Ford: Greg Oden Was a Top 10 Worst Pick of Decade
ESPN's Chad Ford lists the top 10 worst draft picks of the decade (Insider). Darko and Kwame top the list and Blazers center Greg Oden finds himself in 9th place...
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9. Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers, No. 1 overall in 2007 -- over Kevin Durant
This may be very premature, but after Oden went down with his second season-ending injury, the question has to be asked: Did the Blazers blow it when they drafted Oden over Kevin Durant?
The short-term answer is a definitive yes. Durant has turned into one of the most dominating scorers in the game. Oden, by the time the season is over, will have missed two of his first three seasons with injuries.
The long-term answer is a little harder to ascertain. Oden was beginning to look worthy of that No. 1 pick early this season before the injury. If he can find a way to stay healthy, he still has the size and defensive instincts to be a great NBA center. But with so many questions swirling around his long-term health, it's becoming impossible to justify picking Oden over Durant.
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-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
PS Thanks to chrischa in the FanShots who beat me to the punch.
about 2 years ago
Ben Golliver
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The short term answer is yes.
I agree. But the long term answer may be no.
"Everyone knows who you are; but only your friends know why."
- Rich Amato
Stop reading after this line.
This may be very premature
"I'm at the thingamajig talking the yakety-yak" - Kenny Smith
by blzrfan on Dec 29, 2009 11:08 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
...and replace with "This is very premature."
Ridiculous. 29 NBA teams would take Oden off your hands today, as is. T-R-I-P-E.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
Hindsight
is 20/80.
That was like a poem
It was beautiful, man.
#52 by Mortimer on Dec 17, 2009 10:35 PM PST
hindsight
is #52
From THE Ohio State
by collectiveshane on Dec 29, 2009 11:25 AM PST up reply actions 3 recs
love it!
My favorite teams are the Blazers and any team that is playing the Lakers.
by OCBlazerFan1 on Dec 29, 2009 12:17 PM PST up reply actions
People are full of crap
everyone and their mom was ready to pick Greg Oden in that draft.
I'm going on a Dave boycott until AK1984 is brought back.
"Did they really expect me to bow down to Jesus?!?" ~Sophia
I know my mom was
OK...so girls in movies where guys wear hockey masks have a better survival rate than the average Blazer player. - Dave
Yep, they were. But they were wrong, weren't they?
Just because it was a consensus doesn’t mean it was correct.
right, but isn't that the point?
if you made the pick that 30 of 30 GMs would have made – it was’t a bad pick was it? You can say the player turned out to be a bust (not true here), or that bad luck and misfortune conspired to derail his career (so far, but still too early), but you can’t really fault the GM for making the pick, can you?
I said it on lottery day, I said it up to and after the draft, and I’ll say it again now. Getting the 2nd pick in 2007 was the dream spot – and the EASY spot. Pick whichever guy falls to you, and you can’t lose. if your guy ends up better, you look great. if the other guy ends up better, you still look good, because you didn’t have a shot at the other guy. it’s a no-lose scenario, can’t miss proposition. Portland always had the far riskier position in that draft.
How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009
Yep
If we had picked Durant to add to BRoy and LA already on the team, Durant would have had so few touches his stats would make him seem like a bust as well. Durant’s defense wouldn’t have been good enough to stay on the court, and I’d guess he would have seen the same minutes as Bayless.
ehhhh......
Even if his stats wouldnt be as gaudy as they are now, I still dont see how having a 6-10 SF that can handle the ball, rebound and shoot the three as good as anybody doesnt help our team. Put Durant even averaging 18 ppg (10 less than he is now) with Roy, Aldridge, and Przybilla and I say we are challenging for the championship right now. Just my opinion though.
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
Durant is a transcendent offensive talent
On any team, and in any system, he would be an incredible asset, including with the Blazers. Doesn’t mean that picking Oden wasn’t a reasonable choice at the time.
Two points scored by GO’ = "thunderdunk"
Reasonable and Right....
Two different things.
I was all about Oden coming out of college too. Durant was the sure thing, Oden was the gamble (bigs usually are). I can admit that I was wrong though.
To suggesnt that Durant wouldnt get on the floor in Nate’s system is crazy. He would have started from day one.
