Who'll win: Oden vs Hibbert

[BobZag]

I think Hibbert beats Oden head-to-head. Experience tilts this dual in favor of Hibbert, imo.

You?

[EL MUSTACIO]

Points wise Hibbert wins (Not that either team plays stellar O compared to D
Blocks wise/defensively making shots miss-ODEN
Free throws-Not ODEN
Experience/Leadership-Hibbert

Its a tie, they both have decent games but are shown up by someone on each of their respective teams

[youreachiteach]

I LOVE Hibbert, he'll be a stud in the league, but is prone to foul trouble. Oden tries to block everything as well, but he'll be more comfortable going up vs Hibbert because he's the same size. Undersizd bigs who take Oden off the bounce at the 3pt line have more success.

Who covers Jeff Green?

Georgetown created Patick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikember Mutombo, Roy HIbbert.......and somehow somewhere, a bum like Othella Harrington snuck in.

[lothar98zag]

IMHO, the odds are fairly high that they'll both get in foul trouble and the battle between them won't matter much in determining the outcome of the game.

But if they both stay out of foul trouble the whole game and play roughly the same # of minutes, I think Oden will win the battle between the two, but not by much.

[CDC84]

From Decourcy

On the same subject.....

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=192139

[tobizag]

I'm with lothar...just like the majority of the Memphis game, the bigs will cancel out. Conley will dominate, and so will Green. It will come down to which team contains Conley/Green. If the Bucks can tie-down Green and the Hoyas struggle with Conley, Ohio State will win. If Georgetown can tie-down Conley and get Green free, the Hoyas win.

[wazZag]

Oden will play better, but the contest will be won based upon the performances of Green and Conley.

[NJZag]

Fortunately, it's not an individual sport or we'd be watching one-on-one all the way to the Finals on Monday.

The #1 NBA Draft Pick vs. "The 7'2" Experience" debate misses much of the real issue of how the game is going to turn out. OSU seems more dependent on Oden than Hoyas are on Roy.

I like that.

It'll be interesting to see how much contact the NCAA refs will allow between the two.

If a lot is allowed, advantage: Roy.

If not, then advantage probably goes to Oden. He's #1 in the NBA draft for a good reason. Upside and better body control, and the NBA will develop his repertoire. (Roy probably has the edge on repertoire right now, and it's been a slowly developed thing with Hoya bigs from the NBA dropping in to work with him in off-season.)

While the individual stats of Hibbert v. Oden will be interesting, it's the overall team play that will decide. The composure of the players just sticking to the "PrinceTOWN" and executing got them the win against UNC.

Biggest worry: Georgia Dome. Hoyas don't have a lot of experience with the spatial relationships in that kind of setting, and haven't played as well in the limited times they've been in comparable settings.

[lothar98zag]

Biggest worry: Georgia Dome. Hoyas don't have a lot of experience with the spatial relationships in that kind of setting, and haven't played as well in the limited times they've been in comparable settings.

Good point about the dome. Florida & OSU played in domes last weekend. Georetown & UCLA did not.

So the 2 teams should be more comfortable in a dome than their opponents.


..although UCLA did play in a dome last year in the Final Four. I'm not sure how much that matters.



edit to add: Now that I think about it - Georgetown did play @ Syracuse this year (although they didn't win), so maybe this is a non-issue afterall. We'll see...

[NJZag]

Good point about the dome. Florida & OSU played in domes last weekend. Georetown & UCLA did not. So the 2 teams should be more comfortable in a dome than their opponents.


..although UCLA did play in a dome last year in the Final Four. I'm not sure how much that matters.



edit to add: Now that I think about it - Georgetown did play @ Syracuse this year (although they didn't win), so maybe this is a non-issue afterall. We'll see...

It's that late-season stumble at Carrier Dome that bothers me. Granted, it's a sea of orange in that Place up North (anybody who knocks Spokane ain't seen Syracuse). The 'Cuse students and Townies are known to bring it in home games, especially against Hoyas with whom the rivalry is historic over decades. But Syracuse was a really weak team this year (no NCAA bid) and the 72-58 scoreboard was theirs at the end of the day. I just hope that the media distractions at today's open practice didn't find DaJuan, Green, JWall, Ewing Jr. and others neglecting a lot of shots from all over the place on the hardwood. Shots ain't going to get easier with bodies in all the seats tomorrow.

[Zag79]

this is late, games over i know. hibbert outplayed him overall just like i thought he would. is anyone other than me feeling like oden should stay another year? his body is ready for the nba, but the kid misses more bunnies than us against indiana this year. id like to see him stay for one more to polish up his O.

[FuManShoes]

It will come down to which team contains Conley/Green. If the Bucks can tie-down Green and the Hoyas struggle with Conley, Ohio State will win. If Georgetown can tie-down Conley and get Green free, the Hoyas win.

We have a winner! I thought Oden and Hibbard about cancelled each other out. Each was dominant when they were on the floor, which wasn't all that much. Conley completely outplayed Green and that was the difference. Not often a big-time talent struggles with selflessness, but that seems to be the story with Green; he doesn't take the shots. This was good for my bracket and bad for my heart, as I wanted to see Georgetown beat the red chips.

[NJZag]

this is late, games over i know. hibbert outplayed him overall just like i thought he would. is anyone other than me feeling like oden should stay another year? his body is ready for the nba, but the kid misses more bunnies than us against indiana this year. id like to see him stay for one more to polish up his O.

The big question is "how" would he polish it up. Hibbert has had the benefit of some pretty decent Georgetown NBA alumni coming in during their off-seasons to turn him from a "heeler" to somebody with decent post moves. (The "heeler" is a Red Auerbach term ... as in "he runs on his heels", which is the remark R.A. made when Thompson senior brought him to a practice to watch the newly recruited player.) Plus, credit is due big Roy for already having soft hands when he arrived and his intense work ethic, which overcame the lack of natural gifts (overall body control) which were never at the level of Oden's.

I just don't see OSU having the situation in place that might allow Oden to get better, even as great a coach as T.M. is.

Once Florida tromps its way to a back-to-back NC, maybe Oden will feel like he's left unfinished business. The Monday game is pretty important to him, just in overcoming the red flags of "falling draft stock" that some of the sites are writing about after last night's game.