tlongII
09-16-2008, 12:04 PM
http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122150219150632100
Ready or not, here comes Greg Oden.
The start of training camp for the Trail Blazers is less than two weeks away, and the 7-foot rookie is taking sort of a veteran’s approach to what will be his first camp.
“I’m ready,” says Oden, who missed the entire 2007-08 season after undergoing microfracture knee surgery last September. “But the good thing about last year, it got me to calm down. I’m not crazy.
“I’m excited, but I’m not like, ‘It’s coming up! It’s coming up!’ I’m like (and here he softens his voice), ‘It’s coming. Let’s get it on.’ "
Oden, who won’t turn 21 until January, looked in shape Sunday as he moved from station to station on the final day of the two-day “Topps Basketball Camp, featuring Greg Oden,” at the Beaverton Hoop.
Five weeks of workouts with trainer Jay Jensen and strength and conditioning coach Bobby Medina have dropped Oden’s weight from about 300 to 285. Oden looked fit and quick as he moved about the six courts at The Hoop, playfully blocking shots in post-up drills, dunking and kibitzing with the 150 campers aged seven to 14.
“I’m getting there,” Oden says. “I’m not going to say I’m in the best shape of my life, but it’s getting a lot better. I can tell the difference the past two weeks.”
There is no pain in the knee, Oden says. The past five weeks, he has paced himself, working gradually into five-on-five pickup games at the Blazers’ training facility but taking part only every other day. This week, Oden will play all four days, “but only three or four games a day,” he says.
Once camp starts and the Blazers move into the preseason, will Oden have restrictions on what he can do?
“I don’t know yet,” he says. “There might be some, to make sure I get through camp without getting hurt. They might not be that strenuous on me.”
Oden and Dwyane Wade are the national basketball spokesmen for Topps, the trading card company that conducts clinics in football, basketball and baseball. It’s the second camp Oden has participated in this summer.
“I did the Buckeye Superstar Camp (in Columbus, Ohio) with Mike Conley (Jr.),” says Oden, who helped Ohio State to the national championship game in his only season there. “It’s fun to get out here with the kids. You walk in, you see them, they all try to look mean. Then you interact and do the same drills they’re doing – and they’re smiling.
“I think back to when I did those drills at that age. That was a long time ago.”
Oden seems to understand how important it is to give a few seconds of attention to each youngster. He offers hugs, handshakes and autographs to all of the campers.
“He’s great with the kids,” says Gary Gatewood, the ex-Oregon guard who served as one of the coaches at the camp. “He steps right in, talks to them and plays with them. A lot of guys are shy around kids. They don’t interact that well. But he’s just a natural.”
Oden is entertaining in a question-and-answer session with the kids. A very large 11-year-old, who says he is 6-feet tall, stands up and asks how tall Oden was at that age. “I was 6-6,” Oden says, and the youngsters murmur in awe. Asked how tall he is now, Oden reveals, “6-11 1/2.”
I’ll still call him 7-foot, just the same.
Many have seen Oden’s off-key but soulful rendition of ‘N Sync’s “It’s Gonna Be Me” at the Greg Oden’s Summer Slam, an event for Oregon mentors at the Rose Garden. Somebody mentions his karaoke talents, and Oden shares a good laugh over it.
“In person, it sounded a lot better than on video,” he claims.
Oden was given a hall pass to the first day of the Topps camp. He was on the sidelines at L.A. Memorial Coliseum, watching his beloved Buckeyes take it on the chin 35-3 against top-ranked Southern Cal Saturday night.
“Met Josh McRoberts there,” he says. “I was right by (Ohio State’s) bench. When we got the field goal to go ahead 3-0, great, but the rest of it was hard to watch. It hurts.”
Oden seems like a full-fledged Portlander these days. He has moved from a home in Tualatin to a condo near downtown Portland.
“It’s just a new look for me – in a nice area with a good view,” he says. “I like Portland. It’s a good city. Very beautiful. There’s a lot of stuff to do that I can’t do because of my contract.”
Such as?
“Going skiing on Mount Hood,” he says. “I’d love to do that. It’d be fun.”
And skydiving, perhaps?
“I would love to sky dive, I really would,” he says dreamily. “I think I will at one point in my life.”
Oden is just like every Blazer fan in one respect when it comes to the upcoming season.
“I worry about staying healthy,” he says. “All my thought process is going toward winning. If I’m not the go-to guy, fine, as long as we’re winning.”
What about following teammate Brandon Roy’s lead as the NBA’s rookie of the year?
“It would nice to have B-Roy and me win it,” Oden says, “but if we make the playoffs and I don’t get rookie of the year, I’m perfectly fine with that.”
