Oden: US Mini Camp Updates

[Nikolokolus]

Still needs to get leaner imo. I would say he is moving better though.

You do realize that the aspect ratio on that video is horizontally stretched right?

 

[PapaG]

You do realize that the aspect ratio on that video is horizontally stretched right?

I'd say that is bad news for Durant, since he's still a string bean in the video, but he's dominating everyone at the camp, so I doubt OKC cares.

 

[Erroneous Subterfuge]

You do realize that the aspect ratio on that video is horizontally stretched right?

I can't speak for Roytoy, but my similar comments were due to the fact he still doesn't get off the ground very far, still appears to lumber up the court, still looked a little tired, and still looked a little unbalanced/ackward... Slimming down would help with all that. It had nothing to do with how big his upper body looked due to the video.

 

[Idog1976]

I was actually disappointed to hear how slow Oden looked according to Holdahl. Oden had freakish numbers in the pre-draft camp in terms of speed for a man his size. Has he already lost that part of his game due to the injuries?

Takes two years to fully recover. It's not until a ways into the second season that you see most of the athleticism return. My vote is he will look pretty close to pre-injury speed by January. I think really a full year from now is when we will see him at maximum speed etc. November 2010 is when I hope to see him being absolutely dominant.

 

[Tince]

Oden may be the best offensive rebounder in the league, and that leads to a higher PER. Why some people want to diminish that obvious strength by running the offense through him baffles me. At least KP, Nate, and even Coach K seem to realize that he needs to focus on defense and rebounding consistently, and without fouling, is a positive.

I fully agree with this.

I don't see any reason while we'll ever run our offense through him. It's not a knock on him, but it would be going against the strengths of the team. It would be like running Batum off pick and rolls, while Roy stands in the corner waiting to shoot the 3.

 

[BlazersBlood]

I fully agree with this.

I don't see any reason while we'll ever run our offense through him. It's not a knock on him, but it would be going against the strengths of the team. It would be like running Batum off pick and rolls, while Roy stands in the corner waiting to shoot the 3.

It would be wise to run SOME of the offense through Greg. Because despite his raw offensive game, he still commands a double just about every time and he's a very good passer from the post. Plus he draws a lot of fouls down low.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I fully agree with this.

I don't see any reason while we'll ever run our offense through him. It's not a knock on him, but it would be going against the strengths of the team. It would be like running Batum off pick and rolls, while Roy stands in the corner waiting to shoot the 3.

Throw me in that category too. If you want to run your offense through a big man you run it through LMA. Not saying never dump it down to him, but when you have Roy, Miller, and LaMarcus on the court why go through Greg. He will get his points just fine.

 

[Tince]

As the Shonz would say...

Throw me in that category too. If you want to run your offense through a big man you run it through LMA. (BINGO) Not saying never dump it down to him, but when you have Roy, Miller, and LaMarcus on the court why go through Greg (BANGO). He will get his points just fine. (BONGO)

 

[Tince]

It would be wise to run SOME of the offense through Greg. Because despite his raw offensive game, he still commands a double just about every time and he's a very good passer from the post. Plus he draws a lot of fouls down low.

Actually, you'd be hard pressed to come up with a game where Greg was consistently double teamed during the last month of the season. Also, he would draw most his fouls off of offensive rebounds on drive & dish situations.

I'm not saying to not look at him at the offensive end, go to him against an obvious mismatch, or run a low screen across for him (as we didn't last season), but that going to him on offense should never be a part of our gameplan. His ability to weakside rebound and occupy a defender makes him plenty valuable on the offensive end as is.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

However you wanna slice it, Greg needs to get at least 12 shots a game. I hope to God I don't see several consecutive games where he gets less than 5 shots, much like last year.

 

[Nikolokolus]

However you wanna slice it, Greg needs to get at least 12 shots a game. I hope to God I don't see several consecutive games where he gets less than 5 shots, much like last year.

Signing Miller certainly upped his chances of getting those extra shots ... I'm getting pretty excited for training camp to start, this could be a really fun year.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Signing Miller certainly upped his chances of getting those extra shots ... I'm getting pretty excited for training camp to start, this could be a really fun year.

I agree, it's going to help our bigs tremendously. I hope that the front office sees that Miller is almost at the end of the rope and they need to go for contention now. To take that step we need to acquire a good scoring vet at the SF position.

