To be fair in his playoff preview podcast he said Portland was his 2nd favorite team to watch behind the Celtics. That being said, he's still utterly clueless when it comes to any forecasting anything.
I realize the legendary Pete Newell passed away last fall, but his Big Man Camp lives on. If there was ever a player that could benefit from this focused, specialized training, it's Greg Oden. In addition to Summer League, and individual coaching, the Blazers should send him to Hawaii for a week to participate in the Big Man Camp. I think a dedicated coach on the staff is a great idea, but I also think a developing player like Oden would benefit from getting input from multiple coaches - each with a specific area of expertise. He'd get this at the Big Man Camp. BNM
Oden in my opinion is performing exactly as expected this year. The recovery time for a microfracture surgery is 1 year off and according to Amare Stoudemire another year of play to return to full power. Check out the increase in turnovers and drop in scoring the year he came back. Part of this is probably conditioning. A full year off of basketball left Oden with a lot of time to bulk up. Though much of it is upper body strength he's just not as quick as he used to be. With a full summer of conditioning that should fix itself. This difference in his body type after the surgery might be partially responsible for the early season injury's he suffered. Most centers have foul trouble their first year in the NBA. Yao had it, Shaq had it. Oden's is exceptionally bad, but when you factor in the knee surgery and conditioning along with the fact that he's averaging great numbers in any game he plays more than 30 minutes in I'd say there's little to worry about. One other factor that gets little mention is because of his early season injury and constant rotation in the lineup he doesn't get a lot of plays run for him, at least not to his strengths. He's not a create off the dribble post player yet, defiantly a gain position and dump it into him post man. Not being utilized to ones fullest can make a player look much less efficient, especially young inexperienced guys. I'm looking for him to claim a lot of MIP votes next year or the year after. Based on what I've seen of his progress I bet he'll be averaging at least 12 pts 10 rbds, but wouldn't be surprised if he gets more like 15/12. His foul trouble should go down a lot and his playing time should go up next season too because of his experience and regained quickness. He'll have regressive games, where he gets two early fouls but I'd guess he'll be averaging near 30 minutes next season. (hopefully with Joel sharing some time on the floor with him. Vet backup PF accounted for ) If he's not living up to 12/10 in 30 and affecting the game while he's out there I'll be disappointed, but I suspect he'll do a lot better than that, and continue to improve the following season. At least that's what a guy who doesn't get paid for basketball analysis thinks.
Well, since he argued against Rondo getting a flagrant foul for punching Miller in the face I would say his judgment is not the best. Actually I find his need to dog on Oden to be a bit disturbing. He seems bitter to me. Probably because his team didn't get Oden in the draft. Never mind that the Celtics also had Roy for one shinning moment before trading him for Foye. Were I a Celtics fan, I would probably be WAY more bitter about that. Like I am bitter about CP3.
Maurice Lucas not an offensive threat? (Juggernaut? No, but...) http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=LUCASMA01 He averaged 20/10 for two seasons, and was a consistent 15/8 for the rest of his career. He was a master at the post game, and had a deadly mid-range jump shot. He is the perfect man to tutor Oden. Especially if he can translate some of his toughness attitude to Greg. Granted, it's a different game played today than when Luke was on the court, but there was more to being an "Enforcer" than just fighting.
Actually, that's not accurate. The Celtics never had Roy. The Celtics completed the trade of the 7th pick to the Blazers before the start of the draft. Minnesota chose Roy at 6 and the Blazers chose Foye at 7 and then consumated the swap. Roy never wore a Celtics hat on draft day. BNM
Roy and Aldridge will be PISSED at losing to the Lakers in Game 7 in front of Jack fucking Nicholson.
No, we're not. We're holding him to normal standards, but he can't even meet those. The guy is a walking, talking foul. He commits a foul practically every time he raises his hand. It's mind-boggling. I've never seen ANY rookie on the Blazers (in almost 40 years of watching them) commit fouls the way he does.
At the age of 21 Bill Simmons what was Bill Simmons doing? Probably giving his boss a handjob just to get his crap printed. Come to think of it he must give good oral to have made it all the way to BSPN.
Actually, Buck Williams was an offensive juggernaut, just not after he joined the blazers. And, I think it'd be a great idea. Though, doesn't he live in NY?
And he's a bricklayer. Dude, I cringe when he shoots from three feet away. If it's not a dunk it's just as likely to bounce off the backboard as go in the net. To watch Yao hitting those midrange jumpers smooth as silk - that's what we need. Or even a hook shot from a few feet out. And don't get me going about his tendency to get stripped while he backs his man down . . . Don't get me wrong - I still think he might be an all-star. I can't wait to see him next year after a summer of training and conditioning.
yes because guards still strip the ball from him everytime he goes up...here, i know you've heard it before but ill repeat it. BIG MEN TAKE TIME TO ADJUST TO THE LEAGUE. why does everyone think that doesn't apply to oden? who has it even harder coming back from micro fracture surgery.
I like simmons but I read his stuff with a pound of salt. His knowledge of the game is crap, but he is a funny guy who at least writes on a lot of interesting topics. I think Oden will be a great C in a couple seasons, but as of now, he IS a foul machine. No bitching or moaning about the media is going to change that. But how he defended in the last game is one of those glimpses you want to see because it was nothing short of beautiful. On the O side of the floor, he was shit, but that's OK for the moment. He will improve.
It's not that you can't learn new things during the season, but you can't really work on them. The NBA season has so many games in so few days you don't have the luxury of practicing specific moves. That's for the offseason. And so far, Greg has had to work more on getting into basketball shape (which he's still not in, IMO) rather than on his game. What made Jordan special was that every year he'd come to camp with something new. I suspect we'll see a different GO in October.
The idea that Greg does not learn during the year is absurd. The dude learns in the game - you could see his "block" on Yao as proof - Yao went into him - he just stood his ground with his hands up - no foul committed, none whistled. The number of fouls he commits is way down than what he did earlier in the year. The number he is whistled for has not gone down as much as his fouls did - it's the refs that have not learned much during the year - he still gets whistled too much based on reputation.
I've heard Buck desperately wants an NBA job. He made some comment in an article a few years ago that he was "hurt" that nobody had offered him one since he retired. I think that if the Blazers came calling, he'd jump at the opportunity. I absolutely agree with others who noticed Oden's play went up when Luke returned. Get well soon, neighbor.
