Dang, take a look at his left arm in the picture of Oden fighting off Dwight for the rebound... http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/12/blazers_give_it_up_for_oden.html That is one, huge, ripped arm!! That is ridiculous. ok, enough man-love from me.
Who cares about the picture and the size of Greg's guns, that's a really decent article on Greg ... some of it really confirms for me that he's got one of those introspective, glass half-full kind of personalities, when it comes to looking at himself and his performance on the court. I really hope he figures out a way to cope, because that kind of sensitivity and lack of ego -- while admirable as a human being -- probably won't serve him as a professional athlete who plays one of the most difficult and physical positions in all of sport.
All of this talk of him being a "downer" and not living up to expectations is going to look really silly in a few months. Greg's gonna be alright.
Funny, sounds kind of like Roy, he is team oriented and lack of ego too but no one says it's a negative.
Quick called him a downer, but that was about a week ago methinks. Now he's writing about how well he's doing, how much his team respects and enjoys him, and how the coaches are pleased with him. Quite the flip flop. The bottom line is this: Oden is still very young, is still recovering, and is still learning to play in the NBA. He struggles against other good centers (such as Howard last night), but does well when the other team doesn't have a strong Center. In time Greg will learn to battle with the best though, trust me. I think the most positive thing that is happening to Greg is the fact that he's getting playing time. He's healthy, getting in better shape every game, and it's starting to feel that the "injury plagued career" remarks are a thing of the past.
I hate that I'm doing this, but whatever... Greg needs to suck it up and just play. It's not as if he's the first player with these kinds of expectations, and he certainly won't be the last. Quick writing this sort of article, or the team applauding him for one good game only further puts a microscope on his life.
What action or comment of Oden's is this a response to? As far as I've seen, he has just played. And quite well, all things considered, despite the panicked comments of some fans.
Like this for example. My initial comment was not restricted to this one quote either. It was more of a blanket statement at how he always seems concerned about what others think about him and his play. Forget all that, and just ball.
Forget all what? Again, I really still can't tell what you're reacting to. Forget having emotions or thoughts? It's not like he's saying it affects his play or makes him not want to play basketball. He simply said it bothers him. If he simply said "No comment" to every interviewer, he'd be villified like Rasheed Wallace was. From all accounts, he works hard and is extremely coachable. I've seen no indications that he's not trying his best. What specifically are you advocating he do differently? Avoid interviews?
I usually avoid clicking Quick articles to avoid contributing to his bottom line, but I clicked this one without thinking. Anyhoo, it seems Jason pumped out this article is a response to his naked asinine comments on the radio the other day about how he as the Blazer Beat reporter only wants to cover players he personally likes (cough cough Damon). What a cockroach. Here's the part of the piece that I liked (I can only hope it's true for Greg and every other Blazer)... He says he doesn't read articles, watch sports shows or listen to sports talk radio Think thats on management's suggestion? It's unfortunate that Portland's media is made up of ridiculous fountains of hyperbole like Quick and Canzano, but I certainly don't blame generation after generation of players for tuning them out and then being turned upon. Blazer fans deserve better then Quick... why should we be stuck with this annoying twit as our ambassador to all things Blazers? Does he have pictures of somebody or what? NEXT! STOMP
What I'm getting at is that his play might be affected by all the pressure he is putting on himself. And the fact the he acknowledged that "it" (comments by sports writers, shows, etc leading to more unnecessary pressure) bothers is a sign that his mind is not clear.
I see what you are saying and Greg doesn't seem to have that "fuck it" attitude right now and isn't playing with a clear mind. Once his body comes back, his mind will follow. I'm sure Greg is feeling the pressure on himself because he knows he can be dominant, but his feel for the game and his explosiveness isn't back yet. Despite what he says, he's not 100%. It's just going to take time.
I would rather have that bother a player than one that didn't care. I agree it shouldn't bother him to a degree that it hurts his game, but I don't think it is. He just wants to get better and I admire that. Let him use that as incentive. I really don't think he needs it.
Agreed absolutely. You know, there is an emotionally needy, self-obsessed individual involved here, but it's not Oden, it's Jason Quick. The nail in the coffin was his little story of him reporting himself telling Brandon how proud he was to be voting Obama. WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, you moron.
