How Nate’s seeing Oden’s development
Got a chance to ask Coach Nate McMillan about Greg Oden’s development so far this season. It started with a discussion of Oden’s footwork in the post, something I have not been impressed with so far. It appears to me he’s not had a great deal of coaching at lower levels because his basic post-up footwork seems tentative and inconsistent.
Perhaps he hasn’t needed those skills because his size was enough to make him a dominant player. Let’s face it, he didn’t come up at a time when there is a surplus of great big men for him to play against.
But McMillan doesn’t seem displeased with Oden’s offense. He’s more concerned, right now, with developing Oden’s defense. Part of that, of course, is because the Blazers don’t need a big offensive contribution from Oden at this point — but they do need his defensive prowess.
“He has the potential and we have to develop it. I think he’s further along offensively than we thought. His patience on offense is getting much better. He has the patience to pass out of the double-teams. He’s learning the flow. He has trouble sometimes sensing the double-teams but that will come.
“Defensively, he needs to work on rotating and on playing big. He’s still coming down (here, McMillan put his arms in the air and came down with them, as if trying to smother a shot attempt — which will get fouls called on you just about every time). He doesn’t need to do that. Keep the arms straight and play big. But he’s learning a lot from Joel (Przybilla).
“I think being able to watch Joel from the bench has been a big help.”
I’m still among the ranks of those who think Oden is going to be a very good player. Perhaps a great player. He is so very big. Even though he has so far to go in his development, he’s already impacted several games.
I never talk about this because it seems so simple. But you have to remember, basketball is inherently such an unfair game. So much of your success depends on genes — and the size you’ve been gifted with. In sports such as baseball, hockey or soccer, you can be born short, scrawny and sometimes even a little slow — and still, through hard work, a lot of heart and great technique, figure out a way to become a very good player.
But no matter how hard you work, you can’t make yourself seven feet tall.
It’s becoming increasingly hard for normal-sized humans to play in football and basketball. You better be big and you better be strong. These games are dominated by titans. Monsters. And not only that, most of these very huge people can really run, too.
Greg Oden is a very big person. He doesn’t have to be as talented as others. His size is going to make up for a few deficiencies. What he’s learning now is that in the NBA, you need more than just the size. His skill level has to rise — but I don’t see any reason it can’t. He’s smart, seems to understand how hard he must work, has decent hands and — when he gets healthy — will be able to run well.
He will get better, and it won’t take too much improvement for him to be a dominator.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | November 25, 2008
Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers
What about nate robinson? That Rudy seems like a pretty thin guy also. I know what your saying, but lets give some hope to the average size young ball players out there! I really enjoy your thoughts on the Blazers. Thanks
Like Luke Jackson said a while back (in reference to Oden) “you can’t teach big.” I agree with you, I think that GO just needs time. I hope that fans will give him some breathing room so he can enjoy himself. Have a yummy holiday! Go
Blazers!
Dwight,
I enjoyed your take on G.O… I get very frustrated at the national media who are so wishy washy when it comes to G.O.. People seem to conveniently forget that the kid had MF surgery. It takes one year of playing an NBA season to get back physically. See Armare and Z-bo. They had bounce back seasons in year two after the surgery. When you combine this with the fact that Greg has barely played any competitive ball against elite players, he’s 20 and he’s got a ton of pressure on him because he was the number one pick, you have a recipe for inconsistency. I think Greg’s biggest obstacle is his confidence. He seems very up and down in this category. When he finally realizes that all he needs to do is go out and play and be patient, he’ll blossom.
Twiggy,
As someone who has tried guarding Nate Robinson in pick-up games and got to watch him play basketball and football for 4 years, I can tell you he is the most freakishly athletic guy I’ve ever seen. Truly amazing to watch.
I can’t wait to see Oden in a few years when he is in game-shape and learns some new skills. People need to be patient.
I keep seeing Oden compared to other great NBA centers in their first year. That doesn’t seem relevant at all to me. The comment about the time to recover from MF surgery above gives ample reason for being patient with his development. The other factor is that he comes to the NBA with only one year of college. He’s very young. Compare him with other centers (or other players) who joined the NBA young and you understand the value of being patient and giving him time to develop.
Hey have you heard any more about Maurice Lucas and when or if he’ll be returning to the Blazer bench this year? Man I hope so because I think Maurice could really help Greg improve on the little things in his game.
What does Portland need from Oden? Scoring? Absolutely not! At least not as in a 20ppg performer.
What Portland needs is for him to dominate defensively like he already has proven he can do – at times. He just needs to be more consistent at it. He needs to rebound – which he has already proven he can do. He needs to be a threat down low to score if the other team sends a double team. And he needs to be able to pass to Aldridge, Roy or whoever the open Blazer is.
As far as I can see, Oden is already 80% there when it comes to what Portland needs from him. He’s really not that far away.