 

[Minstrel]

Whether the offense runs through Oden will depend entirely on how he develops his game. As far as I'm concerned, he has the potential to be a dominant low post player. If he gets there, of course the team should run its offense through him, despite Roy also being dominant. A dominant post player can collapse most of the defense around a relatively small area of the court. A perimeter player virtually never accomplishes that, due to where he initiates his offense. No defense is going to cluster up to three people at the three point line.

If he never pans out into that sort of presence, then the team's offense should continue to revolve around Roy and Oden can be an additional weapon off the attention that Roy does draw.

For now, the offense shouldn't be run through Oden, but he should get a fair number of touches in the post. He does draw double teams and fouls out of the post, not just on offensive rebounds and put-backs.

 

[mgb]

I like what I saw in the video. Oden moved his feet, didn't reach in and get stupid fouls. Did great boxing out and going for rebounds. Not spectacular on O, but not bad either. He's got room for improvment and he may never move up and down the court like LA, but I liked what I seen.

 

[STOMP]

I agree, it's going to help our bigs tremendously. I hope that the front office sees that Miller is almost at the end of the rope and they need to go for contention now. To take that step we need to acquire a good scoring vet at the SF position.

pine away if you want, but barring some unforeseen quality vet becoming available, the roster is set

STOMP

 

[Sheldon Shape]

pine away if you want, but barring some unforeseen quality vet becoming available, the roster is set

STOMP

It's silly to speculate either way, there's just no way of telling based off what we read on the internet. If I had to guess, I don't think they're done but who knows.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Watching Greg I am reminded of Patrick Ewing. He was similarly clumsy-looking, but developed an offensive game that didn't require grace, yet was very effective. We already know Greg has a couple of duck-under moves. He's working on his jump hook (KEEP working...) and supposedly, although I didn't see it in this video, he hit a baseline jumper over Lopez. Just keep working on those three elements, getting the shots off quickly, with a minimum of dribbling (he gets stripped easily) and you have a good-enough offensive game. He'll never be Olajuwon, and he'll never be Shaq. But he could be Dwight Howard.

If I could, I'd have Roy, Blake and Prz play 3-on-3 against Miller, Oden and Rudy all summer long. OR: have a system where any non-Oden Blazer is paid $1,000 (or given a day off practice, whichever he values more) for every assist he gets to Oden.

 

[mook]

You're telling me that if Oden is being guarded by Dirk or Amare we shouldn't go to him in the post? Of course we should. Those are two of the worst defending big men around, and they're so lethal on offense that you have to take every opportunity to go at them and draw a foul.

For now we shouldn't design our offense around him, but we should definitely run sets through him if there's a real mismatch. And when you've got a mobile, 7 foot 280 pound center, there will be a fair number of mismatches throughout a season.

 

[Tince]

You're telling me that if Oden is being guarded by Dirk or Amare we shouldn't go to him in the post? Of course we should. Those are two of the worst defending big men around, and they're so lethal on offense that you have to take every opportunity to go at them and draw a foul.

For now we shouldn't design our offense around him, but we should definitely run sets through him if there's a real mismatch. And when you've got a mobile, 7 foot 280 pound center, there will be a fair number of mismatches throughout a season.

Here you go:

Actually, you'd be hard pressed to come up with a game where Greg was consistently double teamed during the last month of the season. Also, he would draw most his fouls off of offensive rebounds on drive & dish situations.

I'm not saying to not look at him at the offensive end, go to him against an obvious mismatch, or run a low screen across for him (as we didn't last season), but that going to him on offense should never be a part of our gameplan. His ability to weakside rebound and occupy a defender makes him plenty valuable on the offensive end as is.

 

[PapaG]

You're telling me that if Oden is being guarded by Dirk or Amare we shouldn't go to him in the post? Of course we should. Those are two of the worst defending big men around, and they're so lethal on offense that you have to take every opportunity to go at them and draw a foul.

For now we shouldn't design our offense around him, but we should definitely run sets through him if there's a real mismatch. And when you've got a mobile, 7 foot 280 pound center, there will be a fair number of mismatches throughout a season.

Of course he should exploit mismatches. I was posting more to the not-so-small set of posters who want Oden to be the primary focus on offense, or who want McMillan fired because he didn't/won't run the offense through Greg. He's just not ready for that, and there is a chance he will never be that guy. In the meantime, he is an elite offensive rebounder who gets easy points on putback dunks. Why mess with it?