Most people would pick Oden only because he is a center but before that you have to look out how great a player Durant already is and he's only one year out of high school. He may be a phenom like we rarely see. The guy is a sf and averaged more points,rebounds,blocks, and assists then oden. Every statisticaly category favors him and he already knows how to play basketball at a very high level. He could be a guy like an Elgin Baylor but with more rebounding prowess and a better defensive skillset. Really you cant go wrong with either one but I dont think Oden is a MUCH better pick then Durant is seeing as Oden is inconsistent in his offense, and while a great defensive threat down low you have to take into account how much of it will transfer over. Honestly Oden could become a very good player but in terms of who will be better I think he could become a bust compared to how great Durant will be. Maybe not as bad as sam bowie to michael jordan but I think Durant will evolve into a much better player. If I were portland I would take Kevin Durant seeing as he is already a better player and they're already deep enough at center. Oden may become a great player but I dont see him as a HOFer someday.EDIT: a typoed the sh*t outta that. My bad I havent slept in 3 days now, ill fix it.
Well, Oden is the 1st choice in the NBA draft strictly because it is harder to find a good center, and especially one that is as big and defensive oriented as Oden. If you had to pick the player who was going to have a better career, put up better numbers, and so on....I think Durant is the far superior player. But unfortunatley, that isnt the case.
Think about it like this. You can't teach size. You also can't teach athletic ability that Oden has to compliment his size. He is the best low post defender in the draft, something many teams lack. Oden has HOF center potential. Durant has HOF SF potential. A good wing player is a dime in a dozen. A good center and I mean GOOOD not Chris Kaman or Mark Blount is once in a decade.I do believe though that Durant would be a better fit for Portland and Oden would be a better fit for Seattle.I hate to be one of the people that says this but this topic's been made 100 times at the very least.
I think you should pick based on what you need and whose a better basketball player. The Blazers need a sf more than a center, and Durant is much better as far as a basketball talent. I even think he can impact the game more then Oden will as a center.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 24 2007, 02:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think you should pick based on what you need and whose a better basketball player. The Blazers need a sf more than a center, and Durant is much better as far as a basketball talent. I even think he can impact the game more then Oden will as a center.</div>Think about this too. Oden led Ohio State to the national championship game. Durant got knocked out in the second or third round. If you don't surround Durant with veterans and/or talent you won't win.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (playaofthegame @ Jun 24 2007, 02:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Think about this too. Oden led Ohio State to the national championship game. Durant got knocked out in the second or third round. If you don't surround Durant with veterans and/or talent you won't win.</div>Oden played on a team that was a contender before he even signed with guys like Conley jr and a bunch of experienced seniors. Durant played on a team of scrubs and perfomed at a much higher level. You can hardly use that to justify the difference between the two. Oden wasnt even the best player on his team most games as often you couldnt even tell he was on the court. Can you imagine if he can barely play college ball night in and night out at a high level how he will fair in an actual nba game much less 82? He may end up developing into a great nba player but its going to take a few years and even then he wont be as good as Durant while Durant can play now and play better with just as much potential.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 24 2007, 01:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think you should pick based on what you need and whose a better basketball player. The Blazers need a sf more than a center, and Durant is much better as far as a basketball talent. I even think he can impact the game more then Oden will as a center.</div>I agree with you on that 100%, but you just can't pass up on a center like this. Guys like Oden only come once in every 5-10 years; he's the best big man to come in since Tim Duncan in 1997. The Blazers should take Durant based on need and he probably will have an impact faster than Oden, but I'd rather not be slapping my forehead in the future while thinking about passing on a HOF center.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 24 2007, 02:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Oden played on a team that was a contender before he even signed with guys like Conley jr and a bunch of experienced seniors. Durant played on a team of scrubs and perfomed at a much higher level. You can hardly use that to justify the difference between the two. Oden wasnt even the best player on his team most games as often you couldnt even tell he was on the court. Can you imagine if he can barely play college ball night in and night out at a high level how he will fair in an actual nba game much less 82? He may end up developing into a great nba player but its going to take a few years and even then he wont be as good as Durant while Durant can play now and play better with just as much potential.</div>http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mrw8PvtM090Find me a team besides Jordan's Bulls who didn't have a good big man controlling the paint that won a title in the past 25 years.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (noballer07 @ Jun 24 2007, 02:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I agree with you on that 100%, but you just can't pass up on a center like this. Guys like Oden only come once in every 5-10 years; he's the best big man to come in since Tim Duncan in 1997. The Blazers should take Durant based on need and he probably will have an impact faster than Oden, but I'd rather not be slapping my forehead in the future while thinking about passing on a HOF center.</div>I dont think Oden is a HOFer. He was very inconsistent in college so what makes you think he wont be in the NBA(which is a MUCH faster game)? Personally I think Oden should have stayed another 1-2 years and he would be twice the player he is now and actually ready to be a number one pick. Durant coming out makes sense seeing as he is already the most dominant player in college as a freshman.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (playaofthegame @ Jun 24 2007, 02:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mrw8PvtM090Find me a team besides Jordan's Bulls who didn't have a good big man controlling the paint that won a title in the past 25 years.</div>Wow He jumped and put his hands up. That it I changed my mind. Oden will be a HOFer now. :HAHAHA: 16 second dont mean anything. I could show you a 1000 16 second videos of Oden doing literally nothing in college.The Jordan Bulls did have a good big man up front. All championship teams do but that doesn't make him a better player. Ewing,Barkley,Malone,KG, and Brand havent won titles and they are better then Oden is. While Kobe,MJ,Wade, and Drexler all have. It varies from case to case. Just because a guy is a center or a guy is a pg doesn't mean anything. Basketball is a team game and teams win championships not centers.