The comments in response to your link are just as meaningful.</p> There is a reason people are comparing the situation with Oden to the situation with Bowie. How is Bowie's name even being conjured up in the first place?</p> </p>
Oden COULD become a Sam Bowie, but to prematurely say he is like Sam Bowie (like many people have) is downright stupid. His knee problem is the first he's ever had. Like I said Bowie had to sit out 2 years at Kentucky and didn't even really stack up to Odens freshman year statistics with one wrist mind you. Bowie's leg problems were widely known, Oden is a first timer with a knee injury. Compare him to a fellow MF surgery recipient, not Bowie who's injuryis completely unrelated.
Sam Bowie was 21 also when he had his first major leg injury, correct? While it is only one injury, its a major one, that makes him more susceptible to injuries in the future. Whats to say that Randolph and Stoudemire don't have a second knee injury, and then become eternally injured? You have to have a first injury, and this is Oden's first. Oden has two legs of different lengths by a significant amount, therefore making one leg compensate more so for his body weight, making him more susceptible to injuries. Also, people are completely ignoring that he has a back problem. While these back problems don't hinder your play, they can definitely hinder you from actually playing in games. Look at Emeka Okafor, he's one of the best centers in the league when healthy, but he just can't. Then you have a guy like Ben Wallace, who had back problems spring up, he had his back injury spring up in the Pistons series, making him pretty much useless. </p> I wouldn't feel good if I was a Blazers fan. Putting injuries aside, Oden never has seemed like that motivated of a player to be great. He isn't the type of guy that will be busting his ass at the practice center a week after getting eliminated from the playoffs like a Ben Gordon or Kobe Bryant. He doesn't seem to have that competitive edge for greatness. But when you look at the injuries also, knee and back problems....at 19! This guy is on track for being the worst case of injuries derailing a career, more so than Bowie.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BG7 Lavigne)</div><div class='quotemain'> Sam Bowie was 21 also when he had his first major leg injury, correct? While it is only one injury, its a major one, that makes him more susceptible to injuries in the future. Whats to say that Randolph and Stoudemire don't have a second knee injury, and then become eternally injured? You have to have a first injury, and this is Oden's first. Oden has two legs of different lengths by a significant amount, therefore making one leg compensate more so for his body weight, making him more susceptible to injuries. Also, people are completely ignoring that he has a back problem. While these back problems don't hinder your play, they can definitely hinder you from actually playing in games. Look at Emeka Okafor, he's one of the best centers in the league when healthy, but he just can't. Then you have a guy like Ben Wallace, who had back problems spring up, he had his back injury spring up in the Pistons series, making him pretty much useless. </p> I wouldn't feel good if I was a Blazers fan. Putting injuries aside, Oden never has seemed like that motivated of a player to be great. He isn't the type of guy that will be busting his ass at the practice center a week after getting eliminated from the playoffs like a Ben Gordon or Kobe Bryant. He doesn't seem to have that competitive edge for greatness. But when you look at the injuries also, knee and back problems....at 19! This guy is on track for being the worst case of injuries derailing a career, more so than Bowie.</p></div> Odens surgery was on a part of the knee no bigger than your pinky nail and on a non weight bearing part of the knee. Your overreacting but I expect this from you because you have been an Oden hater since the draft.</p>
Thinking that Durant would be better than Oden doesn't make me an Oden hater. Not ignoring Oden's major injury problems does not make me an Oden hater. It just makes me a realist. </p> Am I wrong for thinking that a guy who cannot stay healthy at just 19 years old will go on to have an injury prone NBA career, keeping him from being great? I don't think so. Its not like Oden is as healthy as an ox, and I'm just calling him injury prone. The guy actually is injury prone. The NBA season will be 82 games long, at least 98 if the Blazers are going for their championship aspirations like some expect. Oden's body just won't be able to handle that type of rigor, and with his lack of a strong work ethic, his skill development likely will not be enough to overcome his new physical limitations. </p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BG7 Lavigne)</div><div class='quotemain'> Thinking that Durant would be better than Oden doesn't make me an Oden hater. Not ignoring Oden's major injury problems does not make me an Oden hater. It just makes me a realist. </p> Am I wrong for thinking that a guy who cannot stay healthy at just 19 years old will go on to have an injury prone NBA career, keeping him from being great? I don't think so. Its not like Oden is as healthy as an ox, and I'm just calling him injury prone. The guy actually is injury prone. The NBA season will be 82 games long, at least 98 if the Blazers are going for their championship aspirations like some expect. Oden's body just won't be able to handle that type of rigor, and with his lack of a strong work ethic, his skill development likely will not be enough to overcome his new physical limitations. </p></div> What makes you personally know Oden has a horrible work ethic? You mean the same reporters that all across the nation stated ZBo is lazy and doesnt work out? ZBo is one hell of a hard workers with a great work ethic. You think someone with a horrible work ethic could play half a college season with their non dominant hand (which he barely used before he had to) and dominate in college the way he did? Fact is Durant will be a great player, but he was not what Portland needed. With Durant the Blazers continue to be a mediocre defensive team, and as we all know quite well, Defense wins championships</p>
we'll have to wait and see...it's just not promising to have so much injury back to back at 19...the one leg longer than the other issue has got to be a concern...</p> in the meantime KD is polishing a spot on his bookshelf for the ROY trophy as we type...</p>
You have to wonder about Portland being cursed in the big man department. They showed a history of big men who had injury problems after Portland selected them. It started with Bill Walton, then Mycal Thompson, the previously mentioned Sam Bowie, and now Greg Oden.
