Oden needs more playing time

[andalusian]

I love Joel but he is overrated by many of you guys.

Overrated?

He is a great backup center and a great mentor to Greg while he is recovering from MF surgery and getting into game shape.

I see no reason to force minutes on Greg before he is in much better game shape - all it would do is put the team further down (since Joel plays better at the moment), make Greg the target of criticism if the team fails and frustrate him because he can not get over the hump.

Slow and safe with this guy is the right way to go. No one assumes that he will be better than Greg in the long run, no one assumes that he is our center of the future. Nate is doing a very smart thing with Greg - he is getting him moving slowly, limiting his role (rebound, play defense, everything else is gravy) and showing confidence in him (giving him the starting role).

Take a deep breath, it's a long season and everything will work just as it should.

When Greg was beasting on GSW - he gave him the minutes. It was the right decision. When he is not effective because he needs to play away from the basket (as he did against the Kings) - he took him out. Not forcing him to make decisions on the break as Sergio did is the right thing - give him the time - he will be just fine.

 

[Shooter]

Are you suggesting sending Oden to D-league?

Why not? Webster went to D-League for awhile, and he was a first-round pick.