Comments on: Greg Oden revisited

By: edison

edison — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:23:40 +0000

I think Quick got it totally wrong and here’s why: So far, all he (or anyone, for that matter) has seen of Oden is when he’s playing in one of the convoluted line-ups that define preseason NBA play. Too often, he isn’t passed the ball at the right time – either too late or too early. Also, the other players have seldom been in position to receive an outlet from Oden (who’s often been doubled) or have just stood around. It’s preseason. It isn’t pretty. Oden will be fine once he gets in game shape and the rotation becomes solidified. That will change the way he rebounds and plays D (read: blocked shots). I thought it was telling that Quick admitted in his article that the in-house (“O”) pressure to write about Oden is ridiculous. It’s the only reason I can come up with for his so-called “assessment”. That said, perhaps we should all wait a while before assessing Oden and for that matter, the entire team.

By: Luanne53

Luanne53 — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:15:40 +0000

Greg has game. He is just rusty. Perhaps, if he knew how the initial injury came about, he would be able to play with more confidence. It has to be a bit creepy to be putting the knee to the test in your first NBA game. Like you said, a dose of patience is in order.

As for Quick, I love the guy but I think that he crossed the line with the rookie. Go Blazers!

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:34:48 +0000

“over 35 minutes”

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:33:42 +0000

Everyone who writes about Greg seems underwhelmed, but he is only playing a sporadic 20 minutes per preseason game. He isn’t really getting the chance to log big chunks of contiguous minutes so I’m guessing that he probably isn’t really getting into a rythm. If you project his stats of 35 minutes, he would be averaging a double-double. Not bad for a rookie center, IMHO.

By: ItsMrHarris2u

ItsMrHarris2u — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:25:54 +0000

Oden just looks slow and out of shape. What made him a beast in the past was his freakish speed and quickness, which seem to be gone. I’m still confident that he will get this back and dominate, but until then, he looks like Greg Ostertag, not Greg Oden.

By: Chris Snethen

Chris Snethen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:21:27 +0000

It’s interesting how the organization and the media are both suddenly trying to dial back expectations. Are they just becoming aware they went too far?

The “man-child” tag is the one that makes me nervous. We heard the same thing about Walter Berry when he came out of college. Oden is no Walter Berry (or is it Walter Berry was no Oden?), but that tag is one that concerns me.

I don’t think Oden will get that season of patience. That went out the window long ago. If he doesn’t produce, and relatively quickly, the stain of disappointment may become overwhelming.