Bleacher Report - Greg Oden

Greg Oden Is Done, but the Portland Trail Blazers Are Not

Alex Tichenor — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:12:19 -0500

When I woke up on the Sunday morning of Dec. 6, I thought it would be just like any other day. Wake up, go to church, and then watch NFL the rest of the day. However, when I looked up the box score for the Blazers-Rockets game, I quickly realized that today would not be a good day, not at all.

At first glance, when I saw the score of the Blazers game, I was joyous. A one-point victory to break a three game losing streak! Then I looked at Oden's stat line, the one I am routinely most interested in, to see if Oden had continued his strong play this season. Then I saw it.

He had only played four minutes. I thought "Okay, maybe he just had very bad foul trouble." I looked at the number of fouls he committed. One. My heart immediately sunk. Greg Oden, once again, was injured.

I begged, "please don't be the knee, please don't be the knee, don't let it be serious, don't let it be serious."

Fractured knee cap, will require surgery, likely out for the season.

Two days before the day America was bombed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, the Trailblazers and their former number one overall draft pick had had emotional and physical bombs dropped on them. Oden had looked so promising this season, averaging nearly a double double, being among the league leaders in blocks, and coming off of a 20-rebound performance in the previous game. It appeared everything was coming together.

Everything was coming together, except for his knee. His knee was coming apart. Oden will miss the rest of the year. All of the 61 games remaining. He missed all 82 in his "rookie season." He also missed a good chunk of games last season, not even playing in three-fourths of the Blazers contests.

So, in his first three seasons, Oden will have played less than a full season's worth of games. Let me rephrase that, the 2007 No. 1 overall pick will have played in less than 82 games, while No. 2 pick Kevin Durant continues to be among the league leaders in scoring as he is leading the Thunder to a surprising start.

If the Oden-Durant argument wasn't over already, it is now.

Still, Blazers fans will love Oden. I know I will. I feel horrible for the guy. Players said that Oden apologized to his teammates for getting hurt. He is taking the blame for getting hurt. He feels like he is letting his team down. It's hard to not like a guy like that.

Oden just had bad knees, and that's that. He will probably never play a full season. He will probably never be a top 10 NBA center. He will never live up to his hype. Centers with bad knees just don't make it in the NBA.

This is the same knee cap that was chipped last year in a game against the Warriors. Maybe surgery can help, but that is looking through Rose colored glasses. Oden has demonstrated having the knees of a 35 year old center instead of the 21 year center that he is. Juwan Howard probably has better knees than Oden at this point.

So is Portland's season over? Are they done? While it certainly does not help the Blazers, the Oden injury should not be a huge bump in their season's path. They played fine without him last season, and they feel less pressure to try getting him the ball.

The injury will make better players out of their two emerging cornerstones, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge will need to really bang the boards with Oden out, something he really needs to work on, although he's been better on the glass this season. He will also need to score more.

Roy will have to bring the injury ravaged Blazers together and lead them like never before. Portland will be down their Oden, Outlaw, Batum, and Fernandez when they go on an Eastern road trip this next week that includes playing in Cleveland.

Oh, and coach Nate McMillan will be absent as well. Roy is already a great leader, but if the Blazers make it through the season as a playoff team, Roy can be considered maybe the best leader in the NBA. How many guys have ever gone through what he's having happen to his team right now at such a young age? Not many.

The guy who will replace Oden is a capable player as well. Joel Pryzbilla actually started almost every game last season and is a gritty rebounder and defender. They have shallow depth behind him, but the Blazers should now have to play small with some combination of Roy, Blake, Miller, and Fernandez on the court at many times. They have pretty good personnel to play with a small lineup like that.

With the unforeseeable return of Outlaw or Oden, the Blazers will have a very tough road ahead of them. They should still make the playoffs, but it wouldn't be surprising if they did not. Even the most optimistic Portland fan should have seen that the Blazers would not be a champion if with a fully healthy team, so while the season will most likely end in disappointment, it would have ended in less than a title anyway,

"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." That's what the Blazers motto should be this season. Injuries have ravaged their lineup and coach, but the rest of their guys will be better, tougher players because of this season.

