Subscribe Feed (RSS)That’s what I’ve been hearing. Now, I know what the people who say that mean — they’re worried about having a center who is hurt all the time. But in terms of being a solid NBA player as a rookie, Greg Oden is going to be very hard-pressed to match a lot of Bowie’s numbers.
And this isn’t meant as a knock on Oden, but as praise for Bowie — who was a MUCH better player than most people remember. As a rookie, for instance, you might not remember that Bowie played 76 games, shot 53.7 percent from the field, averaged 8.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.7 blocked shots and 10 points per game. Will Oden match that in his rookie season?
Bowie was, as a matter of fact, going to be a heck of a player before the injuries got him. I covered the Blazers that season and I can tell you for sure that Bowie moved up and down the floor faster than Oden, had better hands and more explosiveness than Oden.
That’s not to say Oden doesn’t have a bigger upside and won’t someday turn out to be better than Bowie would have been. It’s way too early to write off Oden in any way, in regard to talent, injuries or anything else. Bowie came to the NBA off a full college career. Oden is 20 years old with just that one season in college. It’s going to take him a while. Making any definitive judgements about him at this point would be foolhardy.
I just want to make sure people remember that Sam Bowie was not in any way a stiff. Yes, he had injury problems. But if not for those injuries I believe he was going to be a very good NBA player — probably a many-time all-star. (Seriously — the late Kevin Duckworth was twice an all-star and Bowie, when healthy, was a better player at both ends of the floor than Duckworth). And with the kind of fast-paced, unselfish game the Blazers played under Rick Adelman, he would have been the perfect center for that team.
Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers, Sam Bowie
Sam Bowie always looked fragile to me. Agree he could have been a force if he stayed healthy, but he did not.
I have not seen enough of Greg Oden to get a good look at whether he looks fragile, but:
Missed first season with injury
Missed most first game with injury.
A bit worrisome.
I always thought Duckworth looked a bit fragile, but he did not miss a lot of games for long periods.
For some reason fans have dreamed/worried about Oden in terms of only two possibilities. Either he is the next Patrick Ewing–a multiple-time All Star, etc–or he is Sam Bowie, who is perceived as a washout. What if Oden is a player more in the mold of Marcus Camby? Camby is a solid defensive center with a proneness to injury. In spite of his injuries, he was/is a coveted player around the league. I think any intelligent person looking at Oden the past two years has to conclude he’s a bit fragile and is not going to be an Iron Man like AC Green or Karl Malone. That doesn’t mean he’s a washout.
Considering how great Kevin Pritchard is, I’ve wondered if he would have worked out a way for us to get both Jordan and Bowie in that draft.
Joking aside, I have a lot of respect for Bowie, and it’s too bad that his injuries kept us from seeing what he could have been. A lot of people forget about how Jordan looked in that draft, and that we already had Drexler at his position, and one of them would eventually have to go.
But because Bowie wasn’t Jordan or Barkley or even Stockton, and because we couldn’t win it all with Drexler, there you go.
Personally, I think LaRue Martin was our worst mistake.
Uh, I’m panicking!
How did Bowie look fragile? It was his feet that were his problem…do you have x-ray vision to see through his shoes to see he had fragile feet? Duckworth did not look fragile…duckworth looked like he could have made the transition to NFL lineman without an issue.
Frye looks fragile, Tayshaun looks fragile…
you are absolutely correct. bowie was a baller. I remember watching him on the olympic team that stayed home in 1980. He, zeke and aguire took it to the nba guys in some games that aired on tv. He would have been a really really good player without the injuries. If people want to look at busted pics, there are better examples than sam. Jeeze, you never hear people say Len Bias was a bust…and he at least had some influence on his outcome. Sam was an innocent victim… and still better than sean bradley, probably darko too.
Greg Oden = http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1102967/photo_06_hires.jpg
Oden has no potential. Hes like 40
The 85-86 Celtics are often brought up as the greatest team of all-time. They went 41-1 at home. Here was the only game they lost. Sam Bowie had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Here are the portions of the game story that pertain to Bowie:
CELTICS SEARED TRAIL BLAZERS EXPLODE AT GARDEN, 121-103
Author(s): Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff
Date: December 7, 1985
Some green-eyed loyalists will try to blame this one on Larry Bird’s 9-for- 26 shooting, the buffoonery of referees Tommy Nunez and Bennett Salvatore, or maybe a farewell curse by the maniacal Sly Williams.
No. The Portland Trail Blazers trashed the Celtics, 121-103, at Boston Garden last night because Dr. Jack Ramsay’s Flying Burrito Brothers could do no wrong. Steve Colter was Norm Van Lier, Jerome Kersey was Elgin Baylor, and Sam Bowie was Nate Thurmond
…
“I think there comes a time when you just tire of being embarrassed,” said Bowie (18 points, 13 rebounds).
“Every team gets extra-psyched to play Boston,” added Colter (22 points). “Everyone wants to get ya. We’re one of the teams that wants to get ya and tonight we got ya.”
…
You sensed it might be a strange evening when you saw the sneakers. The Celts are generally considered to be owners of the ugliest footwear in the NBA, but Portland’s red runners look worse then Boston’s black beauties.
The men in the red shoes ran the Celtics off the floor in the first five minutes. Bowie, Mychal Thompson, Clyde Drexler (19) and Jim Paxson forced a flurry of Boston turnovers and beat the green team down the floor for layups and dunks as the visitors bolted to an 18-7 lead.
…
It got worse. Kersey kept connecting and a fastbreak follow-up slam by Bowie gave Portland a 97-83 lead with 8:36 left. Then Bowie dunked on an alley-oop from Colter and it was 99-83. The Celts had made one of six shots, and Bird was on his way to seven straight misses.
Thanks for the perspective on Oden and a little “real” history on our dear old friend Sammy B. I have been getting so frustrated of late with some Blazer fans. Some of the nonsense and hysterical stuff fans over on Oregon live have been saying is just too much. I loved Bowie as a Blazer fan back in the day. I still respect the man Sam Bowie is to this day. He was not a bust as a player. He was injured more than any fan or GM would have liked. But as you pointed out Dwight, Sam was not a bust as a player. He was and is still such a decent human being. I for one never regretted the Blazers picking Bowie. In hindsight you can say yea well MJ or Bowie ? At the time Sam was what the Blazers needed most. As is Oden needed by Blazers today. As you also mentioned if Sam had remained healthy that era of Blazer fanhood would have been one of the best ever. Even tho that era of Blazers never did win a championship it is still to me,as a fan, a golden era of Blazer basketball. That I guess is why I get so frustrated when some of these fans start in on Bowie like he was some absolute nothing in Blazer history. You were really sorta in your prime back in those days as well Dwight. Your Blazer blogging and historical perspective of late has been reminiscent of that time. Are you getting soft in your old age Jaynes ? I mean you are suppose to be the mean ole’ curmudgeon of Blazer writers if you believe some of the fan hype about you ya know ? You’ve been so right on of late I am thinking maybe you should go back to the Oregonian and keep things in perspective there as well.