The refs were afraid to foul him out. As I recall he fouled out in the Elite 8 and/or the final Four and his coach cried to the press about how Oden was being officiated "unfairly." He fouled out Noah, Horford, Richards, and almost Speights, Noah won defensive player of the year award in NBA in 2014, and was a two time first teamer on the NBA's all defensive team. Horford is still playing in the NBA, and has been an NBA All-Star 5 times. Oden was a great player, but those two were not that overmatched against Oden, and were not allowed to play in that game. The refs wanted Oden and Ohio State to win, and they officiated that way the entire game. Here is a perfect example of one of the many "blocks" Greg Oden had that the refs allowed.
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Oden struggled with foul trouble in his only season at OSU, and also struggled with it in the NBA.:
Oden foul trouble article. Luckily the 04's were a much better team, had a much better coach, and were loaded with 3-point marksmen, and were therefore able to overcome the zebras on that day .