Maybe Greg won't be playing when the playoffs roll around, but perhaps he can be congratulating his teammates for getting past the first round while watching in his street clothes. That seems like the best case scenario for Portland right now.

Worst case scenario? Now is really not the time to think about that...

Get well soon Greg (and Travis, Nicolas, Rudy, and Nate).

-A.T.

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From Bill Walton and Sam Bowie to Greg Oden: Is Portland Cursed?

Matt Smith — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:01:56 -0500

Injuries are a part of sports, but the latest injury to Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden was just plain sad.

He was looking every bit the dominant center he was projected to be, leading the NBA in blocked shots and improving in all phases of the game.

When he went down, it made me wonder if Portland should ever use an early draft pick on a big man ever again.

I'm usually not one who believes in curses, but, from the 1970s to now, the Portland Trail Blazers have had a history of highly-drafted centers.

Three of them have had their careers marred by injury.

Bill Walton was drafted No. 1 by the Blazers after a stellar college career at UCLA, and it seemed he was destined for a long dominant career.

Walton battled injury his first two seasons breaking his nose, foot, wrist, and leg, and he did keep it together long enough for one magical run, winning the NBA championship in the 1976-77 season.

Winning that title helped to ease the pain of the disappointment that Walton's injuries brought, but from here it got worse.

In the 1984 draft, the Blazers had the second pick in a star-studded draft, and, in their defense to that point in NBA history, a dominant center was considered a necessity to win a title.

Portland already had a star wing player in Clyde Drexler, and, with Houston drafting Hakeem Olajuwon first, it made sense at the time to pass on the college player of the year, Michael Jordan, and opt for the other dominant center in the draft, Sam Bowie.

Unfortunately for Bowie and the Blazers, Sam was just as brittle as Bill Walton, and injuries kept him from fulfilling his promise, which was further magnified by Jordan's brilliance.

Now fast-forward to the 2007 draft, and the Blazers again have the first pick of the draft.

They have in front of them two stud prospects, one a dominant center in Greg Oden and the other a lights-out shooting forward Kevin Durant.

Portland went with the size and picked Oden, and, just like his Blazer big man brethren from the past, his career seems to be doomed with injury.

I hope and pray for Oden to return to health, regain his strength, and live up to his potential, but it makes me wonder if the Blazers might not be better served never using a top draft pick on a center ever again.

Blazer fan and Bleacher Report reader Scott Hercher, correctly points out to me the bad luck goes back further to LaRue Martin the Blazers drafted this 6"11 center with the first pick of the 1972 draft ahead of future legends Julius Erving and Bob McAdoo, Martin is considered by many to be the worst first overall draft pick in the history of the NBA draft.

Then there's Arvydas Sabonis the great Lithuanian center who the Blazers drafted in 1986 but the Soviet Union would not allow him to play in the NBA untill 1995 at the age of 31. Sabonis is considered one of the greatest centers of that era but the Blazers were unable to have him throughout his prime years, again more bad luck.

Free agency or through trade is fine, but, from here on out, I recommend drafting guards and forwards.

Is this a curse or a coincidence?

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NBA Random Thoughts: Week Ending Dec. 5, 2009

Jose Salviati — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:58:07 -0500

Who needs reality television when you have the NBA? A week in the NBA is generally filled with drama, accusations, yelling and injuries. Who needs Gossip Girl? This weeks slides looks at a convicted criminal, a snake-bitten franchise (surprise, not the Clippers), the return of a superstar, and more. When you consider the season isn't even half over it excites you (well, it excites me) about the possibilities ahead. For what its worth, here are my random thoughts about the latest NBA news. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Begin Slideshow

Uncontested Shots: What's Next for Greg Oden and the Blazers?

Andrew Ungvari — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:56:14 -0500

In light of Saturday night's events, you really have to feel for Greg Oden. Fran Blinebury of NBA.com points out that by the conclusion of this season, Oden will have played in just 82 of a possible 246 games to begin his career. That's exactly one full season of games out of three.

While I'm not trying to say that injuries to athletes who are unlikable should be cheered, the fact that Oden seems to be a great kid makes it that much more heartbreaking.

