http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2007/06/greg_oden_is_a_freak_of_nature.html Greg Oden is a freak of nature (updated) Posted by Jason Quick June 04, 2007 11:24AM The Oregonian has secured the official weights, measurements and testing results from the Orlando predraft camp, and wait until you get a load of the freak of nature called Greg Oden. For starters, his numbers blow Kevin Durant out of the water. There are several startling revelations in the numbers, and the one that immediately pops out is the bench press. Players were rated on how many times they could bench press 185 pounds. Oden didn't attempt the bench press in order to prevent an injury to his right wrist, which has recently recovered from injury. But get this: Only one player was unable to bench press 185 even once - Kevin Durant. There is more. Oden is faster than Durant in the 3/4-court sprint, quicker in the lane-agility drill, and has better numbers in the running and standing vertical leaps. And, Oden has a mind-boggling 7.8 body-fat percentage ... most big men are north of the 12 percent range. For instance, other top-rated big men such as Washington's Spencer Hawes (13.0), Duke's Josh McRoberts (13.7) and Pitt's Aaron Gray (10.8) don't compare. Let's get to the specifics. 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.
But get this: Only one player was unable to bench press 185 even once - Kevin Durant. Wha??? I could do like 165 when I was 15 and that was average, this can't be right
yes, well I bet your wingspan is less than 7-foot-4.75. I will admit that Durant looks like he has girlie arms, but guys with long limbs like him are notoriously known as poor bench pressers.
this cant be right, you telling my al horford couldt life 185 even once? i dont believe it. Of course Oden is superior to durant physically, look at durant, he's scrawny, sure he jumps high but not very high, not surprised oden did better in those land drills, cuz he plays down there, Durant's a perimeter guy. Yea the write conveniently sneaks in durants body fat %age in there, if it was higher than Oden, it would've made the first sentence.
nevermind i read it wrong, ohh well i remember kirk hinrich and shaun livingston couldnt even bench it once either, doesnt matter
on close look dunno what to make, i mean daryl watkins lane agility is better than odens, and watkins from what i saw in syracuse doesnt have that great a motor
Numbers mean a lot. Especially in the NBA. I think Oden will be great. But numbers aren't everything. Go look at Michael Olowakandi's workout stats. They were beyond amazing.
Oden's body fat is 7.8%. How does Yao beat him? and I believe Yao's 8% body fat is incorrect. if your body fat is less than 10%, you should have a visible six pack abs. From various topless pictures of Yao I've seen, he's nowhere close to 8% body fat.
Oops, I was wrong on Yao's number. Yao's number should be 6% (at least that's the target Falsone set for him) -- Falsone mentioned this in an interview he did a while back.
I can attest to this. I have long arms (I'd probably be a little over 7 foot in wingspan, and I've always been a poor bench presser for my size.
I guess I can see that, people with longer arms means they have to go farther up when bench pressing, but even then....Durant cant get 185 up? What was the texas strength/conditioning coach doing?
They said Durant was the only one to get 185 up. I also find this hard to believe. I could bench 185 at least 3 times, and I haven't lifted in 3 years....
Damn I never knew how the numbers looked so bad for Durant..cant bench his own weight..his vert aint that great either, kinda like Tmac minus the vertical leap..but eh these dudes are so tall and his wingspan is so ridiculous that none of that even matters he could have a 10" vert and still rock the house
Again, nothing against Durant, but any GM that passes on Oden should be run over by a tank. Heck, I would've taken him over Lebron, Yao or anyone else in the league today if I was an NBA GM. The guy is an absolute freak, I've never seen anything like him since Shaq came into the league; he's a physical specimen.
ummm...no...re-read it: But get this: Only one player was unable to bench press 185 even once - Kevin Durant.
Combine numbers are nice, but every year there are just enough head-scratchers to make one doubt the validity of the process: 2003, Chris Kaman beats T.J. Ford in footspeed, 2004, Andre Iguodala posts a vertical one inch higher than J.J. Redick did last year, 2005, Monta Ellis fails to do a single rep of 185 and was in the bottom 25% of all athletes and Chris Paul tested out slower than Sean May, and in 2006, I think it was Shawne Williams who posted a lower running vertical than standing vertical. As for who I'd take first of the two, I would probably have to go with Oden for Portland, only because I think Brandon Roy has enough to be the go to guy down the stretch. For me, choosing between the two comes down to whether you want to dominate the first 36 minutes, or the last 12. Either way, I'd expect to win a whole lot of games with either of them.
Why is this surprising to anyone? Oden is clearly the superior athlete, while Kevin Durant is very skilled and is crafty enough to use his length to his advantage. This changes nothing in their comparison.
