Oden is NOT hurt!!

[Further]

He made it through a game. First of many I hope. Sure, he did not play very well, but I think baby steps. He needed to just get through a game, and I for one, am relieved.

p.s. RUDY is the Stone Cold Bone (ESPN announcer called him that, haha, i kind of like it.)

 

[alex42083]

He did all right. He looked like he got tired easily, but he was a pretty big force defensively. Offensively, he still needs some work..

 

[tlongII]

He'll be fine. He just needs to get his game conditioning in.

 

[Minstrel]

He looked good until he got tired. I liked his poise in the post. He didn't look confused or lost, he surveyed the court and made good passes. The post moves will come with practice.

 

[Iwatas]

He is a man among boys. Just a big, tired man.

He'll be *fine* - both on offense and defense. For now, he just needs to build his game and fitness up, nice and easy.

iWatas

 

[RoyToy]

Once he's in game shape there's still the whole he didn't play an organized game of basketball for over a year and he's still coming off the knee surgery. There's going to be rust + getting to trust his knee again.

It's just going to take time with Greg.

 

[Shooter]

He made it through a game. First of many I hope. Sure, he did not play very well, but I think baby steps. He needed to just get through a game, and I for one, am relieved.

My, oh my. How our expectations about Oden have changed . . .

Actually, I feel the same way. I don't care how many points or rebounds Oden got. I'm glad he just made it through a game without hurting himself. It's a huge relief.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Shrug. Oden was the only blazer with a negative +/-.

The important thing though is that we won, and that Oden got some run.
That's the only way he's going to get into shape.

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

I am surprised by the lack of doomsday threads/posts about Oden. Sometimes you impress me, blazer board.

 

[alex42083]

I am surprised by the lack of doomsday threads/posts about Oden. Sometimes you impress me, blazer board.

It's hard to be upset after a victory.

 

[Tortimer]

I am surprised by the lack of doomsday threads/posts about Oden. Sometimes you impress me, blazer board.

IMO Oden is going to be fine. I have a feeling he will get better in each of the next few games.

 

[Shooter]

I am surprised by the lack of doomsday threads/posts about Oden. Sometimes you impress me, blazer board.

Um, yeah. I'm resisting. I want to give Oden a chance. To tell the truth, he looked pretty confused and unsure of himself out there tonight. I'm surprised at how sluggish he looks. He moves around the court very slowly. He can block a shot right in front of him, but he doesn't seem so good at moving sideways and getting a block.

That said, I think he's going to get better and better as time goes by. He has a little bit of rookie jitters right now, but that will wear off, and he'll figure out how to use his strengths to the best advantage.

This is going to be a very, very scary team with a strong and confident Oden, which should happen sometime this season.

 

[Jayps15]

He was definitely sluggish out there, but on the defensive end of the floor you can just see the innate ability he possesses. A rookie in his second game of NBA ball managed to either alter or block basically any interior shot the Heat attempted while he was in the post, Beasley and Blount had to start jacking up 3 pointers and high arcing prayers to try and avoid banging down low with him, and the only interior points I remember them getting with Greg on the floor was several minutes into his playing time when he was pulled out of the paint on defense and just didn't have the energy to get back and contest a layup.

This team has offense, we're in something like the top 5 in offensive efficiency so far this year, it's the defense that has let us down so far, and Greg is just a different kind of defensive presence.

Not to mention how he looked on the boards, where after the 1st offensive rebound and putback Miami consistently started double teaming him on blockouts, we should have a huge lead in offensive boards per game with someone's man always having to help keep Greg of the boards.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

It's hard to be upset after a victory.

Especially when Utah, N.O., S.A., and one of Houston and Phoenix lost tonight!

 

[maxiep]

I'm sorry, but if you couldn't see how good GO is going to be after tonight, then you're not looking hard enough. He's probably at 40%-60% of where he's going to be and he was dominant until he got too tired to be effective. His defense was tremendous and he was blocking anything that came his way. His rebounding was terrific and he was either too big or too quick to handle.

Good luck, NBA. You're going to need it.

 

[yenniedn]

Agree with Jayps15 above - you can tell GO is moving at half speed but already every shot was being altered or passed back outside while he was it there. Once he gets back in game shape, it'll be a lot more interesting. Right now he looks apprehensive and unsure of himself - but can you blame the guy right now? I like management's approach of easing him back into it more slowly now instead of how it was handled at the beginning of the season.

