Here's another case of Natebishop advocating personnel moves based on emotions and fear instead of solid, logical assessment and reasoning. A team should not refrain from offering what they think is a fair offer because they need to "close one chapter". That is fairy tale romanticizing of the business that the media type get off on, but leads to terrible decisions.
He made a sweet left handed baseline jump hook against the Lakers last Thursday. I'm not sure how to imbed videos from nba.com, but if you go to the game recap at: http://www.nba.com/games/20140123/LALMIA/gameinfo.html and watch the first video, starting at about 32 seconds, you'll see both of Oden's FGs - a dunk off a pass from Beasely followed by the jump hook. BNM
Oden may look good but he sure doesn't sound good: [video=youtube;3W_Fu6VoCbI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W_Fu6VoCbI#t=74[/video]
Oden needed a year off after 3rd MF. He didn't want to sign with anyone last season and have to deal with the pressure to get back on the floor before he was ready. I wish we could have signed him to a modest deal 2 years ago and conceded that he sit out all of 2012/3, but that would have been ridiculed by fans and media. Who signs a player with an injury history like that knowing he won't play at all the following season? Stashing Oden away on the cheap for the future was what I hoped for, but knew wasn't realistic. It was always going to be too much of a distraction, and the "bust" label discussed every time he's mentioned. We were cleaning house when we let Greg go, and he needed to get away from the negativity. I remember thinking that in 2-3 years he'll still be in his mid 20s and have a chance to be effective. So far, Miami looks like the right fit for him. There's no pain of expectations unmet from Miami's perspective, and they don't have a panicky fan base that is screaming for him to get on the court. It's always been "Get Greg 100% healthy, work him into game shape, most importantly have him ready for playoffs". Us Blazer fans live and die with each (reg season) game. Can't see a scenario where Oden is here and we are content with him sitting out so much when it appears he could be used more. Every loss, every time we get owned in the paint the "why isn't Oden playing?" chants would ensue. We don't have the security of back to back championships that allow for that type of patience.
I dunno, Oden irks me. Biggest disappointment in my recent Blazer history. I gave the kid a lot of rope up to the end and after we paid him 83 mill to party on Garth, (yeah I might have the #s inflated here) I think he should have come back last summer and played for free for the Blazers for 3 years, then moved on.
