With his uniform hidden underneath. Just when the first unit center gets tired and sits down… We spring Oden on them!

Starting or subbing, Miami has no one who can come close to matching up with Oden.

Oden can get a good game in, feel good about it, build some confidence if he needs it, quiet some naysayers, and remind everyone why he is GREG %$#@* ODEN in one fell swoop!

When ESPN picked it up, I hoped they had some secret info that Oden was likely to come back. Maybe we’re just cool enough to get a untelevised game picked up, but it’s sweet timing for ESPN— and for Oden, provided he has a good solid game.

Coming back on national TV and doing well will help his confidence and get him warmed up for real challenges. We made it through the initial storm without Oden thus far, our biggest challenge (and most important, to me) is integrating Oden into the team and keeping him healthy and in shape.

Mortimer

i think nate handled the batum situation pretty poorly…but this is definitely the right move. had pryz been playing poorly i wouldnt have minded starting greg…but pryz has done a fabulous job and has had a few games that the stat sheet didnt do him justice.

Oden should not be coddled and he is an obvious starter. I like him coming off the bench just because the first unit has some continuity and he is rusty. Once he gets his sea legs, I say cram him into the starting unit. He’s been taking it easy for year, not counting the rehab, and it’s time for him to start living up to his hype.

he is ahead of schedual, has his boot off and is probly rehabing now, i think that very early december is the new plan….dec 5th??….or at least thats what mike rice said…he also thought he would be back by the end of nov,.. but hes a homer..web was in super shape when he went down, hopefully he can come back strong.!

no one would want him

The offense runs so much smoother with Joel “Always a Threat to Score” Pryzbilla in the game (I love ya Joel). If Joel is the 5th option on the floor, put Oden in and make him the 5th option. He can still pick up his points on garbage buckets, but if he is healthy HE NEEDS TO BE IN THE GAME!

I don’t buy the notion that the team is unfamiliar with him and he doesn’t know the sets. He spent all summer learning the sets. They just spent all of training camp and the exhibition season playing together and now that he misses 7 games he is all of a sudden a stranger? Please. You don’t need to make him the go to guy from day one, but he at least needs to be on the floor.

Seems to me that everyone is just scared he is gonna get hurt again and thinks that the chance of that is lessened by only playing him a little bit. BS. If he is healthy he’s healthy. Playing him like your scared of breaking him isn’t the way to go about this. If he gets injured, he gets injured, and we move on. But that shouldn’t be the case if he is fully healed now. If he’s not fully healed he shouldn’t be playing at all.

how do you want oden to score? do you want the offense to run through him? have him score off putbacks or have penetraters find him after cutting to the rim? i’d love if oden was just a garbageman/banger type player….like zbo before the contract and starting role. oden on a pick and roll sounds pretty good on paper as well…can you imagine dishing the ball to oden with a head full of steam???

I realllly love Pryz, I really do, and his contributions are invaluable to the team. I’ve had him in my “untouchable” category for a long time.

But the fact is he doesn’t have any offensive game at all. Even an 80% GO needs to be respected by the defense. He needs to be on the floor just because it opens things up of offense. Defensively he is at least Joel’s equal. If Pryz was the better center, why did he come off the bench across the Lakers (when both were 100% healthy)? All this talk about Greg coming off the bench is built purely on fear of injury (not on playing ability) and THAT, my friend, is the real poppycock.

Its not like Oden has been out for 6 months, its been 2 WEEKS! There is no way he lost his starting job to the Thrilla in two weeks. He’s back, he’s healthy, the team played great in his absence, now lets get back to where we were. This is a move motivated by fear, not strategy. Its just the wrong way to go about things right now. If he is truly healthy, he doesn’t need to be babied (and I know he doesn’t want to be babied).

which is pretty selfish of him considering how much crap he has to give. :)

…instantly converted to dunks for his 10 points. That leaves 66 defensive boards. Wow, Miami is gonna miss a lot of shots. Final score: 242 to 12.

Maybe I should join the NBA to lose weight.