Oden on ESPN2 now

[mds24]

Just FYI

Top high school player in country on ESPN2 now

Game has 3 Ohio State recruits with Oden, Cook and Conley

Due to snow in Indy today the building looks almost empty but show goes on for ESPN 2

[Truth Detector]

Very impressive that Oden is carrying a 3.8 GPA in spite of all his accolades.

[nascarnation]

awesome talent on display
these look like the top college players of 30 yrs ago

kind of a bummer the snow has kept a lot of fans away
Hinkle is pretty quiet at least on tv

[Truth Detector]

I wish I knew such seats would be available. I would have taken my kids to watch.

[mds24]

I wish I knew such seats would be available. I would have taken my kids to watch.

Turn over to TNT, lot of good Pacer tickets unused tonight also



Lawrence North looks a lot more beatable than I expected. I had been told Oden had a brother, 6'8" at least, who would be a sophomore this year that they were expecting to be a starter. Not sure what happened, I had heard the brother was a lot more of a trash talker than Greg. I know at least at one point last year he was listed on the LN varsity roster but did not see him tonight.

Next week there is a big quadruple header at Southport H.S., I know Pike plays a Milwaukee team and I think LN plays a Chicago team. Can't recall the other two games that day.

[Truth Detector]

Lawrence North looks a lot more beatable than I expected.

Didn't they just beat one of Ohio's best teams by 14???

[mds24]

Didn't they just beat one of Ohio's best teams by 14???

With Dunbar's star player out the entire second half and much of the second quarter due to a possible concussion. Cook had 11 points when he caught the elbow from Oden.

With about 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter Dunbar closed to 3 points, then Lawrence North went on a 12-0 run. But with Cook out I don't believe it should have been that close.

btw, here is line-up for next weekend at Southport

10 A.M. Cathedral HS (Indianapolis) Detroit Pershing (MI)
Noon Southport HS (Indianapolis) Forest Park (IN)
2 P.M. Arlington HS (Indianapolis) Gary Westside (IN)
4 P.M. Pike HS (Indianapolis) Milwaukee Rufus King (WI)
6 P.M. North Central HS (Indianapolis) Chicago Simeon (IL)
8 P.M. Lawrence North HS (Indianapolis) Proviso East (Maywood, IL)

[indysteve]

I was one of the few who made it to that game. If you watched the 11pm news on WTHR, you saw a good shot of me sitting in the stands behind some Ohio State fans.

LN looks very good but, as Matt noted, they are not unbeatable. I don't expect them to go undefeated this year, but I do expect them to win their third straight 4A state title. I was very sorry to see Cook get injured in the first half, for his sake and because the second half would have been much more interesting with him in there. He looked tight at the beginning, but was finding ways to score on LN as the half went on. Oden was dominating as usual -- 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 9 blocks. Conley looked sharp as well, and he seems to have added some muscle since last year.

Oden's brother is not listed on the LN roster. I heard someone in the stands say he is academically ineligible, but I don't know for sure if that's correct.

Getting there was an absolute nightmare. It took me an hour to go from 96th & Meridian to Hinkle Fieldhouse (would normally take about 20 minutes). About 30 minutes of that was going from 62nd to Kessler Boulevard on Meridian, which would normally take about one minute. Meridian was at a virtual standstill on that stretch. It's not surprising the crowd was that small given the horrendous traffic conditions. I heard they had sold about 4,000 advance tickets for the game. There were probably about 400 people there -- including three Colts players (Edgerrin James, Cato June, and one other I can't remember now).

It was a lot easier to get home from the game. I made it to my house in Beech Grove in about 45 minutes.

Oh, and those Ohio State fans sitting around me had big smiles on their faces the entire time.

[Frank Capua]

I know he's still in high school but he doesn't seem all that sure of himself under the basket, and he's a bit tenative and awkward in his movements. From all the hype on this guy I expected something better but from what I could tell from one game his size is what allows him to get away with his negatives but in college he will be facing guys just as tall or close enough that their ability to move smoother and quicker will give them the advantage over him. A lot of turnovers and just plain takeways where his slothfulness did him in. it wasn't that he was telagraphing his moves... no that would have been too quick... he was like smoke signaling where he was about to go with the ball.

