Who says Greg Oden isn't ready for the NBA?

Yesterday was a big day for me and yes, I did see what you writing about. And yes, I do take into account that there won't be any competition for him. I just don't want to see him become another Tom Burleson.

 

Still sticking with the Oden=Joe Barry Carrol prediction, boots?

You look silly.

 

I'm still struggling to see how beating up on a bunch of college kids will be better for Oden's development than going pro and playing/practicing every day with professionals.

Ignoring the $$$ and the injury risk, how does another year in college make him a better pro in 2009 than a year in the NBA?

 

That's absolutely inaccurate. Players don't get better in the NBA. Many regress. When the US gets its ass handed to it in 2008 with LeBron and Carmelo and all those guys on the Olympic team, maybe it will finally sink.

The NBA has superior players. It plays inferior basketball.

 

Right now, I still see JBC in Oden. One game doesn't change that. As for his staying, I know the pros and cons about staying. I know about the injury risks.
Hey, if I was him, I won't lie, I'd seriously look at leaving. I'd be crazy not to.
That being said, I still don't see him being an immediate impact player in the show.

 

That last two sentences said it all.

 

Alma, I'm sorry, but that's about the most ridiculous thing I've ever read here. I'm trying to come up with a list of players who got worse by going pro and I'm stumped.

Certainly some players don't live up to expectations, but to say they got worse is a stretch, IMO.

 

He just went 27-11 and four against the best front line he could possibly see in the college game. Against guys who are older and stronger than him already, and who will go to the pros now.

What's left for him to do in college?

Give him one year of working and playing limited minutes in the pros, and he'll be a stud. A fucking stud.

You don't need to follow basketball to see that, boots. The guy gets up and down the floor and has great footwork. And I hate basketball. But that much is obvious.

 

I have a lot of respect for your views in most cases, Alma, but this is a patently absurd argument.

You may not like the style of the modern NBA but it's ridiculous to suggest that Oden won't improve as a professional player by being in the NBA.

 

The Olympic team's current losing trend has more to do with the increasing amount of talent in the rest of the world and the type of coaching styles used most recently by those put in charge.

It is similar to the US' rise in soccer. Did the rest of the soccer world suddenly regress and play inferior soccer or did the US just get better?

On a similar note, why is it that someone will learn to play basketball better by playing against lesser quality opponents but yet every school of thought says that the only way to improve would be to challenge yourself? Can you really challenge yourself unless you play against the best?

 

Let me put it this way: There are things you learn in college basketball you're not going to learn once you get in the NBA. Once you're in the NBA, you're going to be counted on for the things you do well. Somebody else will do the other stuff.

Forget Oden. Look at Conley. If he comes out now, he can start in year one. But he'll never, ever develop into a good shooter.

 

Conley had better stay another year. Maybe even finish. He's a 6-1 point guard. There are plenty of those in the show.