Keeping the Oden angst in perspective.

[Nikolokolus]

With all this talk about Greg not living up to the hype I thought it was funny to go back and look at certain number 2 overall pick in his rookie season, where he averaged 22 minutes, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1.2 blocked shots and 3 fouls per game.

Does anybody here remember this kind of hand-wringing over LMA's rookie year? I sure don't.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?playerId=2983

 

[Tince]

With all this talk about Greg not living up to the hype I thought it was funny to go back and look at certain number 2 overall pick in his rookie season, where he averaged 22 minutes, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1.2 blocked shots and 3 fouls per game.

Does anybody here remember this kind of hand-wringing over LMA's rookie year? I sure don't.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?playerId=2983

He was playing behind our leading scorer that year and improved all season long, but I get your point.

 

[oldmangrouch]

In fairness, many people said LMA was a "project".....people who said (say) that about Oden get yelled at!

There is also the hyperbole factor. Most people agreed LMA was going to be a good player - but no one went around calling him a "once in a generation" talent.

Lastly, Oden was NOT a rookie! He was a second year player who has missed 100+ games over his first 2 seasons. That is a big problem - and one which some of us refuse to ignore.

 

[RoyToy]

In fairness, many people said LMA was a "project".....people who said (say) that about Oden get yelled at!

There is also the hyperbole factor. Most people agreed LMA was going to be a good player - but no one went around calling him a "once in a generation" talent.

Lastly, Oden was NOT a rookie! He was a second year player who has missed 100+ games over his first 2 seasons. That is a big problem - and one which some of us refuse to ignore.

Oden made the rookie team for the all-star break this year, not the sophomore team.

Check your facts!

 

[MadeFromDust]

In fairness, many people said LMA was a "project".....people who said (say) that about Oden get yelled at!

There is also the hyperbole factor. Most people agreed LMA was going to be a good player - but no one went around calling him a "once in a generation" talent.

Lastly, Oden was NOT a rookie! He was a second year player who has missed 100+ games over his first 2 seasons. That is a big problem - and one which some of us refuse to ignore.

+1

It's not a secret that expectations were far higher for Oden than they were for LMA. So much that it's not really fair to compare the two.

 

[illmatic99]

Check the pre/post all star stats for Aldridge. For Oden.

LA showed tremendous upside to finish out his rookie season (even with the heart issue). Oden didn't.

 

[RoyToy]

If the Blazers were in the playoff hunt during Aldridge's rookie year he might not have played as much. Nate obviously was trying to win every single game this year more than any other year. Two years ago it was all about rebuilding the team. This year it was all about making the playoffs. Two totally different situations with different kinds of pressures.

 

[illmatic99]

If the Blazers were in the playoff hunt during Aldridge's rookie year he might not have played as much. Nate obviously was trying to win every single game this year more than any other year. Two years ago it was all about rebuilding the team. This year it was all about making the playoffs. Two totally different situations with different kinds of pressures.

Nate played Magloire ahead of Aldridge for much of the early/mid season in 2006 citing that LA wasn't ready yet. The only reasons LA got more minutes to finish out the season were because of injuries to our bigs, and his improvement. Oden didn't get minutes as a result of his own foul trouble (you can partially blame the refs' collective vendetta against him for that). I can almost guarantee that Nate would have played him more if he could.

 

[KingSpeed]

Check the pre/post all star stats for Aldridge. For Oden.



LA showed tremendous upside to finish out his rookie season (even with the heart issue). Oden didn't.

Exactly. Look at Oden's second through 6th games back from his foot injury at the beginning of the season. He played GREAT. People in here said he'd be kicking ass by the end of the season but the fact is, he got worse and gave us relatively nothing in the playoffs.

 

[RoyToy]

When I see a Greg Oden that is in great shape and still not producing give me a call. Until then, much of what I saw this year doesn't mean much.

 

[KingSpeed]

When I see a Greg Oden that is in great shape and still not producing give me a call. Until then, much of what I saw this year doesn't mean much.

