What does Oden have to average to not be a disappointment?

[KungPoweChicken]

The Portland Trailblazers are depending on Oden for their up and coming season. And after missing his first year in the league, some fans are already throwing around the "bust" word for Greg. I, as well as many others are curious as to what Oden is going to bring this year. The Portland fans are going to be disappointed if Oden does not reach their standards this year. I think all basketball fans, analysts, coaches, and players have the right to have high standards with Oden. Coming out of the draft, Oden was supposed to be the guy who was going to carry his team to a minimum of three championships.

To me, Oden has to play at least 70 games, average 15 to 18ppg, 10 to 13rpg, and 1.75 to 3 blocks a game. The Blazers must also make an appearance in the playoffs. If Oden fails the above, to me, the 08 09 season is a disappointment. Also, unfortunately, if Oden suffers another serious injury I will not hesitate to throw around the bust word. So what kind of expectations do you have for Oden, and what will you consider a disappointment?

[LarBrd33]

The Portland Trailblazers are depending on Oden for their up and coming season. And after missing his first year in the league, some fans are already throwing around the "bust" word for Greg. I, as well as many others are curious as to what Oden is going to bring this year. The Portland fans are going to be disappointed if Oden does not reach their standards this year. I think all basketball fans, analysts, coaches, and players have the right to have high standards with Oden. Coming out of the draft, Oden was supposed to be the guy who was going to carry his team to a minimum of three championships.

To me, Oden has to play at least 70 games, average 15 to 18ppg, 10 to 13rpg, and 1.75 to 3 blocks a game. The Blazers must also make an appearance in the playoffs. If Oden fails the above, to me, the 08 09 season is a disappointment. Also, unfortunately, if Oden suffers another serious injury I will not hesitate to throw around the bust word. So what kind of expectations do you have for Oden, and what will you consider a disappointment?

I still think he's going to be a franchise center.   All signs pointed to his worst case scenario being Dwight Howard.

So with that said... Dwight's rookie season was 12 points, 10 rebounds, 1.7 blocks on 52% shooting. 

Al Horford averaged 10 points, 9.7 rebounds, .9 blocks on 50% shooting... 

So somewhere in that range should be expected.   If he's healthly... slightly above Horford and probably in the Dwight HOward rookie range.   If he's still injured... probably a little less.  But long term he's going to be a franchise player.

[Robb]

LarBrd33 is right about Howard, and if Oden is putting up 18-13-3 as a rookie, that'll be ridiculous.  He was really raw offensively in college and I doubt that improved much in his one injured year, so there aren't any offensive averages that I would demand of him.

The only expectation for him is that he plays good defense and doesn't get hurt.

[JBcat]

I don't think the pressure is on him to produce offensively in the beginning.    At least this year he could wind up being at best the 4th option behind Aldridge, Roy, and even maybe Bayless who was a scoring machine in the summer league.  Then you have long range gunners in Outlaw and Webster who should continue to improve.   I think 18 PPG is a bit unrealistic after a year off and as someone already mentioned his offensive game needs alot of refinement.   This is actually a great situation for him to ease into and I think the Trailblazers will take their time with him.   If he at least makes an impact defensively and on the boards it will be a success this year. 

[Aaron]

I don't think Oden's game is going to be measured with stats.  They'll need him to rebound and they'll need him to alter shots, but what they really need him for is to be a big mean man clogging the middle of the paint on D, and to be competent enough on the offensive end to run the ball through him.

He may only average 7-9 PPG, but he should snag 9-12 REB and have at least 1 block/game.

[Silas]

When the Cs were in the running to get Oden, the talk was all about his defense and how he would be  similar to Russell and change the flow of games.  I don't remember much about his offense being key to his success early in his career.  That said, I would think a good rookie year for him would be 10-12rpg, 2-3bpg, and 8-10ppg.  When he hits his prime, assuming he stays healthy, I wouldn't be surprised to see 15-18ppg, 12-15rpg, and 3-4bpg.

[KungPoweChicken]

The Portland Trailblazers are depending on Oden for their up and coming season. And after missing his first year in the league, some fans are already throwing around the "bust" word for Greg. I, as well as many others are curious as to what Oden is going to bring this year. The Portland fans are going to be disappointed if Oden does not reach their standards this year. I think all basketball fans, analysts, coaches, and players have the right to have high standards with Oden. Coming out of the draft, Oden was supposed to be the guy who was going to carry his team to a minimum of three championships.

To me, Oden has to play at least 70 games, average 15 to 18ppg, 10 to 13rpg, and 1.75 to 3 blocks a game. The Blazers must also make an appearance in the playoffs. If Oden fails the above, to me, the 08 09 season is a disappointment. Also, unfortunately, if Oden suffers another serious injury I will not hesitate to throw around the bust word. So what kind of expectations do you have for Oden, and what will you consider a disappointment?

I still think he's going to be a franchise center.   All signs pointed to his worst case scenario being Dwight Howard.

So with that said... Dwight's rookie season was 12 points, 10 rebounds, 1.7 blocks on 52% shooting. 

Al Horford averaged 10 points, 9.7 rebounds, .9 blocks on 50% shooting... 

So somewhere in that range should be expected.   If he's healthly... slightly above Horford and probably in the Dwight HOward rookie range.   If he's still injured... probably a little less.  But long term he's going to be a franchise player.

When Horford and Oden were both entering the draft, Horford was not supposed to be in Odens league. Oden was supposed to be that rare big man that comes along once every decade. (He can still be that big man) However, to say Oden should be on par with Horford's rookie season does not make sense to me. No one was calling Horford the player of the decade when he was drafted. Shouldn't we all have higher expectations for Oden than Horford. After all Oden was once deemed as the can't miss big man of the last fifteen years or so.