If you don't believe me, check out Oden's "audition" for the hosting gig at the 2008 ESPY Awards.

Looking at the small picture, the news is devastating. Just last week, Oden had 20 rebounds and 13 points in a home loss to the Heat.

At the time of the injury, Oden was shooting 60 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free throw line for the season—both outstanding numbers for a center.

In a league with so few legitimate centers, Oden gave the Blazers an advantage over most of the teams in the league at a very important position. With All-Star shooting guard Brandon Roy and the multi-talented LaMarcus Aldridge at power forward, the Blazers had the league's most impressive array of young talent.

In the big picture, the news has actually has a silver lining for the Blazers and their fans.

Let's be honest. The Blazers were not going to contend for a title this year—with or without a healthy Oden.

While the loss of Oden might impact the Blazers playoff seeding, it won't make much of a difference in how far the team goes. Because of injuries to Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw, the Blazers were already a long shot to beat out the Nuggets for the Northwest Division title.

While a top four seed was definitely realistic (and still is), the chance of the Blazers beating either the Nuggets or Lakers for a spot in the Western Conference Finals was looking less and less likely with each unforgivable loss they suffered this season.

If the Blazers can get healthy and not suffer any more long-term injuries, they are still talented enough to finish ahead of the Mavericks or the Suns and win a first-round playoff series.

That much hasn't changed.

The silver lining is in the fact that Oden, who is eligible for a contract extension at season's end, will most likely have to play for his extension next season instead of this current one.

It's true that if the Blazers wait until the summer of 2011 to extend Oden that he will be a restricted free agent. But it's highly unlikely that another team would now consider offering Oden a long-term offer sheet that the Blazers would be forced to match.

In fact, with the league's current Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire in the summer of 2011, there's a good chance that the amount of money that Oden will be eligible for as a former first-overall pick will decrease with the next CBA.

There's a precedent that should also work in the Blazers favor.

In the summer of 2008, Andrew Bynum was eligible for a contract extension after suffering a season-ending knee surgery.

Bynum's agent, David Lee, convinced the Lakers that Bynum was unhappy and felt disrespected by the team's slow movement to commit long-term to his client.

Eventually, the Lakers caved in and gave Bynum a big money extension because they feared that one of the handful of teams with significant cap space would have offered Bynum the type of long-term offer sheet that in the end, would have cost them a lot more in terms of years and/or dollars.

The Lakers and Lee came to a compromise in which Bynum would get big-time money but for only three years (instead of the maximum six years) with a team option for the fourth year.

Then Bynum suffered another long-term knee injury that caused him to miss 32 games the following season.

If Oden's agent, Mike Conley, tries to convince the Blazers to give Oden an extension next summer, the team can always point to Bynum and tell Conley that they want to make sure that Oden can play at least 70 games before they extend him.

Keep in mind that the Blazers just signed Roy and Aldridge to big-time extensions that kick in next season. Those extensions came on the heels of the team signing point guard Andre Miller to a free agent contract.

So while Oden's next deal would have begun in 2011 regardless of whether the Blazers extended him in the summer of 2010 or 2011, they now have an extra year to gauge Oden's long-term health as well as his ceiling as a player.

The Blazers also know that Oden cannot justify asking for a max-type deal in light of his injury history. That new savings could be the difference between the Blazers re-signing either Steve Blake or Outlaw when they hit the free agent market next summer.

The Blazers have options if they feel they need to make a move to remain in the top half of the Western Conference standings.

Without Oden, they seem to be in need of frontcourt depth. The Blazers now have Joel Pryzbilla, Aldridge, 16-year veteran Juwan Howard, and rookie Dante Cunningham.

The team can always try to trade one of their guards for a big man.

Even before Oden's injury, Yahoo! 's Adrian Wojnarowski brought up Miller's name when listing players who could be traded on or after Dec. 15. So did I in my annual list of ten players who could be moved before the trade deadline .

While the Blazers could try to move Blake, Miller's $6.7 million contract could net them a better player than Blake's $5 million deal could.

