Sporting News Article on Oden developing
Oden using injury to improve overall game
Ohio State freshman working on using left hand while right hand heals
Lisa Blumenfeld / Getty Images file
Greg Oden is considered the top freshman basketball prospect in the NCAA.
OPINION
By Mike DeCourcy
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Mike DeCourcy
Could Greg Oden conquer college basketball with one arm tied behind his back?
If he were to begin that quest at the moment, it'd be his only option.
The best big man prospect in a generation, at least since Shaquille O'Neal bounced out of San Antonio and into Baton Rouge as an LSU freshman in 1989, Oden still is recovering from surgery to repair a ligament tear in his right wrist. That does not mean he is sitting in class at Ohio State and waiting for his right arm to heal. Instead, he is learning to play the game left-handed.
OSU assistant Alan Major has done some impressive work as a big man coach. He helped to polish up Oscar Robertson Trophy winner David West at Xavier, and the two years Major worked with Terrence Dials at Ohio State helped make Dials into the Big Ten player of the year.
Right now with Oden, during the two hours per week of offseason skill sessions that NCAA coaches can offer their players, Major has an entirely different challenge. Because of the injury, Oden can work only on improving his left hand and can't do any drills that require him to make a regular two-handed catch.
So Major has had to train Oden with maneuvers that require him to control the ball with his left hand only. Oden can work on left-block post moves and left-handed hooks. He can jump for balls tossed to the rim and try to flush them with his left hand.
Oden, a 7-footer who won three state championships at Lawrence North High in Indianapolis, was not a complete offensive player with his right hand before being hurt. So, in his ascent toward dominating offensively at the same level he can control a game on defense, he will be somewhat behind schedule. But in the long process of turning an astonishing prospect into an astonishing player, it's easy to imagine that mastering the game's fundamental skills with his weaker hand can make Oden more dangerous.
Typically, a great offensive big man will set up on the side of the lane that favors a scoring move into his strong hand. When Oden recovers, that also will be true for him because it will be the most efficient use of his skills. But in every sport, the ability to counter an opponent's strategy can be the difference between failure and success. If a defense decides to double-team Oden on the right block because he shows himself to be a dominant scorer from there, will that defense also choose to double him on the left? And if it does, won't that open even more driving lanes for his predominantly right-handed teammates?
Oden also is strengthening his left arm with weight training and working on his trunk and legs. He has added nearly 20 pounds, to more than 270.
Doctors, trainers and the Ohio State coaches remain cautious with Oden on the timing of his return. Ensuring that he has the 15-year basketball career that is possible for him is more important than him joining in some early season non-league games for the Buckeyes. He will play again when it is certain he is 100 percent healed -- and maybe a little bit after that point. Until then, Oden will work at turning weakness into strength. Just what the rest of the basketball world doesn't need.
