C Greg Oden (Portland Trailblazers)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

7/24/06

Team USA sees its future in OSU's Oden
By: Bob Finnan

RFinnan@News-Herald.com
07/24/2006

U.S. national team officials optimistic about center's potential, even as he recovers from surgery

LAS VEGAS - He spent just three days with the U.S. national team, but he made a huge impression.

Team USA officials see the big picture, and they realize Ohio State University freshman-to-be Greg Oden is a part of its future.

He might not be ready to go head-to-head against big men Dwight Howard of the Magic or Amare Stoudemire of the Suns right now. But give him a couple years and he could be one of the top centers in the universe.

Because of wrist surgery on June 16, Oden was unable to take part in the festivities.

"I was very disappointed," he said. "Being able to watch those guys is good, but you want to get out on the floor with them. You learn a lot more doing than watching. But right here, I'm just watching."

The 7-foot, 260-pounder admits he would have been hard pressed to compete on Team USA this summer.

"Not right now at least," he said. "Mentally and physically, I'm not there yet. Give me a year or two, I'll be there. It's a mental thing. Your skill can be there. The NBA is a lot mental. You have to be ready for it. I've never competed against NBA players. These guys are the best at their craft."

Oden, a two-time Gatorade National Player of the Year at Indianapolis Lawrence North High School, surprised some when he said he wouldn't be able to play at Ohio State until "probably January some time." He would likely miss most if not all of the nonconference schedule with the Buckeyes.

"It was very disappointing," Oden said. "You want to be healthy. You have to look at it in the long run. I had to get the surgery as soon as possible.

It's the doctor's call, not mine."

Some think he'll spend just the one season at OSU and then join the professional ranks. Several NBA officials believe that's the case.

"I don't know," Oden said. "Right now I'm enjoying school."

Bucks shooting guard Michael Redd, an OSU alumnus, said he's not sure it's one-year-and-out for Oden.

"I don't sense that," Redd said. "But whenever he comes out, he'll be the No. 1 pick."

No question about that. Oden would have been the top choice in the 2006 draft had the NBA instituted its 19-year-old limit.

What people are excited about in Columbus are the Buckeyes' chances of not only winning the Big Ten title, but the NCAA crown as well.

"We can go the distance," Oden said. "They can hold it down while I'm out."

Redd said not to count out the Buckeyes.

"I love Ohio State's chances, especially if he stays in school," he said. "He's unbelievable. He's the future of this (U.S. national) team. He's big, athletic, blocks shots and can be dominant on defensive end. He's going to be a load, man. I had a chance to talk to him, encourage him and teach him some wisdom."

Redd said Oden could be the best big man in the United States since Spurs forward/center Tim Duncan.

"Absolutely," Redd said. "He's a 7-footer."

Jerry Colangelo, Team USA's managing director, said he was thrilled to have Oden in training camp for a few days.

"It was perfect," he said. "The fact that he couldn't play was unfortunate.

He met all the players and the coaches. We were getting him indoctrinated and getting a feel for the camp. Everything should be good for next
summer. He's very upbeat about the future. I'm looking forward to seeing him next summer. He has a legitimate chance to be ready in '08.

"Time will tell. Let's see how he does in college this year. It would have been great for him (to compete at training camp)."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Oden is the big man of the future.

"Whether it's the 2008 Olympics or the 2010 World Championships, somewhere along the line, Greg Oden is going to be someone there," he said. "He was added for the future, future as the Olympics."

Oden said he's open to playing in the 2008 Olympics.

"It's a possibility being on that team," he said. "They invited me to be around the guys and see what it's like. They have a great vision."

Cavaliers forward LeBron James busted Oden's chops on a bus ride to practice the other day. He kidded him about the NBA changing the rules for 18-year-olds entering the league.

"I'm glad they didn't change the rules when I came out," James said.

James also gave Oden some advice.

"Don't let anybody tell you what you can do and can't do," he said. "Go out there and make your own decisions and live with it. I've never regretted any decision I made. He has a bright future. He seems like a good kid. I wish the best for him."

[Bob Saccamano]

^Pretty much the same, but a few other things added.

ABJ

Big guy, big talent, big plans

OSU recruit Greg Oden fits in, but admits he can learn from Team USA

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

LAS VEGAS - Were Greg Oden to dance around the local laws and try a hand of blackjack or a slot machine while milling around the gambling capital of the world, not even the most skeptical pit boss would ask for ID.
There's quite a collection of freakishly gifted athletes gathered in Sin City for Team USA's basketball training camp this week, but perhaps none has the physical attributes of the 18-year-old Oden. His size and maturity are almost shocking, even on this grand stage.

It wouldn't take smoke and mirrors to sell an unknowing fan that Oden was LeBron James' older brother.

