A little perspective on Greg

Thought this article might jog a few memories about the thought that went into picking Greg. A lot of people are looking at the pick now with the clarity of hindsight, which unfortunately is never available until things are in the past...

3 months ago Tyler Durrden 10 comments 5 recs |

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Good link -- people have forgotten about this kind of stuff

Oden’s agility, flexibility, balance and explosiveness are remarkable for a player his size. He’s a 2 guard in a center’s body.

Clearly Oden is more than a big stiff who’s learned how to play basketball. He’s an athlete who happens to be 7 feet tall.

In the span of an hour, there wasn’t a drill point guard Mike Conley could do that Oden couldn’t do. In the strength department, we’d expect that and more. But in terms of athleticism and agility, you have to see it to believe it.

by Corvid on Feb 22, 2012 10:16 AM PST reply actions

Yeah, the common wisdom now is it was such an obvious choice to pick Durant

This points out the fact that it was just the opposite at the time. How could you not want to pick Greg at the time?

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain_4.html#ixzz1IE4sPu16

by Tyler Durrden on Feb 22, 2012 12:10 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

All the analytics pointed to Durant. It wasn’t an open and shut case in either direction. There’s no question that the general consensus was with Oden. However, there were some very sharp folks leaning towards Durant.

by jksnake99 on Feb 22, 2012 1:59 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah I was overstating it

But my main point is its not fair for people to apply what we know now to the decision at the time, which is absolutely what happens around here with every post about Greg Oden.

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain_4.html#ixzz1IE4sPu16

by Tyler Durrden on Feb 22, 2012 2:05 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

A good rule of thumb with Chad is to listen to his rumor mongering

but do not listen to his player evaluations.

Good player evals: Draftexpress, David Thorpe, stats guys (Hollinger’s and the Wages of Wins guys have flawed but interesting models)

Bad player evals but good at passing along front office gossip: Rest of the ESPN guys (Chad Ford, Marc Stein, etc)

by howlingfantods on Feb 22, 2012 12:34 PM PST reply actions

The following is my favorite comment about Chad Ford.

“ESPN.com’s Chad Ford, the man who gave us Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Pavel Podkolzin, Darko Milicic, Mouhamed Saer Sene and Yi Jianlian, has broken up with Europe.” (Tom Ziller)

http://www.aolnews.com/2008/06/24/chad-ford-breaks-up-with-europe/

"I Am Mine"

by AK1984 on Feb 26, 2012 11:34 AM PST up reply actions

Draft Express was high on Oden as well

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Greg-Oden-237/

And for comparison Durant:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Kevin-Durant-390/

He also had Oden as the number one pick at the end:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Greg-Oden-237/mock-draft-history/

Both Oden and Durant were can’t miss prospects. What’s happened to Oden could not have been predicted.

by grigs on Feb 26, 2012 12:04 PM PST up reply actions

there's a breathlessness to the Chad Ford stuff that the DE guys simply didn't exhibit.

To Ford, Oden was a generational talent. To the DE guys, he was a very good talent, with mixed reviews throughout the season, some reservations and question marks about his intensity and how well his game would translate, and only one really outstanding game at the title game. In other words, a very good prospect but not the insanely overhyped prospect that Chad described.

To me, he always seemed more like a Bogut/Alonzo/Mutombo level player than a Duncan/Shaq/Hakeem class. Which isn’t bad at all and definitely not the worst haul in the draft, but trying to get “a little perspective” on Greg by citing the most irrational hype machine around is a very selective reading of history.

Starting around february, DE considered Durant the best prospect, and they never changed that thinking—switching Oden to #1 on the mock draft reflected their predictions about how Portland would draft, not any change to their overall evaluation that Durant was the better prospect.

by howlingfantods on Feb 28, 2012 1:39 PM PST up reply actions

Cut him when we sign Joel

Hindsight is 20/20 and it was one of the worst picks in NBA history, if not THE WORST.

!!!o o!!!
OMG I just jizzed in my France
OMGrandpa

by sug on Feb 22, 2012 6:04 PM PST reply actions

Waive Johnson

Even if Greg is never the guy he was supposed to be, he can do more with one leg than AJ. I still think that there is a chance he can play in the future. I don’t think AJ is ever going to be any good.

by 22blazer on Feb 22, 2012 6:37 PM PST reply actions