1 DAY TO GO, DRAFTING 1st
1st Overall: Portland Trailblazers
Back in February I was lucky enough to be able to witness the #2 overall Ohio State Buckeyes in person. Oden's team came to visit the Barn to face the Gophers. At the time, current #1 Florida had just lost and the Buckeyes were in line to claim the top spot.
After seeing Oden in person I was able to gather a few things about him. Greg is a physical specimen. I seriously had goose bumps the entire warm-ups, and recorded his introduction on my camera. I'm actually really excited to tell my grand-kids I saw Oden in person in college.
Even though you can just tell by watching he's going to make a perennial All-Star, he didn't seem engaged. Granted Minnesota was the worst Big 10 team, he often looked like he wasn't even trying. It appeared that he lacked a high level of involvement and effort. His team was good enough where they might have won the Big 10 and made it to the Final Four even without Oden, but it appeared Oden was destined for greater things than playing against Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson.
I understand Oden's lack of involvement during college - Oden wouldn't have even played in the NCAA if it wasn't for the age rule. He would have been playing in the post-season for the Raptors this past season (instead of Bargnani).
At Oden's age, LeBron and Dwight Howard were playing for a paycheck and working on their point per game averages during the time when Oden was boxing out Gophers and working for his grade point average. Oden didn't exactly get the entire season like Durant did. Oden spent the first part of his season on the bench and at first when he did play, he had a bulky cast and shot left handed.
Oden wasn't meant to play with the boys in college, he was meant to play with the men in the NBA. Just look at him - Oden looks the part of an NBA legend and it's only a matter of time before he becomes one. I thought that I would add what I wrote about Conley after seeing him in person in mid-February: "The player who impressed me most out of both Wisconsin and Ohio State was Mike Conley. Conley is Dee Brown and Deron Williams combined. Conley is smart, he penetrates and dishes so well. I would compare Conley to any of the best point guards in America."
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