In case you were wondering, that is in fact the same person. Dr. Richard Kimbal was chasing the man to the Northeast of your screen...Greg Oden, in the 1993 thriller, "The Fugitive." (Please excuse Blogger's inability to align pictures. It could be me. I'm blaming them.)
His next target, Kevin Durant.
Someone is going to have to explain to me why Oden is seemingly the consesus #1 pick? Cause he's a dynamite 7 footer? If I'm not mistaken, I don't think he has much of a scoring presence. A great defender in college he was and he will be at the next level, but he can't do anything besides dunk. He does have a killer drop-step, and a decent baby hook, but every time I ever watched him play, he was matched up against someone who was at most 6'10. Easy to muscle those guys around big daddy! You and your fake arm.
Shaq was different...he was going to be bigger than everyone in the NBA. Oden got lucky that SI got a hold of him. The hype around the guy was tremendous...but his buddy Mike Conley was the reason that Ohio State was as successful as they were. I don't think Oden would tell you that. He switched the samples.
I've really been trying to put my hands on a college basketball player I have seen in my lifetime who was more dominant than Kevin Durant. Antwaan Jamison was awfully good. Elton Brand was awfully good. Juan Dixon was one of my favorites...probably because Dicky V named him "Shoes." Tim Duncan was pretty dominant, and he might be the best I have seen...but neither of these players had Durant's all around game. The guy plays defense, he scores, he leads, he wants the ball with the game on the line. He can go inside, he can go outside.
The book on Durant is that he's too fragile. He's what, 6'9 225 or something? That's generous. I didn't see him miss any games this past year...did you? That tiny frame, while averaging 25.8 points also grabbed 11.1 boards a game.
Now. Look at my post from yesterday. Neither of these guys should be making this kind of money, with this kind of attention, this young. Durant is still 18. Oden's too dumb to realize what's happening...which is how Dr. Nichols convinced him that Richard Kimball would be held down by the CPD and US Marshall Sam Gerard. Durant has respect and a class, and has taken on that role as campus icon. He seems to have a better grasp of what he's getting into in his right hand. Note, Oden is missing that limb.
When draft day comes, and if Kevin Durant is selected #1, there will be many shocked people around the sports world. I however, will not be one. Durant is the man. He's the best player I have seen come out of college. Including Oden, there are 3 legit 7 footers going in the top 10. One of them is Chinese. Both of the top 2 picks will struggle early...Durant with the speed of the game and Oden with men his size. Durant is the better player, better prospect, the better pick.
He has no ailments. No record. And Harrison Ford has not yet gotten the best of him. Let's wait till Air Force 1 2...return of Gary Oldman to see how that plays out.
You want a piece of that action?
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