Make your pick: Oden or Durant
>> Thursday
The NFL season is over. Opening day is still 50 days away. The NBA is not in the playoffs yet, and therefore is not all that interesting.
We need something to discuss (you know, beside gay athletes and new head coaches...yawn). So I'm writing this post in hopes of getting some debate on one of the hottest current topics in sports.
It's like asking "Wade or LeBron?" Either way, you're going to be fine, but the debate is there. Through Wednesday, here are the college standouts' stats:
Oden - 15.4 pts, 9.5 boards, 3.7 blocks, 62% shooting
Durant - 25.4 pts, 11.6 boards, 1.9 blocks, 49% shooting
I'm going to make my case for Oden, but I'm not completely sold so if you think Durant is a better prospect, convince me. Just remember, Sir Charles is on my side. I'm not going to make a ten-point argument or even a five-point argument. I really only have two points to make, so here they are.
One: Oden is playing with one hand...one fucking hand. Now, losing your dominant hand in basketball is not going to have the same effect of, say, making Albert Pujols bat left-handed. And it's not like his right hand is tied behind his back. But how many players could put up respectable numbers with a cast on their dominant hand? (and Oden's numbers are much better than "respectable") Oden's most impressive stat might be his 60% free throw shooting. Even with his left-handed toss, he's shooting better than most dominant big men like Shaq or Ewing. Just remember, we haven't even seen Oden at 100% yet.
Two: There are a lot of NBA players from the past decade that were better basketball players than Shaq, but only Jordan was more dominant. As Barkley said this afternoon on PTI, players with Durants skills are available every couple years, if not every year. Great big men are rare, and when you get one that can dominate the way Oden can, it can change the entire game. Having a giant in the paint forces teams to take more jump shots, and NBA players don't like to take jump shots. Look at the difference Shaq makes in Miami, or Ben Wallace makes in Chicago (or the effect on Detroit of losing Big Ben). I wouldn't say that players like Durant are a dime a dozen, but there are a lot more Kevin Durants out there than Greg Odens.
Ok, time for you to sound off...
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3 comments:
Now don't go assuming the Celtics will have top pick just because they're going through a little rough patch right now. There's still a lot of basketball left. Just kidding. When you lose that many games in a row, you should get ten extra ping pong balls.
As for Oden's pro prospects, the injury is gonna give him an unusually excellent off-hand for the future. So not only is the cast a reminder that he's not currently at his best, he's also going to get better because of it. Pretty amazing.
What will be real funny is when Oden and Durant return to college next season(Trust me, this is far from a long shot) and the Celtics draft some international project.
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