Boy was it fun to listen to all the knee-jerk clowns react to Greg Oden’s modest three-point, two-rebound performance in 16 minutes Wednesday against the Heat, his first full NBA game in 504 days since being drafted by the Blazers. A sampling of the names we heard Oden compared to around the web and TV: Ben Wallace. Dale Davis. Sam Bowie. Benoit Benjamin.

It’s comical, really. We started to get worked up about it, but then remembered that it’s a knee-jerk world we live in where you have to “have a take” and you have to make it now, so we let it all slide. (Yes, occasionally, we fall into the knee-jerk trap ourselves.)

Thought we’d did dig up some pertinent stats regarding other prominent centers who Oden has not been compared to: Shaq, Ewing, and Olajuwon.

Greg Oden played 32 college basketball games. Three years ago, he was overpowering lilliputian high school kids in Indiana. Oden turns 21 in January.

* Hakeem Olajuwon played three seasons in college at Houston, totaling 100 games. He was an NBA rookie at 22.
* Patrick Ewing played four seasons in college at Georgetown, totaling 143 games. He was an NBA rookie at 23.
* Shaq played three seasons in college at LSU, totaling 90 games. He was an NBA rookie at 20.

Of course, you want to know why Oden’s learning curve is so steep when Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett came into the league and started from day one. Well, that’s probably a combination of things. Did either of them have surgery after getting drafted that sidelined them for an entire season? Were either of them even 220 pounds when they first entered the league? As a rookie, Howard averaged 12-10. As a rookie, the wiry KG averaged 10-6. Those stats are not out of the realm of possibility for Oden. He’s played FIVE QUARTERS!

Our only concern, besides the injuries, is whether or not he possesses the killer instinct. Is he going to deliver a hard foul when necessary? Is he going to get in people’s faces? These are things we do not know. He seems like a docile, nice kid, and while people seemed to fear Shaq in his younger days, we don’t sense that with Oden. It seems like people want to dunk on the guy and clown him.

Remember when Shaq and rookie Andrew Bynum mixed it up a couple years ago? (Love that highlight. Love Marv’s call.) Oden needs a moment like that, perhaps soon.

Next up: Tyson Chandler, Al Jefferson, Biedrins, and on Wednesday, a rematch with Joakim Noah.