The list of quality big men available isn't very long. The list of teams in need of a starting point guard is even shorter. The list of teams looking to take on Miller's contract, which runs through next season with a team option for 2011-12, is even shorter than that.

The list of power forward/centers who are available for straight one-for-one trades isn't going to excite Blazers fans.

Nazr Mohammed of the Charlotte Bobcats makes about the same money as Miller and is signed for only one more season after this. Miller is the type of player that Larry Brown loves.

Raymond Felton is an unrestricted free agent at season's end, and sophomore D.J. Augustin appears to be in Brown's doghouse in the wake of consecutive DNPs.

There are two problems with a Miller-for-Mohammed deal. First, the Blazers would want a lot more for Miller than Mohammed. Perhaps a future first-round pick would entice them.

Second, the Bobcats have been openly shopping for big men and trading one of their few bigs for another guard doesn't seem likely. Although how could they possibly pass up this type of deal?

The struggling Wizards could try to make a move for Miller if they think he can coexist in the same backcourt with Gilbert Arenas. A trade of Miller for Brendan Haywood and his expiring contract would work if the Wizards were willing to go with Andray Blatche at center and Fabricio Oberto backing him up.

That's another lopsided trade that would probably require a draft pick from the Wizards. The Wizards might be more inclined to trade for Steve Blake—who has played with Arenas in the past and is still beloved in the area as a member of the Maryland Terps 2002 championship team.

If the Blazers decide to go the free agency route, then they're looking at guys like Lorenzen Wright, Chris Mihm, Jake Voskuhl, and Robert Swift—not exactly Russell, Chamberlain, Jabbar, and Mikan. Heck, that's not even Longley, Dare, Benjamin, and Koncak.

The last thing Blazers fans want to hear right now are more comparisons between Oden and Sam Bowie—the often-injured center the Blazers selected over Michael Jordan in the 1984 Draft.

What Blazers fans need to remember is how lucky they were to win the 2007 Draft Lottery to begin with. They won despite having only a 53 percent chance of winning. Sure, it would be nice to have Kevin Durant right now, but Oden made the most sense given the fact that the team already had Roy and Martell Webster playing the two positions Durant can play.

A lot of Blazers fan are still optimistic in thinking that Oden can bounce back from another devastating injury and be the player they think he's destined to become.

While I applaud their optimism, they need to realize that Oden might be better off as a 20 minutes per game player coming off the bench than as a starting center.

While it's easy to compare Oden to Bynum, neither of Bynum's injuries were even close to the severity of those suffered by Oden. Both of Oden's knee injuries required surgery, whereas Bynum's knee injuries required just one 30-minute arthroscopic procedure to remove scar tissue.

Regardless, the basketball world should be more concerned with a great kid getting the opportunity to do what he was destined to than with saying "I told you so!" to the Blazers and their fans.

Andrew Ungvari is a Senior Writer for Bleacher Report and co-lead blogger for basketball website SirCharlesInCharge.com .

Follow him on Twitter .

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Give the Guy a Break: Why We Should Feel Sorry for Portland's Greg Oden

Sean Fearon — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:39:56 -0500

When I logged on to NBA.com to receive my daily dose of all things basketball, I was greeted with a sorry sight.

A young man writhing in agony, clutching his leg on the hardwood, again.

I shook my head.

Greg Oden doesn't deserve this, no one in his situation does.

You have to wonder what will hurt him more. The pain of recovering from another major surgery at the tender age of 21. Or the fact that his first real season as an NBA player was cut short after 20 games. That has to sting.

Oden was never going to be an All-Star this year, or even log the eye-popping stats it was said he could when he came into this league as a teenager.

But now that he is out for the season again, he will be furthermore branded as the "useless draft bust" or the reincarnation of the Blazers' last dreadful draft pick, Sam Bowie.

All those things may be true, and I, like all of you, was looking forward to watching the man-child out of Ohio state that was labeled by some as the next Shaquille O'Neal.

But put yourself in his enormous shoes. Would you like to be ridiculed by literally thousands of big-name journalists and be subjected to the Simon Cowell-esque taunts of sports fans.

He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, again, and it is a safe assumption that Oden will not be the skeleton of the mediocre center he was this season in the years to come.

