Big man on the scene weighing pros and cons

Nick Christensen

Friday, July 23, 2004 | 9:50 a.m.

Exasperated and hot in a gym that was sweltering at around 100 degrees, 6-foot-6 Nova United forward James Eversley turned to his coach, shrugged, and all but waved a white flag.

"What am I supposed to do?" he said after taking a foul trying his best to guard Spiece Indy Heat center Greg Oden, the 7-foot hot prospect who anchors the Heat, one of the favorites in this week's Reebok Big Time Tournament.

Eversley's question is undoubtedly one asked by many frontcourt defenders when they face Oden.

Making matters worse for opponents, Oden is paired with 6-foot-10 forward Josh McRoberts, a Duke-bound senior whose passing finesse and inside presence makes him dominant in his own right.

Many predict that Oden, going into 11th grade, could be a lottery pick in the 2006 NBA draft. But that's assuming that Oden goes to the NBA, a decision that he apparently has not made yet.

More than 50 college coaches were scouting Indy's late game Thursday, and more, including Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, were at the team's morning game, both at Henderson's Basic High School.

Oden said it's up to coaches to bring him into their program.

"It's not my decision," he said. "If they want me, they can come after me, and I can talk to that coach. It's up to them if they want me."

One coach, who wished to remain anonymous, said the impetus is on coaches to convince Oden to go through college to get to the NBA.

One of the reasons Oden might consider college would be to work on his game. He readily admits that there are aspects he needs to improve upon, particularly his offense. But almost refuting his own claims, Oden scored 18 points on eight field goals -- and sat most of the second half -- in the night game.

Nova's Eversley might have disagreed with Oden's assessment of his offensive ability. But there's no question that at his height, his defensive abilities outshadow his scoring, especially at his age.

He's not ashamed to take it at smaller players on the attacking end of the court.

"I try to keep the ball up," he said. "Their center of gravity's lower, so I post up and keep my hands up."

He's also helped by the presence of McRoberts, one of the better ballhandlers in the tournament.

"I can help him by getting (him) the ball," McRoberts said. "My best asset is my passing, so I can take a lot of pressure off him."

Because McRoberts himself isn't faced with much pressure, having already committed to arguably the nation's top college basketball program, he is primarily focusing on success at this year's tournament.

And with his future so bright yet in flux at the same time, so is Oden, who doesn't even consider himself the best player in the tournament. That honor, he said, belongs to either McRoberts or New York Panthers forward Derrick Caracter.

"I just came out to try to win," he said. "I come in and play my hardest, and hopefully we'll play and win."

Spiece Indy Heat beat West Valley Basketball I 69-32 Thursday morning, then defeated Nova United 67-48 Thursday night. They were scheduled to play Stay in the Game at 1 p.m. today at Foothill High School, then likely advance out of pool play into a bracket game at 5 p.m. on Saturday, also at Foothill.