Oden and Joel both practicing before the game and on the road trip

from what I saw during the pregame, and from what was said by all the tv guys, it seems like both our bigs are moving well.

I was worried when I heard a few days ago that Oden participated in a 5 on 5, that there would be all sorts of swelling afterwards. However, the fact that Joel and Greg are already practicing again tells me that they are feeling pretty good right now.

This Blazer squad is playing pretty well right now, but it is obvious that they really need a deep post player since both LMA and Camby tend to play a few feet away from the basket. It looks to me, that Greg and Joel might be coming back sooner than I thought, and then the Blazers can take over the NBA.

 

Yeah, but Greg said during the game tonight that there isn't a time-table, which still concerns me. He didn't seem super anxious to get back on the floor.

 

that does not concern me at all. I am pretty sure that just as a precaution the Blazer brass has made it very well known to Oden that he is not to say there is a timetable. And to be honest, there really might not be one. He may be fine to join the team in 3 weeks (I just chose a time), and that might be what everyone is expecting, but with all the setbacks that have happened in the past, they might just not look at it or talk about it as a timetable, just what they hope happens.

 

as GOD said above, I believe Greg has been directly told by management to not say anything other than the party line. Greg will be back when he's back.

 

The words don't really matter to me, but I think you're right that there's a degree of tentativeness. I suspect that he doesn't want to come back while he's still a little stiff and hurting (but not hurt) and struggle to produce, which is probably smart, because if he does come back and can't perform at a high level then there's going to be an avalanche of bust talk on the forums and in the general media.

My honest opinion? I think he's a little afraid of failing at this point -- and who can blame him.

 

I agree but I also think that confidence can be a tricky thing and work both ways. If he waits till he feels 100% and comes back and plays well early on then he will build on that confidence a lot quicker.

 

The lack of a timetable still seems odd to me. Are any goals or benchmarks being set for Greg's rehab? I can't blame the guy for seeming tentative or confused if he really does not have any sort of way to measure his progress.

 

My guess is there is a time table. They just don't want to tell us in case it is not met. Because obvioulsy the first few have not been met and that never sits well with fans or the media.

 

Lack of a timetable takes pressure off Greg. I don't think that's a bad thing.

 

Perhaps. It could also backfire and lead to uncertainty and self-doubt in Greg's mind.

 

Well I think the reality that Greg knows is, this is really his last chance. If he gets hurt again, he is most likely done in this league. So should he take his time? You bet he should. His whole career rides on it.

 

then is thats the case.... greg is done before he starts

I mean he will 150% be hurt again but the question will be.... how serious?

 

I doubt that, even if he suffers another season ending injury if he wants to come back and is physically able to play there's no doubt in my mind some team would take the chance on him.

 

Personally, I think it's lack of a public timetable. I think management and the doctors and maybe even Greg have a pretty good idea internally about when they expect him to return. But what's the benefit of making that private internal timetable public? I don't really see any. If he misses it, it'll be another "Greg Oden fails again!" story in the media. If he makes it or even beats it, nobody will care that the timetable existed all along because we're all just happy to see Oden. So there's really no upside to letting the world know when they hope to see him back.

 

I agree completely, fans have shown that they're gonna bitch timetable or not, so why put a schedule on it?

 

Maybe because he was a #1 pick. But in the past, I have seen a few centers who by the time they got through their 4th year really didn't play any minutes by that point due to injury, the league as a whole gives up on them. Robert Swift in Seattle comes to mind. Right now, Greg Oden's career is going just like Swifts did. Lots of promise. Never lived up to. Swift ended up giving up after 4 years of constant injuries.

I guess what I am saying is, if by the time his 4th year ends, if he still can't play significant minutes, then chances are, it's never going to happen. He isn't getting any younger. His ability to bounce back from injury is going to get worse every year.

 

Wow, your post makes no sense and is really difficult to read. Slow down, re-read, use a spell checker. Punctuation and grammar help too.

 

All true, but Greg has shown a lot more ability and potential than someone like Swift and teams overpay for bigs with potential all the time. If the worst case scenario played out this year and he can't stay relatively healthy there's at least a handful of teams that would love to treat him like Houston is treating Yao for a minimum contract. If Greg suffers another significant injury this year I don't think him coming back will have anything to do with whether teams are interested, I think it would be more on whether or not Greg thinks it's the best thing for himself to keep trying.

 

I think he is serious because that is what I got out of the interview.