NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 32, Sunday games)--Stock Up
NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 32, Sunday games)--Stock Down/Neutral
NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 32, Saturday games)--Stock Up
NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 32, Saturday)--Down/Neutral
NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 64, Friday games)--Stock Up
NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 64, Friday games)--Stock Down/Neutral
NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 64, Thursday games)--Stock Up
NCAA Tournament: Stock Watch (round of 64, Thursday games)--Stock Down/Neutral
Stock Neutral
Greg Oden, 71, freshman, Center, Ohio State
9 points, 2-2 FG, 5-6 FT, 3 rebounds, 4 blocks, 18 minutes
Jonathan Watters
This wasnt a terrible performance from Oden tonight in terms of his draft stock, even if he spent all but 18 minutes of the game on the bench in foul trouble. Oden clearly impacted the game in a way that few players ever could when on the court, changing shots and providing an unstoppable physical force in the paint on the offensive end. His game-saving block will make the highlight reels, but his mere presence kept Tennessee players from driving the lane unrestrained.
So while it is very clear that Oden didnt fill up the stat sheet or enact his will upon the opponent like he usually does due to a couple of questionable foul calls, a 7-foot freshman leading his team to the Sweet Sixteen is deserving of some slack every now and then. When he was on the court, Ohio State did a decent job of finding him, but Oden also did a great job of gaining good position. Tennessee had no answer for him around the basket, and he even made his free throws. Odens activity level, mobility, awareness and craft continue to steadily improve, and one has to wonder what he would have looked like if he hadnt sat out the entire summer with the wrist injury.
On the whole, this game isnt going to make or break Greg Odens NCAA Tournament. The block at the buzzer could end up being the moment everybody remembers when the topic of his days at Ohio State comes up, but his performance as a whole was marginalized due to the fact that the Buckeyes nearly lost this game when he was on the bench. Given the way the Buckeyes have been testing fate, chances are we will get another history-making performance and/or individual play from Oden at some point in the next two weeks.