Oden Named to AP First Team
March 26 2007 11:12 PM -- Filed in: Awards
Greg Oden was named today as a First Team
All-American by the Associated Press. He joins
Aaron Afflalo, Acie Law, Alando Tucker and
fellow frosh, Kevin Durant. Oden is the first
Ohio State player to be named as a true freshman
and is the first selection, regardless of class,
since Jim Jackson in 1992. The honor came to the
surprise of absolutely no one except Greg
himself:
Excuse Greg's humility, but he's just being polite. There really aren't many guys with better numbers, at least ones who play the same position. Sure, there will be teams and fans who'll gripe the inclusion of Greg was a result of hype rather than production. A quick glance around at other big men really doesn't validate that theory.
Of this group, only Fazekas at Nevada has better numbers but those were compiled playing largely inferior competition. Although Oden missed 7 games, he still played in a power conference and forced teams to strategize around him at both ends of the court. And, he has posted a dub-dub in nearly 50% of his outings despite working his way back from a major injury. Congrats to the Odenator.
"I'm very surprised. Just with how things went, I didn't really play a whole season, and I know there are a lot of other guys with better numbers than me."
Excuse Greg's humility, but he's just being polite. There really aren't many guys with better numbers, at least ones who play the same position. Sure, there will be teams and fans who'll gripe the inclusion of Greg was a result of hype rather than production. A quick glance around at other big men really doesn't validate that theory.
| Player | Points | Boards | Blocks | FG % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Oden | 15.4 | 9.5 | 3.3 | 61.6 |
| Joakim Noah | 12.2 | 8.5 | 1.8 | 61.2 |
| Tyler Hansbrough | 18.4 | 7.9 | 0.4 | 52.5 |
| Al Horford | 13.2 | 9.2 | 1.9 | 61.8 |
| Nick Fazekas | 20.4 | 11.1 | 1.1 | 56.8 |
| Jeff Green | 14.4 | 6.2 | 1.2 | 50.9 |
| Roy Hibbert | 12.7 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 67.0 |
| Aaron Gray | 13.9 | 9.5 | 1.7 | 56.5 |
| Josh McRoberts | 13.0 | 7.9 | 2.5 | 50.2 |
Of this group, only Fazekas at Nevada has better numbers but those were compiled playing largely inferior competition. Although Oden missed 7 games, he still played in a power conference and forced teams to strategize around him at both ends of the court. And, he has posted a dub-dub in nearly 50% of his outings despite working his way back from a major injury. Congrats to the Odenator.
