You guys are silly. Lebron James sucked in his first summer league and everybody was talking about how it was evidence he wasn't ready for the NBA yet and he wasn't going to make an immediate impact. Remember what happened?
yao and amare had the same numbers. he didnt start dominating until nash got to phx. if he wouldve gotten traded to atlanta, he wouldve gotten exposed. a majority of his points come off of dunks provided by steve nash.
That was done on 47% shooting and 37 MPG i.e. He took a lot of minutes and was inefficient in getting those stats. Yao was far more efficient his second year. It was only when Nash came that Amare started shooting 55%+ from the field. You can see it in his PER, it takes a jump after his first two years.
It didnt even look like Oden was taking seriously.......He goaltended a 15-foot jump shot. It was hilarious!
He was getting doubled quickly, which was strange for SL. He made some good passes to cutters. I liked what I saw.
Strange how a guy straight out of high school would improve dramatically each of his first few years in the league, no? Of course Nash makes him better - he makes everyone better. But to act like he's simply a product of Nash and would be "exposed" if he didn't have him is just silly. He was averaging 20/9 his 2nd year out of high school without Nash.
Yeah, he wasn't in the mood to play seriously. He's got a cold/sinus infection and needs to have his tonsils removed.
If he had no Nash, it is quite probable that he would have had Shareef Abdur-Rahim/Juwan Howard type numbers: averaging 20-10, but doing so inefficiently (i.e. on a low FG%) and in a lot of minutes, and doing it on a team that doesn't win. His first year they somehow only squeaked to the 8th seed despite having Marion and Stephon, and his second year they finished way out of the playoffs. Nash has elevated his game greatly. His efficiency is the best aspect of his game now, and that would be nowhere to be found without Nash.
I saw the game. He looked terrible on offense. He had a couple of dunks, multiple offensive fouls and was pretty pathetic. Hardly any skill level at all was displayed, which isn't a surprise. IMO, it wasn't just a matter of rust. But it was his first game against bigger players. Still, the idea he wasn't used properly at Ohio State, is more suited to the pro game, etc will be tested and proven true or false. Oden's athleticism is ridiculous but it will only get him so far in the NBA unless he develops some skills besides blocking shots and slam dunking. He admitted after the game, "I didn't play too well. I didn't play hard enough, and when you don't play hard you don't win". Unskilled players usually aren't successful unless they play hard.
Accidently hit submit instead of preview. After the game 1 egg, I expect Oden to come out with fire the rest of their SL games and show a lot more.
That's my point, out of his 4 total shots "a couple" were dunks. So he was one of two outside of dunks. Yet, in those two shots you've made an assessment that "his jump hook looked awful as usual". Did you make this assessment off of his one miss? I'm not saying this guy is Tim Duncan on the post but good god he was only 3 of 4 in his first action as a pro. The guy is going to be a stud. Lighten up.
I know it's just his first game but I'm not going to lighten up. The form on his jump hook looked really bad/unpolished and it seems to be his only "go to" move. No doubt the next couple of games he will show more energy and concentration. I want him to do well because Oden is a nice guy and I somewhat like the Blazers. Lighten up? Ain't no way. One meaningless bad game doesn't prove he's a bust any more than finishing up the SL strongly will prove the Blazers right. One thing in Oden's favor is Aldridge's potential dominance on both ends will take a lot of pressure off and allow him to breathe. It's going to take a while.
Like who? Oden isn't at an disadvantage against anyone size wise, and he is certainly more atheltic than just about everyone.
