Greg Oden Has Kudos for Sonics Crowds

Sonics crowds have always been some of the best in the NBA, and, even in a down year this year, we seem to have impressed Greg Oden: "They were a team when you see them on TV, the arena is sold out and the fans were going crazy."

Oden, speaking to DraftExpress, also expressed surprise that the Sonics didn't make the playoffs: "You know what? Seattle was a team, that every time I saw them play they were beating good teams ... When it came up I was like ‘they didn’t make the playoffs?’"

The presumed #1 or #2 pick had this to say about Portland's two 2006 lottery picks:

Lamarcus Aldridge was a guy I was scared to play against in high school because he was one of the best in the country. I remember we were at a tournament he was in, and he was just annihilating people. He is a guy who I really did look up to in high school as one of my peers that was really good. Brandon Roy, I’ve seen him play a couple of times, and you only hear good things about Brandon Roy, he was rookie of the year. It would be great to play with those guys.

Oden is obviously going to be a great interview. Here's how he ends the series of questions: "I know it rains in both places, so wherever I go, I need to get a raincoat!" [rim shot]