I'm addicted and that means pleasure and pain. Yes I'm addicted to this team and the manic-depressive up and down of living and dying with your team. I have zero emotional distance, and I'm 500 to 1 overleveraged on my investment in the team. My complete and utter vicarious living through Oden could only end in flames now and then. I'm WAYYYYYYY too emotional of a fan. I think I've covered things nicely. So Bayless being the one guy I had some hopes around given this Hindenburg of a season has lured me out of the the shadows momentarily. The big question is this: Does the board think Oden will come back and play well this season or next (doesn't matter which to me as long as he's COMPLETELY healthy) or will it just be one nightmarish injury after the next? Is it possible he has finally burned off his major injury karma and he might actually have a decent run ala' Patrick Ewing in his middle years? Or is he just going to crush my hopes and dreams with regularity? Just curious what people think. P.S. the reason I flipped out is because I'm tired of being a Blazers fan I want to be a fan of the the WORLD CHAMPION Blazers. I've had enough years of almost, but not quite, or boring mediocrity or being a cellar dweller. I want a ring, that's it, that's all, nothing less.
Rose Garden colored glasses on: Yes he will come back and dominate, I have faith in the big fella. Rose Garden colored glasses off.
If he can get through 70 games next season then I give him a 50/50 chance to have 3-4 70+ game seasons in a row. He will be: great rebounder, shot blocker, defender He will also be: A sub par shooter when compared to other C's
So my choices are the team wins 70+ games and Oden is dominate or he only plays 50 injury riddled games a season? My thougts are somewhere in the middle. Oden plays roughly 65 to 75 games a season, averages double figures in points and rebounds with 2.5 blocks, gets around 30 minutes a game and gets Portland deep into the playoffs year after year.
I have no idea. I hate the line of injuries he's had, but I'm heartened by the fact that none are supposed to have long-term effects. I'll be cautious and say that he'll miss chunks of most seasons, but average 60-70 games per season, and still be a major part of contending teams in Portland.
I'll be wildly optimistic, and say 40-50 reasonably healthy games a season - even though historical data points to a more pessimistic view.
Why would you say that when he shot such a high % before going out this season? Oden makes his free throws better than the average center to boot.
That was a nice 1.5 months....hey I have an idea! Lets base his entire career off that 45 days!!! ...no disrespect
It's not like a bunch of 15-footers happened to go in this season, inflating his average; Oden makes his living off of dunks and 2-foot hook shots. Those are high-percentage shots.
As most of you know, I am not a homer. With that said, I chose he will dominate. I feel really good about him and his agents seeking medical adise from non traditional Dr's. I think Greg will come back with a better understanding of his body, and a better understanding on how to treat it.
I think Oden is going to make anyone who ever honked twice to feel foolish. He's exactly what we need--a defense first, low post dominator who changes the way you can attack this team.
My bad, misread the question. In that case I guess I am going to have to go with 70+ since I think he will play at least 65 games a season but no more then 75.
I think that when we look back on his 12 year career he'll have averaged 65 games a year (not counting playoffs). with a few in the 75+ range and probably several more in the 50 or less range, with one or possibly two being lost altogether (beyond the two year's worth of lost seasons so far) and the rest closer to his median. If I'm being 'realistic' I think that he'll provide this team with 2 or 3 really dominant years, but overall he's going to be very hard to count on.
I'm going to guess the 27 votes (so far) are die hard, blinded fans. I'm going to guess the 8 votes (so far) are level-headed fans and other posters. And the one other (so far) DGAF.
20% think he will never, ever have 2 seasons in his entire career with 70 games? Even Stipanovich did that. Even Bowie. I think even Walton. Even Clark Kellogg.
Bowie did it 3 times, but only once as a Blazer. Walton did it once - as a bench player in Boston playing under 20 MPG. Kellogg isn't really comparable, as he was healthy at the beginning of his career, and then things went bad. It happens. Oden is starting bad...and we are supposed to believe he will miraculously get better. I guess it is possible - but much rarer than the reverse.
