Compare, contrast, etc. I'm wondering why Greg Oden is being hailed as the best center in forever yet I don't see him being as fluid or explosive as Howard. I think, over their careers, Oden will never have a higher scoring average or rebounding average than Howard. Blocked shots probably will go to Oden though. Of course we've had the chance to see Howard play and succeed in the NBA for a few years while Greg has yet to play, but even at the college level I didn't see Oden really impress me with his athleticism. As prospects, I probably would take Howard because I think his athleticism is far greater than Oden's.
Howard came in as a PF, that's why people said Oden was the best true center prospect since Shaq. Oden is also seen as a much better shot-blocking prospect, but that's his only advantage in my opinion. I would hope that most people realize now that Howard is the much better prospect/player and that he will be the guy making All-NBA first team for the next ten years.
Duncan isn't all that athletic either. Howard with all that athleticism will never have the low post skill that Duncan or Dream had. So at this point in Howard's career, it is relatively easy for Oden to match or surpass it.
I think Oden has the potential to be a much better shooter. I was real impressed by how well he shot left handed free throws in college. Imagine if he can develop 5-10 foot range with either hand.
They will both fail to reach Olajuwon, Shaq, Wilt, Russell, Jabbar, status. They will be lucky to mentioned with Ewing, Robinson, etc...
Howard averaged 20-14-2 on 60% fgp at age 22. To say that he'll be "lucky" to be mentioned with Ewing is selling him short.
Oden is a monster. I met him Summer 2006, when he first arrived to Ohio State, and he was already 30 years old.
I've never really seen what the hype is all about when people talk about Oden. I guess it's that p word.
I don't hear anyone calling him anything except you. You would really ask us to compare apples with oranges who haven't even grown yet? Really? Psshhht.
I can't in good conscious evaluate someone who's yet to step a foot on an NBA court. At this point, it's pretty easy to give D.Howard the edge because he's a proven commodity while Oden, for all we know, could be a bust. One is a 20-20 guy and the other has yet to play a game. One is a 'gamble' and the other isn't. It will take at least 2-3 years to be able to evaluate Oden's progress in this league...
It's not really fair to compare them at this point. Howard is three years older and has had 4 years of NBA development time. Even ignoring Oden's injury, it's only natural to favor Howard because we've basically seen what the finished project will looked like. Obviously the biggest difference between them is Oden's injury history (and the effects of the development time lost). Howard has clearly shown that, barring injury or something unforeseen, he will be an elite-level player for a long time. Clearly if you had to choose between them now, given what we know, you'd be right to choose Howard. However, if the question is asking who was, or should have been, the better prospect, then I think a healthy Oden would be my answer. First off, there is a height difference. Oden measured 6-11 without shoes in the Chicago pre-draft camp, while Howard only measured out to 6-9. Howard clear strength as a basketball player is his athleticism. At the same time, I was incredibly impressed with Oden's athleticism last year. Not only was he quick and explosive in his shot-blocking and drop-steps, but he struck me as an unusually fluid athlete for his size. His pre-draft combine results seem to reflect this observation. From the Oregonian: http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2007/06/greg_oden_is_a_freak_of_nature.html "Oden is 6-foot-11 without shoes, 7-feet with shoes. He weighs 257 pounds. His wingspan is 7 feet, 4.25 inches (fourth best in the draft). His standing reach is 9 feet, 4 inches (the highest of anyone in the draft). His standing vertical is 32 inches, his running vertical 34 inches. The lane agility drill, where a player runs through cones alternating between running backward, sideways and forward, is 11.67 seconds. And his 3/4 court sprint was 3.27 seconds. The thing that jumps out is Oden's speed and agility. We all know Oregon's Aaron Brooks is fast. Brooks finished the 3/4 court sprint in 3.2 seconds. Oden was 3.27 seconds. Durant, meanwhile, finished in 3.45. Oden's 11.67 in the agility drill speaks volumes to the footwork so many scouts rave about. Durant did the same drill in 12.33. Durant's specifics are as follows: Height: 6-foot-9 without shoes, 6-foot-10.25 with shoes. Weight: 215. Wing span: 7-foot-4.75 (second longest in the draft - Maryland's Ekene Ibekwe is 7-6). Standing reach: 9-2. Body fat: 6.6. Standing vertical jump: 26.0 inches; running vertical jump, 33.5 inches. Lane agility: 12.33 seconds and 3/4 court sprint, 3.45 seconds. Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard declined to comment on the numbers, in part because he had just received them himself. But really, there is no need for comment. The numbers speak volumes." I can't seem to find Howard numbers (i'm sure they would be great), but Oden is a freak of an athlete relative to his size in his own right (pre-injury). The final point in his favor is what I see as their offensive projections. Howard is obviously a terrific player and even a very good offensive player, but he is not without his deficiencies. In particular, he lacks fluidity on the offensive end and, imo (and to be fair i haven't watch a ton of him his year), has poor footwork. He seems robotic and "stiff" on the offensive end. I doubt at this point he'll ever develop above average post-moves or a reliable 15 foot jumper. He's athletically gifted enough to still be a above-average offensive player without those skills, but it limit his projection. I think a good comp for him is Shaquille O'Neal minus 4 inches and 50 lbs. That package is still incredibly valuable and he should be a top 10 nba player for the next ~10 years, but he will never be as valuable as O'neal because he has the same skill set, but lacks Shaq's size. He'll also never be as valuable as Hakeem because while he has comparable size and athleticism, he doesn't measure up to Dream's footwork, offensive fluidity, or (most importantly) defense. Oden has a higher projection because while he was underdeveloped offensively, he did not show any of the "flaws" that Howards has. Specifically he showed good jump hook with both hands, enough touch/and fluidity on his shot that his was able to shoot 62% left handed (Howard shot 59% this year with his natural hand), and better footwork at 18 than Howard shows now at 22. He'll be a much more versatile offensive player (doesn't mean a better offensive player as Shaq's career shows). There is also more to a basketball player's worth than pts/gm, rebs, and blocks. Oden's a better defensive player and, if healthy, has to potential to be a yearly defensive player of the year. I'm not sure if Howard has either the desire or even the ability to be that good on defense.
