Assemble Your Own Blazer Team

Sabas was great-but I’ll bet my money on Oden’s 20 year old knees vs Sabas crackly knees. I did not like Walton’s longevity either. I’m counting on Oden to anchor down the middle on D, be a force on the boards, & block a ton of shots.

thats my pick….

But I have to pick Greg Oden. Sabonis is one of my favorite Blazers of all time, an amazing basketball player. But Sabonis was too old by the time we got him to bring us a championship. And Walton was a great player for 2 or 3 years and a roll player after that. It is the youth and potential of Oden that makes me have to pick him.

Sabonis was good but no pre blazers years count for him. Walton was good but his production will be humbled by what Greg will go and do.

This is already a tough decision!

I have to go with GO. I’m tempted to pick Walton, but I want more than three or four solid years. Having a dominating big man in the NBA can spell success, and GO is the only one of those three who could dominate the league for 10+ years.

Love the other two selections, but you have to go with Oden.

Sabonis i think is still the all time great passer at center, but he came too late in his career for me to pick him here, it is obvious bill walton’s injury problems are why he is last in this bunch, no disrespect to his game when he was healthy though!

Walton was a flash in the pan. Sabonis was good but no rings. Greg still has a chance and might have been better in college than Walton ever was.

+1 Greg Oden

...If I could take all of Sabas’ career or a hypothetical injury free Walton career, then I would. I can’t though, so I gotta gamble and go with Greg.

If I’m going for a player that I know has a chance to dominate for the next ten years, I’ll go with Greg Oden.

If I’m going for a player that would have dominated if not for some injuries, I’ll pick Bill Walton.

Screw it, he’s the guy to give us the championship. I gotta go with Big Red.

Bill Walton.

(Note: Sabonis is the pick if the pre-Blazer years are included)

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch…”

But only because we still haven’t seen Greg play yet.

Bill Walton at Center.

I hope that GO will be Hall of Fame good, I know that Walton will. Both are injury risks, but hopefully modern sports medicine can keep the big redhead on the floor longer.

It’s a gamble since he has yet to play an NBA game, but I think he will eventually become one of the all time great centers.

Since Duckworth is missing I assume that means he will be available as our shooting guard. Quack!!

Oh right, you’ll be offering him up later. Good!

I’ll definitely take Oden. The reasons have been listed above, but this is my comment so you must suffer through it again!

1.) Age: He’s young and I think I can get more than four years of decent play out of him.
2.) Strength: Channing Frye called him one of the strongest players he’s played against… BEFORE greg hurt his knee and started working out.
3.) Hardworker: This kid works hard. I don’t know that you can really say that about Walton or Sabonis. Or rather, maybe you could, but I believe greg oden works harder.
4.) Potential: He has the potential to be VERY good. Due to short timelines of the others, I take the risk of potential to actual. He has 15 years to show us his goods.
5.) Defense: This guy looks to be FAR better at defense than Walton or Sabonis and I like that intimidating presence in the middle.
6.) Size: Walton is a Shrimp compared to modern players and Sabonis was a big tubby when he came over. I think Oden is juuuuuust right.

Oden is going to rock it up. I take him. Plus, did you SEE that hottie he was dancing with before he was drafted??? The dude gets the girls! I want a little of that to rub off on me!

Sabas’ knees make this decision tough, but I think abou the possibility of having him with his passing on the same team as BRoy and LMA and then adding Rex. Wow, the offense would be potent…

But…Oden has the possibility of becoming someone special over the course of 15 years and affect the team on both ends of the court.

I think I’ll go with GO on this one, but he should be thankful Duckworth wasn’t an option.

I hope this ends up Oden in the future, but right now the pick has to be Walton.

If I knew that a young Walton would not have injury issues, I go with him.

If I could have Sabonis starting the year we drafted him, he’d be my pick.

Since neither applies, I’m going to go with Greg.

Only becaue Greg hasn’t played yet. I am confident he will have a great career if he can avoid injuries but I want to see him play before I discount the other guys.

Sabas was my favorite Blazer during his time here. He was a fantastic passer and his court vision was unrivaled.

I go with Walton though because he had great court vision as well. He could score and rebound and set up other guys and dominate on defense which Sabas was a bit too slow to do by the time he came to Portland. It would be a tougher choice if we were considering Sabas’ pre Blazer days.

broke down young. I’d gamble that Oden lasts.

Championship. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sabas was too far past prime, and Walton didn’t get enough protein.

So… Oden.

Championships, that’s why.

Walton is wierd and whiny

Greg is gifted, but not guaranteed (yet)

Arvydas is awesome and…has a son named Tautvydas

Bill Walton only won two NBA championships, albeit winning them with almost a decade in between is a feat in itself.
He also just got two All-Star nominations. I expect more from GOd ;-)

And I already wonder who will be our backup center choices. Bowie? Joel? Johnson? Cato? Or just a second power forward who could rotate to the five?

Oh, and to make it easier for Dave to keep score: Why no poll? Because most people wouldn’t explain their choice?

Walton will never last long enough to build a dynasty. Sabas = too slow and soft. If Rasheed had thrown a towel in my face, I would have popped the sucka.

You HAVE to go with the only center, and best player, to bring us a championship so far. Oden is a good choice too, but I like knowing the product I’m getting with Bill.

A lot of good reasons have already been included, so I’ll keep this short. I’ll trust modern medicine to maintain Walton, one of the best bigs to ever play on either side of the floor. But it hurts me pretty bad not picking my favorite player of all time-not my vydas, not your vydas, Arvydas.

