When healthy, Is Oden a Top 5 Center in the NBA?

OnTheRise · Post #41 » by **OnTheRise** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:18 pm

after one healthy season ..

1. Oden
2. Howard
3. Yao - also IF healthy
4. Lopez
5. Bynum
6. Bogut
--------------
7. the rest

deanwoof · Post #42 » by **deanwoof** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:35 pm

most of you must be fascinated by oden's dong to be putting him that high. where's the love for kaman? if anything he should be number 1 if you add in all the 'what ifs'

portlandpilot · Post #43 » by **portlandpilot** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:41 pm

deanwoof wrote:most of you must be fascinated by oden's dong to be putting him that high. where's the love for kaman? if anything he should be number 1 if you add in all the 'what ifs'

Like, for instance, "what if Kaman were better at basketball?"

benefit1970 · Post #44 » by **benefit1970** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:19 pm

portlandpilot wrote:
deanwoof wrote:most of you must be fascinated by oden's dong to be putting him that high. where's the love for kaman? if anything he should be number 1 if you add in all the 'what ifs'

Like, for instance, "what if Kaman were better at basketball?"

Honestly, "what if Kaman were better at basketball" sounds just as stupid as saying "what is Oden were healthy." As was said earlier (by me, admittedly), health is important. It's a big deal.

benefit1970 wrote:If nobody got injured, the NBA would be a different place. But people get hurt, and some more than others. That's why people like Andre Miller are so extraordinarily underrated. The convenience of not having to shuffle a lineup and wait for a guy to get back into playing form is a serious luxury.

So I think this whole argument is ****. I guess that's what I really mean to say.

ptown08 · Post #45 » by **ptown08** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:19 pm

Oden is top 3 center if healthy. I would not trade him for Tony Parker right now, no way, he can give you so much more impact than TP.

SabasRevenge! · Post #46 » by **SabasRevenge!** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 6:07 pm

Sabzi wrote:Progress was made last year.... PER 36 Greg would give you 17, 13 & 3 before fouling out. I think it's unrealistic to assume that Oden will continue to get the short end of the whistle for his entire career. Injuries scare me far more than foul trouble when I gaze into the crystal ball.

That 17 points was essentially from put backs and free throws. He wasn't often featured on offense, but when he was we saw him back down any defender with ease. His post iso game was progressing nicely and I expect that growth to continue. He displayed good footwork down low last year and really cut down on his turnovers after the first game, especially resulting from traveling violations. He showed a good baby hook, a jumper, a nice spin move down low, and a great power game. On more than one occasion he backed his man down, then spun around for an easy dunk, leaving the defender's jock on the floor. Greg already has a more diverse offensive repertiore than Dwight Howard and Shaq, neither of whom have developed any semblance of a consistent jumper. We saw a ton from him defensively last year and just a bit of what he has to offer offensively. Offensively, we've only scratched the surface of his potential.

On the rebound numbers, Oden will easily grab 13 a game if he plays 36 minutes. I believe that 30 minutes a game will translate into roughly 12 boards for him. He's such a dominant, instinctual rebounder that we will continue to see 20+ rebound games sprinkles throughout the year from him.

I don't think he'll continue to block shot at such a high rate, but he will cut down on his fouls. He will affect many more shots than he blocks as we already saw last year. People already think twice about taking it to the hole with him in there. Add Batum/Camby to that action and we'll have great defense at the rim.

For all of the talk about trades, Greg Oden's health is still the most important piece of any future success.

WRau1 · Post #47 » by **WRau1** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:14 am

Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

EtchenBa · Post #48 » by **EtchenBa** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:57 am

WRau1 wrote:Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

Oden > Bogut

deanwoof · Post #49 » by **deanwoof** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:12 am

WRau1 wrote:Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

LOL at this point I'd have to agree with you. Some of us Blazer homers must have spent too much time at the Brewfest this weekend. Bogut is the real deal too.

ptown08 · Post #50 » by **ptown08** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:23 am

deanwoof wrote:
WRau1 wrote:Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

LOL at this point I'd have to agree with you. Some of us Blazer homers must have spent too much time at the Brewfest this weekend. Bogut is the real deal too.

No, healthy Greg Oden is a better player than Andrew Bogut. Also, a gimpy Oden is better than Joel. Oden is the real deal too.

Lpaint · Post #51 » by **Lpaint** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:41 am

ptown08 wrote:
deanwoof wrote:
WRau1 wrote:Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

LOL at this point I'd have to agree with you. Some of us Blazer homers must have spent too much time at the Brewfest this weekend. Bogut is the real deal too.

No, healthy Greg Oden is a better player than Andrew Bogut. Also, a gimpy Oden is better than Joel. Oden is the real deal too.

Ha Seung-Jin is the real deal

SabasRevenge! · Post #52 » by **SabasRevenge!** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:54 am

WRau1 wrote:Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

Brandon Jennings is a no-BBIQ chucker and the Bucks will be an also-ran for the next decade... oh, and Salmons robbed you.

paul · Post #53 » by **paul** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:30 am

SabasRevenge! wrote:
WRau1 wrote:Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

Brandon Jennings is a no-BBIQ chucker and the Bucks will be an also-ran for the next decade... oh, and Salmons robbed you.

