http://www.blazersedge.com/2010/8/16/1626563/why-the-blazers-will-do-well-part I don't think this has been posted yet.
I think you know what I am talking about....the whole "I wouldn't trade Oden for any player in the league!" type homerism. There are fans who will read that article and go berserk at the notion that Oden has hurdles to overcome *even if healthy.* There are people who will be offended at the opinion that Oden won't be a HOFer, and that the team doesn't need him to be. Heck, there are people who will be offended at the opinion that injuries just might continue to be a problem for Oden. Even if you disagree with the writer, at least he is trying to give both sides, and not just blowing sunshine up our collective backsides! Nor is he resorting to the Bill Simmons "nyah-nyah-nyah" type childishness.
giving both sides? You mean saying he thinks Oden's body is cracked, he'll probably end his career on an injury, and that his injuries (and history of injuries) are anything remotely close to the style and kind that Bowie and Walton both had? You know, genetic issues. So far, his "injuries" have been a sprained wrist, a MF (which is a recent phenomena and in the olden days wouldn't have lost us a year of his services) and a freak injury probably caused by improper muscle building and poor jumping style. Not exactly a history of repeatable injuries, much like Waltons injuries were all in his ankle/foot, and Bowies were in the same leg over and over (iirc). My point was that you called an "honest" reflection of Oden's injuries the one that just happens to back up what you believe.
and julius shoots he scores!!!!!!!!!! Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Repped in case you couldn't tell.
I read that article and a some stuff popped out at me. 1) the writer is putting Oden in the same category as Bowie/Walton and even though he talks about the upside seems to think Odens future is set in stone 2) he doesn't really talk about the injuries he has, just says he has spent less time playing then being out, meaning he doesn't address what went wrong to put Oden their and instead just says his body is "cracked" and we will see random injuries forever more 3)I liked how he summed up what we need from Oden, a defensive force who gets the garbage buckets. 4) He did say that the moment Oden is gone he will put our championship dreams to rest. Wasn't a bad article I just wish he had taken some more times to fully address some of the issues that could be chronic with Oden instead of just saying his body is broken.
I thought the one really good point from that article was about Oden's mental state. It's going to take most of the season for him to simply remember how to play hoops again. All that guy has been doing is rehabbing. I still don't think we've seen him even at 100% yet. There's the physical part of it, which should take a few months and then the mental part of his comeback, which may take longer. First, I just want to see him healthy for an entire season. He's a good kid who deserves it.
Out of curiosity, what will your opinion be of your jibes at other people if Oden does prove to be an impact player? Will you feel that you were foolishly closed-minded? Or will you simply say everyone else got lucky and you were right all along? I can understand your frustration at being a minority opinion. It's hard to have sympathy for you, though, when you essentially demean anyone who doesn't agree with you as a homer or kool-aid drinker.
Hey guys, don't mind OldManGrouch (aka OMG) - he's just working really hard to live up to his moniker. It's not transparent or anything.
I'll give an honest observation. I'm one of the more pessimistic people around here when it comes to projecting what he'll be able to do, but it goes almost without saying that if his body doesn't fail him again he's got enormous potential to do a lot of good things in the league. And yes, he's not plagued with a recurring injury to a specific body part, but at what point do we stop using the coincidence excuse? Maybe it's as simple as bad luck, but isn't it possible that he has a sort of innate awkwardness and some imbalances in his physique -- for instance, his legs being an inch different in length -- that make him more prone to breaking and injuring things? I hope to god he has a healthy season (I really do) but what do you say if he goes down for an extended period again ... let's say he injures a completely new body part? What is it going to take to convince some of you that he can put all of this behind him or that he's on the short track for early retirement? I freely admit I don't have any answers to these questions myself
Actually, I think you can say he's been plagued to a recurring injury to a body part(left patella, twice). Playing the armchair doctor role for a minute with the little information I have, I think you can at least argue that the two incidents are linked. There's just something not so coincidental about it.
It's certainly possible but, in the absence of an actual medical diagnosis that would suggest it, I think it's too early to conclude that. Essentially, I'm not sure why the need to rush to judgment (this is not aimed at you, specifically). He's staying a Blazer until next off-season, at least. He won't be traded because his trade value is almost certainly far lower than his value to the Blazers...it's not worth giving up the upside potential in order to get a decent player (much worse than Oden's talent level to account for injury risk) who won't push Portland any closer to title contention. So, since he's a Blazer for at least one more year, why not see what happens rather than draw up battle lines on what Oden's future is?
If he wasn't up for an extension (or possible restricted free agency in a lockout year) then you're right that there would be plenty of time to let it ride, instead the team and he are entering a particularly crucial period of his career
The short answer: I'm not demeaning people for disagreeing. I am frustrated with people who ignore valid concerns about the team's future. Questions about Oden's health, mental state, and lost development time, are all legit issues - how can bringing them up be "wrong"?
Fair enough, but I remember when the Oregonian-fed conventional wisdom said that "talus bone" meant that Roy wouldn't ever reach his potential. Or the stink on O-Live when it came out that he wasn't having offseason surgery to shave it down.
Probably the worst case scenario is if Oden stays healthy and has a all star year next year and then we sign him to the max and he has a career ending/effecting injury the next year. While I agree he hasn't had chronic type of injuries of one specific type, he has had a lot of injuries so far and when you break something just by jumping it tends to point to your body not being able to handle it's own strength. I'm really hoping Oden remains generally injury free the rest of his career, but it will be a while before I'm not afraid each game he's going to get injured.
