Oden done for season ... again

[melock]

Didn't see this anywhere else or in the NBA thread. Figured it deserved its own thread since the guy was the No. 1 pick three years ago, one spot ahead of Kevin Durant. I would have picked Oden then, too, since you'll never live down passing on a big guy who could become a star. And it's not as if Oden was injury prone in high school or college (except for a wrist injury).

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5819493

 

[Pancamo]

Sucks but I wouldn't have picked him #1. Never thought he had the offensive skills to be a dominant center. Thought his ceiling would be Okafor.

 

[Pilot]

Didn't see this anywhere else or in the NBA thread. Figured it deserved its own thread since the guy was the No. 1 pick three years ago, one spot ahead of Kevin Durant. I would have picked Oden then, too, since you'll never live down passing on a big guy who could become a star. And it's not as if Oden was injury prone in high school or college (except for a wrist injury).

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5819493

Didn't he have two semi-serious injuries (handicapping, if not sidelining injuries) during his five-month stint as a college basketball player?

 

[melock]

I agree with that as far as his offensive skills go, but he was so good defensively that getting 12-15 ppg might have been good enough. Looks like we might never know.

 

[nmmetsfan]

It would be more news-worthy if he stayed healthy for a season

 

[Oz]

Sucks but I wouldn't have picked him #1. Never thought he had the offensive skills to be a dominant center. Thought his ceiling would be Okafor.

I loved Durant coming out of college, and I was never completely sold on Oden, but I understood why the Blazers took Oden No. 1. Tough to pass on someone who could completely change the complexion of the game on defense despite limited offense.

 

[melock]

Didn't see this anywhere else or in the NBA thread. Figured it deserved its own thread since the guy was the No. 1 pick three years ago, one spot ahead of Kevin Durant. I would have picked Oden then, too, since you'll never live down passing on a big guy who could become a star. And it's not as if Oden was injury prone in high school or college (except for a wrist injury).

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5819493

Didn't he have two semi-serious injuries (handicapping, if not sidelining injuries) during his five-month stint as a college basketball player?

Looks like he only had a wrist injury that he sustained in high school. Had surgery on it and missed beginning of 2006-07 at Ohio State.

 

[spnited]

LaRue Martin, Sam Bowie, Greg Oden.
The Blazers sure know how to draft big men.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Coming out of college he looked like he was going to be the closest thing we've seen to Bill Russel since the original - like Ewing seemed coming out. Durant was a great swingman, but you have one of those in every draft. I'll admit that I didn't watch much of them in college, but were you able to tell about Durant that he was that much better than the #1 pick in other drafts? I thought Oden was the pick at the time.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Spnited, Sam Bowie was the first person to come to mind when I heard this. Pretty bad when your best center over the past 20 years has been Kevin Duckworth. Don't forget Bill Walton couldn't stay healthy either.

 

[spnited]

Blazers' original draft **** up:

1972: LaRue Martin at No. 1 ahead of Bob McAdoo

 

[Guy_Incognito]

I was going to say: This might go down in history as Bowie-over-Jordan Part II.

I was too young at the time - were people criticizing the Bowie pick at the time, or was it all hindsight?

 

[User 4332]

Blazers' original draft **** up:

1972: LaRue Martin at No. 1 ahead of Bob McAdoo

Weren't there some questions about whether McAdoo was already under contract to the Virginia Squires?

 

[spnited]

I was going to say: This might go down in history as Bowie-over-Jordan Part II.

I was too young at the time - were people criticizing the Bowie pick at the time, or was it all hindsight?

A little of both, guy.

Rockets took Olajuwon at No. 1. Blazers, who had Clyde Drexler at the time, felt they did not need a shooting guard but needed a big man. Took Bowie despite a history of leg injuries at Kentucky.
Nobody realized at the time just how great Jordan would become so the pick looked much, much worse as the years went on.

 

[Ilmago]

Man, you just gotta hope he keeps working hard and at some point can salvage a career. Grant Hill has carved out a nice niche for himself after years and years of injury issues. Greg is much younger than Hill was when his problems started, so maybe (hopefully) there's still a possibility. Feel for the big guy because he seems so down to earth and humble, yet he just cannot catch a break (no pun intended).

 

[cjericho]

Spnited, Sam Bowie was the first person to come to mind when I heard this. Pretty bad when your best center over the past 20 years has been Kevin Duckworth. Don't forget Bill Walton couldn't stay healthy either.

actually Duckworth being your best center over the last 20 years, probably 30, isn't that bad. i'd say that's better than at least 15 teams. who's the Bulls best center over that span, possibly Bill Cartwright.

 

[93Devil]

Coming out of high school, Bowie was very highly regarded. I think he was compared with Ralph Sampson. If healthy, he would not have been a slouch, but he could not stay healthy.

(H)Akeem turned out just fine, and Houston has a couple of titles with him, so it is tough to argue against him.

Before Jordan, the center was always the most important position on the basketball floor. The ****tiest centers to win a title before the Pistons and Bulls was probably Jack Sickma and Robert Parrish, and they were very good.

Everyone knew Jordan was special. All you needed to watch was the game film of Carolina/UVA at UNC when Jordan, with four fouls, brought Carolina back from 15 down. But it was still thought in the NBA you needed that center.

In one minute, Jordan, with four fouls, hits a basket to bring UNC to withen one, picks a future All-American PG at halfcourt clean for the one dunk in my life I wish I could have seen in person and then rips the final rebound away from Sampson as time expires.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_ttHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=l_8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2669,1617147&dq=jordan+carolina+sampson+comeback+carm&hl=en

Bob Knight coached Jordan in the 1984 Olympics and the story goes that an NBA hocho called Knight to inquire about Jordan. Knight said something like Jordan was the greatest basketball player he had ever coached and probably seen. The NBA honcho said his team really needed a center, though, and that is the way they were leaning.

Knights response...

Then play him [Jordan] at center.

 

[Ilmago]

I read that it's not a lock that the Blazers even make a qualifying offer to keep him this offseason. If he becomes an unrestricted free agent, would any team even look at him?

There's a lot of teams that would take a risk on him. If people are still taking chances on Shaun Livingston, then I don't see why they wouldn't give Oden a chance.

 

[DanOregon]

Some team that doesnt' need him will give Oden some cash. A year or two down the line he'll come back and haunt the Blazers for years.

 

[poindexter]

bunch of predictions from SportsJournalists.com members on Oden vs. Durant

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/37051/