He's 7 feet tall and 250 pounds with thick arms and shoulders, so it is easy to understand why scouts have been raving about Oden's future for years. It helps explain why some enterprising fans have reserved and faithfully updated www.GregOden.com, even though he has nothing to do with the site.

It's why Ohio State fans celebrated his decision to come to Columbus -- even if for a single season, as if that guaranteed a national title. He already has been recognized and pestered for autographs on campus, where he has been taking summer classes for the past month. It figures only to get more intense when the fall quarter starts.

The general consensus is that Oden, an Indianapolis native, would have been the No. 1 overall pick in last month's NBA Draft had the new 19-year-old age minimum not been in effect. As with James, when all were watching and waiting as his amateur career played out, some go so far as to say Oden could have been the top pick after his junior year of high school in 2005.

All that bottled-up potential is why Oden is hanging with the NBA stars during Team USA's preparations for the World Championships. A healing right wrist, which required surgery to fix a torn tendon last month, is keeping him from taking part in drills and practices. But he is soaking up the experience, a part of USA Basketball's courtesy invite that came with the expectation he'll be a part of the national team for years to come.

``Being able to watch these guys has been great, but it would be even better to go out and join them,'' Oden said. ``Just being around them and realizing that these guys are human, too, has helped me. They are the best at their craft.''

It is Oden's craft as well. His senior-year averages -- 22.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 74 percent shooting -- hint at his ability and dominance over his age group. Yet watching all-stars play for Team USA has kept his ego in check thus far.

``I'm not good enough to play with these guys at this stage of my career, not now at least,'' Oden said. ``Mentally and physically I'm not there yet. Give me a year or two and I'll be there.''

In all likelihood, it will be just one college season -- one probably cut two months short due to his injury. Oden isn't tipping his hand -- as is normal for teen phenoms in his position -- but all pundits figure he's going to give the Buckeyes just one season until the rules allow him to become an instant millionaire.

Until then, he'll absorb the atmosphere and some advice from those who have gone before him.

``I'd tell him not to let the pressure take advantage of him, don't let anybody tell him what he can do and can't do,'' James said. ``He has a bright future and he seems like a good kid. I wish the best for him.''

[Steve19]

I think the Nov 29th prediction sounds pretty good to me. The Sleep 101 comment didn't bother me as he followed with some pretty focused comments about registering in the business school for Finance.

Of course, the "national championship" comment wasn't hard to swallow either, although that would be one heck of a tall order for such a young team .

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

7/28/06

Ohio State basketball recruit Greg Oden received a taste of life in the NBA when Cavaliers star LeBron James yelled at him as the Team USA bus pulled up near Cox Pavilion on the Nevada-Las Vegas campus.

"I know you’re mad about the rule (the NBA) put in effect," James said.

The 7-foot high school star from Indianapolis took the remark good-naturedly, even though he has said all along that he planned to attend college for at least a year even if the NBA hadn’t mandated it.

As it turned out, even before the players made their way to the gym for their first workout — Oden can’t play for Team USA at the moment because he is recovering from wrist surgery — Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony put his arm around Oden and offered a few words of encouragement to counter what James had told him on the team bus.

Anthony, you’ll remember, led Syracuse to an NCAA title in his only year of college basketball before he went to the NBA in James’ class.
"I just told him, ‘Look, this NBA ain’t going anywhere; you’ve got time," Anthony told the San Antonio Express-News. "Go there for however many years you’re going to. This NBA will be here for you.’ "

[hoopsfan]

Greg visited his hand surgeon in Indy yesterday -- the wrist is healing very well, but really no new news on a timeframe for return. They are still saying Dec/Jan but I think that is probably the longest he will be out. He is in a splint and able to do some rehab already (minimal).

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

hoopsfan....thanks for the update. I am still sticking with a late November return for Oden.

[osugrad21]

CPD

Oden will miss several big games for Buckeyes



Thursday, August 17, 2006 Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- Now at least we know the order of games Greg Oden will miss during his freshman season as an Ohio State basketball player.
The Buckeyes released their 2006-2007 schedule on Wednesday. Nonconference highlight games include:
At national champ Florida on Dec. 23;