But at the top of the season, Oden said his surgically repaired knee was stronger than his other knee. And look at his stats in his first few games back from his foot injury. He produced. So why did his production wane? And why, after a year to get in shape and learn the pro game, did he end up giving us relatively nothing in the playoffs?

 

[RoyToy]

But at the top of the season, Oden said his surgically repaired knee was stronger than his other knee. And look at his stats in his first few games back from his foot injury. He produced. So why did his production wane? And why, after a year to get in shape and learn the pro game, did he end up giving us relatively nothing in the playoffs?

Kevin Pritchard said he doesn't think Greg was in very good shape all season. I'll take his word over yours.

 

[KingSpeed]

Kevin Pritchard said he doesn't think Greg was in very good shape all season. I'll take his word over yours.

I didn't say Oden was in shape. I said ODEN said his knee was strong.

 

[RoyToy]

I didn't say Oden was in shape. I said ODEN said his knee was strong.

Well you quoted my post where I was talking about Greg's level of fitness and followed it up with Greg saying his knee was strong. Maybe you confused yourself?

 

[RoyToy]

I heard this too. KP didn't say anything about his knee trying to recover, it was just that GO was out of shape. My question is why. Why was GO out of shape the whole fucking year? Was he THAT out of shape coming into training camp? Does he need a whole year to get into shape?

I actually brought up this point yesterday. He didn't look in top physical shape(would be pretty hard to obtain considering how limited he was in working out), but he wasn't even close to basketball shape. I don't think he was even cleared to play 5v5 full contact until August or maybe September, so it's kind of hard to be in basketball shape if you can't play basketball.

 

[Ed O]

I think it's hard to argue that Oden was NOT disappointing this year... I am a huge, huge Oden fan and I will admit I was disappointed.

The two questions to me are:

-- Will he continue disappoint, and
-- Are we too disappointed?

This thread seems to be focused on the latter question, and while I agree Aldridge was a lesser prospect than Greg, and that he might have showed more improvement over the course of the year, one thing to remind ourselves of is that Greg was coming off of a year of inactivity on the court AND a rather serious surgical procedure that seems to take players a year to recover from.

I was disappointed, but I'm confident that we've just seen the tip of the iceberg with Oden...

Ed O.

 

[Miksaid]

Given that the season ended a week ago and we have several Oden angst threads, I highly doubt we'll be talking about anything else this summer-- much less keeping anything in perspective.

 

[oldmangrouch]

I think it's hard to argue that Oden was NOT disappointing this year... I am a huge, huge Oden fan and I will admit I was disappointed.

The two questions to me are:

-- Will he continue disappoint, and
-- Are we too disappointed?

This thread seems to be focused on the latter question, and while I agree Aldridge was a lesser prospect than Greg, and that he might have showed more improvement over the course of the year, one thing to remind ourselves of is that Greg was coming off of a year of inactivity on the court AND a rather serious surgical procedure that seems to take players a year to recover from.

I was disappointed, but I'm confident that we've just seen the tip of the iceberg with Oden...

Ed O.

I hope you are right my friend....but as people keep pointing out, there is a difference between "hope" and "expectation"!

 

[julius]

the mental block of a knee surgery is a tough mountain to climb. For both the player, and the fan-base.

I don't think enough was made out of the fact that it is a big mental block to comeback from MF surgery. Zach got ridden like mad by the fanbase the year after his surgery (unfairly, in my opinion).

I do think that Greg's season was poorer than we hoped, but like the guys on the radio (Gavin and Chad), I think the amount of fans who are downplaying his potential, is a bit overkill.

It's not like he's Kevin Thompson, or Reggie Smith for crying out loud. Let's give him more than 1 season after MF before we throw him under the bus..or come up with air-chair coaches, psychoanalysts or therapist declarations.

 

[B-Roy]

One thing I will say about Aldridge is that he seems to have a ridiculous work ethic. I don't think it's a stretch to say, with the information that's been released to the public, that Aldridge worked harder on his game than Oden.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Check the pre/post all star stats for Aldridge. For Oden.

