Greg Oden's Diary -- March 10, 2006

Greg Oden’s McDonald’s All-American High School Game Diary

March 10, 2006

I’m starting to feel emotional about the final games of my high school career, and it’s something I didn’t expect. I felt it yesterday (March 9) coming out on the court for practice.

I’m so excited for these final games, and I’m going to leave everything I’ve got on the court. We won the Indiana State Class 4A title my sophomore and junior years, but I know now we didn’t appreciate winning as much as we will if we win a third straight state title.

Mike Conley -- my teammate at Lawrence North who also was named to the McDonald’s All-American game and will be my teammate at Ohio State - and I have won so many games, we were used to winning when we won the first two state titles. But this year we realize there will be no more high school basketball soon.

We need to win four more games for the state title, but first we have to beat Carmel -- a good team -- on Saturday (March 11) in the regional semifinals in the Class 4A tournament. Last week we won our sectional tournament.

We’ve won 41 straight games, and reporters and fans tells us that we can tie the state record with 45 straight. The state record of 45 straight wins was set by basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson at Crispus Attucks High in Indianapolis, so that’s a special record. We also can become the third team in state history to win three straight state titles.

The reason I say reporters and people tell us about the records is our coaches – head coach Jack Keefer and assistant coach Ralph Scott -- won’t let us think about records and winning three straight state titles. They keep us focused on the next game.

Coach is pretty smart – all week he has had us looking at tapes of our worst games this year.

Sometimes playing high school basketball gets frustrating for me because I’ll have a lot of 6-3 or 6-4 guys banging on me and fouling me. Because they’re so much shorter, their center of gravity is lower and they get under my legs. It’s hard to keep my balance.

But I have good players around me, and Mike has stepped up his game this year to take the pressure off me. Mike can hit the 3-pointers and he can penetrate.

I know some people say Mike has been riding my coattails, but they’re wrong. Don’t underestimate Mike’s game. He’s a great player.

I always tell people that 60 or 70 percent of my game comes from Mike, because he’s a great passer and he’s the kind of player who makes everyone on the court better. Everything comes through him. So if you’re going to say I’m a great player, you have to say Mike is a great player because he’s doing most of the work.

Go Wildcats!

Two games on March 11

The Wildcats (27-0) are two wins away from history in one of the nation’s most tradition-laden basketball states. North will take a 43-game win streak into this week’s state Class 4A semifinal game against Bloomington South (21-5). Two more wins would make North only the third Hoosier State school to win three straight state title and also extend the win streak to 45 games and a tie for the state record set in 1955-56 by Oscar Robertson-led Crispus Attucks High of Indianapolis. Last Saturday, 7-foot All-America center Greg Oden, a top candidate for National Player of the Year and Ohio State recruit, was perfect from the floor with 18-for-18 games in wins over Carmel, 47-22, and the state's No. 2 ranked team, Pike of Indianapolis, 63-57. It was North's third season win over Pike. Oden scored 29 points in that game.

--Student Sports

Games through March 5

The Wildcats, ranked No. 1 since preseason, continued their quest to set history in the basketball-rich Hoosier State. North hiked its win streak to 41 games while winning the Class 4A sectional title with a 64-39 win over Warren Central. Four more post-season wins will tie the all-time state record streak while a third straight state crown will be only the third in state history. Against Warren Central, 7-foot All-America Greg Oden, an Ohio State recruit and top national player of the year candidate, scored 20 points and collected 13 rebounds. In the semifinals, North romped past Manual, 72-42. Arlington was a 51-35 victim in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats face Carmel this weekend in the regional semifinals.