Oden last game....

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Ghost Pepper

Ghost Pepper

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Yes I know his points weren't great, but did any of you get the sense that GO has started to figure Yao out? I think Greg knows that if he uses his speed, and stays infront, that he can out finesse Yao. Personally I think Greg is getting tired of Yao's shit and would love to break loose on him for one play. Let's hope he does, cause if Yao gets out of rythem and no Wafer that puts the whole game on Artest and Scola and I can live with that.

The baby steps GO is making is starting to look like the player we all were so excited to get!
 
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Yardape said:
did any of you get the sense that GO has started to figure Yao out?
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no.

if he uses his speed, and stays infront, that he can out finesse Yao. Personally I think Greg is getting tired of Yao's shit and would love to break loose on him for one play. Let's hope he does, cause if Yao gets out of rythem and no Wafer that puts the whole game on Artest and Scola and I can live with that.
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yes
 
I think the officials allowed him to foul Yao and get away with actions that would have been called in Games three and four. GO was allowed to be agressive with Yao and it helped his confidence. We'll see how the refs call Greg in Game Six.
 
I also think Nate took Greg out of the game right as Go was starting to get into flow. He was disrupting out there, maybe not pretty but it was working.
 
I'm starting to wonder if they think the Rockets shorts are toilet paper the way Przybilla and Oden seem attached to Yao's left thigh.

Oden is picking up a few things, but it's really Przybilla doing the heavy lifting (wiping?) in this series.
 
I wouldn't necessarily call being physical with Yao "Fouling". Yao sure does cry alot for being a 7'6 big man. Greg's no different with his hands then Joel, except Greg gets fooled by the hooking of the arms by Yao. Watch Yao do it to Greg all game long.

Pryz basically pushes his ass into Yao and doesn't get the call, I think it's because Joel's bent over touchin his toes and Greg just bodies him.
 
The officials owe Greg about 13 more fouls in my eyes, so tonight he could be amazing! HA HA!!
 
If he's allowed to be physical and play playoff-type basketball, then G.O. can hang with Yao on the defensive end but if they're going to call those crap fouls again for touching him, then it's not going to go well.
 
I cannot fathom why the blazer guards seem to think that the only way to get oden the ball is back-to-the-basket. Didn't the P&R work like 3 times in a row in game 3? just let the man run and dunk. He'll rack up drawn fouls like it's cool.
 
agreed, i love it when he gets the P/R :)
 
Oden's defense on Yao in game 5 was great. If given a bit more leeway to be physical (the same leeway all established centers get), his reputation for defensive excellence is clearly justified. It's when Oden either commits silly fouls (which I think are due to being inexperienced with NBA speed of the game) or when officials decide that Oden must have fouled because Oden tends to foul a lot that his defense suffers.
 
Agree. Did you see the aggression with which he attacked his two blocks in the 4th? Wafer's reverse layup in particular. It's as if he realized "they're letting me play" and went off.

A couple of dunks in there would've really gotten him going, imo. I don't know that I've seen anyone's defense feed so much off of what they're doing on offense. Usually it's either scorers who reluctantly D up for a stretch (Roy against 'Melo and Joe Johnson comes to mind) or defenders who are great on D no matter what (Joel, Dikembe, Birdman, Camby, Lue, Raja, Bowen, etc).
 
Oden isn't comfortable with his back to the basket right now because he didn't get enough plays called for him during the regular season. Now is not the time for him to learn.

If Portland hits him while he is moving towards the hoop, then he can be very effective. Not sure why our Pick and Roll is so one dimensional.
 
Minstrel said:
Oden's defense on Yao in game 5 was great. If given a bit more leeway to be physical (the same leeway all established centers get), his reputation for defensive excellence is clearly justified. It's when Oden either commits silly fouls (which I think are due to being inexperienced with NBA speed of the game) or when officials decide that Oden must have fouled because Oden tends to foul a lot that his defense suffers.
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Since the refs use the player's style to determine when a foul should be called, I think Oden should knock the living shit out of guys. Then when there is just a little contact the refs won't think it is such a big deal.

This works for Artest, so it should work for Oden going forward.

My biggest problem with Oden's fouls are that they are pussy touch fouls. I don't care if he fouls out of a game as long as the dudes he fouled remember the beat down he game them for days afterwards.
 
imagine greg with a full training camp under his belt... i bet his steps forward from this year to next year will be huge
 
I just want to see GO grab the ball deep in the paint put a spin move on Yao and dunk it with energy and stare right at the camera with a look of "I HAVE ARRIVED PUNKS!!!!!!" This can also be achieved with the pick and roll but which ever way some damn aggression is massively needed. You can almost see that rage brewing in him, when he goes off OH MAN!!!!
 
LittleAlex said:
This works for Artest, so it should work for Oden going forward.
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It probably will in the long run, which is what's so exciting about Oden.

Unfortunately, you can't just flip a switch in one game and see it happen. It's taken years of grabbing, elbowing, hacking and also really good legit defense for Artest to get to where he is. Oden would foul out in the first half if he played that physically.

