[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

This is disturbing to me: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/69230/20100923/exec_oden_has_been_consistently_injured_since_7th_grade/#

One rival executive expects Greg Oden to play fewer than 41 games this season for the Blazers. "Every single year of his life since seventh grade, he was either injured or interrupted significantly by an injury," the exec said. "His presence is a total wild card."

First off, he’s gonna be a benchman like I said, Portland is not going to have him start 41 games.

 

Second, NOW I’m locking it down: Greg Oden is a bust and Portland just flopped a decade pick. I don’t understand how a team makes this pick knowing he’s been injured since 7th grade.

 

If they knew: Why did you take him? Kevin Durant had a great season at Texas, you had LaMarcus Aldridge and could have had Durant and taken a big maybe the next season. For all the people who say Durant and Roy wouldn’t have been good with eachother:

 

Roy: A guard who can play both positions and could average 8-9 assists if he was a point guard. He’s a solid playmaker

 

Durant: A solid scorer who we seen for the past 20 months who has shown he doesn’t need the ball in his hand.

 

They don’t fit?

 

If Portland didn’t know: Then I can understand why Pritchard was fired a little bit more and how did you not know about it? Isin’t that what you get paid for?

 

Please someone tell me I’m not the only one bugging out?

 

 

[yellowdunkerParticipant]

I would say for the rest of Oden career he would be a solid back up center coming off the bench IMO…..

[dahoodrecruiterParticipant]

intresting information

[sheltwon3Participant]

This is interesting info but my thing is I think he will play at least 70 games and at least 25 min per.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

With the Success Durant has achieved winning Rookie of the Year,Scoring Title,Becoming an All-Star and leading USA to Gold..Picking Oden over Durant now looks like a mistake on Portland’s part…

But if you look at old articles leading up to the 2007 draft..Many folks in Seattle ( Now Oklahoma City) the fans, coaches and GM wanted Oden..They felt they needed a big man who could guard the bigs in the west…

Oden’s play in the final game against Florida,gave just about every team a hope of getting that next great center..

Oden dominated 3 dominate big men in the tournament Horford,Noah and Hibbert..He outplayed them using 1 hand..

the skills are there for Oden to be dominate..but injuries have been the only thing stopping him…

If Oden scored 25 points,3 blocks and had 15 rebounds..And Durant scored 50 points,2 blocks and 10 rebounds..Who think you think will win?  8 out 10 times it might be Oden’s team..Oden has a difference impact on a game than Durant does….

That’s what Portland was looking at when they drafted Oden…

[jay_peezie3Participant]

Everybody thought greg oden was a number 1 pick. Only sportswriter that saw that Kevin Durant would become Kevin Durant and worthy of a no. 1 pick was Bill Simmons @ espn. All champions w/ the exception of Jordan’s Bulls won the ship with a big man, so they figured to get the best big man prospect since Tim Duncan. When he plays, he’s good and sometimes dominant. Look at it this way, He’s better than Sam Bowie

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

If someone has gotten injured for 5,6, 7 years in a row? Even when growing?

NO THANK YOU. Portland made the same mistake with Bowie who came off ACL Tears at UK.

THERE’S NO EXCUSE. Someone getting injured for years? Don’t take him.

[goneParticipant]

Didnt Brandon Roy have a major leg injury before he was drafted?

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Yes, that’s why Boston didn’t want him (according to Simmons) because he had paper like knees.

Roy didn’t go 1st in his draft however…

[jay_peezie3Participant]

i mean, you win ships with big men. Look at the lakers. The MVP for this final should have been Gasol, not Hobe who was locked up by ray allen. (6-24), and they only won when Bostons big man got hurt. At least Oden is a difference maker when he plays, and if you have a healthy Oden with LaMarcus soft but effective Aldridge, with Roy, youre VERY close to a championship team. Oden and Yao are similar, cant stay healthy. When youre that big and lean youre likely going to be injury prone.

