im glad its been out of the spotlight but is there any update on how he is doing? wasnt the timetable around 4 months or somethin?
I expect a Willis Reed type moment of game seven against the Fakers in LA. Prediction: Oden gets 25 points, 25 rebounds, and then gets arrested for aggrivated assault on an unexpecting Kevin Durrant before game one of the WC semis. Durrant never plays again, and Oden gets accused of getting 'Tarpley'ed' before the attack.
KP said yesterday on 1080 that the bone is 100% healed, and right now their just trying to get the leg strength back to where it needs to be. He continues to claim that there's a possibility of Oden being able to play this season. Personally, I don't want him to play, because unless we win a title, it will be a no-win situation. If we lose and he plays well, then people will say, "Oden should have played more!" If we lose and he plays poorly, people will say, "Oden shouldn't have been out there!"
It certainly wouldn't be a waste if Oden was able to come back and get some playoff experience. It boggles my mind that anybody could really believe that him coming back sooner is a bad thing save for the risk of injury. Really, who gives a fuck about what people say about him? Do you really believe what you just wrote? The bottom line is wins and that is all that matters. Him coming back sooner(barring injury) puts this team in better position to win next year and years afterward. It's a no brainer.
Hmm. Did they say that about Martell when he came back last season, just to re-injure the foot in his first game? I don't think those are good reasons. Because you could say that about any time he plays. I think the health concerns are the reasons not to want him to rush back. If I knew he really was 100% healthy, and no more at risk of injury than before he broke it (actually, that's not reassuring, given what happened, but you get the point) then I would say let him take his lumps. He'll only be stealing minutes from Juwan Howard, and any bruises to his ego can fade over the Summer. If he underperforms, then there's extra incentive for hard work in the Summer.
This isn't a ligament injury. It's a broken bone. Once it's healed, the affected area will be stronger than it was before. As long as he's been aerobically conditioning during the rehab and he has the appropriate leg strength, he should be able to play a little. Clearly, he won't be 100%, but at 7'0" 270 he doesn't have to be.
If he can play, play him! Even at 70%, Oden would provide a vast improvement for our interior defense and rebounding.
I agree that it's incredibly unlikely that he'll be allowed to play: the Blazers almost certainly will lose in the first round (assuming they make the playoffs) and it just isn't worth the disastrous PR should he get injured for management to want to risk it. Whether or not an impartial medical staff would clear him to play is an open question, and not one we're qualified to answer.
I'm curious as to whom you're agreeing with. It looks to me like most people think that if he's cleared to play, he should play. It would be a PR disaster if Greg suffers a serious injury again no matter when it happens. The only question here should be whether he's fully healed and if his muscle conditioning has recovered sufficiently to support him while playing at a pro basketball level. I expect Greg, the Blazers, and their medical staff to be very cautious in making that determination. But, assuming the answer is that he is ready to play, holding him out because of worries about PR or about losing would be purely chicken shit.
Won't some then say: "Why didn't he get to play? or "If Oden had played we could have won. If he is cleared to play and the team and coach and he want him to play why wouldn't he?
