I still don't think we'll see the real Greg Oden this year. He's gotta get in shape, he's got to get the knee fully healed, and he's got to get over the mental block of having that knee injury. If we're lucky he'll be hitting his stride at the end of the season but it usually takes 2 full years to get through a knee injury. Of course an 80% Oden will still be dominate at times,but lucky for him he doesn't have to carry the team.
Two thoughts: Oden was very young when the surgery was done, and the damage to his knee was relatively minor. I think he'll bounce back faster than most.
In this case, youth is a mixed blessing. It may help him recover faster on one level, but at the same time, he will miss the development time more than a vet would. It will be harder for him to shake off the rust.
Yep, and especially on offense. That said, and I was watching the Cleveland/Wash game on ESPN tonite, and Van Gundy said that outside of Roy, the Blazers had no one to depend on offensively, so Oden would have to score 16-18 game. Um, LMA, Webster, Outlaw, Rudy, ...
If you watched the Laker / Thunder game, you woulda caught the announcers absolutely gushing over the Blazers and hearing them say that Brandon Roy is emerging into a superstar and how we'll scare plenty of teams out in the West. I don't think Van Gundy has kept up with us much this past summer. He may be the only one.
It will be a great season. Too bad 45% of Portland and 80% of the rest of Oregon won't be able to see 55 games this year due to the Blazers not caring about their fanbase.
Yeah i was really impressed with that ESPN crew talkin' about us until Van Gundy was like "I don't agree, I think he HAS to score 18ppg for them to be successful, who else on the team can score other than Brandon Roy?" I wanted to scream "YOU ARE FORGETTING LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE!"
Funny. I too, the second I heard Van Gundy say that, was recoiling at his ignorance. Geez Gumby, prep before you open your trap why don't you? LaMarcus Aldridge, 17.8 pts Travis Outlaw , 13.3 pts and a team that spreads the wealth by design and making use of their depth has several players who wouldn't surprise to end up with double digit scoring average: Rudy Fernandez Martell Webster Channing Frye Steve Blake
Even though it was minor, he still took an entire year off rehabbing. I think it will be at least 3 months of playing ball before he really gets his confidence back, but by then he'll be hitting the midseason wall. I'm not saying that he's going to struggle badly. I'm just saying that we're not going to see the real Greg maybe until the end of the season. Of course he's only 20 and he won't be hitting his prime for another 6 or 7 years anyways. That's a scary thought.
