5 posts tagged “greg oden”
After Greg's Oden's microfracture knee surgery he is going to be forced to miss his entire rookie season. The debate on who will be this season rookie of the year is over; the clear pre-season winner is Kevin Durant. The Trail Blazers have been reminded of their earlier draft debacle, picking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. However, this situation is not as bad. If Oden can follow in Amare Staudamire's shoes he will recover from surgery without a problem and become an eventual NBA All-Star. And while the Blazers are going to have one of the worst records in the NBA this year, after losing Oden and trading their best offense threat Zach Randolf to the Knicks, they will end the season with another Lottery pick. I can see the Blazers drafting one of the highly talented freshman guards. One thing that I am curious about is if Oden does not play one game in the 2007-08 season would he be considered a rookie the next season? If so he would still have the opportunity to be rookie of the year. Yet, all Blazer's fans are just hoping he recovers 100% and will reach his full potential. Just think, we have yet to see a healthy Greg Oden play.
Note: This was my 100th Blog Post and I didn't even realize it.
This post is in response to today's Bill Simmons article. First, Tony Soprano is not dead. Second, Scarlett Johansson is better looking than the girl from 7th Heaven, Jessica Biel. Lastly, if you are an NBA GM if you need to take Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. Durant has not been impressing scouts as much as he should at NBA workouts. Both players have immense potential, but it is hard to find other players that can match Oden's size and defensive abilities. His injury earlier in the season forced him to become a more dynamic player who can use both hands to score. It upsets me that both players will be playing in the North Pacific and we will never get to see them. Oden recently has found work in Oregon by signing a deal with Nike and will soon find a more permanent home once he signs with the Portland Trailblazers. With it would be a little bit of a shock if the Blazers took Durant, I do not think the fans should be unhappy as they will be adding the college player and freshman of the year (Note Oden was a 2nd Team All-American). Here is Bill Simmon's favorite Kevin Durant YouTube Clip.
The NBA Lottery was more than exciting last night. Bill Simmons has been praying to the Basketball Gods all year for Boston to get the number 1 or 2 pick to rejuvenate the franchise. However, the ping pong balls did not show Boston's number last night and the Portland Trailblazers and Seattle Supersonics ended up with the number one and two picks. Another big winner was Atlanta in the three spot, who would have had to give that pick to the Phoenix Suns if they fell out of the top three positions. This draft has so much potential and talent in it, but the first two picks almost guarantee a franchise player.
Here is my first NBA mock draft for the lottery teams.
1) Portland - Greg Oden
2) Seattle - Kevin Durant
3) Atlanta - Mike Conley Jr.
4) Memphis - Brandon Wright
5) Boston - Yi Jianlin
6) Milwakee - Corey Brewer
7) Minnesota - Jeff Green
8) Charlotte - Al Horford
9) Chicago - Julian Wright
10) Sacramento - Spencer Hawes
11) Atlanta - Joakim Noah
12) Philadelphia - Al Thorton
13) Charollote - Thaddeus Young
14) LA Clippers - Javaris Crittenton
Immediately after the lottery I began to process the draft and told my roommate that Atlanta would take Conley. I thought I was being original until I read this morning that Chad Ford and others agree with me. However, it is possible that they will trade down and can still get Mike Conley Jr. with the 11 pick or at another spot if they make a trade. NBA fans in the Pacific Northwest should enjoy watching the two best young men this league has seen in awhile. Yet all the fans in Boston are crying that they did not get one of the top two picks and ended with the 5 pick. The draft is stacked this year and teams should be happy with most players they draft. Fans in New England should stick the the NFL, because Boston is not going to be a championship team for quite some time.
Above I have the 1985 lottery where the Knicks received the first pick after the lottery was fixed. You can clearly see that the Knicks envelope was folded and Commissioner David Stern had some fancy hand word picking out the "lucky" winner. Now I am happy that the individuals at KPMG did not do their job and watch this process like they should have because the Knicks ended up with Patrick Ewing. Then again, cheaters never win and the Knicks were not able to reap the benefits, and Patrick Ewing remains one of the best players to never win a championship.
Before players decide to leave early and jump to the NBA I decided to make list my top 10 schools for next year. I have made some assumptions about players leaving early, or deciding to stay. In addition, I have considering the incoming freshman class which is loaded with young talent.