I remember Durant couldnt bench his weight leaving college, so it was a real concern if he could take the punishment of an NBA season. I know its a huge if, but i think Portland STILL is a Western Conference Finals contender if Oden is healthy. That makes for him being better than a bust.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

Why do I find this hard to believe? I never had heard about Greg being injured until he got to Ohio St, now some jackass is saying he has been hurt since middle school? I just do not get why this needed to be said after Greg is going into his 4th freaking year! If the injury issues were that serious, than there is no way he would have been picked first, they do medicals on players, and no one found anything to say the guy was going to have recurring injuries, at least not to public knowledge. Greg is going to be the starter man, and the 41 games thing is just someone making a prediction that is really kind of awful in the scope of things. Why just flat out say, oh, this person will player this many games after months of rehabilitation from an injury. Does this guy say the same thing about Yao Ming or Andrew Bynum, did he have a call with their pre-school teachers to see if they scraped their knees during recess? I would love to know the executive that said this, and why his team just would have happened to be the 1 out of 30 that would have taken Kevin Durant. That being said, this guy is probably talking out of his butt, or making a stupid exaggeration that led to this ridiculous statement. Greg is a wildcard, but just because some jerk predicts he will not play 41 games, how does that lead to his not starting and being a back-up? Does he say, well, I think he will play every other game due to injury. No, this person is just saying, Greg will be hurt and miss a significant amount of games. I’m bugging out that someone would actually believe this garbage. I think it is a ridiculous statement and frankly, untrue, unless he gives me a medical history stating otherwise. I for one never remember hearing about Greg being hurt in HS, so, where does this come from? Whoever picked this guy up should have fired him for not convincing them that they should have been the one team that would have picked Kevin Durant. Durant was amazing out of Texas, but very few people thought he would be this good, and Greg Oden again I will say this, was the most talked about Big Man to come out of college since Tim Duncan. It was a choice that very few people were arguing against. So, to me, until proven otherwise, this executives banter is totally useless and ridiculous. It is like Dwight Howard saying that Kevin Durant is better than LeBron James, in that it wreaks of having an ulterior motive or bias. For the last time man, Greg Oden is the Blazers starting Center unless he gets seriously hurt again. He is someone who could start at Center on 80-90% of teams in the league, and I am sure a team would love to have him at Center just to increase their chances to compete. But again, whatever executive said this, why wait until now? I find it totally ridiculous that a lot of these comments come long after the fact and are tuned towards public opinion (Dan Gilbert/Bryan Colangelo, looking at you). When will someone have the stones to say it when it is happening? Like, after Greg gets microfracture surgery missing his rookie year. Why wait until now? It just seems like rubbing salt into an open wound, that is more open after everything other thing that has happened since his missing of the first season. But hey, hope this guys team has a great season, and I honestly hope it is injury free, unlike he does obviously for Greg Oden and Portland. 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 I dont know how anybody reading this is giving KnicksBoy and ton of thumbs up because he is absolutely right.  I thought Portland learned their lesson with Jordan.  People say take size well heres a little size for ya one player got a 7’6 wingspan and a 9’4 standing reach and the other got a 7’4 wingspan and a 9’2 standing reach can you guess which one has more length?  Durant!!!!!!  Not only that I thought it was a bad pick because Portland needed a wingman more then it needed a Low Post player.  I always thought Aldridge would be better at center and if not all you need is a defensive center to play alongside him because Aldridge can get you 20 a game.  I thought drafting Oden would stunt his growth.  Bottom line is Portland never needed Oden, they needed Durant.  And Roy and Durant would of been amazing playing together to skilled, highly intelligent basketball players will always play well together.  Do you think the Sixers have any doubts that Turner and Iggy can play together?  If they did they would of drafted Cousins, or Favors.  Durant was the Obvious BPA and despite his listing the guy is 6’11 not 6’9 so they can’t use the we drafting size excuse cause Durant is as long as they come.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

So I ask this

If someone got hurt for 4-5 years in a row…would you draft him?

[llperez]

jay peezie, how did this become a bash kobe topic? Anyways, kobe averaged 29 points and 8 rebounds in the finals to pau’s 19 and 11. Kobe shot terribel in game 7 but still was able to take over the 4th quarter by getting to the ft line. Saying he got locked up by ray is laughable.

