Dwight Jaynes tweeted this morning that he believed the Blazers were not serious about getting Oden the ball. Dwight argued that Oden's lack of offensive production wasn't simply a matter of not obtaining good post position, that his teammates simply aren't checking for him on offense.
So I decided to chart every offensive possession that Greg Oden participated in last night. The results confirmed that Hayes did an excellent job of minimizing Oden's offensive impact but confirmed Dwight's assertion as well. The numbers are pretty astonishing.
Oden participated in 53 offensive possessions last night, a possession defined here as a shot attempt or turnover.
Oden -- Touches By Quarter
* 1st quarter: 5 touches / 17 possessions / 8:59 playing time
* 2nd quarter: 1 touch / 15 possessions / 7:18 playing time
* 3rd quarter: 2 touches / 10 possessions / 4:55 playing time
* 4th quarter: 2 touches / 11 possessions / 5:09 playing time
* totals: 10 touches / 53 possessions / 26:21 minutes played
In other words, Greg Oden touched the ball on less than 20 percent of the offensive possessions last night and went more than 2.5 minutes between touches on average. Even worse, after a turnover-plagued first quarter, Oden touched the ball just 5 times on the 36 possessions he played during the final 3 quarters, less than 15 percent. Sure it was evident while watching the game that Oden was out of the flow on offense. But that much out of the flow?
Remarkably, of his 10 touches, 4 were initiated by Oden himself thanks to offensive rebounds. In other words, Oden's first touch on a possession came from a teammate's pass only 6 times during the the entire game. Remember, Oden played 26 minutes last night.
His longest dry spell occurred during the second quarter, where during more than 7 minutes of game action he touched the ball a single time. This touch? Standing roughly 18 feet from the hoop, Oden swung the ball to Steve Blake on the perimeter.
Of Oden's 10 touches, 1 ended with a made field goal, 2 ended with missed field goal attempts, 4 ended with passes (1 of these an assist to Miller for a layup) and 3 ended in turnovers. That's the definition of a tough night.
