In Portland: Greg Oden Star of the Show
In Portland: Greg Oden Star of the Show
By Jason Fleming
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jun 20, 2007, 19:51
Wednesday was the first of the big-time workouts this week for the Portland
Trail Blazers, with center prospect Greg Oden in town to work out against,
well, himself. Kevin Durant will work out against, um, himself, on Friday.
So what kinds of things did the Blazers want to see from Oden?
“They wanted me to shoot left-handed a lot,” said Oden. “The workout was a
lot of running – them seeing how I run and my footwork.”
When the team opened the final bit of the workout to the media there wasn’t
much left to see. Oden opened with three free throws, making two, and
followed that up with a drill where he bounced from one high block to the
other. He would pop out, receive a pass from the wing, drop one step and
dunk. Now, his one step and dunk would cover 15 feet - which is impressive –
but it didn’t really show us anything we hadn’t seen before.
After that, Oden finished up with some more free throws. He his six out of
nine – right-handed, then switched to his left and hit two more. Nothing
earthshattering.
But was Blazer management impressed? Owner Paul Allen was.
“He’s a very fluid athlete, very impressive,” said Allen, alluding to the
Oden’s good athleticism for his size. Allen also took a bit of flak from
General Manager Kevin Pritchard, who said Allen had seen more video of Oden
than anyone on Pritchard’s scouting staff.
“What we wanted to do – Nate and I – was really push this kid, put him
through a litany of tests,” said Pritchard. “We did that and he responded
very well. Obviously he’s a very high, high talent, but what also came out
was he is a really good person who really cared about how he does in a
workout.
“As we went through the workout he got tired, but the one thing he did was
he really pushed himself and that’s what we really wanted to see – if he
would push himself and continue to succeed.
“We like what we saw out there – nothing has changed our minds, and we’re
looking forward to the next workout on Friday.”
One thing really stood out for Pritchard.
“He’s a humble kid – very, very humble. As you interview him you are going
to get to know that. Our culture is very important moving forward and there
is no doubt about it he fits our culture.”
So what was Head Coach Nate McMillan looking for in this young big man?
“I think any time when you are evaluating a big, two things you want to look
at are their hands and their feet. Do they have the footwork, can they run
the floor, can they catch the ball?
“We put Greg through a number of drills just to test that. His hand and his
feet as far as transition, running, sprinting, footwork in the post, playing
in traffic, making the proper moves in the post, position – he did a good
job, a really good job. Good hands, good hand-eye coordination. Those are the
things you look for.”
McMillan was ecstatic. It may not have come through in his words and he’s
usually a pretty composed coach, but the though of getting to coach Greg Oden
was clearly something he is relishing. Given the choice, McMillan would take
Oden right now.
Pritchard was clear in one thing – a decision has not been made yet, at
least not that he would admit. While McMillan was clearly sold and Allen
seems to be leaning towards Oden as well, Pritchard is being more methodical.
Tune in Friday to see what they say about Kevin Durant…
What did this reporter learn about Oden not known before? Apparently he’s
quite the comedian. He is a very humble person – as Pritchard and Allen both
touched on – but he’s also fun. He won’t hide from the microphone or the
camera, and seeing that side of him is something fans should get to see as
well. So…
Here is a sample of some of Greg Oden’s best lines in his post-workout press
conference – these all drew laughs:
On his wrist being a problem…
“Oh no, I was doing one-handed pushups the other day. It was…pretty decent.
”
On being the number one pick…
“I hope so. But Kevin (Durant) is working hard, everyone is working hard.
You never know, they might throw a curveball and just draft somebody from –
pssshhh – I don’t know, Germany. You never know.”
About being in red and black…
“Red is my favorite color. And I am African-American. Just saying…”
On the mosquitoes in Portland…
“When I was walking back (to his hotel from dinner) I got ate up by
mosquitoes. Someone told me there weren’t any bugs out here. They lied.”
(Yep, he’s right, we do have mosquitoes)
On what he would like to work on…
“Being able to take over offensively. That’s something I would love to do –
you see Tim Duncan do it. Work on my ballhandling skills – if I could pull
a Tony Parker I would in a second.” -no laughs, pause- “Okay, I guess that
wasn’t funny…”
On his later meeting with the doctor…
“I expect them to look at my wrist. My back. I’m a tall guy – that’s a
lot of pressure on the back. Y’all don’t know – carrying around 200 and…
such-and-such pounds – I’m not going to throw that out there.”
On if he isn’t the top choice in the draft…
“I’ll cry." -pause for extensive laughter- "I don’t know. It has to happen
for me to know. I would be a little disappointed because it’s starting to
grow on me – the trees, I love it out here.”
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22401.shtml
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