  |
|
|
|
The Ohio State basketball team won its first big game, and Greg Oden finally showed college basketball fans just why he's so special.
Welcome to big-time college basketball, Greg Oden. Ohio State fans and the entire college basketball world have been anxiously awaiting the coming out party for Oden, the Buckeyes’ sensational freshman center. Still wearing a soft cast on his injured right hand, Oden gave the Buckeyes and a national television audience what it wanted midway through the season, with a stunning performance, leading Ohio State to its first NCAA Top 20 victory of the 2006-2007 season – an amazing 68-66 triumph over 16th ranked Tennessee. Greg Oden, the 7-1, 280-pound beast, who every college and NBA expert coast to coast believes will be the top player selected in the 2007 NBA draft, displayed talents against a smallish Tennessee team that were reminiscent of Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain or any other mythical basketball big man you care to conjure. Oden’s stats tell only part of the story:
What the numbers don’t say is just how intimidating Greg Oden really is. He may have blocked a modest three shots, but he must have altered 10 others, and on at least four different occasions, a driving Volunteer player thought twice of attempting a lay-up, instead dishing the ball all the way to the 3-point arc, where Tennessee shot just 22% in 32 attempts. Still more shocking was Oden’s uncanny ability to find slashing teammates with precision passes. And let’s not forget that he dropped all six of his free throw attempts with his left hand (Oden, of course, is right-handed). Finally, when the swarming Tennessee defense was doing all it could to pressure Ohio State into turnovers, Greg Oden was on the spot, taking long, looping inbounds passes and adroitly finding Mike Conley and the Buckeyes’ other ball handlers, to help OSU stave off yet another defeat to a Top 20 NCAA team. Most college basketball experts have known for quite some time that Greg Oden is a star with untapped potential for greatness. Just four days prior to Oden’s monster performance against Tennessee, however, he looked far less spectacular, scoring just 10 points and snaring only 7 rebounds against highly-ranked Big Ten rival Wisconsin. Murmurs could be heard swirling through Columbus, a city still mourning the devastating defeat of the OSU football team in the national championship game, of a giant flop, patrolling the middle of the paint for the Buckeyes. How quickly fans forget important factors, like that ominous cast on Oden’s right hand. After Oden’s performance against Tennessee, the murmurs quickly changed to musing about how scary Greg Oden will be, when that cast is gone. The first of what promises to be many monumental performances by Oden makes us perk up and say, Welcome to big-time college basketball, Greg Oden. We’re happy to have you.
The copyright of the article Ohio State’s Greg Oden Shines in College Basketball is owned by Mark Barnes. Permission to republish Ohio State’s Greg Oden Shines in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