[jay_peezie3Participant]

As an honest warrior fan, its only right to bash kobe at any chance. But Gasol made the shot (that was really a travel) and Ray was in his mug constantly, as he ALWAYS is/was from his Seattle days. If he only had some legs to make a shot, lakers dont win, bottom line. Kobe’s best game was in a loss at Boston where he couldnt be stopped (Game 4 or 5, i forgot). Pau Gasol was still a scoring threat and he dominated the boards and Garnett on one leg. Of those 18 misses, a lot were offensive rebounds, were gotten by Gasol and Bynum.

The premise of the prior comment was big men when championships. We saw what happened before Bynum and Gasol landed together in LA. see Suns, Phoenix 2007. I’m of the believe that MVP is not all about stats (although Kobe shoulda won MVP in "post-rape" season)

[butidonthavemoney]

This is garbage.

I don’t buy it.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Mind you this is a ESPN article. I’m not saying that makes a difference but something to think about to me.

 

It’s a ESPN insider but Real GM took the Oden part.

[joecheck88Participant]

he said he watched oden for 4 years in hs and he was never injured until his wrist in the mcdonalds all american game his senior year.

and i dont know about anyone else but that dude is as reliable a source as anyone on here.

point is, i dont believe this garbage one bit. now i did hear that one of odens legs is slightly longer than the other which could attribute to the injuries, idk if that true but thought id point it out.

[joecheck88Participant]

i know its easy to call greg oden a bust but he has been very productive in his time. hes not like kwame or darko who couldnt get off the bench and have been career backups on bad teams. no oden has shown flashes and is why we dont give up on him. similar situation is bynum, he has had monster games but cant stay healthy but we dont call him a bust because we know what he can do.

[Raef LaFrentzParticipant]

Bologna.

No way in hell Oden has been "significantly injured every year since 7th grade."

Just because some executive who thinks his farts don’t stink says so, I could care less.

Oden DOMINATED in high school, hardly ever losing. I think I heard somewhere that he never lost a home game like… ever. Oden played very well in college too, and that wrist injury he suffered was his first notable injury that put his playing time in jeopardy.

 

Nonetheless, if a player that has NBA teams looking into drafting them with the #1 pick, or even a 1st rounder for that matter, a thing like being injured since 7th grade doesn’t go overlooked. Things like that DO NOT get swept under the carpet, etc. So I say BOLOGNA to that executive and his farts that actually DO stink.

 

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Why would someone lie about this then?

[HaleParticipant]

I know anyone can sat this but I thought Durant was better then Oden coming out of college anyway, probably because I’m a huge fan of talented wings.

[Raef LaFrentzParticipant]

It’s easy.

Publicity. Be it negative publicity for Oden and the Blazer organization, or maybe this guy just likes to see what kind of waves he can make throughout the league by saying things like that.

"Oh, yeah.. Kobe has been raping women since the 3rd grade."     

If some random executive said this would you believe it and make an article on NBADraft.net? No sir.

People can say anything they want, but there is NO verifiable evidence to prove anything this attention-starved executive said.

[llperez]

cant someone just look up odens highschoool career to see if he was injured?

[Raef LaFrentzParticipant]

Oden led his high school team to 45 straight wins, so that’s like 2 full seasons or more. Sorry, but that kind of put this "injured every year since 7th grade" claim to rest.

This information can be found in numerous places, including old articles in the Indianapolis paper and on Oden’s website.

[dahoodrecruiterParticipant]

wow he just threw kobe under the bus ..lol………the way u make it seem people would think kobe had no parts in winning this year’s chip….

 

