Greg Oden Update

This has to be one of the saddest stories. First for Greg; then for the team and it's fans.

But in this order.

 

And where exactly did I say that this was a good thing? All I said is that we don't have enough information to know whether this is a really big deal or just another in a long line of setbacks for Greg. I don't know anything about the range of things that happen to people who've undergone MF surgeries. Could it be that the tissue that forms to fill in the hole in the cartilage sometimes doesn't completely and smoothly fill the hole and, as a result, sometimes surrounding cartilage wears down to match? No idea if that could happen, but it doesn't seem out of the realm of the possible. I have no idea from the reports how much cartilage needed to be cleaned out of the joint. I have no idea what the condition of the joint looked like after the surgeon examined it. Obviously, it didn't warrant another MF surgery or they would have done that. And, with all due respect to whatever you may know about the knee from your paramedic training and personal injuries, I doubt that you have any more insight on these issues than I do. Further, where do you get the idea that Greg was doing the "lowest impact possible" training? You don't know what he's been doing lately because there've been no reports on that. So, yeah, I have no problem with people having a pessimistic view about Greg's future. You'd have to be pretty Pollyanna to be optimistic that he's going to fully recover and have a long NBA career. They may find things in his left knee that are more severe and Greg could say screw it and retire next week. But all we know right now is that he had some debris cleaned out of a knee joint. That's a pretty simple surgery and I think some here have responded to it in a way that is out of proportion to what it was.

 

I've been done with the sadness and confusion for a long time. I know I was writing the following 3 years ago because I know I wrote it on my former board a couple of times.

With each year he's gone, the probability of Oden having a decent career greatly decreases, let's say 20% per year. So the chances are now something like 60% at most, and I actually think it's less.

Well, that was a long time ago. The following year it would be 40% and now it's 20%. (Actually I think it went down faster than 20 points per year, so I actually got over it even earlier.)

But I understand that dreamers still hold out hope, and they surf on the wave behind me, so I try not to say much. Where I am now, able to joke about it, you'll be in a few years.

 

Well cp3 has one leg with no meniscus. Hopefully oden is just a serviceable big. I think even at 20% he still is. So I still hold on to hope.

 

From once in a generation center to serviceable big.

How our expectations dwindle...

 

Well that was actually in response to jprk. I didn't get the quote down.

 

Well done sir!

 

I stated at the start of the season to amnesty Roy and retract the qualifying offer on Oden and move on. This does not change the fact that this is truly one of the saddest sports stories of our time. And I first and foremost feel badly for Greg. Sure he's now a millionaire - but after money, this is a personal travesty for the kid. And of course, yet another travesty for the Blazers and the fans.

Greg Oden as a contributor for this team will likely never happen. So lets put the negativity behind us at this season's end and rebuild....with no baggage.

Finally, I understand the collective jokes come out of great frustration - but the joke is not on Greg. The joke is on Blazer management who chose him over Durant and continues to protract the inevitable.

 

Gotta hold onto hope, there is very little chance of us getting a serviceable big within the next few years from the draft and Bigs are held onto like Gold especially the ones with potential. The fact we are actually a decent west team after losing our all NBA SG and our #1 pick in the draft shows just how incredible this team has been.

 

Actually getting a "serviceable big" isn't all that hard. Roy Hibbert, Javale McGee, Marcin Gortat, Mareese Speights, Omar Asik, Serge Ibaka, Darrell Arthur, Nikola Pekovic, Robin Lopez, Tiago Splitter, Marc Gasol ... not a single one selected in the lottery.

 

Well that's if you have a gm that knows talent!

 

Can't have a GM that knows talent when you do't have a GM!

 

Really? Roy played us. His knees were bad in college, plus his talus bone problem. By the time he signed his max contract, his knees were done, and no one knew it better than he did. He did give it a valiant effort to keep playing, I'll give him that. But he took the franchise to the cleaners. Were it not for the amnesty in the new CBA, he'd have screwed us good. I don't doubt for a minute Greg's sincere desire to live up to his hype and contribute on the court, same as Brandon. Greg didn't sign a max contract knowing he couldn't honor it. He is getting paid handsomly for rehabbing year after year. When he's healthy his PER is off the charts. I pray he comes back, but I realize he may not. I don't hold any of it against him. Greg is the victim here, the victim of his broken body. That some fans act like they are the victims and Greg is the victimizer is ludicrous.

 

You obviously don't know what you're talking about.

 

I wouldn't say Roy "played us" but his knees sure as hell weren't great coming out of UW.

 

I perhaps shouldn't have mentioned the state of Brandon's knees in college, since it detracted from my point that his knees were pretty well shot when he signed his max contract, and he knew it. That contract could have been much more damaging to the franchise and the enjoyment of the team by the fans than what we've experienced with Greg, who has simply tried, tried, and tried again to get healthy, and has not signed a franchise-crippling contract in the process.

 

Pritchard drafted two of those, Asik and Arthur, and gave them away in trades. So having a GM who neutralizes his own actions makes you come out the same as if you had no GM.