Oden (24 Points, 15 Rebounds) Shows His Potential for Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Greg Oden’s debut for Ohio State was Dec. 2, but Saturday might be remembered as his coming-out party.
And that can be taken in the most literal sense. The 7-foot freshman center said the Tennessee defense got so aggressive that a Volunteer pulled down his shorts, and he believes he mooned the crowd at Value City Arena.
“I think my butt was out for a second,” Oden said with a straight face. “I’m dead-serious, too. I felt a little wind chill.”
Oden scored a career-high 24 points and had 15 rebounds, one off his best, to help No. 5 Ohio State (14-3) earn its first victory over a ranked team, a 68-66 triumph over No. 16 Tennessee (13-4). But it took a 3-pointer from the top of the key by senior Ron Lewis with 12 seconds remaining and misses by Volunteers freshman guard Ramar Smith and freshman forward Wayne Chism, the latter on a tip, for the Buckeyes to capture what coach Thad Matta called a much-needed confidence booster.
“I just thought about winning,” Lewis said of his last shot. “I don’t even know how many points we were down. I just ran with what they gave me.”
OSU had previously lost to the top three teams in the Associated Press poll, North Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin, respectively, all on the road.
Lewis rescued the Buckeyes after they blew a 51-41 lead with 13:02 left. Contributing to the Vols’ comeback was OSU’s 4-of-14 shooting from 3-point range and its 20 turnovers against a full-court press.
In the final seven minutes, Ohio State couldn’t get the ball inbounds without lobbing it to Oden and letting him hold it until everyone else got downcourt.
Oden said he resisted the temptation to dribble because “I’m pretty sure it would be two points for the other team.”
Lewis was 1-for-4 from the field before the game-winner, 0-for-1 from behind the 3-point arc, and might not have been the first option except Oden had three Vols encircling him.
Asked what he wanted on the last possession, Matta said, “You saw it.”
“I didn’t think it was the best shot at the time,” freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr. said. “When it went in I was his No. 1 fan.”
It was Conley, Oden’s teammate since the sixth grade and his running mate at Indianapolis North High School, who had the best handle on what the Buckeyes got out of this close call.
“When we work the ball inside and play inside-out rather than outside-in, we’re a lot better team and we can hang around and beat the better teams,” Conley said. “A month ago, we might have taken 10 more threes and could have lost the game because we didn’t get Greg the ball as much. I think we’re starting to realize that.”
The two-time high school player of the year who could be the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft, Oden missed the first seven games of the season after undergoing surgery June 16 on his right wrist. He’s still shooting free throws left-handed, making all six attempts against the Vols. But the Buckeyes have had trouble adjusting with Oden in the lineup and he was in a bit of a slump, scoring seven points at Illinois and 10 at Wisconsin the previous two games.
Oden powered home 10 of OSU’s first 12 points and turned in a phenomenal half with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes. He finished with four assists, three blocks and a steal, with four turnovers the only blip on his line.
“He was spectacular today,” Matta said. “If you look at the stat sheet _ 24 and 15 _ he probably did more things to help us win this game outside of those two numbers than anybody would ever know.”
Oden’s dominance against a Tennessee starting lineup whose tallest player was 6-8 Duke Crews was enough to make Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl compare Oden to Celtics’ great Bill Russell, perhaps the game’s first premier shot-blocker. Pearl has watched Oden develop since the sixth grade, when he played in AAU tournaments against his son, Steven.
“I think he’s got a chance to be Bill Russell,” Pearl said.
Told that Russell could block shots and keep the ball in play instead of sending it to the popcorn stand, Oden said, “It looks good when it goes to the popcorn stand. That’s why I do it. Sometimes you like to stand around and look at the crowd yelling. When you time up a block right, you can’t throw the ball into the stands, it’s not going to go too far.”
Crews, who spent most of the game attempting to guard Oden, said he decided the best strategy was “to try to make him shoot over me.” But Oden said Crews also tried another tack.
“He stuck one leg in between my legs,” Oden said. “I was told that wasn’t going to be able to happen to me this year.”
Chances are, the modest Oden will take that over a wind chill any day.
___
(c) 2007, Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio).
Visit Akron Beacon Journal Online at http://www.ohio.com/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.