i dont know im just saying

CMON!!!!!!!! MAN!!!!!!!!   LOL

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

 Why would someone lie about this? The same reason that same person would want anonymity in saying it. They have nothing to lose and were just shooting off at the mouth, or someone asked them a question and they spouted out this callous statement. The ESPN insider article is about something completely different and nowhere mentions that Greg will only play 41 games and was injured since 7th grade. So, to me, an anonymous tipster without the gall enough to say his name or provide actual proof of this being true is not exactly something that shakes my world view. I kind of hope tezo could maybe shed some light as an Indiana hoops guy. But, I never remember hearing it mentioned that Greg was hurt in HS, or middle school. So, what does someone have to gain by bad mouthing an opposing teams player? Really? This is just some a-hole saying something after the fact to make himself sound like he is important and knew things that apparently 30 teams did not know. I mean, if Greg Oden really was as injury prone as he was saying, than it would have been publicized. Also, if someone was hurt 4-5 years in a row, was 7 feet tall and was a fantastic athlete and talented basketball player, they may not be the first pick in the draft, but damn skippy they would be a high pick. Hell, Eddy Curry was a fringe All-Star and not even 7 feet and your Knicks gave up a solid grip to get him. You take that chance man, because of everything everyone is telling you. He may be a bust in comparison to Kevin Durant, but if he is a contributor on a championship team, it will be hard to say that unless Durant leads the Thunder to one as well. Sam Bowie became a bust when Michael Jordan became not only the best player in the league, but of all time. But the problem I think people have are not calling Greg a bust, but saying that his injuries therefore make him a consistent back-up center in the NBA. Have you seen Greg play? Would it not be great to have him play 41 games on those Knicks of yours rather than, well, nobody. I am sorry I got so defensive, but I guess I got very invested in Greg Oden, and this slanderous garbage just seems totally off base being just an anonymous statement from some phantom executive. I do not believe everything I read or hear, and maybe that is due to bias, but I tend to be pretty decent at spotting garbage when I see it.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

 Was a brash and maybe kind of dirty example, but as crass as it may be it is applicable (rape is not funny, but more the fact that someone would say that, kind of like talking out of their ass, kind of like the statement about Greg Oden). Just take it as that and not as someone trash talking Kobe. It is called a metaphor or example of someone make a brash and ridiculous statement.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Here’s my thinking of it

This is a ESPN piece written by a knowledgable writer. If he suspected lies or believed he was lying, why put it in the article? Also, We just checked the background info….he could have done that and found it true.

 

I was just asking. I don’t really care. I just hate people who say "Durant and Roy would have been a bad pair- that’s why we took Oden"

[dahoodrecruiterParticipant]

BIG TIME ODEN FAN HUH? @ MIKEYTHEDON

[creepingdefParticipant]

Greg Oden isn’t a bust. He’s extremely efficient, and could be better than Dwight, all he needs to do is keep healthy.

 

Dwight Howard’s rookie season (04-05) stats per/48 minutes

17.6 points, 14.8 rebounds, 2.44 block

Greg Oden‘s rookie season (08-09) stats per/48 minutes

19.1 points, 15.4 rebounds, 2.56 blocks

 

It’s not a matter of talent, because Oden obviously has it, it’s all about keeping injury free.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Greg Oden isn’t a bust. He’s extremely efficient, and could be better than Dwight, all he needs to do is keep healthy.

No he cannot.

[dahoodrecruiterParticipant]

HOW MANY GAMES DID HE PUT THOSE #’S UP FOR??????

[WizardofOzParticipant]

It’s really unfair to say NOW that Durant should have been picked over Oden. I bet in 2007, you weren’t complaining about the Blazers selection. It’s easy to go back into past drafts and say who should have been picked over who.

In 2007, people were saying Oden would become the next great big man, and most people didn’t know that Durant would become THIS good. People were saying he wasn’t strong enough. I wonder which IDIOT said that, because it certainly isn’t a problem for him in the NBA right now. ANYWAY, most Blazer fans were happy about the selection when it happened. Remember, nost teams win championships with great bigs.

And like Mikeyvthedon said, I never heard about him being injury prone in HS. The first injury I remember was in college.

This article is really unfair and Greg Oden can still become a very good player, if he doesn’t get severely injured again.

[sheltwon3Participant]

I think someone want’s Oden on the trading block.  Maybe Denver.  Denver would trade Melo for Oden and some filler.

[dahoodrecruiterParticipant]

COMPARED TO WAT DURANT IS DOING IN NBA ODEN IS A BUST…………INJURIES ARE PART OF THE GAME SO IF HE CANT GET ON COURT BECAUSE OF THEM HE IS A BUST

 

STILL WAITING FOR THE PRIVATE EYE TO FIND HIS REAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND PROVE HE IS REALLY 33 AND SELL INFO 2 TMZ LOL……..

