Reply With Quote
They will have equal success.
Oden will be, at best nothing more than another Dikembe Mutombo. Which is a great career in its own right. But Durants ceiling is endless. There is no trying to compare Durant to somebody in the league right now. If pressed I'd say a T-Mac/Garnett hybrid. Durant will have the more successful, and storied career. Your thoughts?
They will have equal success.
T-Mac/Garnett have won two playoff series in their combined careers.
At least Dikembe has been to two Finals.
Either way, I'm sure that Oden and Durant aspire to much greater.
Durant will pick up stats, but Oden will be altering shots and making people think twice of getting into the paint. So I pick Oden.
Oden will have a far more diverse offensive game the Mutombo. I do however agree that stat wise Durant will be better. A lot of this will have to do with each players supporting cast.
i agree with the le of this thread.
I don't think there was ever a more menacing defensive college center than Patrick Ewing, and he ended up only being good, not great, on defense in the NBA (although much better on offense than expected). So I don't think Oden is a guaranteed 10-time All First-Defense winner yet, but we'll see.
THIS IS THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nobody will know who is better until it is all said and done, but portland made the right pick because it is so hard to find a bigman with the skill set Oden has.
I would have taken Durant if I was any team in the draft, with the #1 pick. The kid has way more upside than Oden. I felt like with Oden, you already know what you're getting yourself into. Durant has the potential to be the next big star and game changer in the NBA. Keyword: potential
who knows the future of both of them, until they have a year or 2 under their belt. then i will tell you
i would take durant over oden. BUT.. with the roster the blazers had and young talent that they wanted to hold on to, oden was the only logical choice for them.
DURANT is and will continue to be BADASS.
It makes no sense to say that Durant has more upside than Oden.
1) Oden is bigger, faster, stronger, and quicker than Durant.
2) Oden is smarter than Durant.
3) Oden played his one season of college basketball with a broken wrist. We've yet to even see how good his offensive game can become, or how aggressive he can be on defense.
4) Bigger guys take longer to reach their full potential than wings, generally speaking.
Oden is only going to get better and better. Durant is a special player, but Oden has MORE upside and is more likely to lead a team to a championship. You think any of those teams looking to trade for the #1 pick were going to go after Durant? No way. Pop as much as ridiculed Kevin Pritchard for even considering going after Durant instead of Oden.
is he really faster and quicker than durant? Plus, Oden has too many health issues. he might get better and better, but he has to stay healthy at the same time.
Portland was in a tough situation with the 1st pick. You can't not pick the 7-footer. I consider Seattle to have had the lucky pick in this past draft.
It will be tough to make any sort of prediction until the end of their rookie year. As long as their ascent does not interfere with further Spurs championships, I wish them both the best of luck in their careers.
Two questions:
1. You would think that Spur fans, for all the preaching we do about how important it is to have big men who play defense, would appreciate more than anyone what Oden potentially brings to the table. Instead the consensus around here seems to go for the exciting, flashy offensive guy. Are we really at heart more like the ESPN-worshiping D'Antoni-loving masses than we let on?
2. Maybe it's just that Durant wore burnt orange for a year. If Oden played for UT and Durant played for tOSU would we feel the same? Or if they played for UConn and North Carolina?
Maybe. But I've seen Durant do some pretty incredible things in the short time I've been aware of his existence.
I never said D was not important. It has obviously given us 4 championships. Im talking about how these guys will fare in the NBA as a whole. Oden still has to prove his defensive prowess in the NBA against the likes of Duncan, Garnett, Kobe attacking the rim, etc. But he cant hit a bucket from the floor to save his life, unless he is right under the rim. And honestly, Portland made the right choice, for THEIR team. Oden fits better because they already have scoring. Durant is money from anywhere on the floor and plays alot tougher than people think, battling for boards. Further more I would feel the same no matter what school they played for. No one, as a freshman in college has done what Durant has done.
What! Have you even seen these guys play.
Yes, I have, have you? I've seen them both, in person (twice for Oden, three times for Durant) and on TV (multiple times each), but you don't have to take my opinion. Both were tested prior to the draft, and Oden was more athletic across the board. Durant may look faster to you, because he's a rail, but Oden moves his 260 very well. In fact, the stopwatch says he is considerably faster and quicker than Durant.
Please justify for me why Durant has the higher "upside." Is the fact that Oden looks 35 clouding your opinion, or is it the burnt orange bias which someone else speculated about? Do you not trust Pop's opinion, either?
Oden is bigger, faster, quicker, smarter, a more proven winner, can anchor both sides of the floor, and is just beginning to tap into his offensive game after playing with a broken wrist this year.
It's a no-brainer. Oden is the best big man prospect since Duncan, without question.
All of the experts are stressing defense with Oden....strictly defense. I think a view of him is perhaps clouded by the broken wrist though.
Ohio State fan?
Wow, you get around alot, seeing both play in person and all. While your seeing them play in the nosebleed section, Im seeing them play up close on T.V. Come on dude, I don't have a burnt orange bias, but I think you seem like you are biased towards anything NOT burnt orange. That aside, If you need justification on why Durant has a higher upside, look it up on youtube or read my last post. Question, where did read that Pop counseled Pritchard about picking Oden over Druant? Link please...
No, just objective. Which of those statements is inaccurate?
still waiting for link..........
If your stupid post was true and based on something more than 1 draft camp report and alot of assumptions and weak opinions, I'd think the same way too.
Oden is not faster than Durant. I don't care what the time read on that stupid camp, I've seen the kid run.
Plus I think its very unfair and biased to say "Oden will get better and better" and just assume Durant wont. This is a trap alot of posters fall into and if you logically regress you realize its based on:
1) the fact Oden sucks as an offensive player (Oden supporters use the word raw instead of suck here)
2) Durant is already a bad ass billy boy at every possible position on the court. Did we say "Carmelo isn't going to get better" just because he came into league as one of hte purest young scorers ever? No...But we're saying that about Durant just cuz so many people have a boner for Oden.
I'd pick Oden over Durant but it would be very very tough decision, because Durant has just as much upside as Oden.
The bottom line is you pick a big man first. That is the only reason Oden > Durant.
Both of these guys have unlimited potential. Oden can be "David Robinson reincarnated" like TPark said in another post....but Durant can also be "Michael Jordan if he was stretched from head to toe to become a taller player"
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