 

[Haakzilla]

He made it through a game. First of many I hope. Sure, he did not play very well, but I think baby steps. He needed to just get through a game, and I for one, am relieved.

p.s. RUDY is the Stone Cold Bone (ESPN announcer called him that, haha, i kind of like it.)

I am pretty sure he said STONE COLD KILLER!!!

 

[Nikolokolus]

Shrug. Oden was the only blazer with a negative +/-.

The important thing though is that we won, and that Oden got some run.
That's the only way he's going to get into shape.

That's an easy one. The defense completely stagnated when guys started trying to force feed him the ball in the low post and everyone just stood around after that waiting for something to happen -- that and Greg wasn't particularly effective on offense.

The decision to bring him along slowly, bringing him off the bench, is going to be a very, very smart (and under appreciated) move by Nate in terms of success for him and more importantly for the cohesiveness of the whole team.

 

[mgb]

That's an easy one. The defense completely stagnated when guys started trying to force feed him the ball in the low post and everyone just stood around after that waiting for something to happen -- that and Greg wasn't particularly effective on offense.

The decision to bring him along slowly, bringing him off the bench, is going to be a very, very smart (and under appreciated) move by Nate in terms of success for him and more importantly for the cohesiveness of the whole team.

I still say start Oden, but don't have him be the focus of the offense. Play as if Joel is in the game and let the game come to Oden naturally.

 

[garden of oden]

well, i think Avery Johnson summed it up best at halftime. there was too much sloppiness when Oden is in, b/w him not looking totally comfortable w/ the ball and several bad, forced entry passes from other players.

for the foreseeable future he definitely needs to mirror the Pryzabilla gameplan. get him up on the high post, get some drives going. just hanging around the lower block isnt productive b/c when the shot goes up, you're already being boxed out.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I disagree about the bad entry passes...on both Rudy's and Sergio's he set a good pick and then sort of ambled to the block. If he cuts hard Rudy hits him for a SportsCenter highlight. Instead, it's a TO. Sergio ran a P&R with Greg where Greg was too slow, and Sergio had to pass out to the corner.

Once his wind is back...those are dunks. And not just regular dunks. Big, juicy, rim-shaking, pull-down-backboard dunks.

 

[yenniedn]

You can tell from his demeanor and the look on his face throughout that Oden wasn't playing with much confidence - not to mention being out of shape. Give him some time to get his sea legs under him, which will build his confidence back . . . and then we'll start to have some fun. But for now, let's just have the guy get through a stretch of 5 or 10 games without anything bad happening. I don't need him to score 20 a night - I just would like to see him get in better shape and progress each time out.

 

[THE HCP]

I'm glad he got through the game without any problems. Bring him off the bench again next game.

 

[Ed O]

Oden made a difference defensively (both with blocked shots as well as a few altered ones). He also made things happen on the offensive glass.

He looked exhausted, and he still looks like he just needs to slow down when he gets the ball on the blocks, but I was encouraged by what I saw tonight and can't wait for him to get a week or two under his belt.

Ed O.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Psychologically, I think Oden will be a little bit timid for a while.

I think when he gets into good basketball shape, he'll be as productive as a prime Dale Davis.

I fully expect Oden to dominate the league next season.

 

[yenniedn]

Psychologically, I think Oden will be a little bit timid for a while.

I think when he gets into good basketball shape, he'll be as productive as a prime Dale Davis.

I fully expect Oden to dominate the league next season.

Are you saying he'll be Dale Davis if/when he gets healthy this year??? Or are you saying his ceiling is Dale Davis in his prime? If that's the case, I might just cry in my beer.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Are you saying he'll be Dale Davis if/when he gets healthy this year??? Or are you saying his ceiling is Dale Davis in his prime? If that's the case, I might just cry in my beer.

I think his production will be similar this year to a prime Dale Davis.

His ceiling is obviously A LOT higher than that, if he can stay healthy.

 

[¹²³]

 

[andalusian]

While he said he was happy to come with a W and finish the game - I am certain he was not happy with his performance this game - and I am willing to bet he will be much better against NOH. We saw the same at the first pre-season game after his unimpressive fan fest game.

It will be 2 months before we start to see the brilliance of the big guy on a regular basis - but you will see a much better game from him on the next one.

 

[MrJayremmie]

keep the faith guys. He will be fine.