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
Kevin would've learned what it means to "do a Portland"
Durant would’ve been a highly-paid spot-up jump shooter in Nate’s offense
Kind of like the days of Clyde and Kiki…sure, you’ll score a lot of points, but get bounced annually in the 1st round of the playoffs because you’re not stopping the other team in the post season
I still take GO and hope to G-d he plays more games in a Blazer uniform than Bowie was able to
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Nate would have designed his offence around Durrant,
just like he’s designed our current game plan around having Oden, Aldridge, and Roy.
(our) great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit, our system of of credit is privately concentrated, the growth of our nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men... who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom.
We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world - no government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.
--- Woodrow Wilson
Until Pryz goes down with an injury. Then we challenge for nothing.
Patty Mills - PG of the future. Book it.
Billa played all last year?
(our) great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit, our system of of credit is privately concentrated, the growth of our nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men... who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom.
We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world - no government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.
--- Woodrow Wilson
This is like saying we didn’t need Jordan because we had Clyde.
Not “needing” a player is just ridiculous. We would be much better off with Durant, and everyone knows it.
Would you be saying that if Oden hadn’t been injured and was averaging 18/10 this year?
Keep the faith.
but oden is injured. and durant is not
If Oden doesnt get injured every year we arent saying any of this. Im convinced that if Oden never gets microfracture surgery and no blown patella this year, that he would be DOMINATING the NBA. He was a freak athlete in college, and even after the microfracture you could see that he was still athletically superior to most NBA centers not named Dwight Howard
too bad
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
this moment, yeah...
long term? We can only count rings when the fat lady sings…
(our) great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit, our system of of credit is privately concentrated, the growth of our nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men... who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom.
We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world - no government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.
--- Woodrow Wilson
Wow, color me convinced, especially given Chad's outstanding track record of accuracy and uncanny prognostication in this business
8>< – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
"I take the little gummy bear Flintstones vitamins…I try not to eat the lady. I try not to eat the man. Just give me the car. I try to find the car. Yea, worst case scenario, I eat the lady." - Ron Artest, 2009
That has go to be one of the most unreasonable and irrational assessments I've ever read.
Maybe he could find some time to include some stock picks next time and seal his own victory for absolute worthless moron of the decade.
"She turned me into a newt!
A newt?
...I got better."
?
I don’t find it irrational or unreasonable. You can clearly make an argument that Oden is a bust based on his career TO DATE. Don’t get me wrong, I am a die hard Blazer fan but if you are talking about this decade, he hasn’t proven or done anything deserving of a number 1 pick when compared with the career of the number 2 pick in that draft.
This may be very premature...
but after their dominating invasion of Poland and their impressive stats in Denmark and Norway, you have to put your money on the Nazis. We don’t know who will ultimately win the war, but it’s becoming impossible to justify support for the Allies.
The cowards never started
The weak died along the way
Only the strong survived
They were the Trailblazers
by lukeyhere on Dec 29, 2009 11:25 AM PST reply actions 5 recs
Espescialy since the Allies have yet
to even enter the war.
From THE Ohio State
by collectiveshane on Dec 29, 2009 11:27 AM PST up reply actions
By what criteria does he make this assessment
If by “worst picks” he means “worst at the time”, Oden at #1 is not even in the discussion. It was, at the very least, a coin flip between picking him at #1 or at #2. By saying that was a horrible pick, to me that says Oden shouldn’t have been picked in the top 5, which is ludicrous.
If by “worst picks” he means that they haven’t panned out well, then yeah, I have to agree. But doesn’t that just make Ford a monday morning QB and this column a waste of time? What a tool.
Two points scored by GO’ = "thunderdunk"
Chad Ford says about Darko
“I traveled all the way to Serbia with a number of NBA scouts to see him in November 2002, and we were all wowed by his skill-to-size ratio. An amazing workout in front of Pistons GM Joe Dumars and me in New York the day before the NBA draft lottery convinced us both that he would be a star.”
So, basically it seems like he understood the pick at the time, but that it didn’t pan out well. I can’t believe he gets paid to write something like this.
Two points scored by GO’ = "thunderdunk"
someone should compose a Top 10 Worst/Laziest Sports Writers post...
