Philly's drawing a line in the sand with Allen Iverson this year makes more and more sense the more we see of Greg Oden. The Celtics' infatuation with the coaching stylings of Doc Rivers comes into focus. Mike Fratello's fascination with giving Eddie Jones run, well, more palatable every time Oden shows his skill. The race to the best odds at getting Oden has been underway in the NBA for two months now, and the early winner is the 76ers, who may have been fed up with Iverson, but are certainly awful without him. An awful that Andre Miller won't fix. So they are a leg up on the odds for the most ping pong balls, and a chance at the best center to come out of college since Tim Duncan.
Pat Forde on the first three games of his freshman year for Oden, a year in which he will play almost entirely away from his dominant hand as he recovers from wrist surgery:
"Hell, the mind reels at the freshman's present. Oden missed the first collegiate shot he took, a right-handed jump hook Dec. 2 against Valparaiso. He missed the last shot he's taken, a left-handed jump hook in the second half of the Buckeyes' 72-50 rout of Cincinnati on Saturday in the John Wooden Tradition. Between those shots, he made a Waltonesque 17 straight on an assortment of dunks, jump hooks and putbacks. After not playing an organized basketball game for eight months, the one-armed man is now scraping by, shooting 90 percent from the field. The foul line is a different story: Oden is just 10 for 21 there. Which is pretty lousy, until you consider the fact that the right-hander is shooting free throws as a lefty. Bo Kimble might be the only living human not impressed by that ambidexterity. Oden has the rest of the big man's repertoire down cold. Bless his heart, he's a center who actually likes to play center."
Ohio State plays Florida on Saturday, which means Oden will be faced with an NBA style front-line for the first time. Guess I will be carving out a few hours for that one amidst the family activities this weekend.
