Some thoughts on Greg Oden

I think Nate McMillan is partially to blame for Oden's lack of minutes (leading to his lack of production). Obviously Oden hasn't earned the respect of the officials as of yet and Nate is quick to yank Greg when he picks up two early fouls. I think that the Blazers would benefit a lot more by showing the confidence to keep him in there than to just take him out early. Nate's said he's been giving Oden a longer leash in the first half, and it's paying off.

Nate McMillan is the most overrated coach in the NBA. (Okay, second to Mike Brown, who may be the worst coach in the league) The 2 fouls policy is nonsense, just like his decision to give Steve Blake more PT than Andre Miller.

I think there's some merit to the two fouls policy and times when it's appropriate to adhere to it, but I would agree that players need to be given a chance to play through foul trouble with Oden being a good example. They've got Przybilla there, if Oden fouls out on occasion so be it.

How about brook lopez 32 pts 14 rebs 2 blks in 39 mins (25 shots)
Oden 18 pts 8 rebs 4 blocks in 24 mins (11 shots)

oden had foul trouble again. but they both are looking great

If all you looked at was stats then you would say Ben Wallace has been shit this year

Uhhh...what?

What are you whatting

He sure is a work in progress, but he doesn't look like a bust but still failed to live up to an expectations so far. At the same time, he's showing signs of improvement which is promising. In the end, he needs to be able to put up 35+ minutes a game, and be effective. As for now, I think he's still a noob at what he does so in result, he needs to gain more trust from the team as well as from fans.

Just for comparison, these are centers listed for all star ballot in West.

Greg Oden
Andris Biedrins
Andrew Bynum
Marcus Camby
Marc Gasol
Spencer Hawes
Al Jefferson
Antonio McDyess
Nene
Emeka Okafor
Mehmet Okur
Amar'e Stoudemire

Failed to live up to what expectations? The dude may not look it, but he's 21 years old. Of those players listed, the only players i would consider putting above him are Nene, Amar'e, Al Jeff, Marc Gasol and Bynum.
- Nene is 27, not as good of a defender, and Oden has better stats than him across the board.
- Amar'e is a power forward. As a center, he is a defensive liability.
- Al Jefferson's third season was comparable to Oden's rookie year. Jefferson's first season in Minnesota looks a lot like Oden's season right now. Al Jeff is currently having an off year right now, and Oden has been better. I'd take Oden, because he is younger, bigger and has yet to even come close to peaking.
- Marc Gasol is very good. Guess it runs in the family. They are pretty even stats-wise this year, but I would keep Oden, as he's three years younger.
- Bynum will win the starting nod. You can quote me on that. I would say Oden and Bynum are about even. Both are excellent up-and-coming centers who have suffered from injury woes. Bynum may play more minutes now, but this is his fifth season.
- Biedrins has peaked, Okur should have never been an all-star, Okafor is and will always be a fringe all-star, Dice and Camby are past their primes, Hawes sucks.

Overall, if I had to take a Center not named Howard, it would be Mr. Gregory Oden.

Okur should have never been an all-star

He sure is a work in progress, but he doesn't look like a bust but still failed to live up to an expectations so far. At the same time, he's showing signs of improvement which is promising. In the end, he needs to be able to put up 35+ minutes a game, and be effective. As for now, I think he's still a noob at what he does so in result, he needs to gain more trust from the team as well as from fans.

Just for comparison, these are centers listed for all star ballot in West.

Greg Oden
Andris Biedrins
Andrew Bynum
Marcus Camby
Marc Gasol
Spencer Hawes
Al Jefferson
Antonio McDyess
Nene
Emeka Okafor
Mehmet Okur
Amar'e Stoudemire

Failed to live up to what expectations? The dude may not look it, but he's 21 years old. Of those players listed, the only players i would consider putting above him are Nene, Amar'e, Al Jeff, Marc Gasol and Bynum.
- Nene is 27, not as good of a defender, and Oden has better stats than him across the board.
- Amar'e is a power forward. As a center, he is a defensive liability.
- Al Jefferson's third season was comparable to Oden's rookie year. Jefferson's first season in Minnesota looks a lot like Oden's season right now. Al Jeff is currently having an off year right now, and Oden has been better. I'd take Oden, because he is younger, bigger and has yet to even come close to peaking.
- Marc Gasol is very good. Guess it runs in the family. They are pretty even stats-wise this year, but I would keep Oden, as he's three years younger.
- Bynum will win the starting nod. You can quote me on that. I would say Oden and Bynum are about even. Both are excellent up-and-coming centers who have suffered from injury woes. Bynum may play more minutes now, but this is his fifth season.
- Biedrins has peaked, Okur should have never been an all-star, Okafor is and will always be a fringe all-star, Dice and Camby are past their primes, Hawes sucks.

