Greg Oden Has "No Hard Timeline" For Return

I used to have sympathy for Oden. No more.

Either get on the court, or admit you can't play and retire. At this point, any other option makes him a liar, thief and con artist.

After the way Blazer fans turned on guys like Zach and Sheed, it just blows my mind how forgiving they are of someone who has done nothing to earn their loyalty.

 

I still have hope.

 

I completely agree with this. For some reason, Oden continues to be treated with kid gloves by this city and fanbase, in general.

It's been over a year since his last surgery, and he's still not cleared for much more than riding a bike? Perhaps the Blazers can put together a cycling squad to at least get some sort of use out of Oden.

 

I hold no ill will toward Oden, but I'm pretty comfortable making the statement that his body just wasn't made for the grind of professional basketball. It sucks, but it is what it is.

 

Was it Pizza Guy or Flowers Guy that told you that?

 

I don't trust his agent. I wouldn't at all be surprised if he ends up in Memphis some how.

 

At what point do you "admit you can't play and retire"? And who decides that? Obviously neither Oden or the organization are there yet.

Fans turned on Sheed & Zach because of attitude problems. Oden has made some mistakes, but all in all seems like a pretty nice kid.

Just because you have written him off doesn't mean the rest of us have to.

 

Good one

 

I somewhat disagree with the bolded. The organization could have offered Oden an extension; instead, they only offered the Q.O., which they basically had to do to avoid already admitting that drafting Oden over Durant was a mistake.

They had a chance to make a statement on Oden in Portland by offering him an extension. They didn't do that, yet if Oden sits out the year, I can't see Paul Allen wasting another dime on the flake.

 

You can thank Cho for that. He refused to sign him to an extension.

That's up there with trading Bayless for....I don't even know anymore.

 

You really think Cho was the person ultimately responsible for what the team decided on personnel matters last year? Allen/Kolde/Miller/Nate almost certainly put their stamp of approval on everything that transpired for good or ill.

 

It just goes with Cho's line of thinking. Afraid to make the big decision.

I also don't necessarily see him as a big plan thinker. He seems to have a hard-on for young teams with no big contracts. Anyone can achieve that if they want to suck long enough.

After that point I don't think Cho is the kind of guy at all to get the big deals done. It already seems to be on record that he would mull everything over 500x before making a decision, as if he were afraid to make the wrong decision.

That line of thinking seems to connect to the Oden situation. Afraid to offer too much money so he plays it safe and lets the market set his value. In essence it's just putting the decision off longer, and that seems like a very Cho thing to do. Afraid to commit.

Cho was alright(I guess?), but I can see why Paul Allen fired him, not too mention it seems Cho wanted to burn it down and restart, and that directly conflicts with what the organization wanted(which I'm happy with).

 

Nice!

 

Yeah, that's Greg. I think he purposefully took a hammer to his knee and caused two microfracture surgeries and a broken patella just to con people for millions of dollars. Greg, who players say was becoming a leader in the locker room before his kneecap went kaboom (remember, hammered his own knee so that would happen, great con artist) and making people and himself responsible for lazy defense and play.

Man, that Greg. I bet when it is all said and done they'll make a rousing movie in the mold of Catch Me If You Can describing his detailed plot to con Paul Allen and the good people of Oregon out of his money and their loyalty/fanhood.

I am pretty outraged at this level of deceit.

 

Players used to retire out of pride. Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, all of them. But then the money got bigger, so players hung on in the 1980s like afterthoughts, like a bitter taste on the back of your tongue. Now there are virtual players in computer games who never play year after year, and still get new contract after new contract.

 

I don't think anyone is treating Oden with kid gloves. I think most are just waiting to see if he's able to play this year and how he does. that's pretty simple. I'm hoping the Blazers do offer a 4 year contract and he takes it. Sheeesh, he's what 22? I know somewhere around there. I think he has a lot of basketball left in him and the only thing that would bother me is if he wasn't here taking the Blazers deep in the playoffs, but was doing it with another team. So have some patience, that's all you can do unless you want to whine about shit.

 

when the new CBA is signed who really determines when Greg is ready to play? - will it be back in the hands of Blazer docs, Oden himself? This assumes he signs with us but the same question would apply to another team that signed him.

 

I never suggested the organization wanted to get rid of him. The extension could have been offered in summer 2010, and it wasn't. Where did I say anything about a max extension? Obviously once the decision was made to not extend Greg's rookie deal past a Q.O., the Blazers had signaled that they weren't sold on Oden's future as a Blazer. I don't see where anything I posted is outrageous, other than many people on this board have a skewed view of Greg and his current and past value to this team.

 

While you're right that Oden will never play much, your post was indeed outrageous.

That was his point, dunderhead--that you didn't know that.

(heh heh heh)