Greg Oden is nowhere NEAR the athlete he was at OSU . .

[exile on ivy st]

That's what microfracture surgery will do to you for at least the first year and a half AFTER you've even been cleared to hit the court. For the LONGtime being, it hinders your athleticism. Whether or not Oden ever runs like a gazelle the way he did at Ohio St. remains to be seen, but given his age and howpositively Amare Stoudemire eventually responded to his surgery, and especially given how much better Oden runs andjumps now compared to how he looked in November, I'll continue to remain optimistic.

So why do I keep on hearing statements like these? :

How long do we have to keep pretending Portland didn't massively and totally screw up the 2007 draft?

- Bill Simmons

In other related news items :

Boston massively and totally screwed up the 1986 NBA draft(any moron could have told you Len Bias would die from a cocaine overdose)

Sacramento's management made perhaps the most idiotic draft choice of all time in Bobby Hurley(even I saw that car crash coming)

And of course, in maybe the most famous sports management blunder of them all, the Rochester Royals activated Maurice Stokes for a game where he hit his headon the floor, which led to Stokes suffering a seizure, followed by a coma, and eventually, death.

SMH AT INEPT MANAGEMENT

 

[gregodensbedpan]

agreed.

that, and father time is definitely not on his side.

 

[jpzx]

The management really had no other choice than Oden..

There are so few big men with a lot of potential these days and Oden had some of the highest potential coming out of college that any Center has ever had.Countless people said in high school that he was ready for the big stage but because of the one-and-done rule he was forced to go to college for a year.

If the Blazers had picked Durant instead of Oden there would've been mass uproar in Portland. Not many people began saying that "Durant was a betterpick than Oden" until about mid-this year.

 

[pr0phecy718]

Originally Posted by GregOdensBedpan

agreed.

that, and father time is definitely not on his side.

 

[noneofyours25]

I still think Oden was a good draft pick for the Blazers --- they needed a big center more than another wing player.

 

[CP1708]

Live with it, the Oden pick is a huge mistake, Durant was/is the better player.

You guys already had a servicable big man in Pryz, why the need to draft another one with the #1 pick no less?

He went from "we're going to win every championship for the rest of our lives" to "well, we just need him to get 10 points and 10 reboundsand we'll be fine."

That is NOT what you should expect from the #1 pick. Ever. So it was a mistake. It's a fact.

Can the kid still grow and learn and maybe turn into a decent player? Yes he can. Will he ever be a better player then Durant? No.

Sam Bowie was a servicable big man for a lotta years in the NBA.

But I wouldn't consider that a smart move either.

 

[yungmatt]

He airballed a hook shot and missed an open dunk wednesday vs denver.

This dude is %%+%%* trash.

 

[starburyptgod]

How much of his game was based on athleticism though?
He was never an Amare or KMart type of athlete. His big problem this year has been fitting in the offense and staying out of foul trouble.

 

[high class scum bag]

wow, he actually showed footwork in one of the moves in that video..

why do people still say the blazers made the right pick???? you dont draft someone # 1 for them to be a backup to a SERVICEABLE center.

 

[guillermo gutierez]

when he plays, he looks like that outta shape dude who gets forced to play full court at the gym against his will.

ie: Me

 

[yungmatt]

Originally Posted by GUILLERMO GUTIEREZ

when he plays, he looks like that outta shape dude who gets forced to play full court at the gym against his will.

ie: Me

 

[dlo13]

Originally Posted by CP1708

He went from "we're going to win every championship for the rest of our lives" to "well, we just need him to get 10 points and 10 rebounds and we'll be fine."

Portland fans were gassed right after they won the lottery. You couldn't tell those dudes nothing...

 

[wallyhopp]

dont get it twisted. its college. ive seen many dominate college players turn into nothing in nba or beyond

 

[size 15 please]

plain and simple......


that was college............this is the NBA


give him a chance before judge him, this is basically his 1st season...not everybody is going to come into the L and put up big numbers and be what they usedto be...let him adjust

 

[kidskillz858]

Honestly I was never impressed with Greg Oden when he was in college.

Drafting Oden over Kevin Durant is almost as bad as when the Pistons drafted Darko Milic instead of Melo.

 

[haiti5]

excuses excuses

 

[cb94]

If dude wasn't 43, I'd still have faith in the fellow hoosier... but uh...

