Oden and the NBA Refrees ...

by ECFIVESTER on Oct 28, 2009 8:13 AM PDT

Boy I was stoked for the begining of the season, ready to finally see the new Greg Oden and all his improvement. That is until the refs and the rockets made him ineffictive to even get a shot off on the offensive end. For real, I watched every single Oden foul multiple times and there were too many calls, I think about 3 of them, where the refs whistled him for ... being 7'0" and 270 lbs. seriously, how does Oden get a foul because Aaron Brooks forgot he couldn't run through him on defense, I watched that one about 5 times and if that had been Brooks running into Amare or Bosh, there is no way there's a foul called. It wasn't a screen, that's too obvious, that it shouldn't need noting. that one just baffled me.

Besides that, Greg didn't get any calls on the other end either. I didn't know it was ok for defenders to hack at your arms now. regardless of whether you're shooting. Seriously, I don't even live in Oregon or the Northwest. I live in Florida and that was quite odd. Considering if the Blazers did that, it was a foul. And they were the home team?!? That was just odd. Maybe the refs have rust, or they forgot to study up on the game in the offseason.

Not only was Greg open a few times but it seemed like athough it was made clear at half time that they weren't going to run plays for Greg for the rest of the night, partly because Oden couldn't hold the ball and partly because he was getting thwacked everytime with no recourse.

What I did see and what is the most important thing for the Blazers (atleast for this season) was a dominant and imposing Greg Oden putting on a swat fest, he had a block at the begining of the game the refs erroneously called a goaltend, that ball was just getting to it's peak when he smacked it's you-know-what to the mid-court. However the refs may have given him a make-up block when he may have either pinned one against the back board or goaltended by hitting it after the ball made contact with the back board. I'll chose the first, for obvious reasons.

Anyways, Portland needs to figure out that Greg should be taking atleast 10 shots a game, that's 10 close to the basket shots, or 10 higher percentage shots, and if he does that he'll get to the line atleast 5 times. that's 5 freebies. How do you lose doing that? That's a win win situation for Portland and developing their future franchise center. This is a necessity that can not be overlooked.

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NBA doesn't want much post game anymore.

*Unless KP has a secret plan that makes this statement incorrect.
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by staylost on Oct 28, 2009 8:14 AM PDT reply actions

Or maybe the refs haven't seen a post game in such a long time

that they don’t know how to call it.

He's doing little shimmies. Jump hooks with the left hand, jump hooks with the right hand. - Brandon Roy on Greg Oden

by ECFIVESTER on Oct 28, 2009 8:23 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Oden got 3 or 4 of his fouls all in a short stretch in the early 4th quarter

For the most part, they all looked legit to me. He was winded out there, and made some silly fouls.

I don’t disagree with your points on the other end though. Houston was raking at the ball anytime Oden and LMA got it down low, and while they no doubt got some of those balls clean, several of them should have been called reaching fouls as well. It was a sloppy, ragged game, but a win is a win, and it was only game 1.

I’m not too worried, Oden was fantastic on defense, and he’ll get his points

How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009

by douglast on Oct 28, 2009 9:00 AM PDT reply actions

I didn't think it was so much as winded as he just lost his focus

he had been sitting down for a while and then picked up 3 straight quick ones on stupid stuff like that moving screen when it seemed like he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going.

In obvious fouling situations where he was focuses, he was stellar at avoiding the whistles, especially at the end with the block on Landry. If we weren’t up 20 at the time, I doubt we would have seen that same sequence early in the 4th from Greg.

If anyone should be ashamed of a bad foul last night, it’s Przy. His 6th coming like 30 seconds after his 5th when he didn’t even try to legitly contest or avoid the foul was just bad.

by Royster on Oct 28, 2009 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions

Tha't my read on it

Up to that point, the fouls were a non-issue, and as you said, he earned the cheapies. The moving screen is something he needs to correct – other teams will plant that in the refs ear early, and when they see it, it will draw a call

I hate Comcast.
Card carrying member of Team Bayless
I believe in Greg Oden

by blazeraddict on Oct 28, 2009 1:23 PM PDT up reply actions

FWIW

That happened to LMA, Scola, and Joel, too. The refs were calling fouls in bunches on guys, it seemed.

by fart on Oct 28, 2009 12:56 PM PDT up reply actions

For now

I agree with Nate to a certain degree. This season for Greg is about establishing him as a defensive force. It isn’t about feeding Greg in the post. Until Greg is recognized by both NBA players, NBA refs and himself as a monster out there, he should be working to his strengths.

Once he’s established he can start working on his less strong areas, including his still rawish offensive game.

Greg needs to feel like a monster out there. He’s getting there on the defensive end. Refs also need to see Greg as a monster defensive player, and he’ll get the calls. He did end up with 5 fouls but he didn’t get excessively called for any ticky tacky fouls.

The progression I would see is:

1. Establish Greg as premier defensive center
2. Start feeding Greg on alley-oops and rolls to the basket off of pick and rolls
3. Start feeding Greg in the post.

The time-line for this could be as long as 3 seasons, or as short as half a season, depending on Greg’s development.

5 blocks and 12 rebounds is a line we can accept from our starting center.

by boppitywop on Oct 28, 2009 9:04 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

at least 3 of the 5 fouls were offensive (and there were a lot of offensive fouls called ..period)

I wonder if it was a point of emphasis for the refs…which mean it will go away later in the year

"And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make." -The Beatles

by 92wastheyear on Oct 28, 2009 1:37 PM PDT up reply actions

I disagree

Good defense is predicated on good player position. If Greg isn’t in the offense then he’s just going to be confused and always out of position defensively.

Portland needs to run a double pick and roll: first with LA making the screen and then when guard moves past the screen Oden can set the screen at or below the foul line to make it harder on the defense.

by 7677maniac on Oct 28, 2009 2:26 PM PDT up reply actions