I disagree about the bad entry passes...on both Rudy's and Sergio's he set a good pick and then sort of ambled to the block. If he cuts hard Rudy hits him for a SportsCenter highlight. Instead, it's a TO. Sergio ran a P&R with Greg where Greg was too slow, and Sergio had to pass out to the corner. Once his wind is back...those are dunks. And not just regular dunks. Big, juicy, rim-shaking, pull-down-backboard dunks.
You can tell from his demeanor and the look on his face throughout that Oden wasn't playing with much confidence - not to mention being out of shape. Give him some time to get his sea legs under him, which will build his confidence back . . . and then we'll start to have some fun. But for now, let's just have the guy get through a stretch of 5 or 10 games without anything bad happening. I don't need him to score 20 a night - I just would like to see him get in better shape and progress each time out.
Oden made a difference defensively (both with blocked shots as well as a few altered ones). He also made things happen on the offensive glass. He looked exhausted, and he still looks like he just needs to slow down when he gets the ball on the blocks, but I was encouraged by what I saw tonight and can't wait for him to get a week or two under his belt. Ed O.
Psychologically, I think Oden will be a little bit timid for a while. I think when he gets into good basketball shape, he'll be as productive as a prime Dale Davis. I fully expect Oden to dominate the league next season.
Are you saying he'll be Dale Davis if/when he gets healthy this year??? Or are you saying his ceiling is Dale Davis in his prime? If that's the case, I might just cry in my beer.
I think his production will be similar this year to a prime Dale Davis. His ceiling is obviously A LOT higher than that, if he can stay healthy.
While he said he was happy to come with a W and finish the game - I am certain he was not happy with his performance this game - and I am willing to bet he will be much better against NOH. We saw the same at the first pre-season game after his unimpressive fan fest game. It will be 2 months before we start to see the brilliance of the big guy on a regular basis - but you will see a much better game from him on the next one.
Was it Avery's line? "Oden's night was a success because he played 16 mins without an injury." Blazers won on the road, Oden got some run, NBA fans were introduced to Rudy via ESPN and many western conference teams went down . . . great night in the NBA. I still don't see all the excitement over Oden. I thought the consensus was to drop expectations and see what happens . . . after one medicore at best performance we are back up to huge expectations for the kid once he gets in shape. I'm not as quick to jump this time. Beyond the being out of shape, I didn't see the quick short agile bursts ofathleticism from a 7 footer that made him the #1 draft. Yes he has a long way to go to learn psot moves, get into shape, learn the defense ect . . . but he is quick enough for the NBA game to be a Dwight Howard or Amare or will he amount to being a better than average banger (which the Blazers could use) . . . . again little expectations from me, I'll just wait and see.
Then you weren't watching the minutes he played before he got tired, and two blocks in 16 minutes is nothing to sneeze at, especially considering it could have been 3 blocks had Rudy not drawn that charge under the hoop.
Oden looks sluggish, gassed and terrible on offense. He just needs to play though. Dude hasn't played in like 14 months lol Think about if you stopped playing hoop for that long. It would take a while to get it back. Next year Oden will be a beast. This year is all learning while we watch El Matador murder folks
Thanks for letting me know which part of the game I was watching . . . I'll check with you before I post another opinion to make sure I caught all of the game.
I don't know how you missed his athleticism, especially the first couple of minutes before he got tired. As far as lowering expectations: no way. He's the best center prospect since Shaq, the best high school center prospect since Alcindor. I'm not lowering my expectations one iota just because he missed six games with a sprained foot. Ed O.
It's not just you. It was every single girl that I talked to on Halloween, also. All of the guys were like, "Dude! Awesome!" and all of the girls were like, "..." and fled. Not ideal for a single guy out on the town (me). Oh, well. Ed O.
That's you? Makeup becomes you. I thought it was one of your lady friends. I think it's great. And I would even if I were female.
I saw the slam, I saw the positioning for the rebounds, I saw the 2 blocks. What concerns me is that he was slow, IMO. And not just the out of shape slow . . . we have all been there. But the short busrts of energy in between being out of shape. Whistle blow, there is a break in action, Oden puffing hard but catches his breath, but then runs the court slow. I thought Oden was going to beat other centers down the court? I get him not doing it all the time because he is out of shape, but I didn't see any bursts of speed . . . well there was that one dunk they showed 20 times and that was a quick move. But personally, I don't conclude from that move or the fist 2 mins what others have concluded. And what about the first couple mins in the 2nd half, can that be written off to being out of shape? I'm going to wait to see how he develops (do I have a choice), but for now I'm not as pumped as others about those first couple of minutes and disagree about the explosiveness and athleticism. Maybe it's the fact he is 270 lbs and I don't have an appreciation for being that size, but I seen other NBA players out of shape showing more bursts of energy that Oden. Or maybe I'm just so clueless I missed what everyone else is seeeing . . . I don't discount as a possiblity. Or maybe as nik suggested I don't watch games but pretend I do when I post . . . but that I do discount as a possiblity.
Hmm. Running up and down the court seems like the classic thing that would suffer if you were out of shape. When I've played competitive basketball, if I'm tired, I can't turn on bursts of speed in going up the court. Not that I am indicative of an elite athlete, but it seems like that's a place where you'd see the effects of not being in game shape. The elevation for the rebound, pivot and slam all struck me as very athletic. His first five minutes, he seemed like a 25 year old playing with 16 year olds...the Heat were putting several bodies on him to keep him away from the rim, and on defense, anyone going into the paint threw up awkward-looking shots. During that time, he seemed agile and powerful. Then, his performance began to degrade. I was very encouraged, because his being a star seems to boil down to three things to me: 1. Stay healthy 2. Get into premium shape 3. Develop a polished game in the post The first two seem eminently do-able to me. The third is a development, so not necessarily guaranteed. But his performance last night seemed poised and possessed of the right tools...he just seemed to be too over-eager and not very polished, so he made mistakes. I think developing his post game, considering his reported work ethic and intelligence, and his evident physical abilities, will not be a real problem. I don't think he'll be a prime Shaquille O'Neal on offense, but I think he can be a 25 PPG scorer in his prime and a perennial defensive player of the year candidate.
