Hoops4Life.com - Profile: Greg Oden

Profile: Greg Oden - by the.game

Written by the.game

Sunday, 22 April 2007

Greg Oden | 1.22.88 | Lawrence North, IN
Ohio State | Freshman | C | 7'0 | 280
28.9 MPG | 15.7 PPG | 9.6 RPG | 0.33 A/TO | 3.3 BPG | 0.616%FG

Strengths

The first thing you notice about Greg Oden is that he has true center size. The second thing you notice is that he has the athleticism of a guy six inches shorter. Greg Oden combines these two traits to form a dominating defensive presence, whose mere presence is enough to deter most guards from the lane. His timing and reactivity when elevating to block shots borders on freakish as are the heights at which the ball is turned back. He's a good rebounder when he applies himself and Oden is no slouch on the offensive end either. He has a not-so traditional but effective jump-hook with good range to keep the defense honest but Oden's strength is his ability to get buckets at the rim. Using his quickness, Oden's drop step is particularly effective and is almost certainly guaranteed to result as a dunk as is his general footwork in the post. Despite shooting FTs with his left hand for the majority of the season, Oden finished up averaging a respectable 62.8% from the line and was a 80% shooter in high school. Oden is noted for his humility as he shuns the spotlight as opposed to a LeBron James or Shaquille O'Neal and has received high praise for his maturity over the last few years.

Weakness

Greg Oden's main weakness is his perimeter defense as it is for almost every other seven footer. As a freshman, he looked a bit lost outside of the paint when trying to defend pick and rolls but considering his age, it's of no major concern. Similar to Dwight Howard, Oden's ability to protect the ball and pass out of a double team is a problem at this point in time but that too is fixable. Oden can be a little too passive at times and is said to lack killer instinct. At such times, he underachieves. Oden doesn't have a particularly thick frame and could struggle to keep some of the NBA's stronger players (Dwight, Curry, Shaq) from gaining great post position.

Notes

Greg Oden has been the premier NBA prospect for the last three years and has handled the spotlight with a ton of maturity and patience. When Dwight Howard was picked first overall in 2004, some scouts said they would have picked Oden if he were available (16 at the time). He's been compared to every great center from Bill Russell to David Robinson and Patrick Ewing. Oden has the potential to be every bit as good as these players and is a lock to be drafted first or second overall depending on the team picking.

Draft Projection

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(Written by the.game )