Portland @ Sacramento (11-21-2008)

[Milkdud]

He drew 1 foul, thats gotta count for something!

[BballFanAddict]

The defense Oden faced in preseason isn't remotely as tough as what you face in season.

Um.. Spencer Hawes 1v1 is tougher than what he faced when he played Spencer Hawes 1v1 in pre season?

They did not double in the 4th. Oden just looked... well, (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Not trying to be overly critical, I just think at times he moves so poorly. I sincerely think it is due to still being too excited and not quite comfortable on the block.

Now, I really liked a couple of the jump hooks, those looked prett fluid. But some of his attempts at slow mo spinning and attacking the rim leave a lot to be desired.

[Zyme]

He looked jerky. He needs to find someone who can teach him those refined tatics in the post and when to pull out the ball when he makes his shoot

[Cruel_Ruin]

The defense Oden faced in preseason isn't remotely as tough as what you face in season.

Um.. Spencer Hawes 1v1 is tougher than what he faced when he played Spencer Hawes 1v1 in pre season?

They did not double in the 4th. Oden just looked... well, (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Not trying to be overly critical, I just think at times he moves so poorly. I sincerely think it is due to still being too excited and not quite comfortable on the block.

Now, I really liked a couple of the jump hooks, those looked prett fluid. But some of his attempts at slow mo spinning and attacking the rim leave a lot to be desired.

Well, to be fair, Spencer has really improved his defense as the year has gone along and he's gotten more experienced.

Give it time. Oden is adjusting to the speed of the NBA game. You should have seen Jason Thompson try to post up at the beginning of the year, it was awful. But look at him now, stroking jump hooks over quality defenders like Pryzbilla. Greg is smart, he'll get settled in and more experienced, his spins will be quicker, but more under control. It comes with experience.

He's a lot better passer than I gave him credit for too, that dish to a cutting Roy was a Vlade Divac esque play.

[Milkdud]

Well, first I would say only in the 4th when the game was clearly in hand did the kings let Oden play complete ISO on Hawes. For more of the game they were shading a defender over there when he was in the post. That is something teams will work on in preseason but they often times wont implement it to strongly in the defensive schemes because its preseason.

I guess what im trying to say is I didn't notice any difference, and if there was any I would attribute it more to the Kings apply actual in season defense (both Hawes trying harder, and the kings applying help D) vs preseason were players are not trying as hard and team defensive schemes are being worked out.

[Butter]

I loved seeing Roy move without the ball. That give and go between Oden and Roy was a thing of beauty. I would love to see Roy get more easy baskets like that. Sure, Roy can dribble through the teeth of the defense almost at will on most nights, but its fantastic to see him streak to the hoop untouched, get the ball, and go in for an easy lay up.

I also thought Oden had a really nice pass to Frye in the first half when Frye was under the hoop.

All in all, I'd really like to see Nate implement more motion offense. I realize that the Blazers are stroking it right now, but if the jumpers stop falling, it'll become very important to have another way to score.

[dreamcloud]

Yeah, Nate needs to take advantage of his excellent passing ability more, get a lot more easy buckets that way. Like Oden said in the post game interview, it makes it pretty easy to do so when you can see above basically everyone on the court.

[kumquat]

Todays game has officially upgraded oden's passing game to better than average.

[Soulyss]

Todays game has officially upgraded oden's passing game to better than average.

Yeah I would have liked to have seen him getting more minutes, even if they are on a back-to-back with the big cactus looming, it would have been good for him to work on his offense.

[Fitz303]

That was a vicious dunk by Oden in the 4th quarter