I am almost starting to worry now.

OP, you need to just heed the advice of your avatar...

 

Same . . . he had some positive impacts during the game.

 

Greg had a fine game last night. Yes, it would be nice if he was quicker rotating on people after he gives help-defense - but this will come back with time when he regains his form - or when our perimeter defense will look less like a sieve - but overall - it was the same reason we lost this game as the one before. The love affair with the 3P and the inability of anyone other than Brandon to finish in the paint from the dribble.

 

I'd take Greg Oden over Andrew Bynum for the Bulls. But I'm not picky, I'd take either of them...or both!

 

My Oden fear is that he's the NBA version of Vince Young! Vince was the QB that was to change it all..... then he saw the lights, the pressure and the expectations and folded.

What Greg is going through looks to me completely mental. He needs to RELAX and have fun. Kobe didn't become Kobe without error. I remember dunks he missed, shots and passes he blew and games he lost. The difference is Kobe kept shooting and having fun until the mental of the NBA caught up with his natural gifts. Greg must do the same!

When you play NOT to disappoint you do. Greg needs to get crazy right now when this team is expected to take a few years to come together. If Greg were to break the flipping backboard and foul out instantly it would be a step up to what he's doing now.

 

Maybe you didnt, but I read a lot of posts here saying that he would be a scorer like that. Those opinions are spread over hundreds of threads so I really dont want to look for quotes but I do remember opinions that he would be a scorer like that.

...maybe I should just check Kingspeed threads

 

Walk a day in his shoes, and you'll find that what you wrote is easier said than done. I'm sure people have been telling him the exact same thing for the past few months. It's not something where you can just flip a switch and change your entire persona and mental makeup. Everyone is wired differently.

 

Phoenix had to go through the same thing with Amare Stoudemire. Look at Amare now. He's back to his explosive self. The big difference between the two situations is Greg is going through what Amare did as a rookie. It's a tough adjustment. His body just isn't what it was prior to the surgery.

Maybe I'm just easily excitable, but I think he's looking better out there on the court now. Realizing how much better he'll look months from now, get's me juiced up!

 

I think so too. I was expecting him to be in full force around the end of January - because of the sprain at the start of the season - I now think we will see him moving properly closer to the end of February - but it is clear that he is getting better out there.

 

Right now Oden is a cross between Webster and Bosh (first year) and Amare (first year). Lots of physical tools, but a screwed up head. Toss in that he's not 100%, and it's pretty ugly.

I still see his baseline as Alonzo Mourning, which is a good enough center for us to win a championship. But I also think he still has Shaq-like upside.

Funny how ever since he retired, people have been looking for "the next Jordan." Kobe, McGrady, Carter, Pierce, Wade....but really the only two guys I can think of who were hyped as "the next Shaq" (at least in some media) were Greg Oden and Eddy Curry. That's how amazing Shaq was.

Funny to think that he could have been "Best Ever" instead of just "Most Dominant Ever." Most Dominant sounds nice, but it basically meant he was only the best when he actually put in the effort to be in shape.

 

Oh yeah, that crap was rampant over at BBF. They all said look at how bad ass he was in college with his left hand. They said the injury didn't mean anything, they said his weight gain didn't mean anything, they said his lack of offensive moves was a lie, they said he'd score 15-20 and easily be rookie of the year. Now those same people are acting like he's a huge bust because he's not meeting their ridiculous expectations.

I said he'd be lucky to average 10ppg and Rudy Fernandez was much more likely to win rookie of the year. What do I know?

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with averaging 17-20 points, 10-14 rebounds and 3 blocks a game for a career. That's pretty dominant in itself.
Greg's always been viewed as going to be a defensive force, with time needed to develop his offensive game. And averaging a double-double every night with nearly 20 points per game is not too shabby for a career.
None of those elite centers ever had a PF who could potentially command as much attention on the low block as LaMarcus.

 

I thought it would be interesting to compair how effective or ineffective GO is in his rookie season compaired to the "dominant" big men from the last several years. Keep in mind none of them missed a year due to surgery.

MIN FG FG% 3P 3P% FT FT% STL BLK TO PF OFF DEF TOT AST PTS
37.9 9.0-16.1 .562 0.0-0.0 .000 5.3-8.9 .592 0.7 3.5 3.8 4.0 4.2 9.6 13.8 1.9 23.4

39.1 8.6-15.7 .549 0.0-0.1 .000 3.9-5.9 .662 0.7 2.5 3.4 3.1 3.3 8.6 11.9 2.7 21.1

37.0 7.8-16.1 .482 0.0-0.0 .000 4.5-6.6 .685 0.8 1.6 2.8 3.2 4.3 5.7 10.0 1.9 20.1

35.6 6.1-13.7 .447 0.0-0.0 .000 2.9-4.7 .609 0.8 1.7 1.7 2.9 3.8 7.1 10.9 0.9 15.1


22.1 2.6-5.2 .500 0.0-0.0 .000 2.4-3.8 .623 0.3 1.5 1.7 3.6 2.6 4.9 7.5 0.7 7.6

I'm not going to tell you who's stats. they are but I will point a couple interesting facts about them. 3 of the 4 teams ended up in the lottery at the end of the season despite the dominance of their big man rookie. The dominant big man who actually got into the play offs his rookie season was playing next to a veteran guaranteed Hall of Famer on a veteran team. Of the 4 dominant big men rookies 2 stayed in college 4 years, one stayed in college 3, and one stayed in 2... all longer than GO.

 

Just believe guys. I'm tellin you. He has the physical tools, the IQ, the work ethic... he will be great!

Don't you think we are all a little frustrated? We all wanted him to come out as a 20/10 guy, but he has shown brilliance, he has had 7 double doubles and already had a 20/10 game... we bitch and moan about a game where he had 8 points and 9 rebounds!

Seriously, how will you guys not feel like shit when you cheer him on while he is putting up 20/10/2.5 a couple times a week next year? He is OUR guy. I don't care what anyone else thinks of him. He isn't a Kwame Brown. I for one, trust KP.

People keep telling me (like San Antonio fans) that this is the best part. Watching a future GREAT team come together, grow together, develop chemistry on and off the court, and watch our players GROW! How do you think Greg feels? Don't you think if he had one wish right now that he would use it to be a better bball player to not let the portland fans down? The fans who stuck by him and said it was "worth the wait".

TBH, he is probably my favorite player in the NBA right now. This kid worked his ass off, and he got things like "I've been kinda underwhelmed by your performance in the preason even though you hadn't played competitive bball in a hell of a long time, aren't in game shape, and are still developing as a young big man!" (I added the last part).

/rant off.

 

You sure about that? Pshh.. Duncan won his 10 rings piggybacking off other players. Kidding, good point.

 

I'd like to see Oden do more posting up. I know Nate said to just concentrate on boards/D/blocks, but I think he needs to develop a low post game more quickly. We were playing 4 on 5 on offense when he was out there last night. He has the physical tools to post, seal his man, and call for the rock. But I don't think Nate is letting him do that.

I do agree, however, that last night he seemed sluggish. There were several times where he could have contested a shot or slid over to help more and he just flat didn't. I wonder of the lack of touches is making him care less about other parts of the game.

So yes, part of it may be an attitude issue. Or conditioning, still. But I don't think I've ever seen a guy ignored on the "roll" part of a pick and roll more than he is. I've never seen a team post up a legit big man less than this one. And I think those coaching-related things are just getting to him and bumming him out.