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Oden could become historic 7-footer

By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 21, 2008 at 10:51 p.m.

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Greg Oden is averaging 8.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.43 blocked shots per game after missing his first season with Portland.

Photo by Sam Forencich / Nbae Via Getty Images

Greg Oden is averaging 8.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.43 blocked shots per game after missing his first season with Portland.

He Said It

"That was so long ago - the film on him was like something from behind the Iron Curtain. It was so grainy. We thought we had him stashed away, but everybody found out about him."

Kevin McHale, former Minnesota Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations, to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, on scouting 7-3 Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

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There are certain genetic characteristics that will always be in demand in the wide world of sports.

Left-handed pitchers in baseball.

Beefy, 325-pound offensive linemen in football.

And in basketball, there's no such thing as being "too tall."

From Hall of Fame centers Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to underachieving big men Brad Daugherty and Nikoloz Tskitishvili, NBA scouts and executives are always looking for the next big thing, literally and figuratively.

For those who don't believe that size matters, just look at the draft results over the years.

Four of the past seven No. 1 overall picks have been at least 7-feet tall. Three other 7-footers have been among the top-six selections over that span.

"I don't think anything's changed that way," Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said. "I don't see any quality 7-footers being passed on."

The Nuggets will get a close look at the NBA's youngest 7-footer over the next two days as they play back-to-back games against rookie Greg Oden and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Oden, who will turn 21 next month, was the top pick of the 2007 draft but sat out the 2007-08 season after microfracture surgery on his right knee.

With a "redshirt" year under his belt, Oden has settled into the starting lineup for a young Portland team that is tied with Denver for first place in the Northwest Division.

In 21 games, Oden is averaging 8.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.43 blocked shots.

"Obviously, a tremendously talented player," New Jersey Nets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. "He's going to evolve into a really forceful, impact player."

How forceful and impactful? Given Oden's age, it's difficult to tell.

He could travel the championship path of great 7-footers such as Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Shaquille O'Neal.

He could be more in the mold of steady big men such as Dikembe Mutombo and Arvydas Sabonis.

Though not likely, he also could flicker and fade in the manner of former top-five picks Tskitishvili and Michael Olowokandi.

This much is certain: Oden's career trajectory will not affect the NBA's fascination with the 7-foot species.

"Anytime you can get a center - in most recent history, Greg Oden - you would go for the center," Vandeweghe said. "Having said that, the game has changed. It's a little faster. They used to call centers 'pivot men' because the game revolved around them. Today, the game's not played that way."

Warkentien, who has been around the college and pro game for more than 30 years, agrees.

"I think the game has evolved into a game that it's four guys on the perimeter kind of running around and one guy in the hole," he said.

"The big, slow 7-foot guy is becoming more of a dinosaur. Do you need the 7-footer? I don't know if he has to be 7-foot, but you have to have one guy who can play offensively and defensively in the hole."

Like so many traditional post-up centers before him, Oden will take his place in the hole. Time will tell if he sinks into the darkness or shovels his way to stardom.

The great debate

Anyone can put together a list of the greatest 7-footers in NBA history, but how about those who offer that little something extra? Here are our three favorite guys who stand at least 84 inches:

* Manute Bol, 7-7: It was hard to take your eyes off a guy who looked like a stick- figure come to life. Actually made 43 career three-pointers.

* Dikembe Mutombo, 7-2: Led the Nuggets to a first-round playoff shocker in 1994 and provided a lasting image while clutching the ball on the floor.

* Shaquille O'Neal, 7-1: Shaq Diesel, Shaq Daddy, the Big Aristotle. Many nicknames but a one-of-a-kind player who always keeps things entertaining.

Supersized champions

Over the past four decades, big men have made big contributions to NBA title teams. Here are the 7-footers who most often have been fitted for championship rings:

NBA

Player Ht Teams titles

Kareem 7-2 L.A. Lakers 5 Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee 1

Shaquille 7-1 L.A. Lakers, 3 O'Neal Miami 1

Robert Parish 7-1 Boston 3 Chicago 1

Luc Longley 7-2 Chicago 3

Wilt 7-1 Philadelphia 1 Chamberlain L.A. Lakers 1

Hakeem 7-0 Houston 2 Olajuwon

David Robinson 7-1 San Antonio 2

Numbers game

200million Chinese television viewers watched 7-footers Yao Ming, below left, and Yi Jianlian, below right, play against each other twice last season. The two big men collide again tonight for the first time in New Jersey as Yao and the Rockets face Yi and the Nets. Yao is 2-0 against his countryman.

Animal cruelty

What do you get when you combine an outspoken NBA analyst and a character from the hit movie Superbad? An innocent canine victim.

In a tribute to Charles Barkley and the fake ID made by Fogell in Superbad, Oden named his Boston/Beagle mix Charles Barkley McLovin.

What does this have to do with being a 7-foot rookie in the NBA? Nothing, but it's an interesting tidbit, nonetheless.

Predator in the paint

Actor Ian Whyte, who stands 7-1, played basketball at Iona College and earned his place in pop culture by playing an 8-6 witch in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Whyte, 37, got his first big role in movies by playing the Predator in the sci-fi flick Alien Vs. Predator.

Waiting in the wingspan

Hamed Haddadi's career itinerary took him from the Mideast to the Far East to North America in a matter of months.

Haddadi, left, a 7-2 center from Iran, signed with the Memphis Grizzlies last summer after averaging double figures in points and rebounds during the Beijing Olympics.

He is playing for Dakota in the NBA Development League.

Haddadi's journey is another example of how size and skill can lead to NBA riches.

"I don't think there's anything intoxicating about 7-foot." Warkentien said, "But when you start talking about 6-foot-14, 6-foot-15, that's something different."

The global game

In search of 7-footers, NBA scouts do not discriminate. Match these seven big men with their respective countries of birth. (For bonus points, name the year each player was drafted). Answers below.

Comments

  • December 22, 2008

    11:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ONEman writes:

    Boycott the Nuggets till they fire George Karl!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • December 22, 2008

    1:16 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jersey writes:

    At this point, and I repeat at this point, look up overrated in Websters and you will see Oden's photo!

  • December 22, 2008

    1:19 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jersey writes:

    ONEman: Your same post on all the articles. If you have followed mine you would see.... I COULD NOT AGREE WITH YOU MORE!

  • December 22, 2008

    3:01 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jersey writes:

    LingLing: Your boys are in town tonight, R-U?