C Greg Oden (Portland Trailblazers)

[zincfinger]

Originally Posted by ScarletBlood31

If you try to make that comparison, then you have to throw in every star freshman athlete that has come through the spotlight in the last 10 years.

Yes, but if you look at it from the point of view of a sensationalist story weaver, you only have to include star freshman athletes who attend Ohio State. After all, one person makes a trend, doesn't he?

[jimotis4heisman]

i cant seem to get to the article. it is on the nyt website but i need a log in. bugmenot.com isnt working. any other similar sites or do i have to create a log in and deal with the nyt emailing me everyday...

[Jeffcat]

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

i cant seem to get to the article. it is on the nyt website but i need a log in. bugmenot.com isnt working. any other similar sites or do i have to create a log in and deal with the nyt emailing me everyday...

in summary its an author with really no real sports intellect going out of his way to formulate a short piece claiming that "it is only a matter of time before he ends up like clarrett" and he says this because he hears about how oden is a freshman phenom and it reminds him of how within 5 years ago another freshman phenom was in the same place and ended up behind bars so he is telling all osu fans to enjoy this time for the time being because its almost an assured event oden will end up the same way.


typically i would be outraged by stupidity like this but all i can do is laugh. how does this guy have job? and also for those of whom read the article dont you think it kinda racially sensitive? the guy should be fired.

['BusNative]

Originally Posted by ScarletBlood31

It's not even a relevant arguement. If you try to make that comparison, then you have to throw in every star freshman athlete that has come through the spotlight in the last 10 years.

Guys like MoC are going to get in trouble eventually, just because of who they are and how they have been raised. To lump in good guys like Greg Oden into that category, just because they are a star athlete on a top team as a freshman, is not only ridiculous, it's unfair.

I would go a step further and say that there's not really such a thing as "guys like MoC." Every year thousands of kids (black, white, latino, whatever) come from "troubled" backgrounds and enter multi-hundred-million dollar sports machines at major Universities. A very very small portion of them get into trouble - and that's with kids from every kind of bad, impoverished, rural, urban, etc. background.

What makes #13 a trouble-maker is that he got into trouble - which got him into more trouble. With regards to their backgrounds, TSmith and #13 were the same HS recuits on paper (except #13 was a bigger recruit), and one went one way and one went the other, and both at tOSU. What does that mean? Nothing. Sometimes people get in trouble. It just sucks when it's a kid you like with tons of potential at the school you love.

Amazingly stupid comment by Rhoden, which baffles me because I never thought he was that bad on the Sports Reporters (I hate Lupica).

Now back on topic:

Oden, on the other hand, not only seems to be a great kid, but is listed as having the potential to be one of the greatest all-time centers, according to ESPN (Insider).


Amazing that he's being appraised this highly, considering he'll have a #13-like breakdown any day now.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

COMMENTARY
Oden means business when he gets angry
Saturday, March 10, 2007
BOB HUNTER





CHICAGO ? Whenever you see Greg Oden scowl, it?s probably time to run for cover. Ken Johnson ? remember mildmannered, shot-swatting Ohio State center Ken Johnson? ? is about to morph into a combination of Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Academy awards have been won with considerably less material. When Oden?s transformation began early in the second half of Ohio State?s 62-52 win over Michigan, I could have sworn the floor of the United Center started to quiver. Some eyewitnesses said they could see heat coming off Oden?s body.

Continued....

[SanAntonioBuck]

AP

Oden powers Buckeyes into Big Ten final

By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- Greg Oden put together a highlight package for NBA scouts and helped No. 1 Ohio State move to the finals of the Big Ten tournament and a step closer to a top seed in the NCAA tournament. Oden had 17 points, a tournament-record 19 rebounds and four blocks Saturday and the Buckeyes (29-3) pulled away late from scrappy Purdue for a 63-52 victory.

Continued...

He was a man among boys today!

[Buckskin86]

Oden's choice not an easy one
Posted: Saturday Mar 10, 2007 6:28 PM

"I'm like everybody else,'' his mother, Zoe Oden, said Saturday as she watched her son dismantle Purdue in the Big Ten tournament. "Half the time I think he really likes (college) and he's going to come back. The other half just doesn't know.''

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...r.031007.0827/

[zBuckeye10z]

I would love to see Oden come back for another year. Next year if we can get Oden and Koufos on the floor at the same time (Oden down to a PF?), that would be massive. And Oden would have 1 year of experience under his belt and still learing from Matta.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Co-eds or cash; Buckeyes' frosh Oden can't lose


BY MIKE NADEL


Published Saturday, March 10, 2007
CHICAGO - If Greg Oden stays in school, he wins. If he leaves Ohio State for NBA riches, he wins. Who among us wouldn't relish such a no-lose situation?
More Big 10 Tourney coverage on Nadel's blog

My hope for the most hyped college big man since Shaquille O'Neal is that when he makes his decision, it's his decision alone (with input from his parents, of course). I hope he doesn't fall prey to agents, leeches, hangers-on and other ne'er-do-wells who want a piece of his pro money. And I hope alumni, boosters and other "friends of the program" let Oden be his own man.
"I don't think about (speculation regarding) my future," the 7-foot freshman said Friday after he dominated the second half of the Buckeyes' 72-62 victory over Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals. "I totally block it out."

Continued....

[Buckskin86]

Best player? Don't dunk on Buckeyes' big man just yet
March 10, 2007
By Dennis Dodd
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer


http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebas...ory/10053388/1

[Bestbuck36]

Fantastic game by Greg Oden today. I was almost sad watching that while I was laughing out loud. To think what this kid could've done had he been in college 10 years ago without the temptations of going to the NBA. I'm just really glad he decided to be a Buckeye.

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Originally Posted by zBuckeye10z

I would love to see Oden come back for another year. Next year if we can get Oden and Koufos on the floor at the same time (Oden down to a PF?)

Koufos would play 3 before Oden ever moved to 4.

In fact, moving Oden to 4 is completely insane.

[crazybuckfan40]

It has been great seeing Greg finally get healthy and really start to dominate...

Hopefully he has a huge game tommorrow...

[Buckskin86]

If Oden's one-and-done, then it's been fun

March 11, 2007
BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mario...-jay11.article

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

It?s a sight to see: Oden elevates his game
Sunday, March 11, 2007
BOB HUNTER


CHICAGO ? The first time Greg Oden finished one of those 20-megaton slams during an Ohio State practice session, everybody stopped.
Well, almost everybody. One guy was still playing through all that nervous laughter.
"I think I?m used to it," Mike Conley Jr. said. "Everybody else was oohing and ahhing and stopping what they were doing. People weren?t getting back on defense and they were just laughing and going on. ? I was still in the same state of mind." If you caught a glimpse of what happened yesterday in the United Center, you know how hard that can be. Conley has been Oden?s teammate since they were 11 years old, presumably when Oden still struggled to perform those monster slams with one hand.

Continued.....