Oden vs. Durant
| 7
|
by user Jason Mish
With the NBA Draft fastly approaching, the debate over who will go number #1 is heating up. Greg Oden vs. Kevin Durant. First off, there is no question that they will be studs in the league. However, I believe that Oden shows the intangibles that only special players exude. The maturity beyond his years was evident in taking a young, inexperienced team to the Championship game were he wasn't just good he was great. He had 25 points and 12 rebounds against a vaunted Florida frontline that will all be first round picks this year (Brewer, Noah, Horford).
Comparisons to Bill Russell have been made. And I agree that those comparisons are hard to live up to if your Greg, but I can see where these comparisons are coming from. The mindset of defense first and the unselfishness he showed in one, non-healthy season at Ohio State resembles Russell. His skill set on the offensive end is raw, but his agility for his size is something I haven't seen before. He isn't going to be leading the NBA in scoring but he will complement the likes of Tim Duncan where dominanting in scoring isn't necessary; the mentality of understanding defense first and letting the game come to you on the offense end is most important.
If you're Portland, sitting at #1, you do not want to recreate what an unfortunate NBA team did in 1983. Taking Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan. Oh wait, that was Portland. I bet they won't make a similar mistake.