Because the gut-wrenchingly disappointing and disturbing clear truth is, prominent and recurring leg injuries such as these, for 285-pound seven-footers, do not just disappear. (See Ming, Yao.)

I feel for the man. I really do. Already, Bleacher Report has featured many articles with the central theme being something like "Oden injured again! Did I hear someone say useless draft bust?"

Sure, he was always in foul trouble, and I mean always. And yes, he was limited and incredibly raw offensively. But because you dislike him as a player does not mean that you shouldn't look at this career-changing moment from a non-basketball perspective.

A young man, desperately working and striving to make a name for himself as a legitimate athlete in this league, has his hopes wrenched of all reality by the cruel hand of misfortune.

And this is true for all NBA players whose potentially Hall of Fame worthy careers were ruined by the vicious injury bug. (See Sampson, Ralph.)

So please, don't look down on Greg Oden, be sensitive and take sympathy.

He has earned that, at least.

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41-41: Not Just a Silly Prediction Anymore (with Oden Injury Video)

Keith Becker uosportsdude.com — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:36:44 -0500

He acknowledged his mistake. He apologized. He even took it back.

But it was too late.

From the second Bill Simmons wrote it, the outrage among Blazer fans was palpable.

"Blazer fans went ballistic," he said. "They became really, really super, super crazy upset about it. Saying stuff like, 'You're crazy! You're the biggest idiot! Don't come here for your book tour!' It's like, 'whoa, settle down, I just picked you to go 41-41, it's not like I built a Brandon Roy voodoo doll or something.'"

Why the outrage?

Before the season, the Sports Guy dubbed the Blazers as the "You-Thought-We'd Take-Another-Leap, But-Instead-We-Went-Backward-Because-Expectations-Were-Too-High, We-Tinkered-With-Our-Chemistry-And-Our-Young-Guys-Tuned-Out-Their-Coach" Team.

Not something a city with only one professional sports franchise wanted to hear.

But with each passing day, Simmons' prophecy is gaining momentum— and casualties.

First, it was Nicolas Batum, then Travis Outlaw, and then another—LaMarcus Aldridge.

Bad luck? Sure.

But tonight, the world came crashing down on Blazer fans.

Greg Oden, the player they are awkwardly forced to love—despite not being anywhere as good as he was supposed to be, or the guy he was drafted in front of—came down with the most brutal injury in sports since Shaun Livingston's Achilles tendon exploded two years ago.

Simmons describes the phenomenon like this: "It's like watching 15,000 parents rooting for their kid, only all 15,000 parents fathered the same kid."

Except their kid drops three fourth-down passes, catches a six-yarder on 3rd-and-13, and then gets hurt in the game's final minutes.

The Oden injury is unfortunate for the Blazers, but even more of a dagger for the psyche of their fans. It's hard to get jacked up for a Joel Przybilla layup.

Even though I am a Warriors fan, the injury to Greg Oden is tragic.

For such a talented player, the adversity he's had to deal with already in his young career is unparalleled.

Here's to a speedy and successful recovery for Greg "Babyface" Oden.

You can read more at UOSportsDude.com and follow Keith on Twitter.

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Greg Oden Injury Means He Is Officially a Bust

Joe Gerrity — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:20:48 -0500

With Greg Oden's most recent knee injury it's become apparent that he is an injury prone player.

Fans may argue that he's simply unlucky, unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but knee injuries have a tendency to recur and he is showing that his body doesn't withstand them at the level needed to be a successful NBA player.

With the news that he will miss the rest of the season, the former number one pick will now have missed two thirds of all regular season games and all playoff games since being drafted.

Frankly, he doesn't put up fantastic stats even when he's healthy.

Let's look at how he stacks up to another famous Bust, Sam Bowie, through three years in the league.

First off they were both picked before superstars. Although Durant isn't quite there yet, he will be before too long. His scoring stats are a thing of legend already.

Oden: 82/246 games played (33 percent), 23 minutes, 11.1 points on 60 percent shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 4 fouls

Bowie: 119/246 games played (48 percent), 29 minutes, 10.8 points on 51 percent shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 3.7 fouls.

