| 23 July 2009
(Hi, Dr. Nick!)
Oh wait, that's not my shtick.
ANYWAY, I wrote another piece for Hardwood Paroxysm. This time, it's on how crazy everybody is who doesn't believe that Greg Oden is the next Bill Russell.
Okay, that's a little extreme. But I DO think Greg Oden is going to be one of the top players in the league pretty soon in terms of how he positively impacts a team. Maybe you don't believe me. That's fine. But YouTube player mix videos never lie!
So here's a snippet of the piece from the ole' HP. I hope you'll go check it out and let me know how stupid/insane you think I am.
I'm narcissistic (or maybe delusional or maybe both) enough to believe that I can look at any player and tell you whether or not they'll be great or not, simply by watching them play for no more than a minute. Much like Matt Moore can find writing talent (excluding myself of course; who knows what the hell he was thinking there?), I can find an NBA player and tell you if he's one of the special ones.
But when nobody else outside of a certain Pacific Northwest, rabid fanbase can see what you see, at what point are they completely ignorant or are you completely wrong? At what point do you trick yourself into seeing what isn't there or realize you hit the jackpot of evaluation by recognizing what others simply choose not to see?
Welcome to my obsession with Greg Oden.
We all know the tales of Gregory Wayne Oden, Jr. He was an All-American at the high school and college level. He was the number one overall pick over the smooth scoring Kevin Durant. He had micro-fracture surgery before his pro career even started and instantly started getting catcalls that referenced Sam Bowie. Bill Simmons thinks he's a bust while having stated in consecutive pre-season podcasts how good Andris Biedrins and Andrew Bynum are with his buddy, Joe House. Oden is a running joke right now amongst those that don't cheer for the Rose City. Hell, he's probably even a joke or punch line for you and your friends.
But I have to tell you something.
You're wrong.
Here's the link to the rest of the article.
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