Oden / Durant Question?

Question

Funny how some feel that Oden and Durant should stay in College? Let me hear your thoughts on this if you are in that camp. My thoughts:

Both highly touted, will go 1 & 2, will be making millions of dollars (salary and commercial deals). Their whole lives are surrounded around basketball, why chance injury, etc. in college when you are a sure bet at the next level. Some say Oden is not ready, are you kidding me? He was ready when he was 10; he is a true center that can anchor any team, alter shots, work the offensive boards, etc. I believe he can be in the NBA and be an instant matchup issue for many teams, he is also strong enough to guard Dwight Howard, Yao, Shaq, etc... if some still believe they are 'not' ready for the NBA, I would put money that every GM across the league would easily give up two/three even four of their bench players for one of these two that are 'not' ready. Rebuttals???

Answer 1

If by "ready" you mean ready to come in and be a dominant superstar, then no, Oden is not ready. The fact that a GM is willing to give up "2,3,4" bench players for him doesn't change that. Teams draft for potential. Oden will be a star in 2,3 years time, but he won't be one next year. He can contribute, but being a contributor and being a star are different things. With every year in college he improves his ability to contribute in his rookie year. Out of the dozens of straight from high school players, including Garnett, Kobe, Jermaine O'neal, and Dwight Howard, only Lebron was a star right away. Big men who were stars right off the bat - Shaq, Duncan, Robinson, Olajuwon - stayed in school for at least two years. Oden isn't dominant offensively against college boys! How is that going to change next year when he's playing against men?

Shaq, Duncan, and Akeem were dominant scorers from the post in college. How about staying for a year or two to further develop this aspect of your game? How about learning to manage your fouls?

Whether he should stay is an iffy question because it's tens of millions we're talking about, but one thing that is not iffy: Oden will not be a star in the NBA next year. If he comes out, he will be serviceable at best.

Answer 2

Both of them are ready for the NBA Oden is a great center he is not in the NBA right now because they change the age limit to enter the league because that would make people go to college at least one year Durant will be a great player to because he can shoot the basket very well besides look at the center for Florida who would have been a sure lottery pick last year and this year he probably won't be gone in the first so i believe Oden and Durant wont stay in college and become millionaires this year.

Answer 3

Durant is too small to play in the NBA. He is 19 and weighs about 180 if that. Hes a forward, not a guard. Eventually he will be good in the NBA but like most things it takes time. Oden said he wasnt ready, becuase the NBA is a 'scoring league' and he didnt think he would be able to make an immediate impact in the league. I think he would have a faster impact than Durant in his first 2 years. A dominant big man is the most important thing, that is why Shaq is such a prized commodity. As for staying in school, i'd love to see both stay.. but not likely at all with all the money and injury risk. I think Oden will stay unless he wins a title.

Answer 4

"Oden not ready" Your kidding right
Oden is Better defensively than alot of Centers in the NBA, I'd say he would be a top 10 shot blocker right from the start, think about it his defense is way better than Yoa, That defensive dominance is what makes him the #1 pick.

I agree that he needs to develop more offensively, but I don't think the college game would help him in that, College is a different game, he might as well learn how its done in the NBA

Durant is almost the opposite of Oden, he is like instant offense, but needs to get bigger and better on Defense, but just like Oden the NBA experience will help him with that

They are both ready, but its up to them. they have tallent to make $$$$ whenever they come out
Durant should definately come out (I don't think Texas is doing anything 4 him, Oden..............he should to but if he doesn't I'm not complaining (Conley coming back too can u say big ten repeat)

Answer 5

I tend to think that Durant is ready for the NBA, but not Oden. The NCAA tourney has shown that Oden has problems when the opposition attack him directly. In the NBA, he'll see that a lot.

One more year under his belt could correct that and make him even more of an asset in the pros.

Answer 6

Geez- sure glad the season is soon over-Oden-the Great Oden-All the hype about him this season sure spoiled it for the rest of the midwest. He is not the only player to do well this year although one would think he is the only player in the Big 10. One thing is for sure he tires easily and got alot of calls his way this season. I hope he can make it in the NBA.

Answer 7

Durant should definitely go pro. He's got nothing around him and that isn't changing next year. He is a great player with an extremely polished game for a freshman. He's done all he needs to do in college, now it's time to build his legacy as a pro.

Answer 8

USC beat texas.
Ohio state is in the final four
oden is on o.state
durant is on texas
oden is a dominant bigman
durant is an all around good player
isnt there a few too many durants in the NBA right now?