The Next Great Center

[bcrav4]

I think the Mavs should play well this season then tank the next season to get the #1 draft pick!! Mavs must get this guy

Greg Oden:


Greg Oden

Birthdate:
Ht: 7-0
Wt: 245
Position: Center
Class: HS Junior
College: Undecided
High School: Lawrence North
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN


NBA Comparisons:

Optimistic Outlook: David Robinson
Pessimistic Outlook: Tyson Chandler

Strengths: Greg Oden is an incredible physical specimen for a 16 year old. He's already bigger than most centers in the NBA and is still growing! A prototypical center who plays inside. Great athlete for his size. Has good strength, leaping ability, and explosiveness for his size. Quick leaper who explodes off the ground and finishes strong. Will dunk the ball anywhere within 5 feet of the rim. Has a raw but developing post game. Has a decent jump hook that he uses to shoot from out to 10 feet. Loves to use a drop step to get close to the basket then throw down a viscous dunk. Right now the best part of his game is defense. He is a remarkable shot blocker and rebounder. Is an intimidating presence in the paint. HUGE potential.

Weaknesses: His offensive skills are very raw. He "only" averaged 15 ppg as a sophomore. Rarely scores any baskets off of anything other then a dunk or a layup. Needs to work on his jumpshot and shooting range. Doesn't have much of an offensive game from anywhere outside 10 feet. Terrible ball handling skills. Doesn't really dominate as much as you would expect from such a talented prospect. Tends to get passive and needs to assert himself more on the offensive end. His body is still maturing and he could still use some more strength. However for a 16 year old Oden is a physical beast.

Bottom Line: Greg Oden will be competing with Yi Jianlian for the #1 draft pick in 2006. The chances of this kid going to college are slim and none. He is a true physical specimen with size and athleticism that comes around once every ten years. He could potentially grow a few more inches and gain 30 pounds before he graduates high school. Don't fool yourself into thinking Oden is a versatile KG clone, this kid plays strictly in the paint. If he improves his offensive game and keeps working hard he could potentially have Shaq's game in David Robinson's frame.

Realistic Best NBA Season
23.4 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 2.3 asg, 3.5 bpg, 54% fg

-Chris Jackson

NBADRAFT.TK


Greg Oden has all the right stuff
Story Tools: Print Email
Mike DeCourcy /
Posted: 10 days ago




The most gifted basketball player who won't be paid to play next season will not suit up for Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State or Connecticut. He won't be preparing for his high school graduation. He won't enter the NBA draft. Greg Oden still is two months from starting his junior year at Lawrence North High School in Indiana.


Oden, 16, is 7-0, 240 pounds. This is what I wrote about him last summer: "Oden is the most polished prep 7-footer since -- no kidding -- Lew Alcindor." Since then, he has improved.{-Lew Alcindor=Kareem Abdul Jabar!}



The NCAA's summer evaluation period sent coaches and scouts from college and NBA teams on the road earlier this week to elite talent camps sponsored by Nike, Adidas and Reebok. Wherever Oden plays, he'll be the best player in the gym, and the buzz about him is about to get very loud.



He was the MVP of the Indiana state tournament, where Lawrence North won the Class 4A title. He was MVP of the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions during Memorial Day weekend, when his Spiece Indy Heat team claimed the title. He was named the most outstanding prospect at the NBA Players Association Camp in June. Oden's acclaim has been earned, not manufactured.



Recruiting analyst Dave Telep says Oden is "a go-to move away from being completely dominant." Oden still wonders whether he's any good. He is humble and committed to improving.



Oden has quick feet, handles the ball well and understands how to use his body to score. He is even more advanced as a defensive player. Analyst Van Coleman of Hoopmasters.com saw Oden block five shots in one 30-second sequence at the Nike Peach Jam tournament last summer, but that's not what impressed Coleman most.



"This is something not everybody is going to get excited about, but Greg Oden is a great student of playing the game," Coleman says. "At the NBA players camp, he worked all week to look like Tim Duncan: dropping off passes immediately on double-teams for layups or dunks, trying to use his footwork.



"He's not content to be the most athletic big man in the gym. He's becoming a player."



Senior writer Mike DeCourcy covers college basketball for Sporting News. Email him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.

[Jamisonite]

Hes not worth tanking it....but who knows

[u2sarajevo]

Even if you tank a season, which is stupid, it does not guarantee that you will get the guy. It's a lottery system.

Besides, NY will suck too so they will get the first pick anyway. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[DubOverdose]

Even if you tanked a season, he could decide to go to college.

[cheesestar]

or he could suck...

[jayC]

No tanking obviously you weren't a mav fan in the 90's. We have the worse luck in winning the lottery. Hell no, even for a highschooler, that might be David Robinson. We might have our future big man in P-Pod or DJ Mbenga.

[birdsanctuary]

Wow sounds great I'm so excited about becoming a lottery team again..... er NOT

[FilthyFinMavs]

Through all that hell the Mavs fans went through the early and mid 90's we never recieved the number 1 pick. Sucking doesn't gurantee anything but a lottery pick. Not necessarily a number 1 overall pick.

[scorched03]

i think i read soemthing that the shaq/mourning year they came out, mavs had the 2nd worst record.
mouring, jackson, kidd. hmmmmm

[Evilmav2]

I heard about this kid from one of my old college buddies from Indiana a few months back (my friend is a seriously good ball player, who helps coach an AAU team up there in the Summer). I hadn't heard about this Oden kid before, but my friend had seen him at a high school camp, and swears that the young giant is the best prospect he has ever seen. Evidently he is built much like LSU Shaq, and is incredibly athletic. My friend said he witnessed a competition that featured some of the elite mid-West high-schoolers at this skills camp trying to dunk on a 12 foot goal, and Oden was one of only three guys who could do it, and he was laughing after he did it 4 or 5 times with power...

Of course, I have never seen Greg Oden play (although I have read enough about him online since hearing my friends account), but trusting my buddy (who is a serious hoops fanatic whose judgement I have always trusted about teams and players), I would not be at all surprised if bcrav is absolutely correct in labelling this kid, "the next great center".

[grbh]

I've also been tracking this kid for the last few months, and from all accounts I've read. WOW.

Look for Labron type hype when he enters the draft.

[madape]

We traded our pick next year to Utah for Pavel Podskalzine.

[Chicago JK]

I believe this kid will be a junior next year in high school. So it will be two years before he enters the draft.

I have heard of this kid too, but haven't seen him play. It sounds like he is the most decorated center out of Indiana since Eric Montross. Laugh if you may but I still have a magazine from several years ago hyping that the Montross-Bradley rivalry could change the game in the future [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]