SO WITH THAT BEING SAID I STILL THINK HE WILL BEE 1 OF THEM GUYS THAT PPL WIL BE SAYING HIS INJURIES KILLED HIS CAREER

I DONT KNO JUST SAYING

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Mr. Morrison is it a bunch of Boloney or a bunch of Bologna? LMAO!!!

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

I think someone want’s Oden on the trading block. Maybe Denver. Denver would trade Melo for Oden and some filler.

Come on son…that doesn’t even make any sense.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

 Also, the guy may not have lied who wrote the article, but the guy who made the statement greatly exaggerated on his statement about seeing a history of injury of Oden since the 7th grade. It just sounds totally crazy sauce and is just extremely strange timing for this statement that maybe should have come out, um, four years ago. It was not like an ongoing investigation where they finally found evidence of his having a "significant injury every year since he was in 7th grade." Just sounds totally effed. Also, I do not consider ESPN the end all be all of sports information, as they constantly print stuff that is just hearsay or disputed to be untrue. Remember the whole Ed Werder saga with the Cowboys? ESPN constantly makes up rumors and other things, it may have a wealth of sports information, but it also has a wealth of sports misinformation, like most publications. This comes along with being a sports prognosticator, in that while you are right some of the time, other times you are bloody freaking wrong. I am assuming the person that made the statement about Greg Oden is one of these people who sees Oden’s misfortunes and just wants to add fuel to the fire, or just thinks he will be right due his past. Either way, it just seems like a stupid thing to say and I either think this person was misquoted or left out a wealth of information that is incredibly prevalent considering Oden’s recent history of injury. So, someone saying a couple lines on the subject just seems to piss me off rather than make me say "Oh, well that explains it." Durant and Roy would have made a fantastic combination, I agree, but I am just not convinced that having Greg Oden in the mix will not give them an advantage they might not have had. He is the type of big that makes things happen, and if the Blazers picked Durant they might have the similar issues at the post that I believe are plaguing the Thunder. No post player on the Blazers or Thunder have the potential to do the damage that Greg Oden can. So again, I will say, YOU TAKE THE CHANCE! lol

[creepingdefParticipant]

Obviously if you compare Oden to Durant right now, things are going to look bad.

First off, Durant is an extremely gifted player, averaging 25ppg for his career so far, not to mention the massive amount of media hype he gets for being the "next big thing". If he were averaging 18 ppg, and being compared to that, Oden wouldn’t be as scrutinised as much. It just so happens Durant is excelling extremely well, and by comparing Oden to that, it makes a situation look worse than it actually is.

Example:

Let’s say if Blake Griffin gets injured for a second season, but he puts up some decent numbers per 48mins, is he a bust when compared to the #2 pick in Hasheem Thabeet? In no way is he going to appear to be a bust, because Hasheem Thabeet’s numbers are pretty poor. If he were being compared to Durant however, people might be quick to say that he’s a bust.

Second, the fact he was chosen 1st over Durant in ’07 is a massive indicator of the talent and potential Oden has. No-one knew he was going to get injured, and it was almost a unanimous decision to select Oden over Durant amongst most GMs. The fact of the matter is, he’s been injured which is extremely unfortunate. However his numbers per 48 mins are great, and they’re only from his rookie season. Time will tell if he’ll pan out. He’s only 22 and has plenty of time.

 

 

 

 

[stanford hoops]

One rival executive expects Greg Oden to play fewer than 41 games this season for the Blazers. "Every single year of his life since seventh grade, he was either injured or interrupted significantly by an injury," the exec said. "His presence is a total wild card."

this is along the lines of what i said to tezo last year about oden having injuries since hs days

[stanford hoops]

@jay_peezie3  not everyone didnt think oden should have been number one. i know many people who just werent convinced that oden was that good. my brother being one of them. personally i thought he was good but was 100% for durant to go before him without a second thought. one reason was because ive been preaching the home town durant would dominate college basketball and should be the number one pick when ever he came out. nothing hes done has been much of a suprise to me and some of my friends because hes been doing this at mcdough gym up in gtown since his jr year in hs

point blank these are too bad picks by portland in bowie and oden. people can make millions of excuses about it but the fact now is durant is on his way to possible greatness and jordan is great. reguardless if you dont know how great another player is gonna be, once that player becomes great and youre pick ends up being injury prone or a bust then youre pick falls into the catagory of a bad pick

[stanford hoops]

once again per48 means nothing ..this isnt fantasy leauge its reality. you go by what they do in the minutes they are given not per 48 in which uou just add all the numbers up which doesnt account for fouls different defenses, how many less shots they might get or fatigue

[creepingdefParticipant]

So if per 48 mins means nothing, how about PER?

