Greg Oden for President! Oh, Wait...

The box score says that last weekend Greg Oden scored 29 points in an Ohio State win over Iowa. Many media types pointed to this as another sign of the dominance of the seven-footer. I just don’t know if I agree.

I was at that game, and I have to say that Greg didn’t appear to be overly dominant. It’s not like he was getting feeds into the post and then overpowering people to get to the basket. The vast majority of his points came from easy put-back dunks off of sloppy slashes to the basket by OSU’s guards. So I give Greg credit for positioning and timing, but he didn’t exactly have to channel Wilt Chamberlin to make those shots. The most impressive thing he did that game is make all of his left-handed free throws. He has clearly put a lot of work into those. (Paying attention, Shaq? See what a little bit of practice can do?)

Oden is a defensive force. There’s no doubt that he makes life more difficult for opponents by clogging up the lane and redirecting shots. One of the local media guys said he makes it easier for Ohio State’s guards to be aggressive on defense because he’ll be there to cover for any mistakes they make. And for the most part, that is true. That being said, just five years ago people were saying the exact same things about Ken Johnson. You know, the guy who (I think) still holds the Big Ten record for career blocked shots. Not much of an offensive game. Presumably enjoying an extended European vacation right now.

That’s about the level Greg is at. Well, I don’t recall Kenny ever getting 29 points – he was generally lucky to break 10 – even off of put-backs and free throws. Then again, Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd were a little less out of control than the current group. The point is that, at this point in his career, Greg doesn’t appear to be much more dominating than a guy who was drafted in the second round and never got a whiff of the NBA. I can’t even imagine how Greg would be doing in the NBA had be been able to forgo college last year. If he has difficulty defending Big Ten centers, what’s going to happen when he’s up against Tim Duncan?

To be fair, he is still nursing his wrist. He hasn’t been completely healthy all year. He might not be in playing shape yet, considering the way he was plodding up and down the court. Or maybe I’m expecting too much. Maybe when someone talks about a “once in a decade” type of center, they mean a guy who is great on defense and can jam the ball when he gets the opportunity on offense. I guess I was just expecting something more.