Dwight Howard had very respectable stats as a rookie. But again, I don't think you can judge Oden's rookie campaign a success if his stats are comparable to Howard. Many people thought Howard would be a very fine player. But Howard received no where near the hype, publicity, and fan anticipation that Oden brought. when a player brings things like hype, publicity, and fan anticipation I think the player is responsible for more productivity on the court. Many people thought Howard over achieved as a rookie. If Oden put up similar numbers he would be under achieving.

Had it not been for the high school rule, Oden would have been picked number one in the 06 draft.  Essentially, it will be three years since he was "supposed" to go number one in the draft. And people think it is appropriate for him to have a Dwight Howard like rookie season?

[BballTim]

  I'm in the minority on this one, but I'm not sold on Portland making the playoffs. They're extremely young. Good players, but very little veteran leadership or experience.

[wdleehi]

If Oden pulls a double double while being in the top 10 in blocks, he turns Portland into a solid playoff team, 50+ wins.




That will not disappoint their fans.

[action781]

  I'm in the minority on this one, but I'm not sold on Portland making the playoffs. They're extremely young. Good players, but very little veteran leadership or experience.

Yeah, there are certainly no playoff guarentees for Portland to make the playoffs, regardless of what stats Oden puts up.  There are still 7 teams in the West undoubtedly more talented than Portland in LA, SA, NO, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and Utah.  I'm not that high on Denver, but you still cant sleep on Melo/ai or B Diddy and LAC.

[Finkelskyhook]

Portland will make the playoffs.  They're deep at every position.  All they need is experience.

Denver, LAC, and GS are all much weaker.  None of them will make the playoffs...or probably even contend for a playoff position.

Oden just needs to be healthy not to be a disappointment.  He'll probably be a 10-10-2-2.5bpg player.  But his impact will be a lot deeper than the numbers.  McMillan won't have to overplay him with all of the depth they have at 4-5.

[Ian]

The Portland Trailblazers are depending on Oden for their up and coming season. And after missing his first year in the league, some fans are already throwing around the "bust" word for Greg. I, as well as many others are curious as to what Oden is going to bring this year. The Portland fans are going to be disappointed if Oden does not reach their standards this year. I think all basketball fans, analysts, coaches, and players have the right to have high standards with Oden. Coming out of the draft, Oden was supposed to be the guy who was going to carry his team to a minimum of three championships.

To me, Oden has to play at least 70 games, average 15 to 18ppg, 10 to 13rpg, and 1.75 to 3 blocks a game. The Blazers must also make an appearance in the playoffs. If Oden fails the above, to me, the 08 09 season is a disappointment. Also, unfortunately, if Oden suffers another serious injury I will not hesitate to throw around the bust word. So what kind of expectations do you have for Oden, and what will you consider a disappointment?

I still think he's going to be a franchise center.   All signs pointed to his worst case scenario being Dwight Howard.

So with that said... Dwight's rookie season was 12 points, 10 rebounds, 1.7 blocks on 52% shooting. 

Al Horford averaged 10 points, 9.7 rebounds, .9 blocks on 50% shooting... 

So somewhere in that range should be expected.   If he's healthly... slightly above Horford and probably in the Dwight HOward rookie range.   If he's still injured... probably a little less.  But long term he's going to be a franchise player.

When Horford and Oden were both entering the draft, Horford was not supposed to be in Odens league. Oden was supposed to be that rare big man that comes along once every decade. (He can still be that big man) However, to say Oden should be on par with Horford's rookie season does not make sense to me. No one was calling Horford the player of the decade when he was drafted. Shouldn't we all have higher expectations for Oden than Horford. After all Oden was once deemed as the can't miss big man of the last fifteen years or so.

Dwight Howard had very respectable stats as a rookie. But again, I don't think you can judge Oden's rookie campaign a success if his stats are comparable to Howard. Many people thought Howard would be a very fine player. But Howard received no where near the hype, publicity, and fan anticipation that Oden brought. when a player brings things like hype, publicity, and fan anticipation I think the player is responsible for more productivity on the court. Many people thought Howard over achieved as a rookie. If Oden put up similar numbers he would be under achieving.

Had it not been for the high school rule, Oden would have been picked number one in the 06 draft.  Essentially, it will be three years since he was "supposed" to go number one in the draft. And people think it is appropriate for him to have a Dwight Howard like rookie season?

You have to remember that Horford also had three years of college experience and is much more polished at this point in his career. Oden is highly regarded for his potential to become great because of his size, length, strength, athletic ability, but I don't think many were saying Oden is going to come into the league and fill up stat sheets right off the bat.

[hwangjini_1]

not sure if it is fair or useful to use the rookie stats of horford or howard for oden.

first, oden will be coming off a major surgery. this will probably affect his game for months, if not more.

second, oden plays for portland, which has a lot of talented playes on their team. not so much for horford and howard.

so, oden will be sharing the scoring and rebounding load with other players.

if oden comes back from the injury, he will be a star player. but this year, i dont think we should call him a bust if he doesnt average 20 & 12.

if oden averages 12 points and 9 rebounds a game for his rookie season, i think portland would be fine with that.

[Finkelskyhook]

I would love to have Horford.  He is very skilled and backs down from nobody.  As we got to see first hand.  Horford will be an all-star throughout his career.

Oden, if healthy, is in a different universe.  Horford will be a great role player on whatever team he is on.  Oden is a franchise player with once in a generation physical gifts.  Like Horford, Oden also seems to be a solid person.

Oden was also healthy enough to play pickup ball by mid-season.  I doubt his recovery period will stretch past training camp.  Adjusting to the speed of the game and trying to stay out of foul trouble will be his biggest adjustments. 

[slam]

I'm expecting 12/9/2.  Nothing less.  Maybe more.