 

[lazy b]

Horrible choice of music for that video. Some of these people on YouTube are complete idiots when it comes to this.

 

[exile on ivy st]

Originally Posted by CP1708

Live with it, the Oden pick is a huge mistake, Durant was/is the better player.

You guys already had a servicable big man in Pryz, why the need to draft another one with the #1 pick no less?

He went from "we're going to win every championship for the rest of our lives" to "well, we just need him to get 10 points and 10 rebounds and we'll be fine."

That is NOT what you should expect from the #1 pick. Ever. So it was a mistake. It's a fact.

Can the kid still grow and learn and maybe turn into a decent player? Yes he can. Will he ever be a better player then Durant? No.

Sam Bowie was a servicable big man for a lotta years in the NBA.

But I wouldn't consider that a smart move either.

It was a huge mistake because . . . . . . . Portland should have suspected he would need microfracture surgery at some point??

You completely missed the point of the post. Oden. is. not. even close. to. being. athletic. as . he. was. in. college.

WHY IS PORTLAND'S DECISION JUDGED ON HIS CURRENT SKILL SET AND WHAT HE IS AFTER THE INJURY, AS OPPOSED TO WHAT HIS SKILLSET WAS WHEN HE WAS DRAFTED?

How complicated is that for you to understand? Please give me some type of explanation as to why the fact that Oden has nowhere near the agility hehad when Portland drafted him has ZERO effect on whether Portland made a good decision or not.

He airballed a hook shot and missed an open dunk wednesday vs denver.

This dude is %%+%%* trash.
Yeah, he did look like trash there. He looks like trash around 15 percent of the time, and around 15 percent of the time he also looks like afranchise center who could potentially dunk and block everything in sight. The other 60 he just looks average to mediocre. That's about the kind ofinconsistency you would expect from someone who's only had 1/2 season of college under his belt and is coming off a kind of surgery that severely hindersthe focal point of his game.

How much of his game was based on athleticism though?
He was never an Amare or KMart type of athlete. His big problem this year has been fitting in the offense and staying out of foul trouble.
While I commend you for being the only person in this thread to actually directly respond to what my actual point was(I'm shocked, by theway, that all the usual suspects completely ignored everything I wrote and just responded with the same re-hashed BS that happens to be completely irrelevantto the situation . . . .SHOCKED,) you're still wrong. Did you watch the video? 90% of Oden's game was his athleticism, he's not quite on par withAmare but for his size, he was close, and he was still a absolute freak. Again, watch the video and tell me it's normal to see a 7 footer with that kind ofexplotion.

wow, he actually showed footwork in one of the moves in that video..

why do people still say the blazers made the right pick???? you dont draft someone # 1 for them to be a backup to a SERVICEABLE center.
Another inaccurate post that has nothing to do with what I said . . (yawn). Did you ever watch Oden in college or do you firmly believe that hewas the same player then that he is now and that his play on the court NOW should be directly associated with Portland's reasoning for drafting Oden #1?

Don't you guys get it? I'll break it down into nice analogy since so many seem to be either a)moronic or b)in complete denial.

If Jessica Alba had an accident in the kitchen today and she recieved severe 1st degree burns all over her face would Cash Warren be :

a) an idiot for having ever married her.
b) smart for marrying her given the package she was at the time, who know that she would have some freak accident that would limit how hot she really is?

 

[digitaljordan]

DLo13 wrote:

---

CP1708 wrote:

---

He went from "we're going to win every championship for the rest of our lives" to "well, we just need him to get 10 points and 10 rebounds and we'll be fine."

Portland fans were gassed right after they won the lottery. You couldn't tell those dudes nothing...

Any team that would of won the lottery in the Blazers position would of been just as gassed.

As one of the few REAL Blazer fans on this site I have to say I'm not to disappointed in Greg's rookie season. I will reservejudgement until after next season and see what kind of progress he can make when healthy. Most of these kids just talk reckless about the team and do not thinkrationally. .

Yeah Durant is a beast and will be great but here in Portland we are 13 games better then last year. OKC is 3 games better. That's all I care about. Maybethat has nothing to do with Oden maybe it does but nobody can tell me we would be better off as a team with Durant.

