Portland, Really Screwed up. Again.

[Moranis]

Oden was the best freshman center in college basketball in at least 25 years.  He was a shutdown defensive center and superb rebounder and contrary to popular belief was a credible scorer with decent post moves (he was even respectable at the line and did so using his off hand for much of the time).  He had a wrist injury at the end of high school, which was fully healed by the time he went into the draft.  That was his only injury.  He had absolutely no problems with his feet until after the draft.  Now some will say they predicted he would get injured because he was a big man, but not all big men get injured (see Shaq, Hakeem, Kareem, etc.).  Injuries can never be predicted out of the blue.  Yeah it sucks for Portland, but this isn't a bowie thing, because bowie already had some injuries, Oden did not.

[Birdbrain]

Danny would have probably taken Durant.  And there were injury concerns and he was hardly even a decent low post scorer.  It wasn't a slam dunk Oden pick and one if you really look close was a bad choice.

[Moranis]

Danny would have probably taken Durant.  And there were injury concerns and he was hardly even a decent low post scorer.  It wasn't a slam dunk Oden pick and one if you really look close was a bad choice.

Freshman Seasons of Oden, Shaq, and Duncan.  I'll let you figure out who is who.

Player A
28.2 min, 13.9 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 3.59 bpg, 1.9 apg, 57.3 FG%, 55.6 FT%

Player B
28.9 min, 15.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.28 bpg, 0.7 apg, 61.6 FG%, 62.8 FT%

Player C
30.2 min, 9.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.76 bpg, 0.9 apg, 54.5 FG%, 74.5 FT%

[sk7326]

Danny would have probably taken Durant.  And there were injury concerns and he was hardly even a decent low post scorer.  It wasn't a slam dunk Oden pick and one if you really look close was a bad choice.

most gms would have taken Oden - it was not a controversial pick.  Heck, he was the best player on the floor in the 2007 NCAA title game - which featured a Florida team with 3 lottery picks on it.  

But the injuries have hurt - especially this year when Oden was playing like an All-Star.  

Obviously Durant is blossoming in - but the Monday Morning Quarterbacking going on about the pick is short sighted,

[Donoghus]

Hindsight is 20/20, huh?

[RebusRankin]

Simmons actually does a great job in his book of explaining why Bowie over Jordan was a bad, bad, pick.

Oden its more circumstances.

[Donoghus]

Simmons actually does a great job in his book of explaining why Bowie over Jordan was a bad, bad, pick.

Oden its more circumstances.

Filip Bondy, likewise, does a really good job on Bowie/Jordan in his book on the '84 NBA Draft.

A great read, btw.  Definitely suggest it.

[the_Bird]

You forgot passing up on Chris Paul... When they needed a point guard! Oye to the Blazers.

There, you CAN blame the Hawks, since they NEEDED A [dang] POINT GUARD!  That's a case where it was pretty clear at the time Atlanta took the wrong player, and it's proven to be the case over the years.

[RebusRankin]

Simmons actually does a great job in his book of explaining why Bowie over Jordan was a bad, bad, pick.

Oden its more circumstances.

Filip Bondy, likewise, does a really good job on Bowie/Jordan in his book on the '84 NBA Draft.

A great read, btw.  Definitely suggest it.

That is a good book.

[KG Living Legend]

Oden was the best freshman center in college basketball in at least 25 years.  He was a shutdown defensive center and superb rebounder and contrary to popular belief was a credible scorer with decent post moves (he was even respectable at the line and did so using his off hand for much of the time).  He had a wrist injury at the end of high school, which was fully healed by the time he went into the draft.  That was his only injury.  He had absolutely no problems with his feet until after the draft.  Now some will say they predicted he would get injured because he was a big man, but not all big men get injured (see Shaq, Hakeem, Kareem, etc.).  Injuries can never be predicted out of the blue.  Yeah it sucks for Portland, but this isn't a bowie thing, because bowie already had some injuries, Oden did not.

  Yeah, was not injured, at the time he was drafted, because he was not playing basketball at the time. Couldn't stay healthy in High School, 1 year of college, and certainly not in the Pros. He has a leg that's one and one quarter of an inch longer than the other. I didn't study too muck anatomy, but would you buy a car with a crooked axle. Me niether.

[WayneKreklow]

Let's not forget that Olajuwon was the #1 pick that year, also taken ahead of Jordan. The Dream was a raw talent, a dominant defensive stopper in College with limited offensive moves.