You can’t really argue with some of his choices. But you mean to tell me Ford couldn’t find 10 other guys taken early in the draft within the last decade who aren’t even in the NBA still?
C’mon. Those are the busts. Not some kid who’s looked good when he’s played and has just been hit with some injuries.
Weak sauce, Chad Ford.
An offensive rebound in paragraph form. -Mr. Golliver
by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Dec 29, 2009 12:05 PM PST reply actions
Realize that he's considering the players the teams could have gotten in his ratings
The guys who are out of the league didn’t come with KD behind them. That’s why Darko is #1 over Kwame. Because Wade is better than Gasol.
Same thing with Oden.
Still doesn't make any sense.
By that logic, if Denver had the first pick then they should have picked Durant. So then they’d have Carmelo and Durant and Durant would have gotten even less playing time than he could have expected in Portland.
Ford should be a little logical about the needs of the team at the time of the pick before passing judgment. Once again, context matters.
"She turned me into a newt!
A newt?
...I got better."
Writers have to write.
Doesn’t mean it will have any value though.
(Although in this case, getting people to discuss his list probably meets the intended objective.)
hakkaa päälle !
Chad Ford can go to hell.
He needs to leave the talent scouting to someone else and just stick to writing gossip columns .
by Nick Van Excellent on Dec 29, 2009 1:40 PM PST reply actions
Fair to say right now.
But it is also fair to say that minus the injuries he is already in the 2nd tier of NBA centers.
In Bayless I trust.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
There's a huge difference between a bad pick
like Kwame Brown, who just never had the talent to live up to expectations, and a pick like Greg Oden who has had a couple bad luck injuries that have kept him out of action. It’s like saying Lincoln was a bad president because he got assassinated.
by superfly05 on Dec 29, 2009 2:28 PM PST reply actions 6 recs
This is the, "Crystal Ball," version of draft evaluations.
He really can’t be serious. The real wizard behind the curtain is … $$$.
#52
What is dumb about his list
I know that the comparisons will be made no matter what, but saying that someone is a bust because they were drafted over someone who has been extremely successful doesn’t automatically make them a bust.
I’m not saying Oden may not eventually be a bust, but he makes it sound as it the fact that he was drafted instead of Durant is what makes him a bust.
good point.
in my mind, whether or not someone is a bust has to do a lot more with whether or not he lives up to the potential that he should have, rather than he he was picked ahead of.
too often, I think the terms “bad pick” and “bust” get conflated into the same thing, when they are really quite different.
Kwame Brown was a bust. LaRue Martin was a bust. Darko was a bust.
Sam Bowie was a bad draft pick. Sam Bowie was NOT, however, a bust. After a very strong rookie season, the guy battled through three straight years of serious injuries to have a long and productive career.
The jury is still out on Oden. At this point, it looks as though he may have been a bad draft pick. He could still end up in the bust category, but in my mind that appears unlikely. He could very well end up a lot like Bowie (or another similar player in Ilgauskas) – having a long and productive career after a number of serious early injuries. If that ends up being the case, would he have been a bust? In my mind, not at all. Will it end up making him a bad draft pick by the Blazers? Probably.
How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009
Interesting angle....
However, I would say that when you have a personal parade, covers of magazines exhaulting you as the next Bill Russell, many saying that you are a “once in a generation” prospect", and an organization promoting you as the savior that will bring multiple championships, I would say that a modestly productive career like Bowie’s would be considered a bust and a bad draft pick.
We werent expecting Eric Dampier with the #1 pick, we were expecting D Howard / Duncan / Shaq type of impact.
Now in my mind, Kwame is way more of a bust because he is a lazy joke that just didnt have the talent. The frustrating part is that it appears that Greg actually has the talent and drive, just not the bones to hold him together.
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
Will it end up making him a bad draft pick by the Blazers Probably.
Ultimately it depends on how far Durant takes OKC (assuming he remains there) and how far Oden takes the Blazers. If neither team reaches the finals with Kevin/Greg on their roster, then you compare stats, all-star game appearances, etc
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Greg Changes Games
In the few games where he was really starting to get comfortable, Greg looked amazing. He looked once in a generation. He was game changing. And he has no ego, a fantastic attitude, and just seems like an all around great guy that you’d want to sit down and have a beer with, maybe pick his brain a little just about life and whatnot.
