Oden: US Mini Camp Updates

I saw that too. I also agree with Crow that the block seemed to have quite a bit of contact and I thought I saw at least one foul. I'm very hopeful about Greg and am glad that he is consistently mentioned as looking improved by the media. I've said for awhile that I think we will see the real Greg right around Jan. 1st 2010 (Roughly what we hoped for his rookie year pre-injury) and I expect to see the dominating beastman Oden by around November of 2010.

 

I saw some improvement and other question marks. He had some solid rebounds and seemed to have much improved lateral quickness. However, his elevation looked the same to me. G.O. often blocks shots low, and I saw more of that. Also, his dunks lacked elevation. The one with the contact was strong, but he barely made it to the rim--which happened a lot last year. It is still early in the summer, but he didn't look as quick vertically as I would have hoped for.

 

I didn't see this comment posted yet.

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/51562712.html

 

I think he just conserves energy. Someone mentioned earlier that he had a 12'1" running vertical.

 

i love how ridiculously small those chairs look for KD and GO

 

Harris looks like a Hobbit next to Greg!

 

Well, those on the bandwagon are getting a small modicum of validation for not jumping off at some point. The new bandwagoners, well they are just new and will now sing the praises of GO. Here is a reminder of how quickly the bandwagon filled the first time;

[video=youtube;thTIYCXcx90]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thTIYCXcx90[/video]

 

Thanks to everyone who posted the different Twitter updates about Greg! Keep em' coming!

 

Keep in mind that fouls are officiated differently at the international level, so I'm sure they were trying to simulate that in this practice. Casey Holdahl wrote:

Watching the footage, He's not exactly Dwight Howard yet but his legs look to have a lot more spring in them, a lot quicker and lighter on his feet, even though a lot of it seemed to be late in practice and he looked tired. I think by the time the season rolls around he'll be vastly improved.


On another note, the quote below leads me to believe he may not make the team this time around, if they're looking for a big with more of an outside game, but if he can seperate himself from the others on defense he might have a chance.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=4352887

 

The main thing I noticed with Greg in this video is that on defense he was "lurking". That is what I look for in defenders, is that they are lurking, looking for their opportunity to make a play, always aware of ball position, waiting to make that play.

 

I love that description - lurking.

 

Well, they mention three areas but they are expected to have 4 spots open.

It seems like KD is a lock (rightfully so), and that the third PG should probably be Rose rather than Williams as he wouldn't play much anyway.

So the depth chart is like this:

Howard
Anthony Bosh
James Durant
Bryant Wade
Paul Williams 3rd PG (Rose)

That leaves two spots... One should be a PF with range (could be anybody) or maybe another 3/4 (Granger?) and one should be a C/PF, as the only real center is Howard, although Bosh has played C for them and fits very good because he has range and can hit FTs.

I think Greg would make a ton of sense at center (if they decide to go with one). His only real competition should be Lopez but more likely Al Jefferson since he could play both the 5 and 4 as they seem to value versatility.

 

Paul Williams at PG:

 

A few updates from yesterday:

 

Durant on why he wore #52:

 

KP gettin swarmed:

 

Thank god text carries tone of voice otherwise I might have missed his sarcasm.

 

Change in Line up: