Oden eager to prove his value to Blazers

[Tince]

"This is going to be a big year," he said earlier this week before heading back to Portland to prepare for training camp. "Everybody comes in and has that first year, that get-used-to-the-league year. But you have to break out in your second year. You have to, and that's what I'm looking forward to."

Link

I found this the most interesting:

"About the only time he gets the ball is in the paint with a 300-pound guy leaning on him, and the only real move at that point is to muscle up a jumper," Keefer said. "He has to change his game for that particular team."

The seems like a slight jab at Portland. I'd be curious to hear how this coach thinks other teams would get him the ball. You can't put him 18ft away from the hoop. Last year he was very slow at rolling to the back on pick and rolls. I think we use him as the weakside post more than we post him up.

Also, he is one of the strong centers in the league and this guy thinks it's bad that we post him up against 300lb centers (which in all honesty, there are very few of). I don't get it.

Hopefully Greg isn't being told this and buys into the fact that we are holding him back from being the player he can be.

 

[MrSelfDestruct]

Link

I found this the most interesting:



The seems like a slight jab at Portland. I'd be curious to hear how this coach thinks other teams would get him the ball. You can't put him 18ft away from the hoop. Last year he was very slow at rolling to the back on pick and rolls. I think we use him as the weakside post more than we post him up.

Also, he is one of the strong centers in the league and this guy thinks it's bad that we post him up against 300lb centers (which in all honesty, there are very few of). I don't get it.

Hopefully Greg isn't being told this and buys into the fact that we are holding him back from being the player he can be.

I think it was a mistake we didn't go to him in the post more often early in games (when he was starting). His ability to draw fouls and the difference in his play when he got out to quick starts made such a huge difference to the entire course of the game. It seemed to me if he got off to a quick start offensively, he was able to relax and played better on both ends of the floor.

For those reasons alone, I would like to see him more involved in the offense. His garbage points will always be there, but I see relatively few negatives to going to him early.

I have to say that I'm really excited to see what Miller can do for his game.

In regards to the coach's comment about changing his game for us, I think he is wrong. I think he had/has to change his game for the league. He won't be able to overpower all of his opponents like he did at OSU and in HS.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Link

I found this the most interesting:



The seems like a slight jab at Portland. I'd be curious to hear how this coach thinks other teams would get him the ball. You can't put him 18ft away from the hoop. Last year he was very slow at rolling to the back on pick and rolls. I think we use him as the weakside post more than we post him up.

Also, he is one of the strong centers in the league and this guy thinks it's bad that we post him up against 300lb centers (which in all honesty, there are very few of). I don't get it.

Hopefully Greg isn't being told this and buys into the fact that we are holding him back from being the player he can be.

Jab at Portland? How? The team was atrocious feeding him the ball in the post; none of our guards aside from Rudy seems to understand how to make a good post entry pass and everybody else seemed either disinclined or incapable. Of course Greg didn't really demand the ball and he didn't do himself any favors with his mechanics with his hook, so it was harder to make an argument that he should be getting the ball, but his coach is dead on that this team doesn't do a great job of getting their bigs the ball in a timely manner.

Our only really effective post threat last year was LaMarcus and even he would get the ball and have to basically iso in the post and go through a whole routine to make something happen down there.

Thank God for Andre Miller.

 

[STOMP]

my favorite article quote...

Getting ripped on sports-talk radio and by columnists bothered Oden for a while, until he quit paying attention to it.

great news! Politely answer the questions when the mike is stuck in your face, but that should be the end of it. There is no reason for players to pay attention to the work of people whose job it is to stir the pot. Laugh them off when they act like they matter or know whats what.

STOMP

 

[BBert]

my favorite article quote...


great news! Politely answer the questions when the mike is stuck in your face, but that should be the end of it. There is no reason for players to pay attention to the work of people whose job it is to stir the pot. Laugh them off when they act like they matter or know whats what.

STOMP

Or better yet, insult them, then laugh. Flame them on their own shows, then laugh. The self-important, nasally, shrill twerps who populate sports talk will all have seizures. Then, laugh. Make a game of it. See how much you can make them hate you. I bet in the end, after they come down off the meds, they'd start kissing Oden's ass for his approval. Then...laugh.

Your approach is probably better, Stomp. But a guy can dream.

 

[Tince]

Jab at Portland? How? The team was atrocious feeding him the ball in the post; none of our guards aside from Rudy seems to understand how to make a good post entry pass and everybody else seemed either disinclined or incapable. Of course Greg didn't really demand the ball and he didn't do himself any favors with his mechanics with his hook, so it was harder to make an argument that he should be getting the ball, but his coach is dead on that this team doesn't do a great job of getting their bigs the ball in a timely manner.

Our only really effective post threat last year was LaMarcus and even he would get the ball and have to basically iso in the post and go through a whole routine to make something happen down there.

Thank God for Andre Miller.

This is already answered in my post, but I'll try to explain it again.

1) The guy is pointing out that we were only giving him the ball in the post, so a lack of post entry passes was not the criticism. In fact, it would be closer to tho opposite.

2)The coach seemed to be implying there was a better position to get him the ball. However, he failed to point out what position that is. On the wing, elbow, baseline? Coming off screens? None of those things were areas he should any comfortably in.

I'm not ripping Greg or his game, I'm just saying he doesn't have the skill set to get the ball in any position outside of in the post, so I'm unsure at what the coach was impling.

 

[STOMP]

I'm looking for Greg to get the ball in the paint on offensive rebounds and then dunking it. Since he did that quite a bit last year, I don't see why this "coach" sees the only option for him scoring is to hoist up jumpers. Also, when he gets it in a half court set with a 300 pounder on him, his go to moves are either backing his man down and dunking or a jump hook.

STOMP

 

[Natebishop3]

Link

I found this the most interesting:



The seems like a slight jab at Portland. I'd be curious to hear how this coach thinks other teams would get him the ball. You can't put him 18ft away from the hoop. Last year he was very slow at rolling to the back on pick and rolls. I think we use him as the weakside post more than we post him up.

Also, he is one of the strong centers in the league and this guy thinks it's bad that we post him up against 300lb centers (which in all honesty, there are very few of). I don't get it.

Hopefully Greg isn't being told this and buys into the fact that we are holding him back from being the player he can be.

I think he's saying that trying to post greg up and then feed him the ball isn't necessarily his strong point, not yet anyway. I agree with this. Greg looked his best when he got the ball while rolling to the hoop, or flashing through the lane. That usually led to a monstrous jam. I'm really hoping Dre can get him some more lobs and quick passes.

 

[BBert]

I think he's saying that trying to post greg up and then feed him the ball isn't necessarily his strong point, not yet anyway. I agree with this. Greg looked his best when he got the ball while rolling to the hoop, or flashing through the lane. That usually led to a monstrous jam. I'm really hoping Dre can get him some more lobs and quick passes.

Get Greg the ball while he's moving to the basket and he will feast. No one can stop that. They'd be foolish to try.

 

[Natebishop3]

Get Greg the ball while he's moving to the basket and he will feast. No one can stop that. They'd be foolish to try.

That's all I'm sayin!!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Get Greg the ball while he's moving to the basket and he will feast. No one can stop that. They'd be foolish to try.

If only we had a point guard good with a movement offense, who was also great at lobs to the basket.

 

[Tince]

Get Greg the ball while he's moving to the basket and he will feast. No one can stop that. They'd be foolish to try.

I'm not sure why the PG's get singled out for being unable to do this, because Branden gets more pick and rolls than anyone.

Did anyone else watch the way Greg rolled to the hoop? He was usually slow, late, and took a horrible angle making himself real skinny. The beauty is that he will learn how to do these things and make his teammates look much better in the process.

Greg did himself zero favors last year in terms of putting himself in a position where he could get easy buckets. The lobs they tried throwing him early in the the season were often horribly timed by Greg and when he did get them, he often had to gather and get on balance before going up.

Having said all that, I think these are things he'll improve and well get a lot of points considering he won't be a focal point in our offense.

 

[Tince]

If only we had a point guard good with a movement offense, who was also great at lobs to the basket.

lol, +1

 

[Natebishop3]

I'm not sure why the PG's get singled out for being unable to do this, because Branden gets more pick and rolls than anyone.

Did anyone else watch the way Greg rolled to the hoop? He was usually slow, late, and took a horrible angle making himself real skinny. The beauty is that he will learn how to do these things and make his teammates look much better in the process.

Greg did himself zero favors last year in terms of putting himself in a position where he could get easy buckets. The lobs they tried throwing him early in the the season were often horribly timed by Greg and when he did get them, he often had to gather and get on balance before going up.

Having said all that, I think these are things he'll improve and well get a lot of points considering he won't be a focal point in our offense.

Hopefully as he gains some of his athleticism back, he will improve at the lobs

 

[STOMP]

If only we had a point guard good with a movement offense, who was also great at lobs to the basket.

thats all well and good, but it'll never work without multiple perimeter threats too

STOMP

 

[Nikolokolus]

This is already answered in my post, but I'll try to explain it again.

1) The guy is pointing out that we were only giving him the ball in the post, so a lack of post entry passes was not the criticism. In fact, it would be closer to tho opposite.

2)The coach seemed to be implying there was a better position to get him the ball. However, he failed to point out what position that is. On the wing, elbow, baseline? Coming off screens? None of those things were areas he should any comfortably in.

I'm not ripping Greg or his game, I'm just saying he doesn't have the skill set to get the ball in any position outside of in the post, so I'm unsure at what the coach was impling.

Timeliness of a post entry pass is just as important as getting it there in the first place. If you give Greg the ball and two defenders are able to get set and prevent him from doing anything that is not a good post entry pass.

 

[Natebishop3]

Timeliness of a post entry pass is just as important as getting it there in the first place. If you give Greg the ball and two defenders are able to get set and prevent him from doing anything that is not a good post entry pass.

^^ This

 

[Tince]

Timeliness of a post entry pass is just as important as getting it there in the first place. If you give Greg the ball and two defenders are able to get set and prevent him from doing anything that is not a good post entry pass.

Do you think that is what the coach is referring to in the article because I didn't see it that way.

I don't recall Greg getting double teamed much, if at all the last month of the season. So either the post entry passing improved or Greg's post up game wasn't strong enough to warrent a double team.

Either way, I hope both Greg and the perimeter players improve in those areas.

 

[mgb]

I'm not sure why the PG's get singled out for being unable to do this, because Branden gets more pick and rolls than anyone.

Did anyone else watch the way Greg rolled to the hoop? He was usually slow, late, and took a horrible angle making himself real skinny. The beauty is that he will learn how to do these things and make his teammates look much better in the process.

Greg did himself zero favors last year in terms of putting himself in a position where he could get easy buckets. The lobs they tried throwing him early in the the season were often horribly timed by Greg and when he did get them, he often had to gather and get on balance before going up.

Having said all that, I think these are things he'll improve and well get a lot of points considering he won't be a focal point in our offense.

That was true at times, but I seen many times he was completely alone after a pick and roll and seldom did he receive the ball.

 

[Natebishop3]

That was true at times, but I seen many times he was completely alone after a pick and roll and seldom did he receive the ball.

Alone and screaming for the ball and waving his arms.