That says a lot. I don’t think in the long term he’ll have been a bust because once he does stop getting injured he will come in and play for us for years. Ten good end years I would say make up for three shaky beginning years out of a player’s control. Section 218 is right. 29 other teams would take him off our hands, as is, if we desired it. And if he was on a different team, we’d be one of those 29 teams.
You think ‘oh, we could have traded for him later’. But chemistry and a team’s faith and trust in a player are important. Just wait disbelievers… ten years from now, people are going to be saying “Greg was injured early in his career?”.
Not like the Utah Jazz... it's about REAL jazz. Go Dawgs, Go Blazers, Go Tarheels!
Also:
10 years from now, Durant may be the one who is deemed injury-prone. I’m not hoping for that by any means. Durant seems like a great kid, and I enjoy watching him play. But I wince when he enters the lane. The guy has “Tracy McGrady” written all over him: a skinny gunner whose body is likely to break down. By contrast, young 7-foot centers often struggle with injuries early on, then become durable as their bodies fully mature.
I was born in '52, and I believe in #52. Hang in there, GO.
You too, Przy: everyone knows you're the heart & soul of the Blazers.
Silly Chad
Actually Ford knows better. (The Oden vs Durant question isn’t close to being settled.) Ford’s just stirring the pot for readership. Yes, our beloved Canzano doesn’t have the market cornered on that strategy.
I was born in '52, and I believe in #52. Hang in there, GO.
You too, Przy: everyone knows you're the heart & soul of the Blazers.
Which is why it's lame.
Now people who know nothing about Oden or the type of potential and ability he has will just say he’s one of the biggest busts of the decade. All because they read this retarded list.
just a quick glance at history
will give all the reason to still hold faith in Oden
Entering the National Basketball Association (NBA), Walton was drafted number one overall by the Portland Trail Blazers and was hailed as the savior of the franchise. His first two seasons were marred by injury (at different times he broke his nose, foot, wrist and leg) and the Blazers missed the playoffs both years. It was not until the 1976-77 season that he was healthy enough to play 65 games and, spurred by new head coach Jack Ramsay, the Trail Blazers became the Cinderella team of the NBA. Walton led the NBA in both rebounds per game and blocked shots per game that season, and he was selected to the NBA All-Star Game, but did not participate due to an injury.
(our) great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit, our system of of credit is privately concentrated, the growth of our nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men... who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom.
We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world - no government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.
--- Woodrow Wilson
Don't you have
to wait until a players carreer has ended before you decide who was a bust? Man the kid is only 21.
I still believe
Greg Oden is the BlazersEdge!
He will be a monster.
Check back with me in 5 years. I’ve already seen it.
19 / 14 / 2 at maturity. easy.
Bust or All Star?
That was like a poem
It was beautiful, man.
#52 by Mortimer on Dec 17, 2009 10:35 PM PST
It's fair for Chad Ford to write that
But it’s tough to accept that as true just yet.
To get a better idea of why, look at 3-10 in that draft, and some other top results:
Horford 3 Conley, Jr. 4 Green 5 Yi 6 Brewer 7 Wright 8 Noah 9 Hawes 10, also Thornton, Stuckey, Rudy, Aaron Brooks, Marc Gasol, Sessions…
I guess you have to ask yourself: would you, right now, draft any of those guys over the future of Potential Oden? Would you take whatever Marc Gasol becomes, or Horford already is, for the center that Oden still could be, whatever that is?
I wouldn’t. The Blazers may not have drafted the best player in the draft as the #1, but how often is the #1 pick the best? I’m just hoping they drafted one of the top two players in the draft.
chad ford has never picked up a basketball in his life
for him to to oden on this list is ridiculous. you can’t call a player a “bust” if he’s basically never played due to injury. those are two totally different things. darko milicic is a bust. kwame brown is a bust (and should be number one on any list of busts). guys like that were drafted high, had 3, 4, 5 or more years to prove whether they were worth their draft postions and still couldn’t justify where they were picked. oden hasn’t had that chance. it’s so easy for some moron, armchair gm like chad ford to call world class athletes “busts”. that jerkoff couldn’t hold greg oden’s jack strap. give the guy a chance to come back from his injuries and prove he can play in the league before you start calling him a bust.
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