Greg Oden already hurt.

[boogydown]

They would be sitting nicely if they had Durant.

Roy
Rudy
Durant
Aldridge
Joel

[the southern dandy]

I was wondering why Oden played so few minutes tonight, so it all makes sense now. Still though he was playing pretty poorly before the injury. I hope he comes back soon though.

[NO-KG-AI]

6 games out of 5 years?

LeBron hasn't played a full season in his career, he's missed at least 2 every year. Not that it's bad, but the statements is false...

[candy for lunch]

i heard the va is excellent at rehabbing these kinds of injuries

[shaqfan1]

What the hell is wrong with you people? Yes, I know that some of the posts in this thread have been made to rub it into the faces of Blazers fans who vastly overrated their team and their players on this board, but some of the comments made about Oden in this thread are ridiculous. No, this injury does not prove he is a bust or even injury prone. No, it is not a fact that the Blazers would have been better off with Kevin Durant or Al Horford. And no, Oden is not the next Sam Bowie or a worse number 1 pick than Bargnani (LOL). This was a freak injury and not a serious injury. He finished out the half on that ankle. He probably didn't play in the second half because of precautionary reasons.

The injury was not the reason why he played bad today. More than anything, he played bad because he looked to be out of shape. I think all of the stories we heard from Blazers fans about how Oden has spent the past year in the gym working on his game were BS. The guy looked like he hasn't picked up a basketball in a year. Even if he was in the gym, he must have been lifting weights and completely ignored his conditioning because he was struggling to make it to the other side of the court on defense before the Lakers put up a shot. I think we will truly get a handle on who Greg Oden is as a player by December/January once he gets in game shape.

[Dtown84]

Hope it's minor and he's able to stay relatively healthy for the rest of the season, hate to see potential just relegated to the bench. It's one thing if he turns out to be a bust, but I'd hate to see talent wasted.

[vincecarter4pres]

There is a reason why some guys get injured a lot other than just bad luck. Some players are just very limber and can roll off blows or falls avoiding injury. Guys like Jordan, Malone, Stockton and currently James and Kobe almost never got injured. Those guys are as physical as anyone in the NBA and constantly getting contact but their agility and responsiveness of their bodies avoid those injures.

Other player, especially big men, are stiffed limbed and easily get injured.

I didn't check the other guys you listed, but Kobe has been far from healthy in his career.
He is literally more injury prone then VC or even McGrady.

He seems to have a trend of 2-3 seasons where he plays 70 something to 82 games and then has 3 seasons in a row where he misses around 15-30 games each of those seasons.

This pattern has repeated itself like 2 or 3 times in his career.
He is actually coming to the 1st season of the injured seasons part of the pattern this year.
One can only hope.

[Friend_Of_Haley]

You can say it was a freak injury and that it doesn't prove that he is injury prone, but any new injuries that he sustains just make future injuries more likely.

It's a different sport and not a perfect parallel, but I'll use it anyways. A few years ago (2004 and 2005) people were discussing whether or not Mark Prior was injury prone. He had a pretty minor injury early in 2004(achilles), and then as I recall had a freak injury where I think a line drive ball his his elbow. And I think there may have been another relatively freak injury of a collision on the base paths. Anyways, there was a relatively minor achilles injury that caused him to miss time. That achilles heal injury, was speculated by some to change his mechanics by compensating, which put added strain on his arm. Then in 2005 a freak line drive ball sidelines him. Probably causes him to change his mechanics more. Everything catches up to him, he pitches 43 innings in 2006 and hasn't played a major league game since.

Now, pitching mechanics are a little more problematic than running and jumping, but what about when all that running and jumping is done on a really big guy (7'0" 285). Even minor injuries may change your motions. Tweak one ankle and you compensate by putting more weight on the other, for example landing more on one leg. Now your opposite ankle and knee might take more of a pounding. Other things like that. Now some of those concerns can be somewhat avoided by not rushing guys and fully rehabbing players, but let's be honest there's gonna be a lot of pressure to see him produce and there's a chance that he comes back, even from a minor injury too early, and screws himself up worse.

Bottom line, there were injury-prone concerns about him already. He's carries a lot of weight, which doesn't help those concerns. Freak injury or not, any injury you sustain has the chance of creating further complications down the line. Greg Oden has sustained two injuries. There is definitely reason for concern.

[szimab01]

i feel sorry for Oden, i really do. I just have a real bad feeling that injuries are going to have a large bearing upon how Oden develops as an NBA player. He's already under a great deal of pressure and the signs arent exactly promising so far. He looked really nervous tonight. His offence has got a long way to go.... actually a very long way to go. I was impressed with Rudy though. He is going to be a steal for the Blazers.

[realfung]

The black cloud really is surrounding him.

[Berzerker]

B U S T

[prekazi]

man this is horrible

[Blame Rasho]

Right now the signs look like he is a very gimpy player. I know that I would depressed once more if I was a Blazer fan.

[DaDragicShow]

This guy is injury prone, I wouldn even want him on my team.

[UDRIH14]

i wonder whats his trade value is worth, if this continues to be a major problem...

[5DOM]

i wonder whats his trade value is worth, if this continues to be a major problem...

well. if this continues to be a major problem. i doubt he'd be worth much.

[Vega]

Progeria is a terrible curse.

That's pretty funny, someone was joking about Oden and that disease at the bar I was watching the game at tonight. Even without diseases though some people do age at different rates. Some guys start to go bald at 15 while others are barely finishing puberty at that age. I've also seen 60 year olds who look like and are as fit as a 40 year old, and I've seen 60 year olds who you'd swear were 80.

I guess I won't feel comfortable with Oden until he's played 20 consecutive games. Guys like D12 you get excited when they catch the ball near the hoop, where as with Oden you just find yourself getting nervous that he'll break something.

[Magilla_Gorilla]

I hope they keep him out until he gets some of his cardio back. He really looked to be laboring out there in limited minutes. He's still not fully recovered from the first surgery, lets give him some time to at least get in shape before throwing him out there.

[hoop_head]

Tough start to the year for Oden, hopefully the MRI won't find anything significant.

[Flash3]

You can see him out there that the kid does have the skills and the makings to be a great player in this league, but he's going to have to try to stay healthy.

I'm pulling for this kid, because this league needs this kid to be something so that other younger kids growing up can say "Look at Oden, and how he is dominating the league @ the 5 position. I want to be just like him!" -- Instead of "Look @ Rashard Lewis, I wanna be like him!"

We have way too many players in this league who want to remain on the perimeter and shoot, and very few of the Bynum, Oden, Howard like players.

We could use a few more....