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COMMENTARY


He's got game -- and patience


Indiana prep phenom Oden says NBA can wait

RICK BONNELL

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INDIANAPOLIS - Greg Oden doesn't just look 16-going-on-28, he acts 16-going-on-28.

Scratch that. I've seen some 28-year-old NBA players who could take a maturity lesson from this kid.

A 7-foot junior at Lawrence North High, Oden understands why reporters, pro scouts and elite college coaches drop by his games. He's just not swept up in the coronation, the way LeBron James was two years ago.

I caught a game of the "LeBron over America" tour in January of 2003, and it almost made me gag. He was talking down to people twice his age, cutting reporters off in mid-sentence and watching his mother curse out referees in a bizarre diva act.

There were reasons for most of that, with all the fuss in Ohio over what he drove and what he wore and who was supplying it all. James has grown into a poised leader with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The difference is Oden is still unspoiled; he's polite, spontaneous and friendly when national media whisk through his locker room.

Why do you get all this attention?

"I'm big," he replied jovially, quickly adding that he couldn't do anything if the guards weren't so proficient at passing him the ball.

And why haven't you tested yourself by scrimmaging with college or pro players?

"I'm scared," he confessed, saying that a recent matchup with Duke recruit Josh McRoberts is all the competition he can handle.

That's overly modest, if not naïve. Oden would have been a lottery pick in the 2004 draft and would be top 5 this June. Not eligible for either of those drafts, he might choose not to go pro in 2006, even if the new collective bargaining agreement leaves the minimum entrance age at 18.

Oden wants to go to college. He aspires to be an accounting major because "I'm good with numbers."

Here's the number that complicates his decision: Dwight Howard, another high school kid and the top pick last June, was guaranteed more than $11 million his first three seasons under the NBA's rookie wage scale. If he suffered a disabling injury, or simply flopped miserably, Howard would still get at least that much from the Orlando Magic.

"In his mind, he is going to college," said Oden's high school coach, Jack Keefer.

Clearly, top colleges haven't written off that possibility. North Carolina coach Roy Williams was at Oden's game Thursday, although the Tar Heels are also interested in Oden's teammate, junior guard Mike Conley.

Keefer cautions that it will be very hard for Oden not to turn pro at his first opportunity.

"Think of all the great high school players who went to college and just did OK. If he went to college and just did OK, that would be millions of dollars he'd never get," Keefer explained.

"As a kid, you don't think about that. But when people sit him down and talk about real life, it's going to be a tougher decision than he thinks it's going to be."

Oden says market forces won't force him into the working world early.

"I want to be ready for the NBA, if I make it there," he said. "If by next year I'm not ready, then college will be the thing."

Of course, being ready for the NBA isn't what it used to be. The draft is now so potential-driven that any team in the league would select him just to partake in what he might be.

He might be Patrick Ewing, maybe even Shaq. He's as tall and heavier than O'Neal was at the same age, and his skills are more refined (undoubtedly so at the foul line, where Oden has a soft, reliable stroke.)

His game Thursday against Ben Davis High was typical -- 26 points, 10-of-10 shooting, 10 rebounds and six blocks. If there's a flaw, it's Oden's demeanor -- he's too nice. Keefer once threatened to bench him if he didn't shoot more.

"I hate to take that away from him," Keefer says of Oden's good nature. "But I want to win."

They do win. And he's still nice. And soon enough, he'll be very rich.