Hopefully 5 years from now, my answer will be Oden, but it’s hard to cast a vote for 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 0.0 bpg at center. Similarly, I have a feeling if Sabas had come over sooner, this would be a no-brainer in his favor.

So, since GO hasn’t, and Sabas didn’t, gotta go with Red here.

And he can double as our color guy!

unproven players.

Oden.

Oden

Oden because of the upside. Waltons injury history is a major concern, and Sabonis was very solid for us, but it would have been nice to see him play healthy!

I think this is a pretty easy call. This is with the assumption that we still have our medical staff of the present of course… “

Sabis was much too old and had already gone through both knees by the time we got him.

Oden is a pick that really can’t be defended, we don’t know what he’s really got. I mean next year we could all look like a fool for picking Walton, but right now that’s about the only real choice here.

I will choose Oden despite some real concerns (despite how I much I try and deny them) about health. This would be a much tougher pick if the other two choices didn’t have their own health issues. Walton’s minimal run in Portland was great, but aborted. Sabonis was obtained too late in his career to fully match up with what I expect Oden to become. Greg is the optimal choice in this situation, of course, based on that always dangerous concept: potential.

Got to go with the champion. Oden is too young, and we don’t know what he’s going to do yet. “He’s not your-vydas, he’s not my-vydas, he’s Arvydas” is a fan favorite but when he was here in Portland he was well past his prime.

I have to go with Walton, when healthy his all around game was amazing. He could score inside out to 15’ was an adequate defender, good shot blocker, strong rebounder and one of the best outlet passers in the history of the game.

Walton

Are they playing players of this generation? Because I think Walton would not be as effective if he were playing the Tim Duncans, Shaquille O’neals, Dwight Howards of today’s generation. Player’s in today’s era are bigger, faster, and stronger than 30 years ago.

But then again that comment is completely subjective and up for debate.

I say Oden. Didn’t Bill Russell say he was a once in a generation type of player? That’s heavy praise…

How can Oden be a pick if he hasn’t played in the NBA yet? OK, maybe I’ll go with Oden’s son who also has yet to play in the NBA, or for that matter probably hasn’t even been conceived yet. But I’m sure he will be great.

For a second choice I’ll take The Chief – The Big Red Head – Bill Walton.

But gotta go with Greg

since I want some quality passing on my team.

It’s too bad the Blazers never got the “real” Sabonis.

But picking Greg Oden at this point could be picking Sam Bowie. His line to date is a goose egg. If we’re going to review this post in ten years, hopefully you’ll all look like geniuses, but as of today, Oden hasn’t played in the NBA. He was injured in college. Guys who were injured in college, and in their early career in the league, most often end up with careers plagued by injury.

Every Blazer fan hopes this is just worse-case thinking, but we’ve had a pretty checkered history in terms of center health, between Walton, Bowie, and more recently Pryzbilla and Oden. Perhaps Oden will be an exception, but I’ll take the old russian, thanks. He wasn’t the reason that team didn’t win championships, though at 24 minutes a game he was more like half a center, but a very effective half-center given his numbers.

after watching the highlight reel that is in the Greg Oden link, i am rethinking my decision. I had forgotten how fast he was. I mean its really hard to actually pick him, but holy bejeesus (i know everyone is getting tired of saying this but) next year is going to be awesome

I like to gamble and his potential is far better than the other two’s.

Injuries and all. Between modern medicine, dieticians and orthotics, not to mention modern weight training, he’d probably be in better shape. That is, assuming that we have a time machine. :-)

Oden has proven himself yet (albeit I think he will!). Walton morphed into a California prune. Sabonis had it all!

Tough choice between Walton and Sabonis. First off Sabonis is a bigger physical force. On top of that, looking at the averages based off of 36 minutes, Walton turned the ball over more.

With Oden, he has yet to play a minute in the NBA. All I have seen him do is foul out of a Summer League game and sit out an entire season with a knee injury. Until he does something productive with his career, he should not even be in this discussion.

The best passing big man

Bill Walton as he played as a Blazer. I know Greg will be great, but I can’t select someone who hasn’t played a minute yet….

Gotta go with Oden, simply because of the P word. He has a better chance to be great with the Blazers. Both Walton and Sabas were great for P-town.

Sabbas in his prime when he was whipping up as part of the USSR team might be my pick. But with Oden unproven I’ll take Walton. For at least one season he was possibly the singularly most dominate player the NBA has ever seen. So he’s my boy, despite being hurt.

Even in his twilight he was a dominating center. I’m hoping the future is as bright or even brighter for Oden but as of now he’s an unknown. Walton had his best seasons as an individual player here, but alas it was far too short. Sunset Sabonis is my choice.

I’ve got to go with Walton, to be almost guaranteed one championship. However, I hope I’m proven wrong over the next few seasons. Not only do I think Oden has the potential to be an all-time great, but I like the guy. Walton, not so much.

Of course, if we could have Sabonis when we thought we were getting him (was it ‘87) when he came over for medical treatment….

even if I feel a bit stupid about taking a player who hasn’t played a single nba game yet…

You can teach a center how to box out. You can teach him how to rebound. You can teach him how to play D. Even how to set a screen. But it’s very hard to teach him how to pass (let alone a no look pass), to shoot the 3 ( look how well it worked with Manute Bol), or do the little things.

Even in his past prime years he was amazing. Put him with the right group of players and he would be even better.

Although I think GO will be amazing and I know that Big Red gave us a championship I have to go with Arvydas!!!

Dmarty