My biggest problem with Oden's fouls are that they are pussy touch fouls. I don't care if he fouls out of a game as long as the dudes he fouled remember the beat down he game them for days afterwards.
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You'd think by now Oden would have a feel for when he's about to get called for yet another ticky tack foul. It does make you wonder why, if he knows it's coming anyway, he doesn't just charge at the ball for the "steal" and level the other guy.

Unfortunately for us in this series, I think he's in that crappy middle ground. He's too well-coached to pull stunts like that, but he's too poorly reffed (and too slowed from the injury) to play defense the right way.

If only he could just watch some old videos of Ha Seung Jin.....

Man, did I just say that?
 
This is my point exactly.... if you're going to get a stupid punk foul make it count and send a message! Houston does it to us every game, time to return the favor, this is the game to do it in!
 
I watched some video on Greg a few months back while he was at Ohio State. He has slowed down a lot and I think the micro-fracture surgery and his rookie curve have a little to do with hit. IF he works hard this off season on his core strength and offensive moves (like a 5-10 foot shot), I really think he will develop into a great third option on this team. He is very strong and now that the refs are letting him push back, he should hold his own. Because is isn't a good offensive player and Yao is so big, I don't think we will ever see a lot of offense this series from him. Just a terrible match-up with a center with limited shooting range.
 
Anyone else think that he's got the 12-foot jumper in the rep-a-twah, but totally afraid to bust it out?
 
BrianFromWA said:
Anyone else think that he's got the 12-foot jumper in the rep-a-twah, but totally afraid to bust it out?
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He did have a 6-10 foot game in college. I don't think he has the confidence to take that shot. If he isn't confident in taking that shot, he probably shouldn't unless Nate is asking him too.
 
Everybody keeps talking about Greg's shot/hook (which are both pretty awful) but the real issue I see is his footwork -- it's simply not that good, it's gotten better as the season has advanced and he's shown flashes of a decent drop step, and had a pretty sweet up-and-under move against Bynum couple of weeks ago, but when he gets the ball on the block he simply doesn't have the footwork to fool a defender and it's like you can almost see the gears grinding in his head as he tries to think his way through his moves.

If he really works his ass off this summer focusing on his technique and hopefully the Blazers go out and get him a 'special assistant' (like Kareem is for Bynum) to personally work with him one-on-one then I have some hope that he'll come back next season with a more polished game on the offensive end of the court and then Nate (and his teammates) will feel more comfortable running set plays for him.
 
Nikolokolus said:
Everybody keeps talking about Greg's shot/hook (which are both pretty awful) but the real issue I see is his footwork -- it's simply not that good, it's gotten better as the season has advanced and he's shown flashes of a decent drop step, and had a pretty sweet up-and-under move against Bynum couple of weeks ago, but when he gets the ball on the block he simply doesn't have the footwork to fool a defender and it's like you can almost see the gears grinding in his head as he tries to think his way through his moves.

If he really works his ass off this summer focusing on his technique and hopefully the Blazers go out and get him a 'special assistant' (like Kareem is for Bynum) to personally work with him one-on-one then I have some hope that he'll come back next season with a more polished game on the offensive end of the court and then Nate (and his teammates) will feel more comfortable running set plays for him.
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+1 QFT :check:

There's no deception to Oden's game right now, which is necessary to move a defender with established position. Right now, the only thing he can do with his back to the basket is use his size...either to try to force the defender back and dunk over him or put a shot up over the defender. Once Oden has the footwork and performs it naturally, in rhythm, his size and athleticism will be really difficult to handle.
 
When Oden got his 4th foul Nate allowed him to continue to play and that's going to be big. If Nate pulls him and doesn't let him get in a rhythm he's not going to do well, but if he lets him play and take a chance on more fouls I think Oden will do great tonite.

His little jump hook is always just a little short. Soon though that will be auto and his O game will take off.
 
Just learn from history. Players recovering from Microfracture surgery typically do not regain their explosiveness back until 2nd season following surgery. Zbo was a gimp for the first season after his surgery. Amare Stoudemire was not the same until a season had gone by. This will be the first full off season he will get to work with coaches, and it should help a lot.
 
I've seen Oden shoot 1 jump shot. i think 5-8 feet out.
he swished it.
 
Greg is adjusting to NBA basketball. In high school and college he just dominated with his size. Now a lot of players are as big and strong as he is. Coupled with the injury and not getting a lot of in game chances, he doesn't have a very good offensive game yet, but he will. Everything's there and I think in a couple years everything will come together, starting next year.

As for defense, I think he tries to hard to stop guard penetration. He seemed to figure it out a little bit at the end and just let them go by and block them from behind (as Joel did).

Bottom line, Greg will get to the point where he's playing instinctually again instead of thinking about everything. Then he will be everything I want him to be.
 
Hank The Dwarf said:
Bwahahahahaha... yes, I bet he's money from 12 feet.. dude airballs wide ope 3 foot shots all the time. It just makes sense.
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Dude misses 3 foot hooks. He has good shooting form at the FT line.

Makes sense to me.
 
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