Somewhat lost amidst all the Billy Donovan and Lebron talk in the hoops world this weekend were reports from the NBA’s predraft camp, coincidentally also held in Orlando.  We’ll get to who helped and hurt themselves in a minute, but we have to first mention that Greg Oden is apparently a gazelle trapped in a seven-footer’s body.  Consider this report from the Portland Oregonian:   

Oden is faster than Durant in the 3/4-court sprint, quicker in the lane-agility drill, and has better numbers in the running and standing vertical leaps. And, Oden has a mind-boggling 7.8 body-fat percentage … most big men are north of the 12 percent range. For instance, other top-rated big men such as Washington’s Spencer Hawes (13.0), Duke’s Josh McRoberts (13.7) and Pitt’s Aaron Gray (10.8) don’t compare. […]  Oden is 6-foot-11 without shoes, 7-feet with shoes. He weighs 257 pounds.   His wingspan is 7 feet, 4.25 inches (fourth best in the draft). His standing reach is 9 feet, 4 inches (the highest of anyone in the draft). His standing vertical is 32 inches, his running vertical 34 inches.

For a big man, these numbers are sick, as he outperformed the smoother and more fluid-looking Durant in every athletic category.  What this essentially means is that Oden has guard-like athleticism (not to be confused with guard-like skills – see: KG) as a traditional back to the basket seven-footer.  No wonder the scouts have been drooling over this guy since he was in ninth grade.  There shouldn’t have been much question, but if there was any at all, these athletic numbers will put to rest the notion of Portland taking Durant over Oden in about three weeks. 

Players Who Helped Themselves (draftexpress.com): 

• Jared Dudley (Boston College)
• Taurean Green (Florida)
• Demetris Nichols (Syracuse)
• Aaron Gray (Pittsburgh)
• Zabian Dowdell (Virginia Tech)
• Jared Jordan (Marist)
• Ramon Sessions (Nevada)
• Jermareo Davidson (Alabama)
• Antanas Kavaliauskas (Texas A&M)
• Ali Traore (France)

Players Who Didn’t Help Themselves (espn.com‘s Chad Ford – insider access required):

• Dominic James (Marquette)
• Joseph Jones (Texas A&M)
• Sean Singletary (Virginia)
• Marcellus Kemp (Nevada)
• James Mays (Clemson)
• Dominic McGuire (Fresno St.)
• Ron Lewis (Ohio St.)
• Kyle Visser (Wake Forest)
• Aaron Brooks (Oregon)