If Greg Oden Leaves, He Leaves After His Best Game

I don't think this is a loss for which you'd necessarily blame anyone, but if you are into passing out blame for the Buckeyes loss to Florida... Greg Oden pretty clearly is blameless. He did did everything he had to do last night. He did everything people wanted to see from him.

People said he had to stay out of foul trouble, and he did (though there is at least one call Corey Brewer would like to discuss). They said he had to be a defensive force in the paint, in more than just a shot-blocking way, and he was. To say the least. They said he had to score if he was guarded one-on-one in the post, and he did (against Joakim Noah and Al Horford, mind you, two consensus NBA top-10 picks, and he did it with a certain degree of ease). Oden was a beast last night, moreso than he had ever been in his short career.

All told, 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, with 12 rebounds, on 38 minutes played. Even against Florida, pretty clearly the best team in the nation, it looked at times like Oden might as well have been playing against sixth-graders, because no one guy out there was going to stop him (and rarely did two guys try to stop him).

So if he leaves (and I think he should and will), he leaves after his best performance on the biggest possible stage, and did everything anyone wanted him to do. Except win, I guess.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-03-2007 @ 8:38AM

spliftout said...

florida won this one but oden will clown noah in the pros...the rest of those florida guys will dissapear into anonymity...oden will get the money and be the first pick if he comes out...noah's game is garbage if u ask me...he's a hyped up christian laetner...

4-03-2007 @ 9:24AM

gatorbait said...

Oden was allowed to hack all day while nobody from UF could touch him without being called. He should thank the refs for giving him a free pass. Again, OSU gets schooled by speed and superior talent.

4-03-2007 @ 9:43AM

Fred Clayton said...

Oden ought to go ahead and jump to the NBA so we at Tennessee do not have to embarass him again next year : ) Florida is a team and teams win, for which I will always be grateful.

4-03-2007 @ 2:37PM

therhock25 said...

yeah I agree most of Florida's players will get lost in the NBA, I mean to me they weren't great but they are good playing together but what happens when they are not playing together? Odom will make his impact on the NBA I think he just needs to stay one more year. As far as the Florida players well we will see in the NBA

4-03-2007 @ 2:50PM

Yeah I believe Odom will make his presence known in the NBA he is a true center. I think he just needs to stay in college 1 more yr. As far as the Florida players they are good players and play well together but what happens when they are playing with other people. I don't think they are great, not like the running rebels, Fab 5, Duke, Indiana, NC. You win 2 champs and you are considered the greatest!!! I believe the Florida players will get lost in the NBA but I wish them luck.

4-03-2007 @ 2:12PM

jag fan said...

Oden is the biggest over-rated gorilla want to be in college EVER, anyone can stand by the rim and place the ball in it, and its even easier when youre just as tall as the basket. He completely failed to leave the paint one time to play perimeter defense, he was winded after 10 seconds of running and couldnt keep up with the gators. Oden still goes first in the draft because everyone likes to get on their kness to him but noah stuffs him everytime in the nba, just like the 200 times he stuffed oden in that game, did you see how many times he got dunk opportunities and got them stuffed in his face? GET OFF ODENS BALLS!

4-03-2007 @ 3:35PM

buckfan99 said...

Its a shame Oden, thats O-D-E-N not the over hyped ODOM of URI fame was not awarded the M.O.P. He was the most dominate force on the court the entire game. Where is it stated that the winner of these title game awards has to be on the winning team? Oden (and Conley Jr.) elevated his game when it was most important. Florida was the best team but Oden was clearly the best player.

4-03-2007 @ 4:29PM

Gill Lineberry said...

Basketball is a team sport. Florida showed what can be done when you play as a team. Oden is not as good as Shaq, and Shaq can't win without a team around him. Florida set a new record as the first team to ever repeat as national champions with the same starting five. They will live in history, who knows if we will ever hear from Oden again.

4-03-2007 @ 5:19PM

rbarnett111 said...

oden did have a very good night.as a ohio state fan i of course would love to see him back 1 more year.and to be honest i really believe he needs to get a little better. the NBA is a tough tough place. he is only going to get better by staying he will certainley be the top pick next year euther way

4-03-2007 @ 5:21PM

4-03-2007 @ 9:34PM

Matt said...

Odem dominated and if anyone watched the game and didn't see that, they should find another sport to watch. OSU did two things wrong, they didn't get the ball into him enough and they had a very poor shooting night. Other than that, credit goes to Florida for having an awesome team but not one of their players will have the impact that Odem will have in the NBA.

4-04-2007 @ 4:59PM

Kevin said...

All this talk about Odem. Yeah he's good but as we all saw, teams winner championships in basketball not individual players. Odem did everthing that was asked of him, he just wasn't playing on a good "team". Someone made a comment about Odem not playing defense on the perimeter, that wasn't his job. He's a center, his job was to protect the key and that's what he did. He can't do everything, the other players have to do something apart from running up and down the court.

4-04-2007 @ 6:22PM

ggggggggggggg said...

great article and well spoken. Greg oden is my hero

4-05-2007 @ 9:19PM

joe smoe said...

Noah sucks oden rocks

4-08-2007 @ 7:24PM

MMcmahan said...

Remember the name Greg Oden sports fans and forget all the others in Monday night'g game. Pony tail and all.........The score reflected their % of shotting, but remember Buckeyes were only couple foul shots or 3't out of it, so what is this all about the best team ever.......really funny, so back to the swamp and live.......Go Bucks, you made us proud. Winners beyond the score.