while they're healthy. TMac never led a team out of the first round of the playoffs. That does matter in terms of assessing greatness, just as winning a title does.
Not true. Any links or evidence? Wherever he went, the local media read his Oregonian clippings and gave him a short leash. But they couldn't get anything on him, the same as the Oregonian. He talks in ghetto slang so racists hate him.
Did you miss the NCAA title game where two of the best future big mean in the East (Horford and Noah) couldn't slow him down? He was a man among men when healthy.
Oden seemed to have Noah's number. Always played well against that......well, whatever you want to call him.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Greg-Oden-237/ What’s been most concerning so far is the almost complete lack of fluidity that Oden is displaying on the offensive end. He’s very mechanical in the post, being highly predictable with his moves and not looking flexible enough to react to what defenses are throwing at him and counter with any kind of polish. Looking at the way he is scoring his points, it’s hard to get any kind of feeling that what he’s doing at the college level will fly in the NBA in the least bit, as his entire game is based off overpowering shorter, weaker and less athletic opponents and scoring almost exclusively within 5 feet of the hoop. At age 18, he still has plenty of room to grow as a player, meaning he’ll likely learn how to use his body better in the post, get better at taking the ball up strong to the basket, and improve his footwork-- but there are certain traits in an athlete that are just innate, and we aren’t seeing them at all from him so far. - Durant Eclipses Oden on DraftExpress Mock Draft – 2/3/07 Offensively, while he showed some great flashes, there are still too many long stretches in which he is almost completely silent, not calling for the ball despite his obvious natural advantages over the weak frontcourts the Big Ten has to offer, and struggling to create offense for himself on a consistent basis when he does get the ball. He had quite a few awkward and mechanical moves with his back to the basket where he just bulldozed his smaller and weaker man over using his brute strength to somehow throw the ball in the rim or get to the free throw line, but it’s hard to see these types of moves translating over effectively to the NBA. He still needs to work on his counters to expand his arsenal of tricks with which he can finish with, but at age 18, he’s not doing poorly for himself at this point. -NBA Draft Stock Watch: Conference Tournament Week (Part Two) -3/13/07
I almost never watch college hoops, but I remember that game. Those guys were just bouncing off him. His performance in that game was impressive at the time, but with hindsight looks even more epic. That's the guy I thought we were drafting. *sigh* How come this shit never happens to the Lakers?
[video=youtube;Wts9V9kIKH4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wts9V9kIKH4[/video] Look at how well he moved back then. Sigh....... And he was actually built like a basketball player, not the top heavy version we got
Unlike Bowie, I think Oden was the right pick at the time based on what was knowable then. If one could go back in time and make the pick a-new, of course you select Durant. Bowie was the wrong pick to make, but not due to the results. If you take Michael Jordan and he suffers a career-ending injury in his first season, that wouldn't have made it the wrong pick. Bowie was the wrong choice because he wasn't the most talented player left on the board. Even at the time, people knew Jordan was more talented. It was out-dated "wisdom" like "you take big over small" and selecting need over talent that led to Bowie's pick. On the other hand, Oden was viewed as the best player in the draft. Not by a lot, but everything I read suggested that scouts considered Oden as much of a slam-dunk first selection as they'd ever seen. And I still think they were correct in their talent appraisal...injuries derailed his career, not a lack of talent.
So the blazers used outdated wisdom and selected big with potential over small with demonstrated skills. Great post.
In 1984, yeah. Shame, that. Though I'd disagree with you and say that the 1984 Blazers selected big with potential over small with much more potential. In 2007, the Blazers selected the player with the most talent, according to all the scouts, and lots of demonstrated skill. But injuries can fell the greatest talent. And thanks! I thought it was a well-articulated post, too.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Greg-Oden-237/ What’s been most concerning so far is the almost complete lack of fluidity that Oden is displaying on the offensive end. He’s very mechanical in the post, being highly predictable with his moves and not looking flexible enough to react to what defenses are throwing at him and counter with any kind of polish. Looking at the way he is scoring his points, it’s hard to get any kind of feeling that what he’s doing at the college level will fly in the NBA in the least bit, as his entire game is based off overpowering shorter, weaker and less athletic opponents and scoring almost exclusively within 5 feet of the hoop. At age 18, he still has plenty of room to grow as a player, meaning he’ll likely learn how to use his body better in the post, get better at taking the ball up strong to the basket, and improve his footwork-- but there are certain traits in an athlete that are just innate, and we aren’t seeing them at all from him so far. - Durant Eclipses Oden on DraftExpress Mock Draft – 2/3/07 Offensively, while he showed some great flashes, there are still too many long stretches in which he is almost completely silent, not calling for the ball despite his obvious natural advantages over the weak frontcourts the Big Ten has to offer, and struggling to create offense for himself on a consistent basis when he does get the ball. He had quite a few awkward and mechanical moves with his back to the basket where he just bulldozed his smaller and weaker man over using his brute strength to somehow throw the ball in the rim or get to the free throw line, but it’s hard to see these types of moves translating over effectively to the NBA. He still needs to work on his counters to expand his arsenal of tricks with which he can finish with, but at age 18, he’s not doing poorly for himself at this point. -NBA Draft Stock Watch: Conference Tournament Week (Part Two) -3/13/07
I was talking about the professional scouts employed in the NBA that were referenced between 2005 and 2007. While I'm sure there was the occasional dissenting scout, it seemed pretty clear that the consensus was the Oden was the top talent. My position is not that it is 100% certain that he was the right pick, since I'm not privy to his medical reports from 2007 nor do I have doctors in my employ to analyze them. Based on what I saw from scouts (from long before I had any idea that the Blazers would even have a shot at him), he seemed like the right pick based on talent. I can make peace with that kind of selection, even if it fails. I'd have a lot more problem with a Kwame Brown pick (controversial at the time among scouts, from my recollection) or a Sam Bowie (for reasons gone into earlier).
The scouts said similar things about OJ Mayo in HS. College was a one year thing because of the new NBA rule. On draft night, I was quite certain this was Bowie version 2.0.
B.S. Mayo and Oden weren't anywhere near each other in terms of perceived "can't miss-ness." Everyone's a Durant revisionist now. It's an empty claim unless you can point to an old post where you said that at the time. We'll just have to trust you that it wasn't edited after the fact.
After seeing those videos its crazy to see how much upper body weight Greg put on. I cant help but wonder if that complicated his recovery. He looks like a completely different person back in college.
