Oden just ran 4 miles with elliot williams. Knee should be 100% then ewill901 Just finished a 4 mile run with @godenboy2250 4 minutes ago via Echofon
Here's my take on GO's injuries: It's been more bad luck than anything chronic. Sure the guy has been injured a ton, but none of them have been reoccuring. You could make the case that his bone chip and fractured patella were connected, but that's slim. Andrew Bynum, on the other hand, I would have worries about. Brandon Roy gives me pause. Greg's injuries have just been bad luck. The MF was a major recovery, but was a minor injury. Tearing a knee cartilage is nothing. The ankle injury and the bone chip were just things that happen on a basketball court. The patella break was a freak injury and more a result of him having nothing to do but lift rather than actually playing basketball. In fact, viewed from another perspective, it's pretty amazing that GO's quads are so strong they can split a bone in two. What's frustrating for me (and I'm sure GO and the Blazers) is that this guy has had almost no opportunity to work on his game. He's had to spend all his time rehabbing or getting into shape. This guy has been putting in a ton of work with almost no payoff, yet he still has a pretty good attitude. I think when he finally gets a run of decent health, he's going to rip this league in half. I think that guy has three years of frustration built up and is probably pretty tired of hearing about Kevin Durant. In short, I expected Greg to be a force this year. Our challenge is going to be how to best use him.
No doubt MaxieP I'd even go so far as to say that this whole entire process has made him a stronger person and player in the long run. I really think they should increase the age requirement for the NBA.
Yep, these points about his injuries seem to be lost on most knee jerk reaction ( ) posters across all NBA forums. I also want to add, McMillan better run plays for that guy for god sake especially when opposing centers are giving up two inches in height and 40 lbs in weight. God that drove me nuts last season.
The other good thing is that he is 2 years post microfracture now. That seems to be a key time-frame.
I'm fine with him setting picks and the occasional slam from Andre's passes and focusing his energy on D and controlling the boards on both ends. Portland has plenty of offense as is and Greg being used opportunistically rather then as a focus on O makes more sense to me... besides, his low post game isn't exactly Duncanesk where I'd want to run things through him STOMP
While he's not Duncan in the low post, he draws double-teams and is a good and willing passer. I don't necessarily want Oden taking the most shots, but I do want the team to leverage his ability to force the defense out of position in half court sets, which means getting the ball to him in the post a fair amount. If he has a mismatch and his footwork is progressing, he can attempt to score. Otherwise, his next development needs to be able to feel the double-team and make a good pass. Even if he doesn't score a ton, that will greatly upgrade Portland's offense, IMO.
Mr. Barrett, is that you??? I'm probably the biggest Oden defender on here, but I'm not going to kid myself that all of his injuries were freak accidents. Hopefully, you can both prove me wrong.