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 24 2007, 02:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I dont think Oden is a HOFer. He was very inconsistent in college so what makes you think he wont be in the NBA(which is a MUCH faster game)? Personally I think Oden should have stayed another 1-2 years and he would be twice the player he is now and actually ready to be a number one pick. Durant coming out makes sense seeing as he is already the most dominant player in college as a freshman.</div>There wasn't one game where he shot under 40%, he always rebounded very well, he always blocked a ton of shots, how was he not consistant? He still played with one hand most of the year. In the National Title game Oden dominated one of the best defensive teams in the country, and he showed a glimpse of how good he is full strength and how good he WILL be. Greg Oden is a freak, and he's a very rare player physically - he's got the "drive" to be the best offensive post player in the NBA..There is no question he should've come out.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kingjamez @ Jun 24 2007, 02:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>There wasn't one game where he shot under 40%, he always rebounded very well, he always blocked a ton of shots, how was he not consistant? He still played with one hand most of the year. In the National Title game Oden dominated one of the best defensive teams in the country, and he showed a glimpse of how good he is full strength and how good he WILL be. Greg Oden is a freak, and he's a very rare player physically - he's got the "drive" to be the best offensive post player in the NBA..There is no question he should've come out.</div>First off most centers dont shoot under 40% anyway seeing as they play closest to the basket of any position on the court so thats completely irrelevant. You say he dominated florida? You do know they lost that game, and he only scored his 20 or so points because florida had no one size-wise to matchup with NBA. Guess what? In the NBA they have plenty of guys big enough to guard Oden. They also lost that game to florida and domination implies victory so that point is also irrelevant. He has the drive to be the best offensive post player in the NBA? Now I know you dont know what your talking about since he only averaged 16 ppg as the first option on his team and playing with the best PG in the country. Right Now Durant is a better post player than Oden. Oden does have plenty of potential but not for any of the reasons you mentioned and Oden will NEVER be the offensive best post player in the NBA that will likely be Amare his entire career. He does however have a chance to be one of the better post defenders in the NBA someday. Even Experts point out how he would spend 10-20 minutes a game doing nothing and being absent in many games even when he was on the court. Just look at some games from ohio state last year.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 24 2007, 11:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Wow He jumped and put his hands up. That it I changed my mind. Oden will be a HOFer now. :HAHAHA: 16 second dont mean anything. I could show you a 1000 16 second videos of Oden doing literally nothing in college.The Jordan Bulls did have a good big man up front. All championship teams do but that doesn't make him a better player. Ewing,Barkley,Malone,KG, and Brand havent won titles and they are better then Oden is. While Kobe,MJ,Wade, and Drexler all have. It varies from case to case. Just because a guy is a center or a guy is a pg doesn't mean anything. Basketball is a team game and teams win championships not centers.</div>Kobe and Drexler both had great centers on their team, centers who were the #1 guys on that team, right? It's rare to win championships having a swingman as your best player and it's the most easily replaceable position. Oden is going to come in a already be one of the top defensive big men. He struggled on offense, but he spent much of the season using his off-hand...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ASUFan22 @ Jun 24 2007, 02:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Kobe and Drexler both had great centers on their team, centers who were the #1 guys on that team, right? It's rare to win championships having a swingman as your best player and it's the most easily replaceable position. Oden is going to come in a already be one of the top defensive big men. He struggled on offense, but he spent much of the season using his off-hand...</div>Having a great center doesn't guarantee a championship that is my point. Without Kobe and wade shaq would have 0 titles. Without Drexler, Hakeem would have 0 titles. TEAMS win championships not centers. You can have the best center to ever play the game but without a complete team you will go no where.
Well yeah, but it's much easier to build around a center, especially one with such great defensive skills like Oden. A couple months ago I was saying the same stuff as you and these people just persuaded me to jump on the Oden bandwagon. I'd love either of these players.
Primetime, why are you basing Greg Oden so much on what he did his first year at OSU? It's kind of silly. "Based on what he did in the 20 games he played his freshman season, he will not be a great offensive player", give me a break.
If you want to go into whats the best position to build around it is obviously a pg seeing as they manage the game and make their teammates better not centers. You need 5 great players to win a title though so you draft base on needs not position.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jun 24 2007, 03:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Primetime, why are you basing Greg Oden so much on what he did his first year at OSU? It's kind of silly. "Based on what he did in the 20 games he played his freshman season, he will not be a great offensive player", give me a break.</div>Considering he wasnt that great of an offensive player in college what makes you think he'll be a great offensive player in the NBA? Thats why im basing so much on college. NBA is a tough game. I never said he cant be a great offensive player, but it is going to take him years to ever be a 20ppg scorer while Durant can give you that and more today at the same age.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 24 2007, 12:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>If you want to go into whats the best position to build around it is obviously a pg seeing as they manage the game and make their teammates better not centers. You need 5 great players to win a title though so you draft base on needs not position.</div>As a Nash fan, hard for me to say even though we have Amare but....Valo had a post like a month ago and it showed that it's very rare that a team with their best player being a PG has won a championship. As you all love to say, defense wins championships and the center is the biggest part of that. All you need to do it look at all the teams that won a championship and it's pretty obvious which is the most important position. You may have had something there, but Durant isn't a PG and has little passing skills.
