i saw him before he broke his hand and he still doesn't have an offensive game other than backing down 6'8 centers and dunking on them. again, he's a great defensive player but even with a good hand i don't see him averaging over 15 points a game in the nba. now IF he ever develops some more post moves and a decent 10-15 footer he'll be worthy of all the hype thrown his way. until then my judgement (broken hand or not) remains the same. i think durant helps his team in more ways and has more talent than oden. that's why i'd take durant over oden.
Hakeem 8/6 Frosh, 17/14 as Junior Sampson 15/11 and 19/12 Duncan 10/10 and 21/14 Shaq 14/12 and 24/14 Ewing 13/8 and 15/9 as a Senior Mourning 13/7 and 21/11 Robinson 8/4 and 28/12 Chris Bosh 15/9 Brad Daugherty 8/5 and 20/9 Maybe your expectations are not in line with reality.
i know oden's a freshman and has room for improvement. hint the "IF he improves his offensive game" statement. but i guess you missed the post where i compared oden to a future hall-of-famer in dikembe mutombo. i've aknowledged that oden is a GREAT talent, but sorry that i think durant is a better player and will make a better pro. it doesn't take away the fact that i think oden can be an even greater player with improvements (which i've already stated, if you cared to read). in the end, durant is MORE ready NOW for the nba than oden. oden needs to develop an offensive game. there are not very many 6'8 or 6'9 centers in the nba to back down and dunk on. it is imperative oden develops something more than using his size to back down inferior defenders in college, because there are A LOT of 7-foot centers in the nba that can fight back. and of all the guys you mentioned on that list, NONE were as highly recruited and thought-of as oden straight out of high school than oden. automatically, the expectations are MUCH higher for oden than any of those other greats you mentioned. and he doesn't have 3 or 4 years to learn how to be a great all-around player, because he'll likely leave after just one year at Ohio State.
you're outta your mind now. ewing and sampson were highly recruited? ridiculous. shaq wasn't highly recruited? LOL its late, maybe you should take another look at that list.
Eh, I don't see the comparison other than being 6-10+ with a smooth jump shot. No, KD's defensive ceiling is a lot higher. He has the potential to be the offensive player Dirk is, but I think he may fall just short of Dirk offensively, but the sky is the limit for this kid. I think he's a lot better at going to the basket than Dirk even is today Physically, I think the closest thing is Garnett...he's about 6-10 but with a freakish 7-4 wingspan. He's getting better. This is now 4 straight 20-10 games, with the last two being 30-10...before that, he only had 4 20-10 games in the first 11 games. 23-11, with 2 blocks, 1.5 steals on 50% FG%, 40% 3P%, and 85% FT% for a freshman in the Big 12. He's now 6th in the NCAA in scoring (top 5 play for unranked teams) and 6th in rebounding (only 2 name prospects ahead are Fazekas and Glen Davis)...He's a freshman that has clear areas he can improve, and should be considered a serious candidate for player of the year...that's just not right.
durant is like the vince young of longhorn bball. so skilled, yet so much to improve and so raw. its really scary.
of course all of those guys were highly recruited, i never denied that. but none of them had the hype straight out of high school of becoming the next wilt chamberlain or bill russell like oden. the only big man i can really think of that had this type of hype right out of high school was kareem. in short, i'm trying to state that oden has more pressure (fairly or unfairly) as an 18 year-old than any of those other players. he's a great talent but like most 18 year-old's not named lebron james, he's got a lot to work on (especially offensively). i'm just not sure he'll be able to live up the wild expectations because i haven't seen the all-around game yet. right now, durant has a more complete game and will likely make a better all-around impact in the nba.
Durant is not more ready for the NBA than Oden is. I can imagine it right now... Durant looking lost on the court because he doesn't understand a play or him picking up alot of fouls. That's how usually almost all swingmen begin as a rookie (exception of LeBron). Oden will make an impact in his rookie year, trust me. I'll call it right now, his first or second game - he will get 2-3 blocks and be a defensive presence.
Good analogy. Durant is clearly a better prospect than Oden. If the draft was held right now, I bet nearly all NBA GMs would pick Durant first. It's going to take Oden a while to become effective on the NBA level because he needs to gain some weight and strength to play inside. Plus his offensive skills are lacking. I like the rule that forces players to wait at least one year after high school. In fact, I would have preferred two. But Durant clearly belongs in the NBA right now. He is way above the college game.
I think Durant is the better prospect but I wouldn't say he is clearly the better prospect. Like I posted, big guys will always have more value just because they are big. And while I agree Oden will need some time, I would say his offensive skills are par with his age. Anyone that can shoot left handed FTs because his right hand is hurt is pretty good IMO. BTW, Durant had 28 points and 13 boards today vs. OU. Not sure how many steals he had but he had 2 in the first 6 minutes of the game.
Tell you what, after watching the first 15 minutes of the game today, Durant IS INDEED clearly a better prospect than Oden. His arsenal on offense is polished already. He can shoot the 3, take it to the basket, has that sick, unblockable turnaround (like Rasheed). He has good rebounding instincts and blocks shots. If there's one thing I think we know about today's NBA, dominant perimeter guard/forwards (LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Dirk, KG, Tracy, Gilbert, etc) are just as important as dominant centers. Oden may have a bright future ahead of him, but, IMO, Durant is much more likely to have a huge impact on the NBA because he demonstrates so many more skills. BTW, you do realize that Durant is currently 6'9, correct? If Durant stays focused on improving his skills, he can have a LeBron type impact. I wouldn't be surprised if he averages close to 20/8 or 20/9 next season in the NBA. Oden is too dependent on his physical advantage over opponents for me to put him in Durant's class. The NBA will be a shock to him, just like playing against Florida's Horford.
Carmelo: 22.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.9 bpg, 45.3 FG% Durant: 23.7 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.9 bpg, 50.0 FG%
