There has been nothing but talk about who's game Greg's will most resemble. Ewing, Robinson,Howard, Shaq? Well on NBATV October 1st @ 3AM is Shaq first game. Nov. 6, 1992. DVR it and compare. Shaq from 16 years ago might be a fair comparison. I still think he's going to be more like Dwight Howard. It should be fun to watch a "quick Shaq" play.
If you are to compare him to Shaq, you pretty much have to note that Greg should be a very good FT shooter. Dude was an 80% guy his Sr year in HS. Heck he was 65% shooting with his left hand at OSU. Thats no small detail. STOMP
STOMP, you need to stop it. Thinking about a player like Shaq with a softer touch and able to hit FT's--it's simply too much to hope for.
Shaq in high school [video=youtube;9WGJCp4eJa4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WGJCp4eJa4[/video] I couldn't find his high school stats, even after a good 5 minutes of googling. Tim Duncan is interesting though, his first two years in college he shot 75% FT, junior season 68% then senior 63%. Odd. Any link to Oden's HS stats?
I'd guess that your link was provided to show how things can and do change going from HS to the pros. But while it's my opinion that Shaq probably had the greatest physical tools of any HS center of my lifetime, between the ears is where he was lacking. Greg seems to be more grounded, motivated, and just plain smart. I've thought Oden was a superior pro prospect to Shaq in his day well before Greg was Blazer bound. FT shooting and a superior bean are the primary reasons. STOMP
Patrick Ewing. Came into the league as a strong defensive player, but took until his 5th season to actually become the player everyone expected him to be coming out of college. Turned into one of the deadliest baseline shooters from 10 feet of any center. Anchored the team's very tough defense for years.
I just don't/didn't remember young Shaq - I watched him and Orlando in the finals, but I was way too young to remember anything about his game besides the fact that he was good. It was a bit surprising to see him bring the ball up the court (admittedly in a high school all star game). Looking at Oden's body now, I'd say there's no way he'd ever look like Shaq with the Lakers, but it's the same with Shaq. Anyway, hopefully you're right and Oden turns out to be better than Shaq...
that would be nice huh? Shaq's done really well, but imagine him with Tim Duncan's head on his shoulders. He had the potential to be in the greatest ever discussion. I never bought the reasons the announcers would try to push about adding strength and whatnot as he was ballooning deep into the 300+ lbs. Dude was not truly committed to his profession and it showed in more ways then one. Of course Oden's career to be also depends on fickle things like being relatively healthy like Shaq has been throughout his. STOMP
