After much talk about his hackadaisical summer league debut, Greg Oden faired a little better in today's 72-68 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The big fella totaled 13 points, 5 boards and 5 blocks but still managed to rack up 9 fouls. Admittedly, I have yet to see the games since I refuse to pay for NBA.TV but I tend to agree with Jason Quick's assertion that Oden is comitting many fouls due to fatigue from his whirlwind tour beginning in the weeks leading up to the draft. He has spent countless hours in the air and in front of microphones but much fewer hours in the weight room and on the basketball court. Oden's summer league performance to date seems to mirror his early games in Scarlet and Gray as he slowly got into game shape. So, fear not Buckeye/Blazer fans, Oden will be ready to go when things get started in November.
In case you missed it, Oden was recently named the official spokesman and cover boy for College Hoops 2K8. No word yet on whether or not gamers can earn points towards alternate jerseys, wristbands and toe rings.
Oden's buddy Mike Conley came off the bench to tally 12 points, 5 rebounds and zero turnovers in an 86-77 Memphis victory over the Chinese National Team this past Friday night. When asked if he was nervous, Conley reminded a reporter he has played in a few big games in his young career:
"I wasn't really nervous. The last game I played was in front of 30,000 people," Conley said with a smile in reference to the NCAA championship game Ohio State played in last March.Good point, Mike.
Back on the college front, David Lighty had his best game yet for Team USA with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals in a 86-72 victory over the Global Games All-Americans saturday night in Dallas. Lightly saw 26 minutes of action in his first start as Team USA (4-0) won the Global Games gold medal. The Americans head to Serbia for the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship set to begin July 12th.
