True or False: Oden coming back strong is necessary to make the playoffs.

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AgentDrazenPetrovic

Anyone But the Lakers
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True or Not?

I believe that in order for the blazers to solidify a playoff spot, Oden will need to be better than he has been thusfar. He needs to prove his critics wrong and more importantly Portland needs to establish itself offensively and defensively within the context of Greg Oden.

Teams are playing stronger....Oden needds to man up and finish the year strong or whether or now we make the playoffs may be up in the air. The team needs to be there.
 
False, Phoenix is done. But it would sure help us do better than 8th!
 
I say "True."

The team has been noticeably less effective rebounding the ball since he's been out, and a frontcourt rotation of LMA, Travis, Oden, Przybilla is a lot more solid defensively than LMA, Przybilla, Travis, Channing.

And no, I wouldn't count Phoenix out, Shaq has been a force all year and has only elevated his play since the all-star break.
 
To make the playoffs, false.

To make noise in the playoffs, they need Oden.
 
Minstrel said:
To make the playoffs, false.

To make noise in the playoffs, they need Oden.
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My thoughts exactly. Of course, the earlier he comes back - the better the seeding will be and the more likely they are to advance a round.
 
I think the team can still make the playoffs if Oden misses even more time than expected, but having him back would be a big boost and help us secure some breathing room. We routinely get outrebounded and give up huge point differentials in the paint without Oden available to man the middle.
 
As inconsistent as Oden has been, the team is still better off having him in uniform. I don't know if he is "necessary" for us to make the play-offs...but playing short-handed just makes the road even rougher.
 
I don't think he is necessary to make the playoffs at this point because Phoenix lost Amar'e and I don't know how long Shaq can hold up. However, I think we require him back to secure anything higher than 7th or 8th seed - and also to make any type of noise or real attempt to win a playoff series.
 
How about put it this way:

If Oden comes back and plays like he has this year and we miss the playoffs, is it his fault?
 
Oden coming back STRONG will almost certainly guarantee the blazers home court advantage. Now add webster to the active list and we're looking at winning the West, and maybe the whe whole thing... maybe i should mention that by STRONG, i'm talking about dwight howard strong, which i believe is possible. then again i'm the opposite of mixum.
 
You definitely need Oden back to compete in the playoffs. Big man are so important and unless LaMarcus some how improves his rebounding, Oden will be key. Not to mention he's a huge X-factor is he can get his scoring going.
 
Greg wasn't strong before he went down. 8/7 with about 5 fouls a game, I'll take Przybilla over that garbage any day.

Strong play? you could make a case if you compare him to Channing Frye, I guess.
 
Absolutely FALSE! He's needed if we want to get past the 1st round though...
 
AgentDrazenPetrovic said:
How about put it this way:

If Oden comes back and plays like he has this year and we miss the playoffs, is it his fault?
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Yes. Just so long as you want to give him the credit for all the wins we have won previously when he's "played like he has this year".
 
Kulas said:
Oden coming back STRONG will almost certainly guarantee the blazers home court advantage. Now add webster to the active list and we're looking at winning the West, and maybe the whe whole thing... maybe i should mention that by STRONG, i'm talking about dwight howard strong, which i believe is possible. then again i'm the opposite of mixum.
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Seriously, what in the hell are you talking about?

Oden wasn't even in the same universe as Dwight Howard at any point this season, yet you think he is going to return and suddenly be as "STRONG" as Dwight Howard? :koolaid:
 
We don't need him to make the playoffs, but we need him back with enough time to get back in game shape by time the playoffs are here for us to do well in the playoffs.
 
false i think we will get to the playoffs regardless however oden coming back with confidence (somehow) will solidify it a lot more and possibly secure HCA we do however need oden back to do well in the playoffs. and saying webster makes us WCF champs is a stretch by far i would be suprised if he even plays at all this year
 
obviously false. we havent been able to rely on him for any sort of production up until now and we've done ok in spite of him. im happy with joel in the middle heading into the playoffs.
 
BlayZa said:
obviously false. we havent been able to rely on him for any sort of production up until now and we've done ok in spite of him. im happy with joel in the middle heading into the playoffs.
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In his own way, Joel is as valuable as any player on the roster outside of Roy right now.
 
False. We're 10-5 without him. Provided that Joel is healthy, we're fine. Do I want Greg back? Yes. But it better be soon because I actually think it could hamper us if we have to take a step back to work him back into the chemistry of the team. His last three games were pretty good but, coming back from an injury, he could be a step slow. We'll see.
 
KingSpeed said:
False. We're 10-5 without him. Provided that Joel is healthy, we're fine. Do I want Greg back? Yes. But it better be soon because I actually think it could hamper us if we have to take a step back to work him back into the chemistry of the team. His last three games were pretty good but, coming back from an injury, he could be a step slow. We'll see.
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Um, since Oden went down we've beat one non-bottom feeder team--San Antonio, quite possibly the best played game of the year. Whether Oden would have made a difference in any other game is debatable, but we need someone else in that can rebound besides Joel if we want to make any noise in the playoffs.
 
False. Joel has been very solid. Not having a solid back up C may hurt us, but we'll still make the playoffs.
 
I say true. The team has been out rebounded in a majority of games since he went out. The only ones they haven't, have been the Clipps and the rare San Antonio blowout.
 
Fez said:
Greg wasn't strong before he went down. 8/7 with about 5 fouls a game, I'll take Przybilla over that garbage any day.

Strong play? you could make a case if you compare him to Channing Frye, I guess.
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You mean the 6/10 that Przybilla's put up since the ASB while starting in his absence? Or the 5.2/8.0 he's averaged all year in the same amount of minutes? And generally against subs? :dunno:

I like Joel a lot, too...but if you think GO's play has been garbage, well...good luck with that.
 
BrianFromWA said:
You mean the 6/10 that Przybilla's put up since the ASB while starting in his absence? Or the 5.2/8.0 he's averaged all year in the same amount of minutes? And generally against subs? :dunno:

I like Joel a lot, too...but if you think GO's play has been garbage, well...good luck with that.
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A lot of people don't understand the value of the double-teams Greg draws and how that frees up more space for the rest of our team that is primarily jumpshooters.

I suspect they will quickly learn to value this trait in the playoffs.
 
I agree with the vast majority here: Game-shape Oden is critical to have a prayer of winning the first round. He is not critical to get in.

iWatas
 
toutlaw25 said:
Um, since Oden went down we've beat one non-bottom feeder team--San Antonio, quite possibly the best played game of the year. Whether Oden would have made a difference in any other game is debatable, but we need someone else in that can rebound besides Joel if we want to make any noise in the playoffs.
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Ummm did we win a bunch of games against WC playoff teams on the road when Oden played? No. The truth is that we are fine without him.

And you're forgetting the 4-2 record we had without him at the top of the season and some of those games were against very good teams.
 
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