I could see Ohio State using him mostly for rebounding and shot blocking.

[indysteve]

I know he's still in high school but he doesn't seem all that sure of himself under the basket, and he's a bit tenative and awkward in his movements. From all the hype on this guy I expected something better but from what I could tell from one game his size is what allows him to get away with his negatives but in college he will be facing guys just as tall or close enough that their ability to move smoother and quicker will give them the advantage over him. A lot of turnovers and just plain takeways where his slothfulness did him in. it wasn't that he was telagraphing his moves... no that would have been too quick... he was like smoke signaling where he was about to go with the ball.

I could see Ohio State using him mostly for rebounding and shot blocking.

Bob Gibbons, Dick Weiss, and Dick Vitale respectfully disagree.

A shot at history

"He's the Bill Russell of this era, and he's further along as a shot blocker and rebounder," said Bob Gibbons, who has scouted high school players for more than three decades and has seen all the best centers live or on tape since Lew Alcindor in the early 1960s. "He's making vast progress with his offensive game.

"He doesn't have the jump hook of Lew Alcindor or (Bill) Walton's face-the-basket shooting skills or range. But I think he is the best high school big man I've seen since Lew Alcindor was at (New York City's) Power Memorial. As long as he continues to develop his offensive skills, that's going to put him in the class of Wilt Chamberlain as a player that can dominate on both ends."

Gibbons has plenty of company in his thinking. Comparisons to Alcindor began after Oden's sophomore year, two years after he was projected as a No. 1 NBA draft pick. Since then, scores of articles have used Alcindor, Shaquille O'Neal or Ralph Sampson as reference points.

Dick Weiss, a longtime college basketball writer in New York and Philadelphia, said Oden isn't quite at the level of Alcindor, Walton or Chamberlain, but that he's better than Sampson and Patrick Ewing at the same stage. College basketball analyst Dick Vitale noted how Alcindor and Chamberlain were extremely skilled at both ends of the court in high school and said "this kid has that kind of potential."

"He has the great attitude and mental framework that's vital to getting better and better," Vitale said. "It seems no contest he'll be a superstar."

[Truth Detector]

I know he's still in high school but he doesn't seem all that sure of himself under the basket, and he's a bit tenative and awkward in his movements. From all the hype on this guy I expected something better but from what I could tell from one game his size is what allows him to get away with his negatives but in college he will be facing guys just as tall or close enough that their ability to move smoother and quicker will give them the advantage over him. A lot of turnovers and just plain takeways where his slothfulness did him in. it wasn't that he was telagraphing his moves... no that would have been too quick... he was like smoke signaling where he was about to go with the ball.

I could see Ohio State using him mostly for rebounding and shot blocking.

You've GOT to be kidding...

[Truth Detector]

It took me an hour to go from 96th & Meridian to Hinkle Fieldhouse

Hey, as a southsider you shoulda known better than to be on the north side.

[Kurt Cobain]

North Central's going to have their hands full with Chicago Simeon, who's a favorite to win the Illinois Class AA title. Lawrence North should beat the (Maywood) Proviso East Pirates, a four-time state champ.

Too bad they couldn't have played them when the Pirates had Dee and Shannon Brown on the team. That would have been a great game.

As a long-time fan of Illinois High School basketball, I gotta pull for the Chicagoans.

[Frank Capua]

Bob Gibbons, Dick Weiss, and Dick Vitale respectfully disagree.

Well you could never accuse any of those guys of ever over-hyping anybody.

Still I qualified my statement with the admission that this was the first time I had seen Oden play... maybe it was just an off day?

now excuse me while I spool up Dick Vitale betting Bob Lee a steak dinner that Indiana's band of freshmen didn't have a chance against North Carolina's #1 ranked team that included Michael Jordan...

in what turned out to be the last college game he would ever play.

[Truth Detector]

maybe it was just an off day?

23 points, 17 rebounds, and 9 blocks