Greg Oden had an MRI on Saturday that revealed a bone chip in his left knee. The Portland center banged the left knee against Golden State’s Corey Maggette in the Blazers’ 105-98 loss Thursday and sat out the Rookie Challenge game Friday at NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. Advertisement Oden, the 2006 Indianapolis Star Indiana Mr. Basketball out of Lawrence North, missed the 2007-08 NBA season after surgery on his right knee. After the Rookie Challenge game, Oden said he likely would have played if it were a regular-season game. Oden is averaging nine points and 7.2 rebounds for the Blazers, who entered the All-Star break in fourth place in the Western Conference. The No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft is scheduled to return to Portland on Tuesday. This latest setback comes as 7-foot center was starting to find some rhythm with five double doubles the past 12 games. http://www.indystar.com/article/20090215/SPORTS04/90215020 What a bummer. Sad to see a young guy just get back only to fall again.
No kidding but man what are the chances Portland pulled that again.. And there still a damn good team without Oden.. I can hear it now in 5 years .. What if this, What if that.
Has Portland ever had a center that could stay on the court? Think of all the potential they've had in their centers: Bill Walton Arvydas Sabonis Sam Bowie Greg Oden (??) <br> Talk about a curse...
Best passing big man. Man I wish to see how his career had turned out if he didn't have the knee problems.
This stinks, I like Oden a lot. It's a shame he can't stay out on the court. .....and yeah, whether Portland admits it or not you know they're kicking themselves for passing on whoever this Kevin Durant guy is. I mean, he's okaaay I guess. Right??
One of the Oregonian writers would beg to differ, but I'm with you. I've believed from day 1 that KD would be an NBA superstar. He has the competitive tenacity to keep improving and push himself to whatever his limits are. Players with his talent and motivation don't come around very often. A first I thought Oden would likely be a bust, but no longer. He has a good chance to be a dominant center if he stays healthy. After a year off from basketball because of surgery, his progression from the beginning of the season to the present is stunning. Inconsistency and foul trouble are his major problems now. If Oden refines the drop-step and improves his hook shot (neither of which he could do at all to start the season), he could be a 20/15 guy for many years. It will take a while for that to happen. http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...f/2009/02/dont_measure_oden_by_what_dura.html Don't measure Oden by what Durant does Posted by John Canzano, The Oregonian February 15, 2009 15:17PM A couple of summers ago, in the weeks leading to the Trail Blazers wonderfully difficult Greg Oden vs. Kevin Durant draft-day decision, general manager Kevin Pritchard did something strange. He tipped his hand. I don't think he could help himself. And I don't think he even realized he did it. Pritchard was conducting nonstop interviews with national media outlets in what felt like 15-minute intervals. He was burning through three cell phone batteries a day, and saying all the right things publicly. I was in his office to observe and write a column about how fried he was, and on that day it was late afternoon and he hadn't had a thing to eat all day. But he was dishing the dirt. Said Pritchard: "We think Durant is so good he's going to be a 10-time All-Star." Then, he rubbed his temples. "But we think Oden might win 10 championships." It was as simple as that. And in the subsequent weeks he gave no indication publicly of which way the team was leaning, and in fact, it felt like the Blazers threw up a series of smoke screens. But I hoped Pritchard would go with Oden over Durant because the real aim in building a team should be winning big, not saving face. Durant scored 46 points against air in the rookie-sophomore game on Friday. But I'm more impressed by what he's doing in the last month in regular-season games. He's on his way, and he's going to win scoring titles, and break scoring records, and Pritchard's All-Star prediction might end up conservative. Oden has been inconsistent his rookie season. He's raw on both ends of the floor. His offensive game is limited to a jump hook (either hand) and a dunk. That's it. Also, he is slow to react defensively at times, plays erratic team defense, and finds himself out of position too often. Also, he's been hurt. The knee. The ankle. The ankle II. Now, this patella-chip thing in his knee. Still, Portland got the right guy. I'm convinced of it. And I'm thinking those on the outside looking in, those who don't see Oden in practice and night to night, you know, the ones snickering at the Blazers today, are missing the point. Durant was the safe selection who would have made the Blazers look immediately brilliant. I suspect Pritchard knew that when he picked Oden. And it's probably testing his patience and his ego some to watch Durant badly outperform Oden, especially on All-Star weekend where Oden sat out injured and Durant performed like Moses in sneakers. But when the Blazers picked Oden two drafts ago, they were announcing that they were more interested in a winner who could anchor a team than a spectacular offensive player who would win lots of individual awards. Remember, Durant's Texas team had been eliminated in Spokane on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament a few months before the draft while Ohio State played on to the national championship game, with Oden carrying his team, one-handed, against three Florida NBA first-round picks. Oden drew comparisons to Bill Russell, who made the NBA Finals his first 10 seasons in the league. And those weren't fair, in part, because Russell didn't leave college after one season. Outsiders looking in are going to pick up box scores, and see hiccups in Oden's consistency this season. They're going to see injuries. They're going to see a guy who is soft-spoken, and in foul trouble some nights as he learns the league's officials (and they learn him). Then, they'll look over at Durant who is Dali-creative with a basketball in his hands, and they're going to make a snap judgment about the Blazers' decision-making. Let them talk. Let them giggle. Let them shake their heads. Over the next 18 months it's going to take great restraint by team executives, players and Blazers fans to not lose faith. Because Durant is going to keep doing what he's doing. And Oden is going to continue to have off nights followed by spectacular nights. It's the long haul that matters at One Center Court. And in the end, we must not judge Oden against Durant, but rather, against the idea that he's supposed to be the starting center on an NBA Finals entry. If he falls short of that, call him the wrong choice, but not before that. Durant is doing what he should be doing. But so is Oden. And I'm thinking the Blazers figured they could find a scoring small forward easier than a 7-foot impact center. They may answer that before next Thursday's trade deadline, or in the summer with a free agent. But they'll have to answer it, one way or another. Oden has been a factor in the last month on the floor for Portland. He blocked six shots in a game a week ago. He's setting career highs for rebounds and points, then re-setting them. What we're witnessing is growth, and promise. It's the bottom line that matters now. Because Oden was the right pick two summers ago. And if that draft were held again today, I don't think the Blazers could do anything but pick the big man again. He's still the right choice, even now. -- John Canzano: 503-294-5065; JohnCanzano@aol.com Catch him on the radio on "The Bald-Faced Truth," 3-6 p.m. weekdays on KXTG (95.5).
Pritchard made a big mistake. That's about it. A trio of Aldridge, Durant, and Roy would have made the Blazers a perennial playoff team for years to come.
