Monday, April 2

Oden Watch

Future Seattle Supersonics center Greg Oden? Not likely.When you're watching tonight's NCAA Championship game between Ohio State and Florida, try not to think about how awesome it would be to have Greg Oden on the Seattle Supersonics next year.

Seriously, try not to.

You can't, can you? After another confounding late season win-streak knocked them out of the Oden sweepstakes, Sonics fans are left to painfully ponder "What if?", and pray to Sund that they don't draft someone from Norway.

By the way, if you missed John Moe and I discussing the dreaded "Lose to Win" philosophy on "Weekend America", you can listen to it online here.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice job, Paul. In addition to appearing on the show, you also prodded me to figure out how to listen to a Podcast for the first time. Kudos!

Now, if you can appear on something on color television, I'll be able to start figuring what THAT'S all about.

Paul said...

Thanks--it was an honor to be on the same program as John Waters.

Anonymous said...

There's a pretty good chance the Sonics' next draft choice will be playing tonight. Here are the first-round picks possibly playing:

1. Oden
2. Noah
3. Horford
4. Chris Richard
5. Mike Conley Jr.

I'd be happy if the Sonics took any of those guys (and, yes, I know Noah's annoying, but he'd be a great pro IMO). Horford's starting to grow on me, and I'd love to see him posting up down low for the Sonics next year (aka, "Only 2 years left on Wilcox' contract!").

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not that awed by Oden. Sure, he gets his, but that's due to his size and the apparently Sonics-inspired defence of the opposing teams. DFort, JJames. JMcV, CalBooth and similar non-entities of the NBA would perform just as well if not better in the same circumstances. Oden appears uninteressted unless it's an easy dunk, unconcerned with defence & fundamentals, easily worn out and generally one of those 'look at me, I'm big, gimme a paycheck' busts waiting to happen. I hope the Celtics land him, just so I can see what creative excuses they come up with when they're in the lottery again for the next 3 years. I predict Oden is out of the NBA within 5 years.
Noah doesn't impress either. He's certainly no all-star in the making. Horford is about the only one that impressed me last night outside of those 3-point sharpshooters.

Anonymous said...

Glad to see Rick Sund is a reader of supersonicsoul.com!

Seriously, if you think Greg Oden "will be out of the NBA in 5 years" you're insane. The guy flat-out dominated the Gators last night, goes for 20-10 with about 7 minutes still left in the game, and it seemed like he was blocking a shot every five minutes.

I wasn't as impressed with Oden before last night, but it seemed to me that he took the gloves off for one last effort before turning pro, and showed why he will DEFINITELY be the #1 pick in the draft this spring.

Anonymous said...

Well, I just don't see it. No passion, no fire, nothing but size. Fortunately, time will tell I guess, so we can agree to disagree until history proves my insanity or your 'glass is 1/10th full' ;~)

Anonymous said...

Wow. "Greg Oden will be out of the NBA in 5 years." Get a clue. The guy is a high percentage FT shooting big man with offensive moves either way, quick athleticism, and a flair for the dramatic. He played half a season w/o his strong hand! Not to mention the focal point, as a freshman, of a 4 freshman starter squad that went to the National Championship Game. Name the last 4 frosh squad to do that? (Michigan.) Name one before that? (I have no idea!)

So, anyway, you are an idiot. As a 25 year old, Oden will be in the NBA. That's 6 years from now, if you are confused. He may look 40, but the kid is still a kid-- a teenager.

And one other note-- the guy listing players who may be Sonics forgot Corey Brewer, who is the likely replacement for Rashard, and will be available somewhere around that 8-12 range where we seem to want to put ourselves.

Wow. Oden is overrated. IDIOT. At deadspin you would be called a member of the Douchebaggery.

Enjoy the title.

Anonymous said...

I didn't include Brewer because it seemed like the SOnics already have enough SFs (Lewis, Wilkins, Gelabale), and I really think that Shard will be back next year.

You're right, though, Brewer's a great player.

As for Oden not being inthe NBA in 5 years, I'll only say this: This year marks Vitaly Potapenko's 11th year in the league. I'm guessing you'd agree that Greg Oden is at least as talented as the Ukraine Train, right?

Anonymous said...

Chris Taft was a big man with nothing but size. Greg Oden just went head to head with maybe the best "3 headed post monster" college basketball has ever seen, and played admirably.

Anonymous said...

Well, an opinion is just that. So much bile & hatred directed at one opinion you disagree with? You have some serious social issues, dude. Maybe you haven't taken any citizenship classes in Junior High yet? With commentators like this, it's no wonder most posters remain annon and few stick around. Enjoy the backwaters of the web, guys.

Anonymous said...

Ryan, understood on the Brewer reasoning. I happen to think he will be a better pro than either of the other 2, and being a sonic/m/seahawk fan, I find myself troublingly pessimistic, so I am assuming Lewis is gone one way or another (hopefully sign-and-trade so we can at least net something for him).

Oh, and great point on Potapenko, not to mention so many other average at best big men. Hell, Petro and Sene will be around at least 5 more years, and they really haven't proven anything yet, and don't have a smidgeon of the offensive talent.

Yep. Still shocked at that guy's idiocy.

Paul said...

Backwaters of the web? Have you ever Googled "sonics blog"? We've been featured in the NY Times, ESPN.com, Dime magazine, and SLAM! We are surely in the frontwaters of the basketball blogosphere, my no-named friend!

Just because a few anonymous posters smack-talk you, don't take it out on Supersonicsoul--We're nice peoples!

Anonymous said...

Not bile and hatred, just mocking. My bad. Take a look at deadspin, you'll get an idea how we treat eachother, and it is lighthearted. I mean you no ill will, just saying you are foolish for having such an off base opinion is all.

It is all done with good humor, and my calling you an idiot was perhaps a tad over the line, but I truly don't think any more poorly of you than I do 90% of humanity.

So you got that going for you, which is nice.

And if you can reference where "so you got that going for you, which is nice" is paraphrased from, you automatically gain a couple points back.

Anonymous said...

Whoever made the comment about Oden not lasting five years, I don't think you quite grasp how easy it is to stay in the league if you're 7 feet tall.

The point everyone's making isn't that Greg Oden is the greatest player since Shaq or Duncan to come out in the draft. You could be right that he's not as good as advertised, and he certainly isn't all that exciting or emotional on the court.

Still, he's strong, he's 7 feet tall, and he can move. That means that he'll last in the league for a minimum of 10 years, barring injury. That's why everyone kind of jumped on your back. It's not that he's a superstar, it's that the average NBA center is so crappy, it's kind of easy to make a go of it in the league if you're that size. For every Shaq, there are 20 Mikki Moores still floating around.

Of course, if he goes to Boston and sucks eggs, I sure wouldn't mind it one bit. If that's what happens, then I'll be glad to buy you a drink the next time the Sonics play the Celtics.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Well, an opinion is just that. So much bile & hatred directed at one opinion you disagree with?


Bile & hatred? LOL!
Laughter & ridicule is all you'll get from me. What a dope!