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics?&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fhollinger%2fstatistics

 

Check that, you’ll find Greg Oden at #8, 3rd best center. And although Kevin Durant is rated #3 on that list, he’s had plenty more time than Oden has to learn and improve, whereas Oden has had to sit out with injuries and recover.

[stanford hoops]

yes per means nothing to me. i rather have a guy like kobe lebron melo who do work in the minutes that they get then some guy who averages 7ppg in 12 min but there per 48 has them with better numbers s

[gregoden08Participant]

Lol dude come on…this article is BS. Oden even said on the radio one time that he never had any big injuries before he came to Ohio St.

[stanford hoops]

Another thing us how many fith options even play

[SmooveKRYPTParticipant]

This article is 100% BS. If Oden was injured since 7th grade do you really think he would’ve been the #1 pick?

DeJuan Blair couldn’t even get into the 1st round for injuries that happened years before and he was 100% healthy at draft time. Injuries are HUGE when it comes to the draft, they put so much emphasis into them. If he was that injury prone I guarantee you they wouldn’t have took him #1.

[polandParticipant]

Oden’s first significant injury was a sprained wrist that occurred between his senior season and his freshman season. He learned how to shoot lefty and was healthy the rest of his freshman year. He started to dominate at the end of the year and during the tournament. Then he was drafted. AFTER THE DRAFT he had his first major leg injury. Revisionist history at its finest.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

@ WizardofOz I was saying at the time that Durant should go one…I have no reason to lie about this…I gave you my reason above and got negative points for it I dont know why maybe because I was defending KnicksBoy…I remember that whole season vividly because it was the year that A.I. got traded and the Sixer at one point had the 2nd to worse record in the league and I was so happy because we had a shot at Durant.  I figured if Oden went one we could atleast get Durant…Then what happened was Andre Miller played our of his mind and the Sixer won 25 of there last 34 games and we made the effin playoffs!!!!!!!!!!!!  And for what?  We did get Thad Young in that draft and I thought he was a stud coming out of high school and that he would be a top 5 pick…But he didn’t dominate in High School so he fell to us at 12 and I’m so happy we didn’t get Julian Wright who a lot of people wanted us to pick… But if you watched Durant in college I don’t know how you couldn’t tell he would be great.  Above all else I never saw nothing like him before in my life.  The guy is 6’10 with a 7’6 wingspan and he curls off screens and drills 3’s.  

What I noticed about Durant in college besides his length was that he was a clutch shooter.  His shot was money.  Combine that with his height and he is going to shoot over anybody who guards him easily.  Plus he can take you in the post.  The guy is a plastic man scoring machine.  I thought to myself this guy is built like KG, shoots like Ray Allen, and plays like Kobe…Here comes trouble.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 ESPN got an article with Chris Broussard and Ric Buchar arguing the same exact thing:  I’m with Chris Broussard and thats how I felt during the draft. 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/news/story?id=5607275

[meisi4Participant]

i think you shouldnt bash the blazers for the Oden pick. looking at it right now everyone will say and the blazers have to admit that in retrospective they should have picked durant. everyone who followed them has to say that but honestly did you think on draftnight it was a terrible and bad decison? its easy to say it now but on draft night few people felt it was a big mistake so why bash the blazers now for a decison that seemed to be at least good at that time?
i wont blame the blazers for a decison that at that time i couldnt really feel Bad about just because i know better now…
i would like to know how many people that now hate on prichard were excited about the Oden pick back then…

One last thing: Why do you think the Person saying that he was injured all the time didnt want his name in this? One reason could be cause it aint really facs right…?
if this was true the blazers should have noticed and there would have been much talk about it but then again if its all 100% true why not give your name to stand for it?

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

LMFAO! This article is full of $hit.