At North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 29;
Against Cincinnati in Indianapolis on Dec. 16;
Against Youngstown State at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Nov. 24;
Home against Cleveland State on Dec. 9.
The Buckeyes will open the season at home on Nov. 10 as part of an eight-team field in the Black Coaches Association Classic. The event is not a tournament, with every team to play three games over three days. The field also includes Kent State, Princeton, Providence, South Dakota State, Loyola-Chicago, IUPUI and Virginia Military Institute. The matchups should be announced next week.
The 30-game regular-season schedule includes at least 14 national television appearances and 10 opponents who made last season's NCAA Tournament.
Last year's Big Ten regular-season champions at 26-6, the Buckeyes will return just four players who played significant minutes last season and will add a five-player recruiting class that's among the best in the country.
But Oden, the 7-foot star of that group, told reporters in Las Vegas last month that he doesn't expect to return from wrist surgery before the start of the Big Ten season in January. By then, the Buckeyes will have played 13 games, with the conference opener home against Indiana on Jan. 2.
"This is an incredibly challenging schedule for our young basketball team," OSU coach Thad Matta said. "We will be short-handed and inexperienced in the beginning. But I believe the competitiveness of who we are playing, where we are playing and when we are playing will make us a better basketball team in the long run."
Getting Oden back will help that, too.
Men's schedule
Date Opponent, Time
Nov. 10-12 BCA Classic, TBA Nov. 17 Eastern Kentucky, TBA Nov. 20 San Francisco, TBA Nov. 24 vs. Youngstown State, TBA Nov. 29 at North Carolina, 9 Dec. 2 Valparaiso, TBA Dec. 9 Cleveland State, TBA Dec. 16 vs. Cincinnati, 3:45 Dec. 19 Iowa State, TBA Dec. 23 at Florida, 4 Dec. 30 Coppin State, TBA Jan. 2 Indiana, 8 Jan. 6 at Illinois, 2 Jan. 9 at Wisconsin, 9 Jan. 13 Tennessee, 1 Jan. 17 Northwestern, 8 Jan. 20 Iowa, 8 Jan. 24 at Northwestern, 8 Jan. 27 Michigan State, 9 Jan. 31 at Purdue, 7 Feb. 3 at Michigan State, 4 Feb. 6 Michigan, 7 Feb. 10 Purdue, 12:15 Feb. 14 at Penn State, 7 Feb. 18 at Minnesota, 1 Feb. 21 Penn State, 8 Feb. 25 Wisconsin, 4 March 3 at Michigan, TBA

[osugrad21]

We'll see where this one goes before starting an official thread...

DDN

Oden's younger brother transfers to Dunbar

The 6-foot-8 junior will play football and basketball.

By Mark Gokavi
Staff Writer
DAYTON — Make that three Odens moving to Ohio.


Anthony Oden, the 6-foot-8, 270-pound younger brother of Ohio State basketball recruit Greg Oden, has moved with his mother to Dayton. He has enrolled at Dunbar High School, where OSU recruit Daequan Cook played.
Cook played with current Dunbar senior Aaron Pogue, Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. on the Spiece Indy Heat AAU team. The younger Oden sometimes joined that group.
"I've got friends that go here. I enjoy playing with them," Anthony Oden said Wednesday during Dunbar's football practice. "I think this is a better place for me than Indianapolis."
A junior, Anthony Oden is excited to play football for the first time in high school. As for basketball, he played varsity and reserve ball at Lawrence North, which won three straight Indiana Class 4A state titles with his brother in the starring role.
Anthony will join the Wolverines' effort to repeat as Division II state champions. He worked out this summer with Dunbar coach Peter Pullen.
"He's helped me out," Oden said of Pullen. "I've come a long way from where I was last year."
Greg Oden, a 7-foot center, is projected as the No. 1 NBA draft pick when he leaves college. Pullen said Anthony is not as polished offensively as Pogue, but has the strength, hands, rebounding ability and aggressive defense to dominate.
"It's a great addition to our school for both football and basketball," Pullen said. "We feel fortunate that they chose us."
Oden's mother, Zoe, has rented an apartment in Dayton but is commuting to Indianapolis until she finds a job here.
And while she said it's a bonus to be closer to Columbus to see Greg play, that wasn't the main reason for the move.
"I felt that Anthony needed a male role model," she said, calling Dunbar assistant Albert Powell "a wonderful person."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951
or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

I caught wind of this move a few weeks ago. I have not seen him play basketball but he is a mid-major prospect according to a few people who have seen him and he is a possible football prospect.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Foxsports.com

8/18/06

Buckeyes' Oden not close to returning

It's not only the question that everyone asks Thad Matta, but also the one he asks daily to the medical people at Ohio State.


"Is there any update on Greg Oden?"


Oden, considered the top freshman in the country and also a near-lock to become the No. 1 overall pick in next year's NBA draft, had major wrist surgery back in late June, and his return to the court is still unknown.

One thing is clear: It doesn't look promising that the 7-footer will be ready for the Buckeyes' big matchup with Florida on Dec. 23 in Gainesville. That's one of the reasons why Matta tried to push the game back.

"We couldn't do it," Matta said. "We'd like to play that game when Greg is back and he could be playing in that game. We just don't know for sure."

Matta said that there haven't been any recent X-rays on Oden's wrist, but his star big man has been doing rehab, including lifting, running, jogging and even shooting.

"Honestly, I don't know where he's at," Matta said. "I ask the same question every day and no one can give me an answer."

