babyjax13 wrote:FrodoBaggins wrote:Oden came into college and the NBA Draft cycle when it was thought you needed a franchise big to win in the NBA. Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Shaquille O'Neal had won the majority of the championships, FMVPs, and MVPs between 1999 and 2007. He was being compared to Bill Russell and David Robinson. He was never all that healthy, but I'm not sure about those comps. He didn't have that level of athleticism.
I think he would've been something like a bigger and stronger, less athletic Dwight Howard, who's more skilled and has a higher basketball IQ, awareness, and feel for the game.
I think Tim Duncan was kind of the closest comp? Methodical, fundamental. There would have been differences, but it was hard to imagine him failing. I think without injuries he would have underperformed expectations but still would have been very, very good.
I've used a mix of Duncan and Howard as a comparison before. A good middle point between the two, which is an absolutely lethal player. Enough of the physical gifts to be a 20+ ppg, 13+ rpg, 2.5-3.0 bpg, 60%+ FG guy purely off rolls, cuts, ORBs, and deep post seals/post sprinting. But enough skills and smarts to be a reliable isolation scorer from the post, a 70%+ FT shooter, a 40%+ mid-range shooter, a competent passer, and a positive AST/TOV ratio.