The Blazers getting guff about Sam Bowie is lame. What would you do going back in time to the draft without knowing Jordan would blow up? Portland was sitting there with an All-NBA 2nd team SG in Paxson, and an up and coming SG in Clyde Drexler drafted the year before. The Blazers needed another big man and lost the coin toss to Houston, where they would have taken Olajuwon as well if they had won the toss.
I hate how people talk like this was easy to predict, when in reality it's just a case of hindsight being 20/20. The Blazers did their due diligence when investigating his health before the draft, and they realized that there wasn't anything serious enough to overshadow his great talent. Just like the Sonics believed Durant's talent wasn't overshadowed by the fact that he couldn't benchpress worth shit.
Here is a great article where Dwight Jaynes says....</p> "And for those who can’t get over Bowie and are invoking his name, give it a rest. It reflects a lack of knowledge of the situation."</p> http://portlandtribune.com/sports/story.ph...971719177040900</p>
Like I've said before, if you want to compare Greg Oden to Bowie compare him to David Bowie. He's more like him than he's like Sam. </p> Oden physically is on a whole 'nutha level than Bowie ever was. </p>
I honestly wouldn't worry too much about this. It's better to find out now than later. From my understanding, this is going to be a very similar knee surgery in comparison to the one that Amare just had a yearish ago. We all saw how good he was when he come back. Right now, the surgery isn't even the matter. How he responds to rehab is. As long as he puts in the work to get that knee healthy, I wouldn't worry about it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney)</div><div class='quotemain'>I hate how people talk like this was easy to predict, when in reality it's just a case of hindsight being 20/20. The Blazers did their due diligence when investigating his health before the draft, and they realized that there wasn't anything serious enough to overshadow his great talent. Just like the Sonics believed Durant's talent wasn't overshadowed by the fact that he couldn't benchpress worth shit.</div></p> I doubt the Blazers did their due diligence. Bulls passed on Roy last year, because of his predraft medical....Blazers took him, and low and behold, those injury problems crop up. Same thing with Oden. Time for Portland to start doing their due diligence.</p> </p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BG7 Lavigne)</div><div class='quotemain'> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney)</div><div class='quotemain'>I hate how people talk like this was easy to predict, when in reality it's just a case of hindsight being 20/20. The Blazers did their due diligence when investigating his health before the draft, and they realized that there wasn't anything serious enough to overshadow his great talent. Just like the Sonics believed Durant's talent wasn't overshadowed by the fact that he couldn't benchpress worth shit.</div></p> I doubt the Blazers did their due diligence. Bulls passed on Roy last year, because of his predraft medical....Blazers took him, and low and behold, those injury problems crop up. Same thing with Oden. Time for Portland to start doing their due diligence.</p> </p></div> oh noes Roy only played 57 games last year must mean hes a career injury plagued player, come to think about it Deng only played 61 games his rookie here, huh guess that means hes injury plagued and no good either. I'm pretty sure if Paxson could go back in time he would have chosen Roy instead of Thomas with what he knows now. Then he could trade your beloved boy Ben Gordon the scoring specialist.</p>
Luol Deng missed time on a broken wrist, that was a freak injury, and the type of injury that doesn't nag a player over the course of their career, and keeps them off the court for long stretches. Roy on the otherhand has heel and knee problems. He missed 25 games this past season for the Blazers, is that not bad? He missed some games in college because of a knee injury. He is more on the injury prone side than the not injury prone side. </p> Blazers took two players to build their franchise around that will most likely be injured, and miss large stretches of most seasons. I feel bad for LaMarcus Aldridge, as he has to stay over there in Portland and get stuck in the losing mess of a future they put together. I'd try to get out now if I was him. </p>
Bowie's name was invoked before the draft, because the situations are/were so similar. Given the choice of the ballyhooed big man or the wing player, Portland took the big man both times.</p> The injury only ads to that mystique.</p> </p>