It's pretty clear that these guys are very similar players with a very similar history of knee injuries. Bowie was able to eventually play a few successful years, but his growth was stifled by all the time off the court and he never really developed into the player many thought he would be.

One is labeled the biggest busts in sports history. Given their historical similarities and the quality of players picked after them, it's foolish to continue giving Greg Oden the benefit of the doubt.

If Greg was putting up 20-10 nightly it would be one thing, but he's not. He's merely an average center, who is unable to stay out of foul or injury trouble long enough to be effective even in the limited role that the Blazers give him.

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Blazers' Greg Oden Likely Done For Season: Primetime Breakdown and Impact

Brandon Ribak — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:37:14 -0500

Click here to get sent to NBA Primetime for the full article!

The Portland Trail Blazers starting center Greg Oden, who is averaging career-highs in every statistical category, went down with a season ending injury against the Houston Rockets on December 5.

In the first quarter Oden fractured his left knee while coming down after attempting to block a shot.

Fans began to chant for their young center shouting out, "Oden! Oden!" while trainers and physicians circled around the 7 footer.

Oden, who is averaging 11.1 PPG, 8.5 RPG (23rd in NBA), and 2.3 BPG (3rd in NBA) had this to say after the game,

"I'm obviously disappointed having worked so hard to get to where I was. This is a setback but I'll be back. It's in God's hands now," Oden said in a statement released by the team. "I want to thank the fans, my teammates and everyone in the Blazers family for all of their good thoughts."

The Blazers have reported that Oden will need surgery and that there is no timetable for his return.

NBA Primetime Breaks-down the injury and its impact to the team.

With Oden's injury prone NBA track record and for how great he has played thus far in 21 games this season, it was predictable that it would only be a matter of time before the 21-year-old fell down with another injury.

The Blazers will now have to fall onto the shoulders of 7'1" center and nine year veteran Joel Przybilla, who is posting 3.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 1.3 BPG in just under 20 minutes per contest.

In past years Przybilla has served as a sub-par starter for Portland, defending opponents from attacking the basket while blocking shots and grabbing boards at a high rate.

With a starting gig the center will inevitably boost his production in every category and can ultimately fill in for the shoes of Oden, maybe.

Portland should be grateful for the fact that they have another 7 footer on the bench that could instantly enter the game and take his work ethic to the next level.

What kind of impact does this injury have to the team?

The big(ger) question for the matter would be what kind of impact does this injury have on the Blazers for playoff contention?

As of right now the Blazers (13-8) rank fifth in the West with a .619 winning percentage.

With the Western Conference always being a dogfight come playoff time, this injury will undoubtedly affect Portland's chances of both ranking high in seed and surpassing the first round of the postseason.

Like Brandon's writing? Click here to get sent to NBAPrimetime.com

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A True Fan's Reaction To The Tragic Loss Of Greg Oden

D REW — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:31:36 -0500

Only about an hour ago I watched Greg Oden go down in tonight's game versus the Houston Rockets and it was clear the injury to his right knee was serious.

It was moments ago team doctors announced the injury was a fractured left patella;he will be out for the season.

I can't...

It's just so hard to find words to write because I am too emotional. Oden was our ticket to going far in the NBA playoffs and potentially win an NBA championship. Now, it looks like our franchise has just lost 10 years down the future.

What a tragedy.

Yet Greg Oden is less a victim of bad knees, as he is a victim of an NBA that aggressively markets young players before they have a chance to prove themselves.

Michael Jordan pointed out the NBA's aggressive marketing in an interview with ESPN Magazine over a year ago and I am not surprised his wise comments did not get more attention.

The hype following Oden and Durant made the league and other outlets, a lot of ratings and money.

Stuck in-between that hype stood two little kids: Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.

Oden, it was reported, was the championship pick.

Durant, it was reported, was the playoffs pick.

Greg Oden had more pressure on him than Atlas, the Greek mythological character who allegedly balanced the entire world on his back; nature took it's course.

Greg Oden was picked over Kevin Durant as the number one draft pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by my Portland Trail Blazers;the City went crazy and they even threw him a parade.