1) UCLA - They will reach the final four for a third time in a row and possibly bring home the hardwood with the addition of Kevin Love, the best big man for the class of '07. The bruins did not have one senior on their roster to reach to the final four this year. The entire team should return, including Afflalo, Collison, Mbah a Mute, & Josh Schipp. Adding Kevin Love to this team should make the Bruins cream their pants.
2) Memphis - Conference USA may be a mid major conference these days but it still has one of the best teams in the nation. It will also be bringing in a top 10 recruiting class and a top 5 player in Derrick Rose. I wish he was heading to Champaign but he is not, and he might help Memphis better their 33-4 record. Last year Standford brought in the Lopez twins this year its going to be the Morris twins. Despite their ugly jersey this team is going to be nasty
3) Ohio State- Greg Oden can be the number one pick if he chooses to enter the draft this year. However, everyone knows he is not ready to compete at a high level with talented NBA centers. I have a feeling that reaching the national championship game was not enough and Oden will choose to stay at OSU. He should be 100% the entire year and can lead this team back to the final four, with both hands. Mike Conley Jr. has proved himself to be one of the best PG's in the country and will do very well on draft day. However, I don't think that he will leave his high school teammate behind. Let's not forget
4) USC - OJ MAYOOO. This kid is just ridiculous. He may have been a bust at the McD's game but take a look at his final dunk in high school. The kid is out of control and will bring even more talent to other SoCal club. This year the trojans were over achieving. But I think all their underclassmen will return. Taj Gibson will continue to represent Brooklyn and with Gabe Puitt and Nick Young's leadership they can be something special. OJ Mayo, is not the best high schooler in the country, but this video just makes me laugh. I'm not sure they are deserving of this ranking but OJ Mayo called me up and told me to do it (not true at all)
6) UNC - This is the team I am most unsure as to who may be returning. Brandon Wright is going to be a lottery pick, and he is not going to pass up that money. Tyler Hansbrough is nuts and can be a mid first rounder with his offensive skills under the basket. Yet, he is not ready to leave Roy Williams. On the other hand, Ty Lawson may use his speed to run right to the draft. I think that Wright will be the only one to leave and UNC will continue to use their depth to wear down opponents. They should win the ACC and be happy with that. I'm still upset they won the championship in 2005.
7) Tennessee - Bruce Pearl is an enemy to the Illini nation but also a part of the Jewish nation. It helped that he
8) Arizona - Chase Budinger has already said he is going to return for another year. This diaper dandy had a great season and proved to me that he can play not only volleyball but basketball too. Marcus Williams notified the team that his was leaving before the season was even over. With an attitude like that they should not even want him on the team. The 'Cats are bringing in two more 5-Star recruits, with Bayless and Horne coming from the west coast. Lute Olson will continue to do his job. At number 8 look for this team to reach the elite 8 and possibly repeating their 2005 game against Illinois losing a heart breaker in the final 4 minutes (One of the greatest comebacks ever)!
10) Louisville - Rick Patino is a Long Island boy and deserves some respect for turning around the cards this season. Mid season it looked as if they were heading to the NIT but they made a great run into the tourney. Last year their recruiting class was on of the best and included names like Derrick Character and Edgar Sosa, who is straight out of Manhattan. David Padgett, Juan Palacious, and Terrance Williams are all returning. The Big East Champs are not even going to be on the East Coast but in the center of Kentucky.
Other Teams Considered: Georgetown, Indiana, George Tech, Gonzaga, Kansas State (Best Freshman Class), Syracuse, and of course ILLINOIS
The Ohio St vs. Georgetown game was supposed to be like Olowjuan vs Ewing with Oden and Hibbert. The game did not live up to the hype at all because both players were in foul trouble. Back in 2005 James Augustine played less than 10 minutes of the game. I can only imagine if he didnt foul out and was able to guard Sean May the Illini may have been the 2005 National Champions. If each player were allowed 6 fouls we would have hacked the shit out Sean May. Instead the Minister Roger Powell and Jack Ingram picked up the slack. But not enough to overcome a 13 point first half decifcet. At least with OSU and GTOWN both teams had a player in foul trouble. The same happened in the women's game with Candice Parker and Ivory Latta. To fix this problem I suggest moving the foul line back to give the players more space, and letting them have an extra foul. Come on, just let the kids the play! Tonight we will all witness that one shining moment once again, and hopefully its the players not the refs who decide the best team in the nation.
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