Greg Oden already hurt.

Last Guardian · Post #61 » by **Last Guardian** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 12:54 pm

This is what happens when you are out of shape. The guy barely looked like he could run the floor from the start of the game. I don't know what he and his trainers were thinking when putting on all that weight. Just a little over a year ago he was 257, now he is 285. That is a crazy gain in that time span and often results in petty injuries (think Okafor). I think it would do him a world of good if he got down to 270.

Post #62 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:02 pm

shaqfan1 wrote: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.

Well he was hitting the weights when he wasn't really allowed to run.

RoyceDa59 · Post #63 » by **RoyceDa59** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:17 pm

Please basketball God's, for the sake of dynasties and Portland fans (they deserve a good run after half a decade of trouble makers), let Greg Oden be relatively healthy and play a long thorough career. We've all been waiting so long to see if the league has been blessed with another dominant center... let it be true!

My prayers are with your Portland fans, I hope Oden lives up to the hype.

GswStorm3 · Post #64 » by **GswStorm3** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:27 pm

Solid Snake wrote:This is what happens when you are out of shape. The guy barely looked like he could run the floor from the start of the game. I don't know what he and his trainers were thinking when putting on all that weight. Just a little over a year ago he was 257, now he is 285. That is a crazy gain in that time span and often results in petty injuries (think Okafor). I think it would do him a world of good if he got down to 270.

Exactly, he's packing way too many pounds.

Roger Murdock · Post #65 » by **Roger Murdock** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:11 pm

I agree that he needs to lose weight. The whole idea of putting on upper body weight with a knee injury seemed stupid to me.

However its way to early to call him a bust or a severe injury risk. Tons of players have freak accidents. I think this is more bad luck than anything.

Post #66 » by **MagicMadness** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:33 pm

RoyceDa59 wrote:Please basketball God's, for the sake of dynasties and Portland fans (they deserve a good run after half a decade of trouble makers), let Greg Oden be relatively healthy and play a long thorough career. We've all been waiting so long to see if the league has been blessed with another dominant center... let it be true!

My prayers are with your Portland fans, I hope Oden lives up to the hype.

Dwight...?

Dinty · Post #67 » by **Dinty** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:40 pm

Greg "I'm" KOden

Greg Odown

or just plain Greg the big time Bust.

I rather like all of these nickys.

Berzerker · Post #68 » by **Berzerker** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:41 pm

Greg Olden

Greg Odamnmykneejustbrokein5places

Forest · Post #69 » by **Forest** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:42 pm

Basically take away all Dwight Howards athletic ability, coordination, and agressiveness and you will have Greg Oden. I am not sure Oden even looks faster than Yao Ming down the court.

YaoisGodsAnswer · Post #70 » by **YaoisGodsAnswer** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:47 pm

Why come back for 1 more year when your already 45, Hang it up Greg.

Dinty · Post #71 » by **Dinty** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:01 pm

YaoisGodsAnswer wrote:Why come back for 1 more year when your already 45, Hang it up Greg.

He must be like Jesus, he disappear for a year(last year) and come back 20-30 years old. :lol:

Ming Kong! · Post #72 » by **Ming Kong!** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:19 pm

Damn people are being tough on the Blazers. They just added Rudy Fernandez, an overnight UPGRADE. They make the playoffs alone on getting him. 6th or 7th depends on how much Oden can play. This is not even a real injury, it's a sprain, just a couple of days out, I doubt he misses more than 2 or 3 games.

Post #73 » by **The Rebel** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:22 pm

shaqfan1 wrote: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. .

You are right he is not like Sam Bowie, who at least had some healthy seasons in college. Oden has found one way or another to be injured since high school. While a relatively minor injury, to ignore that he has been injured throughout the last three years, and has played a total of 13 minutes since he was drafted, is ignoring the fact that he is injury prone.

He is also not like Bargnani, who while being a disappointment still steps on the court every night to put up his bad numbers.

I would say it was a safe bet that any realistic person would look at the numbers and play of Durant and Horford and wish that the Blazers would have taken one of them, after all they both have shown they can be solid players in the league, while Oden has been playing Xbox for the last year.

shaqfan1 wrote: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.

Use any reason you want, but the fact of the matter is that the guy got injured once again, he may not play enough to ever get into game shape at this point. And if you think that defending him by saying he looked like he had not picked up a ball in a year is helping the case that he is not a bust helps your case, you are sadly mistaken.

AS for his future, given the fact that one leg is longer then the other, and he has had these problems for so long, the fact of the matter is that freak injuries like this are going to occur, and major back and leg problems will as well. The poor guy may never be healthy again.

HarlemHeat37 · Post #74 » by **HarlemHeat37** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:24 pm

Oden looks old jokes? still? people need to get more creative..

I hate how we've been robbed of seeing Yao Ming with full health..now it looks like Oden will be similar..the NBA needs some big man rivalries..we've been robbed of KG vs. Duncan because of Kevin McHale..I don't want to miss out on some good big man rivalries of this era..we have enough swingmen in the NBA, we need some more dominant bigs..

East_Coast · Post #75 » by **East_Coast** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:28 pm

Solid Snake wrote:This is what happens when you are out of shape.

Agreed. He also looked like he wasn't mentally ready for the speed of a regular season game. He'll be much better with time, but will never be the Messiah people are trying to make him out to be.

20MexicanosIn1Van · Post #76 » by **20MexicanosIn1Van** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:31 pm

I don't know if he was so slow running up and down the court because he is out of shape, or if its because the knee still isn't right. It is probably a combinatoin of both. Either way, I really hope he gets healthy and in shape. He seems very nice, very smart, very competitive, and very humble. It would really be a shame if it all goes to waste because of injuries.

Basketball skill wise, Greg Oden is the type of player that relied on his athleticism and injuries obviously can hamper that. Offensively, he looked extremely raw. Some of his little hook shots looked like he has just pushing the ball in the general direction of the hoop. He was very good on the boards, especially the offensive boards. Defensively speaking, with his athleticism before the microfracture he could have really been an intimadator but now he has to rely on skill and strength. With that said, I think he could still very well be a great defensive player.

I wouldn't say he's a bust. He's got what it takes, but will his health keep up is the big question.

Greg, I'm pulling for you! I think you deserve it!

(Rudy Fernandez really impressed me)

TonyMontana · Post #77 » by **TonyMontana** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:53 pm

All I can say is I feel bad for him and Portlands Org.
I hope he gets better.

breaker91 · Post #78 » by **breaker91** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:01 pm

As a Blazer fan I'm stressed out at this. You can analyze it and pick it apart many different ways, but I feel he will come back. He injuried his foot on the 3rd play of the game and that as opposed to his conditioning, which needs to improve, is why he was consistently being beaten down the court. He is probably out for5 or 6 games. Word in the Portland paper today was that he was running on it during halftime, but he couldn't go at full speed.

This is pretty frustrating, but any reasonable person would give it some more time before second guessing the draft or throwing the bust tag on him.

Post #79 » by **rsavaj** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:19 pm

Sounds like he was doing his rehab a lot differently than Amare: http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... s-and.html

the fact that he bulked up too much is a bit of an issue as well.

Joana · Post #80 » by **Joana** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:31 pm

If I was the Blazers, I would be more concerned about finding a way of scoring points in the paint. Oden, healthy or not, won't do it, and they are a Brandon Roy "still good,but not exactly stellar season" away from a lottery ticket. Rudy won't be that good, or useful, until he improves his defense. Running would help them a lot, but that's a complete impossibility with Oden on the floor.