With the first pick in the NBA draft...

Welcome to the big show... I argue about the NBA all the time. Often I argue with Mitch...Could it be?? Was I wrong ?? Impossible.. Every day it becomes more and more obvious that I was way off. What am I talking about? In May of 2007 Mitch and I were arguing about the upcoming NBA draft...We were discussing the top 2 picks in the draft.The choice was between Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. Durant , a scoring machine in his one year at Texas, was being compared to Tracy Mcgrady and Dirk Nowitzki ( Perennial choke artists). Greg Oden was being compared to Bill Russel. (only the greatest winner of all time) A dominant, defensive minded, big man who can help lead his team to multiple championships. You can tell which side of the argument I was on ...


Why was I so interested in this draft? ( Besides my unhealthy obsession with the NBA) Well my Celtics had the worst record in the league and had the best odds to win the NBA Lottery. I had waited for this draft for years.. The Celtics were finally gonna get there revenge from the Tim Duncan draft. Allow me to explain.. In 1998 the Celtics had the worst record in the league (yes ..again) .. Duncan was the clear number 1 pick. (How clear?? Number 2 was Keith Van Horn.. Enough said.).. The Celtics dropped to third in the lottery and the NBA , for me, was never the same. (One of the top ten worst sports moments for me as a fan.. Well that and 2004 Yankees Red Sox..I still don't want to talk about it) 10 Years later the Spurs won 4 titles since then and my Celtics were about to make another lottery pick ..


To me the pick was clear. You always take the dominant center over the scoring wing man. If your teams overall objective is to win championships, not be on sports center's top ten , you draft the center. Since Michael Jordan retired from the NBA (Of course I am referring to the 1998 retirement.. Not the Wizards flop.. It kind of like when you mention the Matrix..you are referring to the first movie..one of the greatest ever.. Not the terrible sequels) Shaq has won 4 , Tim Duncan has won 4, KG has one, (yeah he does) and Ben and Rasheed Wallace have one. Tracy Mcgrady has none.. Dirk has none.. ( Thanks to D Wade and the refs) Vince Carter has none.

Mitch argued that Durant had the ability to average 25 and ten for a solid ten years and become a sure fire hall of famer..I simply replied with one of my NBA rules...If you have a choice between a dominant Center or a forward/ guard, you take the center. Period.

Every rule has exceptions...

Maybe the Blazers should have drafted Durant..


Almost two years later,it appears that Kevin Durant is the exception not the rule. Early in his career he is looking more like a D Wade or a Lebron then a T- Mac / Carter. He has become a scoring machine in his second season. Here are the NBA scoring leaders this season.. D Wade , Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant.. 4th .. He is 4th!!! ( 3 exclamation points) The numbers he is putting up on a night by night basis are making Mitch look like a genius ..Additionally , he is not afraid of taking and making big shots in the big moments..

Durant has one additional factor to his game that makes him extremely appealing ..He has that crazy talent that allows him to drop 55 any night.. Any time you put on of the Oklahoma games you could see something wild.. Although his team may get blown out by 20 every night you will watch anyway to see what kind of numbers he will put up.. ( Kind of like a Will Ferrel movie.. The plot may suck.. but how can you not watch him run around in his underwear screaming.. The Unexpected factor .. It's what makes him a star)

Unfortunately for me Greg Oden has not exactly lived up to the hype. He had the dreaded Micro Fracture surgery before he played an NBA game.(Thats like hearing that a player went to see Dr James Andrews.. Death Sentence) Now in his second season he has played in a whopping 46 of his teams 59 games. He is injured currently ..AGAIN.. He is averaging a Kwame Brown like 9 points a game.. Worst of all he is making me look bad.. This is his second season ..In your second season you are supposed to be establishing your self as one of the top Centers in the league. By contrast in Shaq's second year in the league he averaged 29 points and 13 rebounds a game.. What? It's not fair for me to compare him to Shaq .. Fine... How about Dwight Howard?? In Dwight Howard's second season he averaged almost 16 points and 12 rebounds. Oden is no where close to those numbers. He is being paid like a number 1 pick and playing like a guy who gets signed to a 10 day contract.. It feels like whenever he gets hurt the Blazers play better. That does not bode well for his future..

I will not admit that I was wrong ... not yet. Sorry Mitch.. Oden is only 21 (although he looks like he is 51) and still has a long career in front of him. If he can make it back this year and help a pretty good Portland team make a playoff run he will close the gap. Right now this is not a close race. Durant is on his way to becoming a hall of fame player and Oden is on his way to being an answer to a trivia question. ( Like my personal favorite..Who was drafted before Michael Jordan?? That's right Sam Bowie..Whoops) I still will not concede ... Not until this time next year.. Maybe I am stubborn .. Maybe I am stupid..Maybe I will be right...Maybe

We are all followers...