Greg Oden

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) What I said in 2007: "Nothing lends itself more to overanalysis and wild hyperbole than the draft (any draft, not just the NBA's). None of the draft picks has played one second of basketball at the NBA level, let alone 82 regular season games over a period of many months, so the dramatic, overblown statements and projections that are offered up by "experts" are just that: dramatic and overblown." Thoughts on the NBA Draft (2006) What I think now: Portland fans are happy that Stephen A. Smith is not running their team; NBA fans are happy that Smith's role on ESPN's NBA Draft coverage was reduced from commentator to interviewer. Thoughts on the NBA Draft (2005)   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) For me, the real evaluation process will begin during summer league play when I get to see some of these guys on the court playing under NBA rules against NBA players (or, at least, fringe NBA players); after I watched Kevin Durant struggle during summer league play last year I correctly said that people should stop expecting him to be some kind of instant superstar. Durant performed better toward the end of the regular season but by that point the so-called "experts" had figured out what I had been saying all along, namely that Durant must improve his all around game in order to live up to all of the hype that had been prematurely showered on him.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Durant's best month was November, when he scored 20.6 ppg on .414 field goal shooting. He averaged 18.8 ppg on .408 shooting in December and 19.4 ppg on .400 shooting in January. So far in February he is scoring 17.7 ppg on .380 shooting. It's not like Durant is making up for his poor shooting by excelling in other areas, either. He was an exceptional rebounder in college but he has been pedestrian at best (4.1 rpg) so far as an NBA rebounder and it is important to remember that most players have their best rebounding numbers early in their careers. Durant got a lot of rebounds in college because he was taller and more athletic than his opponents; he does not enjoy such advantages in the NBA and I will go so far as to say that he will never be an exceptional NBA reboun...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Portland Trailblazers wrapped up the ABC/ESPN Christmas Day tripleheader by beating the Seattle Supersonics 89-79 and extending their league-best winning streak to 11 games. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Blazers, particularly after number one overall pick Greg Oden was sidelined by microfracture surgery, but Portland actually has one of the top eight records in the West now, ahead of more highly regarded Utah and Houston teams. Is Portland really a legitimate contender? After watching Portland lose to San Antonio 106-97 on opening night, I wrote, "...it certainly looks like they have a promising young nucleus and if Greg Oden returns to health next year this team could become really good. The one caveat, though,...   [read the full post]