Overall, if I had to take a Center not named Howard, it would be Mr. Gregory Oden.

But some of the guys were talking about better centers as of right now, not in the future. Say you were to build a team that needs to contend seriously right away, he wouldn't be my high pick in that list. But potential wise, I know he's up there with top notch players perhaps. And I am not saying he's a bust, but development has been rather slow and timid regardless whatever the reasons were: injuries, playing time, whatever. Thus, imo, I think he somewhat failed to meet those high expectations. And you know what kind of hype he came to this league with. Considering that, he obviously has a quite many criteria to fulfill to satisfy more fans out there.

None of those guys are better than him right now. Bynum and Marc Gasol are as good, Nene and Al Jeff are slightly worse, and Amar'e plays the power forward position. Pau Gasol is not a Center.

Bynum and Gasol are better right now imo. I refuse to consider a guy averaging 24 minutes a game the #1 C in the West, or on par with two guys like that.

Don't forget that Chris Kaman was STUPIDLY not included on the All-Star ballot. Bynum and Gasol still have him beat, but the Caveman belongs in the discussion.

If all you looked at was stats then you would say Ben Wallace has been shit this year

Uhhh...what?

What are you whatting

The idea that if you looked at stats then you'd think Ben Wallace has been shit.

The idea that if you looked at stats then you'd think Ben Wallace has been shit.

I'm just talking about the general stats, I don't know what other stats you have up your sleeve!
I don't think 4 points, 9 rebounds and a little over a steal and a block (and dysmal ft%) are good stats for a player playing as many minutes as Ben, but I know from watching the games that he has been fantastic - and a really good pickup.

55% shooting plus the second best Oreb% in the league equals 130 ORtg. Plus he uses about as many possessions as I do, which is a boon considering half the team (Gordon, Stuckey, Charlie V, Bynum all 25+% usage not to mention Rip when he comes back) can't wait to jack up a shot.

Wouldn't think he's 35 and two years ago looked finished. I know he wanted to come back or retire, and he's showing it.

I knew you'd have some other stats Benji! I only meant the standard box-score stats though - yours obviously prove more about what happens in the game.

With no basis at all to this theory; I would say that if someone is looking at the indepth stats you do, then they probably also watch a lot of games to help make an informed opinion. People who just look at box-scores and then base an opinion on a player can be very wrong.
Kind of like Amare and his defence (or lack thereof) yet people think he is amazing because he puts up 20ppg

Huge night

13 pts 20 reb 4 blks 2 ast 1stl

30 mins
5 fouls. fouls again limiting his time. but he gets atleast 1 of these every night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6wd4KgKCao

How on Earth does a C shoot 4-13 without being blocked once.

I'd just like to throw in that 11 of those rebounds were offensive, he really impressed me today watching the game. He's actually a pretty dominant force in the paint as well, they just couldn't contain him (although he missed a lot of his shots).

Agreed, he wasn't doing too bad a job offensively but the shooting touch wasn't there, even missing on a couple of those hooks that he's been making. He's a work in progress, but at least he's getting the opportunity to make some progress, even with the foul trouble. It doesn't help when he's not getting the benefit of the doubt on ticky-tack stuff but this is only his second year in the league. Give it a couple of years and they'd probably call something like that a double foul.

Reading all those talk earlier about centers on the All-Star ballot, you guys know who should be on it?

Chuck Hayes.


JK

Quite impressive, but in the losing effort. He also had +4 for +/- stat, 1 of 2 Blazers who had + rating. I'm thankful Beasley had a great night. This road win is special considering rest of road schedule.

How on Earth does a C shoot 4-13 without being blocked once.

those tips he tries to make in traffic while being smothered

Those count as rebounds don't they? I've never liked that rule.

me neither

when a player tips a ball out to the perimeter on purpose, do they get the rebound stat or does the guard who catches it get it?

in college I never got credit for doing that

I Think the Guard gets the rebound.