Olajuwon worked hard, never got injured and became one of the Top 50 players, but was not Jordan. No one gives Houston crap for not taking Jordan.

It's not a stretch to say that Oden was worth the risk. Also not a stretch to say that Durant has developed faster than anyone thought too.

[Moranis]

Oden was the best freshman center in college basketball in at least 25 years.  He was a shutdown defensive center and superb rebounder and contrary to popular belief was a credible scorer with decent post moves (he was even respectable at the line and did so using his off hand for much of the time).  He had a wrist injury at the end of high school, which was fully healed by the time he went into the draft.  That was his only injury.  He had absolutely no problems with his feet until after the draft.  Now some will say they predicted he would get injured because he was a big man, but not all big men get injured (see Shaq, Hakeem, Kareem, etc.).  Injuries can never be predicted out of the blue.  Yeah it sucks for Portland, but this isn't a bowie thing, because bowie already had some injuries, Oden did not.

  Yeah, was not injured, at the time he was drafted, because he was not playing basketball at the time. Couldn't stay healthy in High School, 1 year of college, and certainly not in the Pros. He has a leg that's one and one quarter of an inch longer than the other. I didn't study too muck anatomy, but would you buy a car with a crooked axle. Me niether.

He wasn't injured because he wasn't injured (he also wasn't injured in high school until the very end with the wrist, but it didn't keep him out of any games, not sure where you got that from).  Portland did a number of tests on both his knees and he didn't have any problems at all.  He was healthy.  His wrist was healed and he had no other ailments.  He got hurt in summer league and had microfracture, it happens.  Now he has a weak spot that will follow him forever, he didn't when he was drafted.

[Lucky17]

LOL.

What happens if Durant blows his knee out tomorrow, ending his career, and Oden limps his way through the league for the next 10 years, becoming a passable (but not all-star) center on a championship team?

Shall we dig up this thread 3 years from now? 5? 10?

[KG Living Legend]

Oden was the best freshman center in college basketball in at least 25 years.  He was a shutdown defensive center and superb rebounder and contrary to popular belief was a credible scorer with decent post moves (he was even respectable at the line and did so using his off hand for much of the time).  He had a wrist injury at the end of high school, which was fully healed by the time he went into the draft.  That was his only injury.  He had absolutely no problems with his feet until after the draft.  Now some will say they predicted he would get injured because he was a big man, but not all big men get injured (see Shaq, Hakeem, Kareem, etc.).  Injuries can never be predicted out of the blue.  Yeah it sucks for Portland, but this isn't a bowie thing, because bowie already had some injuries, Oden did not.

  Yeah, was not injured, at the time he was drafted, because he was not playing basketball at the time. Couldn't stay healthy in High School, 1 year of college, and certainly not in the Pros. He has a leg that's one and one quarter of an inch longer than the other. I didn't study too muck anatomy, but would you buy a car with a crooked axle. Me niether.

He wasn't injured because he wasn't injured (he also wasn't injured in high school until the very end with the wrist, but it didn't keep him out of any games, not sure where you got that from).  Portland did a number of tests on both his knees and he didn't have any problems at all.  He was healthy.  His wrist was healed and he had no other ailments.  He got hurt in summer league and had microfracture, it happens.  Now he has a weak spot that will follow him forever, he didn't when he was drafted.

And  what about his leg length difference I've never heard about anyone having that that wouldn't scare you?

[Donoghus]

Let's not forget that Olajuwon was the #1 pick that year, also taken ahead of Jordan. The Dream was a raw talent, a dominant defensive stopper in College with limited offensive moves.

Olajuwon worked hard, never got injured and became one of the Top 50 players, but was not Jordan. No one gives Houston crap for not taking Jordan.

It's not a stretch to say that Oden was worth the risk. Also not a stretch to say that Durant has developed faster than anyone thought too.

Fitch was going for a specific plan there.  His goal was the "Twin Towers".  He felt that a dominant frontcourt was the way to go in the league, especially in that Western Conference.  

It certainly showed in '86. They destroyed that Lakers team in the WCF. What did that team in was primarily the injuries to Sampson and some of the drug related issues on that Rockets team.  This reopened the door for the Lakers in the late 80s.  Its not too far off to say that the Lakers could've only ended up with 3 titles for that decade if it weren't for the quick collapse of that Rockets team.

I think Simmons called it the "Dynasty that Never Was" or something along those lines in his "Book of Basketball".