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DEL.ICIO.USSmart Oden ready for NBA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
If Greg Oden decides one year of college is enough and the NBA gets its next great center in the coming months, Ohio State should still consider itself lucky and the rest of us should consider ourselves, well, safer.
I’m having this recurring vision. It involves a 7-foot, 280-pound man with a surgical mask, walking toward me, holding up a drill, asking me to say, “aah.”
March Madness in Atlanta:
Check out the AJC’s Final Four page“I like dentistry,” Oden said Friday. “I just went to the dentist. It was nice.”
It turns out that the Ohio State center has an affinity for something other than blocked shots, layups and looking down on opponents and saying, “Hey, little man.” He loves going to the dentist. He wanted to be one. Whether there exists a mouth that could fit around Oden’s hand is another matter.
Dentist?
“I don’t know why, I really don’t,” he said. “It’s very relaxing in the chair. You just lay back.”
Dissecting somebody’s bicuspids might not rank high on an NBA scout’s list of desires for a center, relative to, say, knocking out somebody’s bicuspids. But it was refreshing to hear a 19-year-old, with wealth waiting on deck, discuss his love for college, his desire to not be the focus and even the evils of plaque.
Say hello to Greg Oden Saturday night, when Ohio State meets Georgetown in the national semifinals. Say goodbye him after the Buckeyes’ last game. He’s ready for the NBA now. Maybe he was ready last year, when the league passed a rule mandating at least one year between the senior prom and a paycheck.
But while one year of college has benefited him, two would be a colossal waste of time.
“It’s kind of weird to think about, but I’m trying to prepare myself and get a lasting impression,” said teammate Mike Conley Jr., who has known Oden since the sixth grade, acknowledging that their next game together could be their last. “I want this to be a good [exit], if it’s the last game with him.”
If Oden is not the No. 1 pick in the draft, he’ll be second to Texas’s Kevin Durant. If few question his impact as a pro, it’s because he has an NBA body and an NBA mind-set. (“The thing I like most about him is he pays attention to defense,” former Georgetown coach John Thompson said. “Most kids that age only pay attention to offense.”)
Conley said he hasn’t spoken to Oden recently about the NBA but concedes what most believe — that his friend would have gone pro if the NBA had not raised its minimum age requirement. “I think he thought about going to the league before he came in, but now that’s he’s experienced [college], he’s like, ‘I’m glad I stayed this year,’ and he’s had a lot of fun.”
Oden has tried to steer clear of the subject, and generally would prefer blending into the scenery, not easy for somebody his size. Taken aback by the media hoard in this tournament, he deputized two team managers, Matt Ullmer and Ty Shepher, as his quasi-bodyguards. Neither is particularly intimidating, but they sit in folding chairs on either side of Oden as he does interviews.
Oden: “It took Troy Smith four years to figure this out.”
Smart kid. He’s ready.
Clark Kellogg, the Ohio State and NBA alum, lives in Columbus. He said the year in college has given Oden “a chance to grow. He’s been able to deal with the demands placed on him because he’s so high-profile. He’s also benefited as a player because big guys take a little longer, and he’s a little raw offensively.”
Oden hates being the story. If he wasn’t a 7-footer, he said: “I’d be enjoying spring break.”
People compare him to Russell, or Wilt, or Shaq. He doesn’t get it. People zero in on tonight’s matchup against Roy Hibbert, Georgetown’s 7-2 center. Oden thinks: Why?
“I appreciate it,” he said. “But I don’t watch a lot of college basketball when I’m home, so I wouldn’t be watching it.”
On life in Columbus: “It’s great. It’s the spring quarter. It’s nice and warm. You get to wear shorts and tank tops. It just makes everything brighter. School’s fun.”
Take a look Saturday night. Get ready to say goodbye. And be thankful he’s holding a basketball and not a drill.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: Final Four, Jeff Schultz
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By Chris
March 30, 2007 8:27 PM | Link to this
The only thing I want to see Greg Oden drilling is the rest of the Eastern Conference centers as he is wearing a Hawks jersey.
By cliff zeider
March 30, 2007 9:24 PM | Link to this
Hey, Greg Odem, better get into the NBA and soon, he will be to old in few years. cliff
By JSS
March 30, 2007 10:46 PM | Link to this
Really probing questions there NO TALENT HACK!!! How far were you up Oden’s sigmoid colon as you asked those Homer Simpsons questions? Oh Marge called and wants to know what time are you coming over to play Mommy and Bart after the games tomorrow?
It is 10:45PM and Jeff Schultz is still a NO TALENT HACK!!!
Oh to quote Paul Harvey: “Good day!”
By rockdr99
March 30, 2007 11:20 PM | Link to this
Dentist, sure — His college courses were Socialogy 101 and History of Rock & Roll — I wonder what he’ll take spring semester — Now, we’ll learn if his college education will prepare him for the “temptations” of the Pro world —
Schultz, I think you got “took” on this interview —-
By Boomer
March 31, 2007 9:48 AM | Link to this
Really witty, cutting post, there JSS. Insightful. A work of true genius, really.
By Bob in SF
March 31, 2007 1:15 PM | Link to this
Oden as a Hawk? Or you kidding me? If the Hawks get the #1 pick in the Billy Knight would take Durant in a heart beat to further his master plan of an all small forward/shooting guard team. We don’t need the most dominant center to come out of college since Zo Mourning!!!
By mike
March 31, 2007 2:29 PM | Link to this
Hey rockdr99, the irony of your post is hilarious. Here you are chiding Oden’s course schedule and you can’t even spell Sociology. I guess you missed spelling class in grammar school.