This is what Greg is making this year. For his production, he's stealing money. He's showing little to no progress. He's an absolute irrelevant waste of space when he's on the court. When he's not fouling, which is rare, he makes no other impact. Greg, you should be embarrassed.
He had a pretty good stretch of play there in the 2nd quarter on offense. You just have no patience. Greg is fine.
Outlaw makes less money and is bashed non-stop on this board. You may as well almost double your amount for Oden since he didn't play last season. That said, I am of the opinion that he needs to be used less and learn in practice. He is a liability on most nights, and Przy is at least somewhat consistent in that Nate doesn't feel the need to force-feed Przy the ball and kill any offensive flow.
Outlaw is in his 6th year and takes some very questionable shots. Oden is a rookie that is coming off major knee surgery and is just trying to find his way in the NBA. He's a rookie and is going to be inconsistent. You keep throwing him out there so he gets used to the play and can become more consistent. It will come together in time.
What does that have to do with how much they are being paid? Outlaw is a bargain at this point, and Oden is an unknown after 1.5 seasons as being paid as the #1 overall pick. Not bashing Greg, but the fact no one can criticize him seems ridiculous at this point. He is a net loss in almost every game against a decent NBA center.
I hope you're right. But answer me this. What big man even ended up being an All Star that started off this bad? Maybe Jermain O'Neal - he was awful too. I know he was hurt, and I know he's 20. But I just expected so much more. He's not even a factor defensively right now. He has 4 blocks in his last 11 games. Greg looks like a project at this point. When we win, I shake my head and say "Give him time, we'll see" When we lose games like tonight - when Omeka Okafor goes 22/11/3 and made life MISERABLE for B-Roy . . . it angers me. There was nobody to keep Okafor honest tonight. He dominated the game.
I have not had many problems with Gregg. I really feel the refs have screwed him over so bad that he doesn't even get a chance. I wish he would get tough and actually foul if he is going to get called for it. I for sure put him on the soft team side with all the Blazers except Bayless and Joel.
Just because Oden makes more money than Outlaw and doesn't have a good game every night doesn't mean Outlaw gets some type of pass when Outlaw plays bad. Is Outlaw a bargain? Probably. Does he do moronic things that warrant bashing? Absolutely. How much money Greg makes no difference. I don't agree Oden is a net loss, so we'll have to disagree here. On some nights he makes a huge difference...others not so much. Something tells me though he'll eventually make a difference every single night, and that's exactly why you keep playing him so he can continue to grow as a player and be a player that makes a difference every night.
"What big man even ended up being an All Star that started off this bad?" How bad is it, though? He's not Darko Milicic. His main problem is consistency, something that will come with time. He's probably playing a little scared right now on defense because he doesn't want to pick up fouls, and that's why his blocks are down. Go back to the beginning of the season. He had a stretch where he blocked 12 shots in 5 games...and this was when he was still out of shape. The fact that he's not blocking shots right now are a few reasons: 1. Players aren't challenging him as often. 2. Oden is probably playing a little tentatively on defense. 3. Oden is being brought out of the paint a lot and being pick n rolled to death. Teams don't want Oden in the paint because of his shot blocking ability. All I can say is give it time. Stop getting so down on the guy after a so so game like today. He'll probably only improve a little more over the course of the season, but the beginning of next season in when you should see Oden really take off. An off-season on training his body and working on his game will help a lot, especially the training part. He should come back in great shape and be ready to go from the start.
Andrew Bynum, Bargnani has sucked and is finally coming around, Andris Biedrins, Tyson Chandler all kinda sucked at first. They may not be all-stars yet, but they are all damn good (minus bargnani, although his last 10 games have been amazing)
Who cares. Unless you're signing his paychecks, shut the fuck up about how much money he makes. He's a 20-year old (soon to be 21) rookie who is recovering from surgery. And you find it surprising that he's inconsistent? He has one of the highest rebound rates in the league. Rebounding was one of the Blazers biggest weaknesses last season. Now it's a strength. So yes, he is making an impact. BNM
It seems that people on here say things just to stir things up, or they're just really immature morons who don't understand that there are highs and lows to an NBA season. If this is the best site for Blazer fans to congregate at, as so many of you self congratulating posters say, I'd hate to see whats the worst. This board could so use a WHOLE lot less of these kinds of threads, and certain posters who are worse than 5th graders. There are far too many times when this message board resembles Olive.
Whatever. Fez was calling for Aldridge's head during his slump. I wouldn't be surprised to see a "trade Roy" thread if Roy suddenly gets cold. But hey, flavor of the week, right?
You answered your own question. Jermaine O'Neal had little or no impact his first four seasons (and he wasn't coming off microfracture surgery) and became a six time all-star. Andrew Bynum (not an all-star yet) average 1.6 PPB, 1.7 RPG and had a PER of 7.4 his rookie season. Being a young big man in the NBA is tough - especially when you have a target on your back like Oden does, and are coming of microfracture knee surgery. In spite of the inconsistency, he has shown flashes of dominance at both ends of the court. Give the kid time. He's going to be great. BNM
Not every bigman is Shaq/Duncan and come in and become an All NBA team their first year. Most big men take a little long to develop. Dwight averged 12 and 10 his first year, Oden is at almost 8 and 7 which is pretty solid.
I never said Outlaw should get a pass. I did say that the guy is bashed here all the time and makes less than Oden.
Biedrins, Ben Wallace, Robert Parish... clearly we've some out there hyperbole being thrown around by a frustrated fan who has earned a whatever... STOMP
And the seesaw that is GO's approval rate continues. After Greg's next good game, I fully expect things to seesaw once again =)
