Greg Oden: How His Season-Ending Injury Will Affect Portland Trail Blazers
Greg Oden is officially done for the rest of the season, and the Portland Trail Blazers are once again left without the 2007 first overall NBA draft pick.
Where do the Blazers find themselves yet again without their young player? Can they still be successful? Let's take a look at the good old crystal ball!
The Blazers currently have two active centers, Sean Marks and Marcus Camby. I am not the least bit intimidated looking at either of these guys!
Camby provides some very good defensive advantages, but Sean Marks has averaged three points per game throughout his illustrious career.
In terms of offense, Portland has no options in the paint aside from 6'11" power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who is fading further out of the paint due to the improvements in his jump shot.
The Blazers also have some solid guards and small forwards like Brandon Roy, Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez and Andre Miller just to list a few. This gives them the ability to run different lineups of varying sizes and speeds.
They also have Joel Przybilla, who is coming off an injury-shortened season and is scheduled to return soon. Yet again, his average is only four points per game through his career.
With the loss of Greg Oden, the coaching staff will have to seriously re-work the lineup and try to find ways to win without a young strong center in the paint.
Camby is 36 and Marks is 35, and you can't expect these two to carry any more than they are right now, which is a very sad statement when looking at their production.
Unfortunately, the Blazers might be forced to trade one of their many young players in order to acquire a solid center. Not even because of this season, but for the next one. Who knows what will happen to Oden?
The Blazers need to make some serious changes, now that one of their most pivotal players is out.
Greg Oden has only played 82 NBA games since being the first overall draft pick in 2007. That is just ridiculous. The sad part is that when he plays, he shows some serious sparks of talent and could have made a name for himself in this league.
The Trail Blazers were considered one of the top teams before this season started and one has to wonder whether they can still compete.
The Blazers have a very talented lineup and can put together a pretty good season, but in the long run they just don't have the amount of talent needed to make up for the lack of size.
They should make the playoffs, but it would be difficult for me to see them make a deep run, especially if the injuries continue to pop up.
Thank you for reading and please leave a comment and share your thoughts!