exactly.... i dont see how anyone can even compare the two when oden hasnt even logged a single minute in a NBA game.
I'd have to say it's doubtful Oden will have the same production as Howard. Watching Howard improve every season has been a joy. I wish Oden the best and hope he is great.
Dwight Howard comapred to Wilt & Shaq AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP)—The Detroit Pistons will host the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal less than 48 hours after tipping off in Philadelphia. The way they closed out the 76ers, the second-seeded Pistons are glad to get right back at it Saturday night against the Dwight Howard-led Magic. After a lackluster start, Detroit dominated the Sixers for the final 2 1/2 games of the series. “It’s good for us because we started to catch a rhythm late in the Philly series,” Pistons guard Richard Hamilton said Friday. “We feel good and we want to go out there and play.” The third-seeded Magic have been idle since Monday, when they eliminated the Toronto Raptors in five games. Howard was a big reason the franchise advanced for the first time since 1996. He had 20 points and 20 rebounds in three games, becoming the first player to pull that off since Wilt Chamberlain in 1972. The 6-foot-11 center also blocked eight shots in a game to set a franchise record, an accomplishment with Shaquille O’Neal in the record books. Perhaps fittingly, Howard drew comparisons to both Chamberlain and O’Neal when a Detroit assistant and key reserve was asked who the 22-year-old phenom reminded them of in the league past or present. “In terms of his power and how he takes up space, he reminds me a lot of Wilt,” said Pistons assistant coach Dave Cowens, a Hall of Fame player who played against Chamberlain. “He’s really athletic, too, a lot like Wilt was as a young player. “You can call him a poor man’s Wilt.” Theo Ratliff remembers a different dominant pivot watches Howard. “He reminds me of the early stages of Shaq, when he was first coming out of college,” Ratliff said. Rasheed Wallace, a 33-year-old center, will defend Howard for starters and the 35-year-old Ratliff will come off the bench to try to slow him down and keep Wallace out of foul trouble. The Pistons roughed up Howard in a first-round sweep last year and he is expecting more of the same. “They’ve been doing it every time we play them,” Howard said. “I’ve just got to stay focused, not let it bother me, and just play through it.” Howard averaged 22.6 points, 18.2 rebounds and 3.8 against the Raptors, putting up numbers in those three categories to rival what Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did during the 1974 and ‘77 playoffs and Moses Malone in the 1979 postseason. It won’t be easy to keep up that pace against the Pistons. “Now the level of competition against him rises,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “They have got a lot of big bodies to throw at him that are much better interior defenders and rebounders than what Toronto had.” Howard said the Magic are up for the challenge after getting swept by Detroit. “I think we can beat those guys if we run and push the pace and play the way we know how to play,” he said. “Detroit’s a great half-court team, and we want to play up and down.” The Pistons have been able to dictate tempo and style of play more times than not in recent years, advancing to the past five Eastern Conference finals. While most teams that have success in the playoffs rely on a star or two and occasionally three, Detroit leans on the same nucleus from its 2004 championship season—Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. Van Gundy said the Pistons have “four go-to guys” and went on to marvel about their consistent success, perhaps becoming the NBA’s version of baseball’s Atlanta Braves. “There’s no question they’re the standard bearer,” Van Gundy said. “Sustained excellence over time is more of an accomplishment than a team that can put it together for one great year. “No one else in the East has been able to sustain their level of excellence year after year after year. They may not have a number of championships like the Bulls, but this is in its own way a mini-dynasty.”
I tend to not like big men without any post skills... I wish Dwight would learn some moves. He would be unstoppable.
I think Oden is going to be a bust. What I saw of him underwhelmed me. He looks like Theo Ratliff on the court and I'm talking about the current Theo Ratliff not the one from 8 years ago that was a defensive beast.
