COLLEGE BASKETBALL – Oden, Durant Are Worth Losing For
By KEVIN McNAMARA
On Wednesday night, Boston Celtics’ fans witnessed a potential glimpse of their team’s future in one four-hour window. It was must- see TV.
First up was Greg Oden, the Ohio State 7-foot center who is the closest thing to Patrick Ewing in many years. Oden’s Buckeyes wore out Purdue on the road, 78-60, to grab their sixth straight win.
Next came Kevin Durant, the Texas frosh who looks more and more like Kevin Garnett every time he puts on his burnt orange uniform. Durant and the Longhorns went to Lubbock and outlasted Bobby Knight’s Red Raiders, 76-64, and Durant just happened to play one of the very best games you’ll ever see. How’s 37 points and 23 rebounds sound?
As the Celtics sink to record lows this winter, Oden and Durant are the prizes at the end of the rainbow. Lose and you win. Or at least you earn a better chance at winning the right pick in the NBA’s draft lottery. This year there are two franchise-changing talents, the type of draftee the Celtics haven’t landed since they lucked into Paul Pierce with the 10th pick in 1998 and Red Auerbach stole Kevin McHale with the third pick in 1980. If the Celtics have any luck – and that’s been in short supply for the franchise ever since they drafted Lenny Bias back in 1986 – they’ll find their way into position to get one of these two Super Frosh.
There are two vital questions at play here. First, and this is no joke, will both players leave school after a single year and enter the draft. In this day and age, everyone assumes the highest rated players have to jump to the pros. Well, no, they don’t. Ralph Sampson didn’t. Tim Duncan didn’t. The last decade of drafts have been dominated at the top by high schoolers, foreigners and elite talents like LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Yao Ming, but their backrounds aren’t like Oden and Durant.
Oden is a top student from a strong family in the Indianapolis suburbs. He reminds people more of David Robinson than Kenyon Martin. Durant hails from suburban Washington, D.C., and also has very strong parents who appreciate that their 18-year old son (19 in September) isn’t ready for the NBA grind just yet.
If both kids do jump to the pros, the next question is, who do you want? The aircraft carrier center who rebounds, blocks shots and defends like a demon or the do-it-all forward who may sprout into the top all-around player of his era. Tough call.
We’ve always sided with the big man in this argument. Oden, at 7- feet and 260 pounds, is a true eraser in the lane. Scouts point to his broken right (shooting) hand and say that’s limited his scoring skills but this big man is not a polished offensive player. Yet. That he’s just scratching the surface of his scoring skills and is already an elite defensive force is scary.
Durant is the flip side. He’s got the NBA-ready offensive game. Want to run-and-gun? He’ll shoot threes, fill the lane for eye- popping dunks and pass and dribble like a guard. Want to grind it out in the halfcourt? Durant has a killer turn-around jumper, comes off a pick for a fast-rising shot and can rebound and score with ease. He’s averaging 25 points and 11 rebounds a game and has to be the college player of the year, no matter how young he is.
It’s unfair to ask Durant’s coach, Rick Barnes, to pick. He obviously likes his player better and thinks he’s the best in the country. After watching him go for 37 points and 23 rebounds, it’s easy to agree with Barnes.
“What amazes me is that he’s out there playing with the least experienced team in the country,” said Barnes. “We have seven new players and we start four freshmen and a sophomore and bring in more freshmen off the bench. For him to do what he’s doing, and for us to keep winning (16-5) is impressive.”
Barnes says he’s had few players who’ve loved the game like Durant. “He soaks it up. I sit down and watch film with him of Kobe Bryant and he improves his ballhandling and footwork. We watch guys play in the low post and he copies their game. And Kevin had no low- post game at all. He applies it quicker than anyone I’ve ever been around.”
Barnes didn’t say it but we could tell he thinks Durant is a cut above anybody else, including Oden. “He’ll put on 25-30 pounds in the next few years and just kill guys inside. With his perimeter skills, plus that added size, the sky is the limit for him. But he’s just a kid right now.”
Just a kid but also a potential savior. Same thing with Oden. It wouldn’t be a shock to see both players become the talk of the NCAA Tournament, two kids capable of carrying their teams to the Final Four and then splitting for the pros. Maybe.
Who’s the better prospect? For a team like the Celtics, it doesn’t matter. Both kids would start, and star, right away. In a nuclear winter like this one for the Green, there is no wrong pick.
kmcnamar@projo.com/(401)277-7340
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Ohio State’s Greg Oden takes a shot against Purdue Wednesday night.
AP / Tom Strattman
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