Things are just different with Oden in the game. Guys are more wide open. He doesn't have to set a screen to be a screener, sometimes he just blocks a section of the lane off. Rebounds and blocks lead to transition buckets. The other team actually pays attention to him on offense. Those types of things.
I had forgotten it too, but not having him for 15 games made his absence much more noticeable to me. There are few players in the league that can match up with him, so stats don't tell the entire story on what he means to the team.
Yep. Interestingly, both times Oden came in the game, the team immediately pushed the lead significantly higher.
I slept through the game so I missed it too, but when I check the box score that was what jumped out to me. Roy was the only player that had a better + stat and the other players were not even close. Rudy -10? Ouch. What's a shame is he finally seem to be getting over the wall before he was injured.
