Some thoughts on Greg Oden

True that.

I've seen him being dominant occasionally against smaller front courted teams, although he needs to be doing it more often more consistently. Right now, I think the success of Blazers in coming playoffs depends on development of Oden. Hope to see him getting a major role by then.

24/12/2 today vs bulls.
noah had no chance.

He is posting a team-high (If you throw out garbage time players with skewed stats) 20.8 PER, is second in the league in field goal percentage and is averaging 15.5 and 12.1 per36. What a bust.

Per 36 stats aren't much good when you foul too much to stay in the game 25minutes...

On the plus side, having games of 24 and 12 in 27 minutes isn't too shabby. In the long run, he's certainly got to cut down on the early fouls though.

things are looking good for blazers now i guess. with oden being healthy and team record at 11-5... anyways didn't watch the game, but impressive performance judging from the numbers oden put up.

To bad he got shit on by Noah and Rose

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Nice dunks, not exactly proud moments for him to be sure but it'll happen to every big guy at some point. Meanwhile, any reason he called Keith Bogans the "old man"? He's 29, hardly one of the league's elder statesmen.

He is posting a team-high (If you throw out garbage time players with skewed stats) 20.8 PER, is second in the league in field goal percentage and is averaging 15.5 and 12.1 per36. What a bust.

Too bad that bunch of people don't pay attention to his stats and keep calling him a bust. Even if he had 10 games like the last one in a row it wouldn't change a thing.

It's inevitable. He's a centre taken first overall that isn't posting close to 20 and 10, not to mention the Blazers' history of centres who battled injury problems and/or were outshone by players taken after them, which is probably all most people need to prematurely label him a bust. That and the prevailing cynicism of the Internet where most folks seem to prefer predicting (and take joy in) other people's failure rather than success, something I'm sure we're all guilty of at one point or another.

We all have moment of doubts on Oden I guess. That's why he needs to be consistent.

He is posting a team-high (If you throw out garbage time players with skewed stats) 20.8 PER, is second in the league in field goal percentage and is averaging 15.5 and 12.1 per36. What a bust.

Too bad that bunch of people don't pay attention to his stats and keep calling him a bust. Even if he had 10 games like the last one in a row it wouldn't change a thing.

Isn't he supposed to be a defensive presence? I've only seen him play a couple times so I can't call him a bust or not. Looking at stats won't tell you if he is a bust.

Yes it will

Bit of a bad omen when you're having to use per 36 numbers when talking about a #1 pick though.

Oden is not a bust
The guy has a developing offensive game and a good interior presence
Its only his second year, and people have been kinda hard on him

He's not Kwame Brown.

Not a bust.

Yes it will

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

Not really. Looking at the stats, he has been slightly above average, and having his best season since 2005-06. In his second year, GO is the second or third best Center in the West. I think that if the Blazers win a title, he will be the best player.

I'd put Oden 4th in the West personally. His fouling and lack of minutes is skewing the numbers somewhat, since TRB/BLK % is based on the total amount of available rebounds/blocks a player has while he's on the court. If Oden was on the court 37 minutes a game instead of 24 or whatever he's playing you'd have to imagine those numbers would drop. If he could maintain these numbers while playing 35-37 minutes a game like Bynum, Gasol and Kaman I'd more than likely rank him 2nd. Maybe third, Gasol's having a fantastic year offensively, aside from offensive rebounds and blocked shots he's all over Oden.

Edit: obviously blocks are a defensive stat, but it is Oden's big draw card so I threw it in.

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

Uhhh...what?

If Oden was on the court 37 minutes a game instead of 24 or whatever he's playing you'd have to imagine those numbers would drop.

Why would you have to?

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

There are a number of players in that list who I would choose over Oden but he is still higher on the list than a lot of people. I'd probably put him about half way in that list..

I Don't see him getting big minutes.
First of all,that damn early fouling,everybody's owning him.
Second,Przybilla is really great.And Blazers need him to get some nice minutes too.

Well, that's one of the things he has to improve upon moving forward: foul trouble. Then he has a better shot of playing 30+ minutes more often.

Why would you have to?

Because since 1946 no player has ever played 35mpg or more and maintained a 7+ block percentage and 20+ rebound %. The only ones to come close were Dikembe Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon.