Lopez is much better on Offense right now. I would say Greg is more of a defensive presence though. I wouldn't trade Greg for Lopez though. I don't think Oden has showed us what he is capable of yet.
minnesota is far worse than houston this year. the twolves might not win 20 games. they started corey brewer and damian wilkins on the perimeter and their first two bigs off the bench were brian cardinal and ryan hollins. that team is absolute garbage.
In two years this thread will be laughable. Today it's reasonable to suggest that we should trade Greg for Brook. I think in a couple of years no one would consider trading Greg for anything short of CP3 or Lebron. We'll see he has the tools, does he have the will? Does he have the coach who can get the most out of him? These questions remain to be answered. I have faith in Greg.
In case you didn't see it in the other thread you are the man for getting that James Brown on last night. However, your manhood has been revoked by rocking that Laker ring as your avatar. DOUBLE SHAME ON YOU!
As I said in another thread, I am sick of everybody bashing my Blazers on here, so I am now a Laker fan!
So after game 1, I my revamped Oden 09-10 averages prediction has changed: 4.5 ppg 14rpg 3blks meanwhile Joel gets 1.1 ppg
4.5? Really? Isn't that how much Joel averaged last year? I'm pretty sure Oden is at least 4x as efficient as Pryz on offense and this was just one of those bad games. He averaged more than 4.5 in his limited minutes last year, so how could he possibly average less? I know Nate has said he's not looking to go into Oden as much as he should, but still...4.5 is insulting. Lopez was developed as a 1st/2nd option for a full season last year on a non-playoff team. Of course he's going to be better at putting up stats right now.
I wouldn't be surprised if Nate never demands that Greg gets fed the ball at all this year on offense. Forget the fact that he covered up dribble penetration by Brooks and Lowry multiple times the other night bailing out his guards and set screens and rolled to the hoop never getting a single pass on the pick and roll. No, I think it's pretty clear that Nate wants Oden to play goalie and not a whole lot else. Let's face it, the only players on this team who might at all even consider making a concerted, conscious effort at feeding Greg the ball are Howard (who is unlikely to play) and Miller, who is unlikely to be paired up with him and isn't going to play starter's minutes (if the Houston game is any indication). I've been a pretty patient Nate supporter over the years because I thought he did a great job of getting results and motivating young players, but the way this team has seemingly failed to take full advantage of it's bigs (and even LMA plays more like a small forward than a true power forward) and show any kind of growth beyond the Roy iso or pick and pop is starting to wear a little thin. I'll be very curious to see how this team matches up with Denver's frontcourt tomorrow night, and if there will be any attempt to create any kind of inside-out attack or run a proper pick and roll. I know it sounds crazy, but there actually was a time when Joel Pryzbilla was a helluva pick and roll player with Nick Van Exel a few years back. Is it possible to move beyond the "hey it won us 54 games, so we're sticking to it" manta? I'm starting to lose some faith.
Of course a sample size of one is nothing to go off of, but I saw everything happen last night that happened throughout the course of the prior year where Oden was a complete afterthought when it came to the guards or the wings trying to get him the ball when he worked for position or set a good screen and rolled to the basket, the only difference is that Oden looks a lot more mobile and athletic. I'm not panicking over this, but if this turns into another year long trend I'm going to be sorely disappointed in the guards/coaching philosophy that guides the offense. Maybe if I'd been able to watch the preseason games where reportedly Oden was dominant on offense I wouldn't be so worried.
Hey i did say it say it was based of game 1... you never know he could score 25 tonight, that would change everything
What? Blazer fans acknowledging good players do actually play on other teams? What the frack is the world coming to? You can't possibly think they are better than players on the Blazers!
