Your quasi-analysis of Greg Oden

January 10th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanR

I know I’m dealing with a horribly small sample size here from the few games I’ve watched, but I’m going to go ahead and give this a go regardless. (I just used way too many permutations of the verb ‘go’ in that last chuck of the sentence.)

So here are some observations, in no particular order. (Or are they in an order meant to deliver you some sort of secret coded message about the imminent destruction of the universe?)

Oden is a sick defender. Insanely sick. He’s one of - if not the - best shot blocker in the nation and when he’s not blocking shots, he’s altering opposing players movements and shot selections under the basket. His foot skills could use some work and he is immobile at times, but he’s definitely a huge intimidation factor under the rim.

He shows no emotion. Well, barely any. I saw a little during the first half of OSU’s loss to Wisconsin last night. He’s calm and poised and doesn’t do any of the primal screaming after a dunk. He just goes about his business and gets it done - a la Tim Duncan.

His offensive skills leave a little to be desired. I know he’s been playing almost exclusively with his left hand due to his right wrist injury, so some slack should be cut. But the guy rarely calls for the ball in the post or actively pursues a shot in Ohio State’s offensive sets. He gets a lot of junk points of rebounds, inbounds plays and free throws. I’m sure in high school he was just clowning suckers in the post, but it’s different up there in the collegiate level.

He is 32-years-old. Isn’t he?