What many of you fail to realize is that the Blazers had D. Miles and a huge contract, Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster all who played the same spot asDurant. If we would of picked Durant there would prob be no Rudy, Batum or PT for T Law.

Giving up on Oden after 1 year = Bandwagon Blazer fans

 

[cb94]

^I'll do you one better man.. me and Oden were both c/o '06 seniors from the same state. So I assume he's been on my radar longer thanmost of you guys' radar. My cousin plays HS ball now, so he used to semi-follow Oden and what not. So I've heard of the guy is all I'm trying tosay... but yeah.... I'll just say that as a college (I meantHS) player, Oden was damn near as impressive as Lebron. Dude was a FREAK of %!+#!+$ nature if I've ever heard of/seen one. Like, at 7' dude wasplaying ball like Donkey Kong. It's kinda sad to see him doing what he's doing in the league. Chris Hunter (another hoosier -- now on the Knicks -- onethat I went to school with) may actually be better than this guy right now... which is crazy

. That'snot suppossed to be true but at least Chris was putting up 19 and 9 consistently last year in the NBDL and even made the NBDL all star team. If Chris> Greg.....

: {

@ Greg and

for Chris.

 

[bruza]

Originally Posted by NoneOfYours25

I still think Oden was a good draft pick for the Blazers --- they needed a big center more than another wing player.

sounds almost like the justification for drafting bowie over jordan.

 

[digitaljordan]

at least Chris was putting up 19 and 9 consistently last year in the NBDL and even made the NBDL all star team
The NBDL?

 

[yungmatt]

Originally Posted by CB94

That's not suppossed to be true but at least Chris was putting up 19 and 9 consistently last year in the NBDL and even made the NBDL all star team. If Chris > Greg.....

{

@ Greg and

for Chris.

Greg Oden NOW would average 30 and 15 in the D League

 

[CP1708]

I don't have all @#$*^& day to do this with you and I can already tell you'll never listen to the rest of the world, so I'll say it once andthat is it.

It was a huge mistake because . . . . . . . Portland should have suspected he would need microfracture surgery at some point??

You completely missed the point of the post. Oden. is. not. even close. to. being. athletic. as . he. was. in. college.

WHY IS PORTLAND'S DECISION JUDGED ON HIS CURRENT SKILL SET AND WHAT HE IS AFTER THE INJURY, AS OPPOSED TO WHAT HIS SKILL SET WAS WHEN HE WAS DRAFTED?

How complicated is that for you to understand? Please give me some type of explanation as to why the fact that Oden has nowhere near the agility he had when Portland drafted him has ZERO effect on whether Portland made a good decision or not.
Who gives a $^@# how athletic he was in college? That is worthy of him being the greatest center of all time as Blazer fans like to put it whenthe lottery was announced? So what if he is or isn't as athletic? This is irrelevant.

They are judged because from the second, THE SECOND, they were announced #1, the entire Blazer community SCREAMED for Oden. And yet, there was Durant, who wasBY FAR the better player in their freshman years. BY FAR. But, Oden had a GREAT championship game. He was great in that game. And so everyone made up theirmind he was the man. But didn't Oden have injury questions his senior year of high school? And again his freshman year at Ohio St? And is he not a 7footer who looks 50 damn years old and already had a damn limp in college? Are those not SIGNS of a 7 footer who could potentially have injury issues in hiscareer? Pretty sure those are.
And after all the testing that is done, there was something wrong with his knee. Know how I know that? HE @#*^%$# HURT HIMSELF GETTING OFF THE COUCH STUPID@@#((*&^% #$! . That's pretty clear that there was a prior issue within that knee.

But Portland didn't care. He was their pick from minute one, just cuz he was a center. They COMPLETELY ignored Durant. Just like Jordan, they said"oh, we have Drexler, we don't need Jordan, we'll take a awkward 7 footer and hope he pans out, cuz he fits a need." Yeah, smart move.
And so now they pass on Durant, "we already have our Savior in Roy, we just need to fill a need with an awkward 7 footer."

Well guess what, how many rings did Drexler win you? NONE @#(*&. History repeats itself.

So yes, Portland is judged FAIRLY for the mistake they made. They chose an injury risk as opposed to a dominant player who had no injury concerns, he justcouldn't lift his own weight.