Joy, a glorious future, the end of the constant losing,then Oden got a season ending knee injury.

A dark cloud hung over the city andOden sat his rookie season.

Yet during that season Portland would go on stretches of brilliance only to fall short of making the playoffs.

The following season, Oden was ready to start.

Yet in the first game of the season Oden goes out with an ankle injury.

When he returned weeks later Portland wisely put him in the second unit.

There, Oden contributed dramatically to help create the best second unit in the NBA and the Portland Trail Blazers won 54 games

Portland made the playoffs with home court advantage.

The City threw another parade.

However, the older Houston Rockets defeated Portland in six games, including an embarrassing Game one blowout at the Rose Garden.

Afterwards, the aggressive media hype for what would certainly be a successful 2010 season was underway.

Hype without PROOF, without a SHOW OF EFFORT, without STATISTICS or VICTORY.

Just another day of marketing for the NBA.

I felt it was a mistake to start Greg Oden this season.

Portland was so good with him coming in off the bench.

But start Oden Portland did and for awhile he put up some of the best statistics in the league and he was breaking through.

He was becoming a true first round NBA draft pick.

Then...tonight ;tonight Oden's gone for awhile.

Now a storm cloud hangs over the city, but this season is not yet done; not by a long shot.

As a true fan do not dare think otherwise.

Though Oden may not return this season he could ,anything is possible.

Thus, as a true Portland Trail Blazer fan, there is nothing to do but put your faith, heart, and prayers into Greg Oden and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Believe Oden can come back and be ready to come in off the bench late in the season.

Right now, Portland is putting up a heck-uva fight against Houston.

Let's help Portland;don't pass blame.

The Portland Trail Blazers do not need it and as fans, neither do we.

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Greg Oden to Undergo Surgery, Likely Out for the Season

Shady Botros — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:16:42 -0500

Saturday night, during a game against the Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden fractured his patella which means he’ll undergo surgery and be out for season.

It is really sad to see Greg Oden with another long term injury, especially due to the fact that Oden already suffered an injury which forced him to sit out his rookie year after being the first overall pick.

The 7 footer clutched his left knee after colliding while Aaron Brooks was driving. Oden was immediately surrounded by trainers and physicians and the Rose Garden was in shock. The game was stopped for about seven minutes and finally Oden left the court in a stretcher and was taken for some MRIs.

The previous first overall pick’s career has continued to be plagued with injuries. In case you don’t remember Oden was healthy for his year at Ohio State in which he was absolutely dominant. In fact, NBADraft.net went as far as calling Oden the next Bill Russell.

While Oden may never be the next Bill Russell he has shown some flashes and does have the tools to make him a dominant center in the NBA. Coming off an offseason in which Oden conditioned well and lost weight, Oden had been having a solid season averaging about 12 points and nine rebounds a game.

This is not the first season ending injury the Blazers have suffered as forward Travis Outlaw fractured his foot back in November.

Other injuries have plagued the Blazers such as Nicolas Batum needing surgery before the opener against Houston, forward Rudy Fernandez did not play Saturday night and it is uncertain whether he’ll be traveling with the team for the four game road trip coming up. Even Blazers head coach Nate McMillan is going to undergo surgery after rupturing his right Achilles’ tendon during practice as he will be missing the upcoming road trip and be replaced by assistant head coach Dean Demopoulos.

Back to Oden, this is a guy who is regarded as one of the nicest young players in the league. Oden has had nothing but the burden for being the guy picked first overall and more importantly being the guy picked ahead of Kevin Durant.

However, I do believe that almost every GM would’ve gone with the 7 footer due to the fact that having a dominant big man is such a rarity in this league. There are probably less than a handful of quality centers and the Blazers thought that this was their chance to get a center like Oden who had a massive upside. In fact, there is only two starting centers averaging at least 18 points and 10 rebounds, Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum.

Do I think that you can now automatically call Greg Oden a bust? Absolutely not. By the time next season rolls around Oden will be 22, and big men don’t typically peak until around 30-years-old. Which means Oden has a lot of time, and with some hard work and luck hopefully Oden can return to playing basketball, and justify prove that he can be a great center in this league.

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