Is Oden now damaged goods? I mean how weak can your ankle be to hurt it that bad in a fall like that? He has a big man curse where he will always be injury prone, and now that he's hurt himself, he'll just keep hurting that same spot, thats how it works with injuries like that. so yeah, i really hope that this isnt the case, but it looks to me like he will be injury prone his whole career.
I saw all I need to see when he did the spin move on Bynum and was fouled. That was explosive and unstoppable. If he can only stay healthy, he will be an incredible NBA player. Unfortuntately, this is a big "IF" at this point in time.
That was a severe flex of the ankle, and I'm surprised it's only a 2-4 week injury. That this the one positive I see right now. Thank goodness GO has the balance to not place all of his weight on the the flipped ankle on that play.
I hope Greg was watching when Avery Johnson commented on the situation...."This is just going to make him more hungry"
I had a type III(severe) ankle sprain in May and was back playing soccer in 5 weeks. I didn't have one tenth the resources Greg will have in the coming weeks.
I don't care how hungry Oden is . . . I just want him healthy. Really how much hungier can he get . . . he's been hyped since highschool, played one year of college with a broken hand, sat out a whole year as the #1 pick, constant questions about his health and media speculation about him. . . if Oden isn't hungry by now, nothing else will make him hungry.
Huge opportunity for Mr. Channing Frye. I would go with something like this. Roy / Blake Fernandez / Bayless Outlaw/ Batum Aldridge / Randolph* Przybilla / Frye *we can play him sparingly, moving Frye/Aldridge/Outlaw around at the 4 as needed to keep Shav off the floor
I am constantly reminded of Zydrunas Ilgauskas. When he went out with major foot surgery a few years back, which was the upteenth time he had dealt with foot problems, I didn't think he would ever make it back to the NBA. Feet are a big deal with 7 footers, and often never get right again. Well guess what? As we all know Z did make it back to the NBA. Even more remarkable he has been a freakin Iron Man. His injury history and rep brittle guy, a snakebitten guy, had no bearing on his future.
We'll see. The way he came down on his ankle reminds me of a time that I landed on a teammates foot coming down from a rebound. To be honest my ankle wasn't 100% for about a month, although I'm sure with advanced therapy and top of the line ankle braces they can shave that time down considerably. Oden may be a fast healer, but then again he puts a lot more pressure and weight on his ankle than I do. But a month doesn't seem too unreasonable. Thank goodness we have Joel, who remember started all of last year when we went .500
To be honest I think that we'll see Outlaw play more of the 4, like he did last year. This probably means a smaller lineup with Frye/Aldridge occasionally manning the center position and having a three guard lineup with Rudy getting more minutes. I don't think we'll see much Randolph, although maybe a bit more Diogu than we otherwise would have.
Stop crying. Lets be men (or women) about this. It's not a long term injury concern- it's 2 to 4 weeks, then he'll be back. It doesn't imply chronic injuries- it's just very bad luck. He'll be back and we'll be fine in the interim. Even without Greg, we should be better than last year and when he gets back a little bet better than this. The way some people react makes me want to search for an "ignore" button- everything from concealed glee to the sky is falling. Repeat after me- it's too early to tell anything about this season- much less the longterm future. Chill, lil Blazer fans...
Sad, I totally forgot about him. I'm guessing he's of the Magloire mold: light workouts all summer to stay away from injuries. Get into game shape by early-mid December.
