http://ripcityproject.com/2010/01/19/where-the-blazers-stand-january-19/ A Portland Trailblazers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:30:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 http://ripcityproject.com/2010/01/19/where-the-blazers-stand-january-19/comment-page-1/#comment-3738 Summer Reading: Greg Oden | Rip City Project | A Portland Trail Blazers blog Mon, 03 May 2010 15:52:43 +0000 http://ripcityproject.com/?p=2756#comment-3738 [...] The greatest reason for that is Oden’s defense. Before Marcus Camby arrived, Oden was easily the team’s most effective help defender, always waiting on the weak side to clean up everyone’s mistakes. While he needs to work on the speed of his closeouts, he was always closing out because forwards never drove on him — and for his part Oden always ran at shooters with an arm raised. In the 608 defensive possessions he was involved in, opponents only scored at least a point on 40 percent of possessions. There’s a reason the Blazers were fourth in defensive efficiency through the first month of the season and dropped to 17th two months later. [...] [...] The greatest reason for that is Oden’s defense. Before Marcus Camby arrived, Oden was easily the team’s most effective help defender, always waiting on the weak side to clean up everyone’s mistakes. While he needs to work on the speed of his closeouts, he was always closing out because forwards never drove on him — and for his part Oden always ran at shooters with an arm raised. In the 608 defensive possessions he was involved in, opponents only scored at least a point on 40 percent of possessions. There’s a reason the Blazers were fourth in defensive efficiency through the first month of the season and dropped to 17th two months later. [...]

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