+1 If I had to make a prediction, I'd say that he'll become an all-star center several times in his career but will never be a legit #1 option or a superstar like Howard. I'd guess that Durant will always be the better player due to simple talent, health, and mentality. Who wins more championships will depend on a lot of other factors, impossible to say. Basically, the Blazers will end up regretting not taking Durant, even if Oden is a top-5 center in the league. But those are just educated guesses, nobody knows exactly how Oden will turn out. I imagine this season he's been faced for the first time in his life with the question: "am I really a once-in-a-generation center?" Before that, even in college, there's been a near-unanimous consensus that he's a hall of famer waiting to happen. The realization that maybe he's not must be tough. Here's hoping he (and everyone) can be happy with whatever caliber player he works his ass off into becoming.
To say you are Anti-Oden is to say you are a traitor. You can't be a Blazer fan and hope for Oden's demise. Do I wish we had picked KD? Yes, w/o question. Do I think Oden will be a dominating Center/Central figure in multiple championships? No. But IF he can stay healthy and keep improving he'll be a top tier big man. Maybe 15/11/2. There just aren't many guys 7'0' and 280 that have his type of stength & athleticism. Maybe he's not as fluid and gracefull as the greats (Ewing, Robinson, Hakeem, Shaq) offensively, but I'd settle for less and be happy. Oden does not need to play like a HOF'er to satisfy me. I'm still "Pro Oden", even though this injury thing is maddening.
You know, a lot of people on this board were ready to pull the trigger on a trade for Stoudemire before the deadline. Stoudemire who has had the same microfracture surgery as Oden. Stoudemire who now has a detached retina that's keeping him out the rest of the season. And I seem to recall a whole lot of complaining and talk about how injury prone Brandon Roy was going to be when he missed a sizable portion of his first season with a heel injury. You know what? Basketball is a tough sport and even great players get injured. It sucks that this happened to Oden, but it's not nearly as big of an injury as the earlier one. He was just starting to find his rythym as a player before he got hurt and I'm sure he'll find it again once he's ready to play. No, I wouldn't swap him for Durant. I'm glad to see that so many here are still of the same mind.
an anonymous "insider" should print this thread out and leave it in Oden's gym bag (exclude this post though)
I picked the first choice. I think we made the right decision and still think Oden is going to be a elite center. But I'd be happy even if we only won one championship with the core we have as long as we are contenders for a while. I mean wining a championship isn't easy. Some teams have never won one. We've only won one. Of course winning a few would be nice, but so many things can happen so I'd be very happy to have that feeling again even if it's just once more!
Lost in this conversation of winning championships is how good Brandon Roy is. With LMA, Outlaw, and Joel backing him up, Roy might be able to carry us to a championship without Oden at all. Our improvement last season and this season has mostly been because of Brandon Roy and how he has developed as a player. If Oden had played last season, everyone probably would've said we went 41-41 because of Greg, but it's actually been all about Brandon Roy, last year and this year. Yes, the team as a whole has improved together, but the main factor has been Brandon.
I really don't like the way the poll is worded. I am not "anti-Oden"...I am HOPING he turns out well, but I am no longer EXPECTING it. For the record, I also don't think Webster is ever going to be a star, so I guess that makes me a doubly rotten person!
It's not black and white to me. If there were a middle choice, I'd probably go for it, though I'd probably answer: "I'd draft Durant but I also think Oden can be a very effective player for the next decade and is not a bust of a pick."
Oden is the right choice for this team. Time will show that. For those of us that are willing to wait and be patient for both Oden and this team to grow and "bake" it is exciting to know that time will show that Oden was the right choice and that there are going to be a lot of people back tracking and jumping back on the Oden bandwagon. If Roy was out all of next year would fans give up on him? Very very doubtful and those that do are not fans. So why treat Oden any different? You have no way of knowing what the next 10 years will bring with Oden. I hope that Oden really makes all the "haters" look really really silly. And if he doesnt, so be it. It will be disappointing but it will be what it is and to waste time putting negative thoughts into one of "our" players is counter productive and not very "fan" like. As for Durant he is and will be a great great player (who by the way will have injuries just like everyone else) but I still cant help but be worried about how his presence would have hurt the development of Roy and Aldridge (and Batum for that matter) and I think Oden will "fit in" better in the long run. So thats where I stand. If love it or hate I dont care but I know where I stand as a fan of the Portland Trail Blazers who Greg Oden is a member of.
We have seen things from Oden this year that we have not seen since Shaq - he is just so strong and can bounce people off him in the post - to the tune that even D-12 does not seem to - D-12 is fast and strong - but Oden seems to be unmovable even when he is not fast. This is a very rare commodity. I think we have made the right choice last year, just as I thought when the choice was made. Oden is a difference maker. Durant is a shot maker. Pro-Oden, easily.
I can't really voted on this one. I don't think he is a bust. I believed he would be hampered most of this year by massive fouling issues, so that is not a surprise. But, his abilities on the court are less than I expected. Dare I say, underwhelming? The other thing I'm concerned about is that the offense seems to get disrupted when he is in the game. He is not in the flow most of the time. While his PER is good, his +/- isn't as good as I'd hoped. For every point he scores (better than Joel), he seems to give up more points than Joel would. Also, Durant is becoming better than I thought he would be. Too early to tell still. If the draft were today and I knew all that I know now I would probably pick Durant. Not because of Oden's injuries or foul issues, but because I'm nervous about his ability to cope with the strains of playing in the NBA. If he would have been drafted by NY he would probably be in a comma by now.
I reject the premise that there are only two options. The world is not black and white, and neither are opinions.