"The good thing is that he's been doing everything except for shooting with his right hand," Matta said. "But using the right hand is kind of important."

Even without Oden, Ohio State should be a top-25 team. Matta has proven he's one of the elite coaches in the country, and he's also brought in three other big-time freshmen: point guard Mike Conley and wings Daequan Cook and David Lighty.

However, with Oden the Buckeyes become instant national championship contenders.
"I'm not going to play him (Greg) until I know he's 100 percent," Matta said.

"If he never scores a point at Ohio State, he's still made more of an impact at Ohio State than he'll ever know."

[akronbuck]

Originally Posted by OSUBasketballJunkie

Foxsports.com

8/18/06

he'll be lucky to ever play at OSU. My own wrist is still jacked up and I had surgery in late january. I can do a lot with it now but, contact sucks and it might be to much for him to play. If I was him ,I would wait a year and go pro for the money

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

he'll be lucky to ever play at OSU.

He will play this year.

[vrbryant]

The beauty of college basketball is that it is entirely unlike college football. If the Buckeyes were to start the season without Troy Smith or Teddy Ginn--that's roughly equivalent to the basketball team not having Greg. Let's say they weren't getting them back until game six. If they go 3-2 in those first five games, they're pretty much out of national title contention. Conversely, if the hoops team doesn't get Greg back until the start of the conference schedule, if they go 7-6 in the thirteen games before that...with 17 games remaining, they can come back, hit 20 victories and then run roughshod as a four or five seed through the tournament on a run to the Final Four. Frankly, though, I think that's a conservative estimate. They have what will likely be the most talented backcourt in the Big Ten in Butler, Lewis, Cook, Conley and Lighty. I think this team without Oden is capable of winning more like eleven or twelve of the first thirteen, getting G.O. back for IU at home, finishing with 24-27 wins and a two seed. But forget all that. Oden will be "lucky to ever play at OSU?" Sorry, not buying it. Let's say some disaster strikes and he's out for the entirety of the regular season. This team could make the tournament without him. You're telling me he wouldn't put a brace on that thing and trot it out for six games to take a shot at a title in his freshman season? Not likely. Oden will play, and he'll play this year. They can talk all they want about, "Ooh, we just don't know," and "We don't have any answers." He'll be out there. You want my opinion? This is smoke screen. Strategy. Mind-[censored]ing the opposition. I said it several weeks ago: I believe Oden will be there on November 29th to make Tyler Hansbrough consider a career change. Go find G.O. right now--I bet he'll look a little like this:

[OSUsushichic]

Originally Posted by vrbryant

I believe Oden will be there on November 29th to make Tyler Hansbrough consider a career change. Go find G.O. right now--I bet he'll look a little like this:

[ScriptOhio]

Originally Posted by vrbryant

The beauty of college basketball is that it is entirely unlike college football. If the Buckeyes were to start the season without Troy Smith or Teddy Ginn--that's roughly equivalent to the basketball team not having Greg. Let's say they weren't getting them back until game six. If they go 3-2 in those first five games, they're pretty much out of national title contention. Conversely, if the hoops team doesn't get Greg back until the start of the conference schedule, if they go 7-6 in the thirteen games before that...with 17 games remaining, they can come back, hit 20 victories and then run roughshod as a four or five seed through the tournament on a run to the Final Four. Frankly, though, I think that's a conservative estimate. They have what will likely be the most talented backcourt in the Big Ten in Butler, Lewis, Cook, Conley and Lighty. I think this team without Oden is capable of winning more like eleven or twelve of the first thirteen, getting G.O. back for IU at home, finishing with 24-27 wins and a two seed. But forget all that. Oden will be "lucky to ever play at OSU?" Sorry, not buying it. Let's say some disaster strikes and he's out for the entirety of the regular season. This team could make the tournament without him. You're telling me he wouldn't put a brace on that thing and trot it out for six games to take a shot at a title in his freshman season? Not likely. Oden will play, and he'll play this year. They can talk all they want about, "Ooh, we just don't know," and "We don't have any answers." He'll be out there. You want my opinion? This is smoke screen. Strategy. Mind-[censored]ing the opposition. I said it several weeks ago: I believe Oden will be there on November 29th to make Tyler Hansbrough consider a career change. Go find G.O. right now--I bet he'll look a little like this:

I don't believe Matta and/or his parents will allow him to play until his wrist is 100% (and the doctors clear him to play) nor should they. They can't risk his NBA future and the multi millions that he will make on the opportunity to play in a few college games, etc. I think that he will paly this year; however, the decision on when he starts playing for the Buckeyes will be a solely medical one, and not based on who the next opponent happens to be.

It is too bad that his wrist wasn't properly diagnosed last February (i.e. when he initially injured it). If he would have had the surgery back then he probably would be cleared to play by the start of the season.