NCAA: Oden In, But Is He Number One?
It's official. Greg Oden has declared for the NBA Draft. Reports are that he will hire an agent which would officially end his college eligibility. Aren't you just as shocked and surprised as I am?
Uh, no!
As much as Greg Oden like to say how much he loved college life, there was absolutely no way he was going to go back to college. After both he and Kevin Durant dominated college last year, any true competitor looks for the next challenge. Yes, he could have come back for a chance to win a championship like the Florida kids did. But life generally has no guarantees. In fact, the only thing guaranteed is that Oden will be one of the top 2 picks in the draft.
Which brings us to the number one question on everyone's minds.
Who goes first? Oden or Kevin Durant?
While many think that choosing Oden is the absolute best choice to make, to me it isn't a forgone conclusion that Oden should be the number 1 pick.
I know, I know, you can't teach size. And not only is Oden a true low post, 7-foot defensive juggernaut, the game is changing.
Being located here in Phoenix, and having the opportunity to watch the Phoenix Suns night in and night out, I have first hand knowledge of how the NBA has changed. The style of play of the Suns along with the rule changes has created a much more up-tempo style of basketball. Not only that, more and more teams are starting to emulate what the Suns are doing.
Just look at the Golden State Warriors, the Denver Nuggets, and the Memphis Grizzlies. All three of those teams are trying to get their personnel to that of a run and gun style of offense. The Mavericks have been a running and high scoring offense for years. Even the San Antonio Spurs have altered their style of play. Although the Spurs still play great defense while trying to slow the game down, they too have gone away from having the traditional center. Duncan spends more time at the 5 position while Francisco Elson spends most of his time hitting 10-15 footers.
Now, I am not saying that Oden couldn't dominate in the league. He is truly worthy of the first pick in the draft. He has shown that he can single handedly alter a game on the defensive end. His last college game, a loss in the Championship game to Florida, he brought it on the offensive end as well with a monster 24 point performance. And while he basically played with only one hand for a lot of the year, he has never been known as a great offensive player.
Kevin Durant on the other hand has shown that he can take over a game on the offensive end on a consistent basis. Time and time again, Kevin Durant put his team on his back in the second half to bring them back from huge deficits or hitting big shots to get his team over the hump. He can defend as well, which is why he was named to his conferences All Defensive Team. He can board, block shots, play down low, hit the jumper, guard multiple positions, and put the ball on the floor. In fact, Kevin Durant is a better all around player than Oden.
And he the star quality that sells.
Although it is difficult to compare players, Kevin Durant can be the next Kevin Garnett. Now granted, Garnett hasn't won anything, but he hasn't been surrounded by good players either.
Is Oden going to be the next Bill Russell? Bill Russell played with a slew of Hall of Fame players which allowed him to concentrate on defense which is what he did best. Call me crazy, but I see Oden being more Dikembe or Zo than Russell. Both Zo and Dikembe were great defensive players with somewhat limited offensive skills. Although Zo was capable of having great scoring games, offense was not his main attribute. Surrounded with great offensive players, both of their teams made noise in the playoffs. But they, like KG never won anything. (well Zo did last year as a bench player)
They also won in a different time and style of basketball. Both flourished while playing in the east, although Dikembe did upset Seattle when he played in Denver.
While Oden may be your anchor on the defensive end, will he win you basketball games on both ends of the court? In my opinion, I don't think so.
Is Kevin Durant capable of dominating both ends of the court in today's up and down style of basketball? Most definitely!
If you are Boston, and you have Al Jefferson in the middle who has been a beast in the second half of the season, do you go and get Kevin Durant, move Pierce back to the 2 and fly up and down the court?
I do.
While Oden will provide a solid anchor in the middle for any number of teams, it really should be a tossup as to who the first pick in the draft should be.
Kevin Durant could very well be the absolute best player in this draft and it would be ashamed to pass on a superstar.
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