My post from the game thread on this topic: He gets stripped on the post more than anyone else that I have seen in the NBA in a while. He's got great hands and seems to be a strong guy... I hope it's a matter of experience and maybe altering how he holds the ball. I suppose it's his general hesitancy, as well, that lets people recover and help to collapse on him. One thing that I love is that he works hard on the offensive boards. For every one he gets, he's got the inside position at least one other time and the ball doesn't bounce right. I love it how hard he works there. Ed O.
Totally agree - he's always fighting in there and you gotta love that. And I think that clearly there are scouting reports that you can strip him down low as every team seems to do the same thing. He'll figure it out. Very nice game today for him.
It's not just down low, though. He's getting swatted from behind a lot as he gathers to go up. Is it that his legs are lacking strength, either from the knee surgery or from adding too much bulk up top, that he has to crouch more to get enough explosion? I'm also wondering about his limp. I don't remember if he had that at Ohio State... A modest difference in leg length shouldn't make for that pronounced of a limp. Has he always had that natural strut, or is it lingering weakness in the knee? It's only a matter of time until his ability catches up to his effort and desire...
He'll figure it out. It's basically combination of two things: 1) He brings the ball down to his waist area too frequently, and... 2) He's too hesitant with his moves around the basket. He needs to take the ball up more quickly and with more authority. I think the absence of Maurice Lucas may have prevented him from getting some of the coaching he needs in this area as well. I think he'll be much more effective offensively next year.
I think he always had that as his natural strut but it might be a little more then normal. I think he slowly seems to be getting in a little better game shape. I was happy with his game today.
This seems to be a problem with a long of young big men who are used to playing against tiny/weak high school players and not having to worry about losing the ball that way. It took Al Jefferson a while before he learned how to handle the ball with care.
.. and a lot of these strips should really be fouls - the officials are really letting the other teams whack him like crazy.
I love Luke and all, but Oden needs a real big man coach. Someone that can teach him some better footwork.
He's making one too many moves every time. Making three moves when he only needs two, or two when he only needs one. He's also exaggerating his moves. He's acting. He's trying to make the huge play every time. He's having a problem with his lift and conditioning and it's effecting him mentally. He's not getting the coaching he needs right now, but is still developing and learning. I see something new from him every game, and I see him correcting mistakes from prior games. The easiest problem to fix offensively is simply giving him the ball at the right time. Without exception I see Greg Oden wide open, or at least in great position with momentum put his hand up 3 to 5 or more times a game, and even though the ball handler sees him (Rudy, Roy, etc...) they keep the ball or defer to a teammate. When Randy Moss puts his hand up you throw him the damn ball, and you get credited with a TD. The Blazers need to realize that when the big man wants the ball, you give the big man the ball. If you give Oden the ball when he has his hand up good things are going to happen.
Luke is back home now, but he's still at least a couple of weeks away from rejoining the team. He had a nasty case of pneumonia and just recently started to go on the mend.
As others mentioned it's really a matter of learning the nuances of the pro game compared to high school and his one year of college. Greg just needs to practice keeping the ball near his chest or beneath his chin, and he needs to learn how to create more space with his body like using the old "Barkley bump" instead of trying to clear out with his off arm. It takes time, especially for a guy who only played a year of college and was never seen as an offensive player.
There are quite a few fouls in there - as well as legit strips. If you watch the replays on a lot of them he's getting his in the head or on the arms, not even the hands. He's getting hardly any love from the refs unless it is blatantly obvious and he's being pulled awkwardly. There were several times tonight where he just got walloped and nothing at all was called. They're going to have to learn how to call fouls on him (and against him) like they had to learn with Shaq (please note that this is not comparing him to Shaq skill wise but simply size wise and he isn't as big as Shaq was). He is getting better at taking it right back up though, and it'll only get better as his legs and knee gets stronger.
He's slowly getting better offensively. That huge putback he had at the end of the game while fading away with a little hook, he probably wouldn't have made two weeks ago. Just a matter of time for Greg.. I have no worries, the guy is already a beast on the boards and on the defensive end, which is really what we need from him.
I think we need to recognize that the Blazers have had no breaks in their schedule this season and have been on the road more than any other team. As a result, there hasn't been much time for coaches to work one on one with Greg to help him deal with some mistakes that he's making once he catches the ball. I have no doubt that once the schedule eases up a bit, there will be some adjustments made in Greg's technique around the basket that will decrease this problem.
He gets blocked because he has never played against anyone who was tall enough to block his shot. His hook is too flat. Like everyone has said, he will adjust. But right now they need to stop forcing it in to him. How about the offensive foul call in crunch time? How pathetic was that? He makes the hook and gets called for a clear out. The call was late, and it was wrong. The refs reacted to the Toronto players. It almost cost us the game.
