Lots of quotes in this article that I didn't see elsewhere. http://www.beyondthebeat.net/20091028356/2009-articles/october/guarding-greg-oden.html [rquoter] For Houston, here’s what went into guarding Greg Oden. Rick Adelman stood huddled with a handful of writers outside the Rockets locker room. As he bantered about beginning the season without the services of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, the attention soon turned to attempting to contain Oden. “I have a lot of faith in Chuck Hayes even though he’s only 6’6,”Adelman began. “But that puts us at a real disadvantage, when Chuck gets down around the basket and he (Oden) ducks in real quick on him or gets in deep on the rebounds. My problem is I’d rather have Chuck on (LaMarcus) Aldridge. That’s the real problem we have. We’re going to have to just figure it out. There are no answers here. Yao’s not coming back. ... Oden saw one double-team from Hayes and Aaron Brooks. “I tried to make it tough on him and didn’t let him get position down in the paint. I tried to keep him off the offensive rebounds for easy put backs, but he still did a great job on the defensive end altering shots,” Hayes said afterwards. ... In that second quarter, Oden played 7:18 minutes, grabbed two defensive rebounds, turned the ball over once and blocked two shots. Still the Rockets were miffed Portland didn’t go to Oden more often offensively. He didn’t take a single shot in the quarter. “I don’t know if they looked for him a lot. They tried, but it’s difficult to play against Chuck,” Scola continued. “He (Oden) needs to work on a few things. I think if he stayed out of foul trouble he could do more and demanding more of the ball, he could be a good post-up player and expect more from him on the offensive end.” Throughout the game, it appeared Oden rushed his shot. Did it look that way to the Rockets? “Maybe. Maybe. There were times where he probably thought he did,” Hayes explained. “I don’t know if he was frustrated or not, because when he did get the ball I felt he was always out of position to score. It looks like he’s in shape. I’ll give him that.” ... Oden was busy on the boards during the third quarter. He only played 4:55 minutes, but tallied 10 total rebounds at that stage of the game. Przybilla played the majority of the quarter, with Rockets rookie center David Anderson drawing Oden late in the third and at times in the fourth. “I thought he was bigger than what I expected – longer,” said the wide-eyed Australian after the game. ... “He’s a work in progress. He’s just getting a feel back on the floor. He’ll figure it out. He’ll find out that he has to make moves when it happens,” a tired Rick Adelman said about Oden’s outing. “I thought he rushed it a little bit tonight not sure what he’s going to do. We were coming at him. Just because he’s so much bigger, we weren’t going to just let him isolate on our smaller people. I thought they were letting him do his job at the other end. That’s a call, you just never know. When you have (Brandon) Roy out there, I’d probably give it to Roy too.” Still, if Houston takes anything away from the loss to Portland it was the job they did guarding Greg Oden, at least on the offensive end. As for Portland, they hope to see more flexing and less turnovers and fouls. The Rockets get another chance here in a couple of days with the Blazers playing in Houston on Halloween night. [/rquoter] And here's another post from Blazer's Edge, charting Greg Oden's touches in detail throughout the game: http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/10/28/1105221/charting-greg-odens-touches Their conclusion: Yes, Chuck did a nice job. But the Blazers just went long stretches without looking to get Oden the ball. Will that change in their next meeting?
I think Oden will be a solid Dikembe Mutumbo type statistical player when all is said and done. I'm too lazy to read the article, but lmfao at 2 points being guarded by a player 6 to 7 inches shorter.
The author here is implying that either: A.) Andersen was wide-eyed from fear and awe, or, B.) Andersen is an ugly, bug-eyed dude Either way, that's some quality sportswriting.
Yup. Oden is young and raw, and has way more strength than he does coordination--that's exactly the sort of player Chuck excels at defending. The fact the Oden turned the ball over 7 times despite being ignored in the offense at times is a testament to this fact. Chuck has the strength and understanding of leverage to win position battles , and the hand quickness to interrupt any of Oden's nascent post moves.