LA showed tremendous upside to finish out his rookie season (even with the heart issue). Oden didn't.

Greg also suffered a pretty serious knee injury just before the all-star break ... a month off obviously didn't do him any favors with regards to conditioning, rhythm and comfort level. I mean, the injuries are worrisome, and he's got to own that, but pre-post all-star break splits are not exactly a legitimate comparison.

Wasn't the general consensus that in the months of January and February Greg was starting to show signs of getting comfortable?

 

[Tince]

Greg also suffered a pretty serious knee injury just before the all-star break ... a month off obviously didn't do him any favors with regards to conditioning, rhythm and comfort level. I mean, the injuries are worrisome, and he's got to own that, but pre-post all-star break splits are not exactly a legitimate comparison.

Wasn't the general consensus that in the months of January and February Greg was starting to show signs of getting comfortable?

I recall thinking that myself.

 

[Wheels]

But at the top of the season, Oden said his surgically repaired knee was stronger than his other knee. And look at his stats in his first few games back from his foot injury. He produced. So why did his production wane? And why, after a year to get in shape and learn the pro game, did he end up giving us relatively nothing in the playoffs?

I think a certain seasoned vet matchup nightmare of a Center might have had something to do with that.

 

[Hank The Dwarf]

I think a certain seasoned vet matchup nightmare of a Center might have had something to do with that.

Landry or Hayes?

Oden is our backup who routinely got outplayed by the Rockets backup bigs... all 6'7 of them.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Landry or Hayes?

Oden is our backup who routinely got outplayed by the Rockets backup bigs... all 6'7 of them.

Bynum managed 1 ast and 1 rebound in 9 minutes (0 pts, 3 fouls) against those same Rocket backup bigs last night.

So, really, if one is going to bitch about Oden's lack of production, they should join the Kingspeed bandwagon and rag on Bynum, too.

 

[Hank The Dwarf]

Bynum managed 1 ast and 1 rebound in 9 minutes (0 pts, 3 fouls) against those same Rocket backup bigs last night.

So, really, if one is going to bitch about Oden's lack of production, they should join the Kingspeed bandwagon and rag on Bynum, too.

Both Bynum and Oden are projects - the difference is that one was taken with the 10th pick in a relatively weak draft and Oden was taken as the # 1 overall pick - and was taken ahead of a player who had the greatest Freshman Season in the history of college basketball.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Both Bynum and Oden are projects - the difference is that one was taken with the 10th pick in a relatively weak draft and Oden was taken as the # 1 overall pick - and was taken ahead of a player who had the greatest Freshman Season in the history of college basketball.

1 had microfracture surgery and the other is suppose to "Have Arrived". What you are talking about is basically ancient history.

 

[Wheels]

Landry or Hayes?

Oden is our backup who routinely got outplayed by the Rockets backup bigs... all 6'7 of them.

riiiiight Hank.. because Greg wasnt matched up with Oden when Joel got early fouls.. or in the 4th quarter.

 

[Wheels]

Both Bynum and Oden are projects - the difference is that one was taken with the 10th pick in a relatively weak draft and Oden was taken as the # 1 overall pick - and was taken ahead of a player who had the greatest Freshman Season in the history of college basketball.

Sweet... College Success is what we want here in portland...

 

[andalusian]

Both Bynum and Oden are projects - the difference is that one was taken with the 10th pick in a relatively weak draft and Oden was taken as the # 1 overall pick - and was taken ahead of a player who had the greatest Freshman Season in the history of college basketball.

Absolutely right.

The amazing thing is that OKC won at a .280 clip - but amazing enough - they only won 23.6% of the time when Durant is on the court. They lose more when he plays... (Not s surprise when you consider that they were 5-3 without him in the line-up.

What we do know about Oden is that we win more with him on the court than we do when Joel plays - the problem we have with Oden is that he can not stay on the court long enough. The problem OKC has with Durant is that they can not win when he plays.

Interesting problem...