I love a good intelligent retort.

The Raps and Knicks boards are currently bowing down the new undisputed homer thread of the decade

jeffhardyfan52 · Post #54 » by **jeffhardyfan52** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:39 am

paul wrote:
SabasRevenge! wrote:
WRau1 wrote:Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

Brandon Jennings is a no-BBIQ chucker and the Bucks will be an also-ran for the next decade... oh, and Salmons robbed you.

I love a good intelligent retort.

The Raps and Knicks boards are currently bowing down the new undisputed homer thread of the decade

pretty sure he was just messing with him

monopoman · Post #55 » by **monopoman** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:40 am

Oden is like a Dwight Howard that can hit free throws and has a semi-decent outside shot. His biggest problems are..

Health & Fouls

Yao got hammered by fouls early on in his career and Dwight Howard still gets in trouble with fouls so they will lighten up a bit as time goes on.

Dale Cooper · Post #56 » by **Dale Cooper** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:42 am

Greg Oden was arguably our best player before he went down, but that doesn't make the Bucks bad. Jennings hit the rookie wall, but plays fantastic defense (especially for a rookie!), can shoot (he fell off second half of the season, due to the aforementioned wall, but shot decent from 3 and in the playoffs) and is going to be very good once he can get some consistency to his shot.

The Bucks themselves will also be fine. With the exception of the Salmons extension, Milwaukee had an excellent Summer. They were a fantastic defensive squad already, but they added Gooden and Sanders to the fold to make them even better in that area. Then they shored up the team's biggest weakness: FTA's, by getting Maggette, who has an ugly, but incredibly efficient game. They also have a stacked bench and an all-star caliber Center in Bogut.

So yeah, the Bucks are better than Chicago and Atlanta and are the fourth best team in the East (could finish as high as third with Boston sluffing in the regular season).

But I'd say Oden, when healthy is the second best Center in the league. Very efficient on offense, is a rebounding machine, and is a game-changer defensively. If he can stop fouling, posing nude and getting injured, he can give Dwight a run for his money.

SabasRevenge! · Post #57 » by **SabasRevenge!** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:45 am

paul wrote:
SabasRevenge! wrote:
WRau1 wrote:Oden is the 3rd best center on his own team.

Brandon Jennings is a no-BBIQ chucker and the Bucks will be an also-ran for the next decade... oh, and Salmons robbed you.

I love a good intelligent retort.

The Raps and Knicks boards are currently bowing down the new undisputed homer thread of the decade

That was the point on my response...like the post I responded to, it's a one liner meant to provoke.

Sorry if it flew clear over your head.

Not trying to bait here, I just didn't think anyone would takethat seriously.

monopoman · Post #58 » by **monopoman** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:48 am

Bucks are fairly irrelevant to the Blazers I don't see the Bucks in the Finals anytime soon the only place where the Blazers would hypothetically face the Bucks in a big match up.

The 2 games a season we play against the Bucks don't mean @#@$ really.

SabasRevenge! · Post #59 » by **SabasRevenge!** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:50 am

Dale Cooper wrote:Greg Oden was arguably our best player before he went down, but that doesn't make the Bucks bad. Jennings hit the rookie wall, but plays fantastic defense (especially for a rookie!), can shoot (he fell off second half of the season, due to the aforementioned wall, but shot decent from 3 and in the playoffs) and is going to be very good once he can get some consistency to his shot.

The Bucks themselves will also be fine. With the exception of the Salmons extension, Milwaukee had an excellent Summer. They were a fantastic defensive squad already, but they added Gooden and Sanders to the fold to make them even better in that area. Then they shored up the team's biggest weakness: FTA's, by getting Maggette, who has an ugly, but incredibly efficient game. They also have a stacked bench and an all-star caliber Center in Bogut.

So yeah, the Bucks are better than Chicago and Atlanta and are the fourth best team in the East (could finish as high as third with Boston sluffing in the regular season).

But I'd say Oden, when healthy is the second best Center in the league. Very efficient on offense, is a rebounding machine, and is a game-changer defensively. If he can stop fouling, posing nude and getting injured, he can give Dwight a run for his money.

Special Agent Dale Cooper FTW! Nice to have you aboard, sir. Cherry pie and a cup o Joe on me.

paul · Post #60 » by **paul** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:51 am

SabasRevenge! wrote:
paul wrote:
SabasRevenge! wrote:Brandon Jennings is a no-BBIQ chucker and the Bucks will be an also-ran for the next decade... oh, and Salmons robbed you.

I love a good intelligent retort.

The Raps and Knicks boards are currently bowing down the new undisputed homer thread of the decade

That was the point on my response...like the post I responded to, it's a one liner meant to provoke.

Sorry if it flew clear over your head.

Not trying to bait here, I just didn't think anyone would takethat seriously.

I didn't take it seriously, hence my response.

My homer comment was directed at about 15 of the other posts in this thread, not that one.