I'm not buying that Greg Oden is as good as Ben Wallace. You can't just look at per 36 or per 48 minute stats. There is no doubt in my mind that Oden cannot keep up that type of production in extended minutes like Wallace did, although he can in a few years. To compare him to Ben Wallace is to say he would be a great defensive anchor, but not a dominant post up option. I did say he would be quite a bit better on offense, because he doesn't have to deal with a paralyzed hand like Ben Wallace had to.
It's not to say that Oden doesn't have work ethic. He's no Eddy Curry. But he doesn't seem to have that Michael Jordan, Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant drive to be the best.
Also, it's hard to make the argument that Oden is having a bigger impact than Rose when the Bulls now have one of the top backcourts in the NBA according to Per Differential (#5 at point guard and #4 at shooting guard), while the Blazers are only #14 at center (with a negative PER differential). Derrick Rose (and Ben Gordon) have the problem that they have to drag ass while on the court. Bulls have the worst powerforwards and center in the league, and are only 17 at small forward. Portland on the other hand is in the top half of the league at all positions, center being the Blazers worst position.
Derrick Rose (and Ben Gordon...and Larry Hughes) have all played great. It's not their fault that their front court imploded into the biggest pile of crap that you can call a front court in NBA history.
The issue with good defensive centers is not just how they do against other centers - it's how they do against the other team - GO's defensive impact is mostly against the other team's smaller players who are blocked or intimidated in the paint (and that's why the Blazers are so good defensively when he is there).
Remember also that GO lost 6 games at the start of the year - so the overall center position ranking is not really indicative of his impact on the C position.
The time GO missed at the start of the year really does show however how much impact his presence is on the defensive end of the game - the Blazers give 11 less points per game when he is playing compared to when he is not - and they are #9 in defensive efficiency when he in vs. #30 when he is not.
As for the idea that GO can not retain his production for longer than 20 minutes - that's poppycock - he had his best games when he was left in the game for 30+ minutes - the issue is that Portland is blessed with Pryzbilla playing the best basketball of his career next to GO and the coach being smart and distributing their minutes to keep them fresh - given Portland's crazy early schedule.
Remember - Portland played 2 more games than Chicago overall and these also include 4 more road games - so Portland played more and traveled a lot more - keeping the rotations short where he is able to is the smart thing to do - we are lucky to have a coach that is actually smart.
As for Oden not having the drive to be the best - that's poppycock of the greatest order. He played with only one good hand when his wrist was wounded in college and learned how to shoot free-throws with his left, taking his team to the championship game. He worked his rear off to return from MF surgery and got in trouble because he played games at a local gym last year when the Blazers did not want him.
The idea that Greg Oden does not have the desire to be the best he can is just absurd. The kid should have his picture under the entry for "dedication" in the encyclopedia.
Sorry buddy, I love to watch Rose play and he has a great future in front of him - but he is not close to being a better prospect than GO and he is not close to having GO's overall impact even at this sub-par stage of Greg's career.
Look at it this way - everyone is gushing at how much better Rose is than what they expected him to be and how underwhelmed they are at where GO is - but their PER is about the same... this right there should tell you exactly who is the better prospect...