I live in Indianapolis and I’ve been watching Oden since AAU in 6th grade (this is when he lived in Terre Haute, IN, but played on Mike Conly Sr.’s traveling AAU team) and he was NEVER injured! He never missed a game in high school. Never missed an AAU game over the summer. Never even missed a practice. Jack Keefer, Oden’s high school coach, said Oden was "the most durable player I’ve had" when discussing Oden’s injuries with the Indianapolis Star.

His first injury was a wrist injury suffered on a dunk in the McDonald’s All-American game. Say Durant should’ve been picked first, but why would anybody make something like this up? This is just dumb…

[HitsterParticipant]

There was no talk of Oden being injury prone until he had hand surgery in the summer of 2006, he had been a lock to be top draft pick for the first draft he was eligible for since about 2005. Everyone can draft with hindsight, Kobe 14th pick only in 1996, Steve Nash double MVP not in the top 10 the same year, Melo, Wade, Bosh ahead of Darko in 2003 etc.

[HitsterParticipant]

There was no talk of Oden being injury prone until he had hand surgery in the summer of 2006, he had been a lock to be top draft pick for the first draft he was eligible for since about 2005. Everyone can draft with hindsight, Kobe 14th pick only in 1996, Steve Nash double MVP not in the top 10 the same year, Melo, Wade, Bosh ahead of Darko in 2003 etc.

[PureshooterParticipant]

This article is ridiculous:

 – No source cited

 – No specifics from the supposed source

 I agree that the article is total BS and should be dismissed as such. 

 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 No you guys are right the first article is Bull because one of the positives about Oden coming into the draft was that he wouldn’t be the next Bill Walton because he was so durable and scouts even used his hand injury in college to prove how quick of a healer he was.  

You have to read the article I posted with Bucher and Broussard arguing about the same subject tho.  Everything Broussard says is how I felt on draft night and going into the draft.  Even Skip Bayless was campaigning for Durant to be the first pick and Im a huge Skip Bayless fan.  But above all else just check his resume.  Durant averaged 26 and 11 in his freshman year of college and won 5 of the 6 National Player of the Year awards.  If you watched the actual games besides the stats you would know that at the end of the games Durant would play out his mind.  You can’t teach somebody to be clutch and it was obvious that Durant had that killer instinct.  He wanted the ball at the end of tight games, got the ball, and scored the ball.  And thinking of how that would translate to the league of thought of how many 6’11 wing players their are in the league and couldn’t come up with many.  Who could put a hand in his face?  He’ll shoot over smaller defenders and if you put a big on him not only do you leave you lane open and susceptible but Durant will take them off the dribble.  And he’s bigger then most of the bigs.  Just looking at the bigs in that draft, Oden, Horford, Noah, Yi, and Hawes.  Durant is taller then Horford, and is longer then then the rest of them.  So to say a big would be able to slow him down was a stretch when he’s bigger then them anyway.  

But at the end of the day I didn’t think it was a huge mistake by drafting Oden because centers of his size, skill, and athleticism enter the draft like once every 5 years.  But a Mutant Human Being Like Durant has never been in the draft.  Who can you compare Durant too honestly?  T-Mac?  Durant is 3 inches taller and 7 inches longer in his wingspan.  Gervin?  Same thing Durant is a half a foot longer.  K.G.?  The Big Ticket can’t curl off screens and nails 3 effortlessly like it was a foul shot.  Chris Bosh?  From a physical build Bosh may be the best comparison but Durant is longer then him, and the sames goes for Bosh as KG, Durants perimeter skill set was light years ahead of his coming into the league then Bosh will ever have.  

But what I really liked was that Durant was gonna get the opportunity to go into a franchise and be the man from day one.  Instead of sharing the ball with Roy, and Aldridge so I was happy and thought how Jealous am I that OKC is going to get a god send the following year and the Sixers just drafted a guy who plays the same position as their best player.  3 years later with the second pick the Sixers did it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!UUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

And I am saying this now so everybody knows in the future I’m not a flip flopper.  Demarcus Cousins should of been the consensus and no brainer second pick and Washington should of atleast thought about taking him first. 

[Raef LaFrentzParticipant]

@ RUDEBOY.

It’s bologna.

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