Oden has done what he can to get prepared for the season. The rest of it depends on luck.
Can he avoid injuries? Can he be the kind of player the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft is supposed to be?
Very soon, we will begin to find out.
Ready or not, here comes Greg Oden.
The start of training camp for the Trail Blazers is less than two weeks away, and the 7-foot rookie is taking sort of a veteran’s approach to what will be his first camp.
“I’m ready,” says Oden, who missed the entire 2007-08 season after undergoing microfracture knee surgery last September. “But the good thing about last year, it got me to calm down. I’m not crazy.
“I’m excited, but I’m not like, ‘It’s coming up! It’s coming up!’ I’m like (and here he softens his voice), ‘It’s coming. Let’s get it on.’ "
Oden, who won’t turn 21 until January, looked in shape Sunday as he moved from station to station on the final day of the two-day “Topps Basketball Camp, featuring Greg Oden,” at the Beaverton Hoop.
Five weeks of workouts with trainer Jay Jensen and strength and conditioning coach Bobby Medina have dropped Oden’s weight from about 300 to 285. Oden looked fit and quick as he moved about the six courts at The Hoop, playfully blocking shots in post-up drills, dunking and kibitzing with the 150 campers aged seven to 14.
“I’m getting there,” Oden says. “I’m not going to say I’m in the best shape of my life, but it’s getting a lot better. I can tell the difference the past two weeks.”
There is no pain in the knee, Oden says. The past five weeks, he has paced himself, working gradually into five-on-five pickup games at the Blazers’ training facility but taking part only every other day. This week, Oden will play all four days, “but only three or four games a day,” he says.
Once camp starts and the Blazers move into the preseason, will Oden have restrictions on what he can do?
“I don’t know yet,” he says. “There might be some, to make sure I get through camp without getting hurt. They might not be that strenuous on me.”
Oden and Dwyane Wade are the national basketball spokesmen for Topps, the trading card company that conducts clinics in football, basketball and baseball. It’s the second camp Oden has participated in this summer.
“I did the Buckeye Superstar Camp (in Columbus, Ohio) with Mike Conley (Jr.),” says Oden, who helped Ohio State to the national championship game in his only season there. “It’s fun to get out here with the kids. You walk in, you see them, they all try to look mean. Then you interact and do the same drills they’re doing – and they’re smiling.
“I think back to when I did those drills at that age. That was a long time ago.”
Oden seems to understand how important it is to give a few seconds of attention to each youngster. He offers hugs, handshakes and autographs to all of the campers.
“He’s great with the kids,” says Gary Gatewood, the ex-Oregon guard who served as one of the coaches at the camp. “He steps right in, talks to them and plays with them. A lot of guys are shy around kids. They don’t interact that well. But he’s just a natural.”
Oden is entertaining in a question-and-answer session with the kids. A very large 11-year-old, who says he is 6-feet tall, stands up and asks how tall Oden was at that age. “I was 6-6,” Oden says, and the youngsters murmur in awe. Asked how tall he is now, Oden reveals, “6-11 1/2.”
I’ll still call him 7-foot, just the same.
Many have seen Oden’s off-key but soulful rendition of ‘N Sync’s “It’s Gonna Be Me” at the Greg Oden’s Summer Slam, an event for Oregon mentors at the Rose Garden. Somebody mentions his karaoke talents, and Oden shares a good laugh over it.
“In person, it sounded a lot better than on video,” he claims.
Oden was given a hall pass to the first day of the Topps camp. He was on the sidelines at L.A. Memorial Coliseum, watching his beloved Buckeyes take it on the chin 35-3 against top-ranked Southern Cal Saturday night.
“Met Josh McRoberts there,” he says. “I was right by (Ohio State’s) bench. When we got the field goal to go ahead 3-0, great, but the rest of it was hard to watch. It hurts.”
Oden seems like a full-fledged Portlander these days. He has moved from a home in Tualatin to a condo near downtown Portland.
“It’s just a new look for me – in a nice area with a good view,” he says. “I like Portland. It’s a good city. Very beautiful. There’s a lot of stuff to do that I can’t do because of my contract.”
Such as?
“Going skiing on Mount Hood,” he says. “I’d love to do that. It’d be fun.”
And skydiving, perhaps?
“I would love to sky dive, I really would,” he says dreamily. “I think I will at one point in my life.”
Oden is just like every Blazer fan in one respect when it comes to the upcoming season.
“I worry about staying healthy,” he says. “All my thought process is going toward winning. If I’m not the go-to guy, fine, as long as we’re winning.”
What about following teammate Brandon Roy’s lead as the NBA’s rookie of the year?
“It would nice to have B-Roy and me win it,” Oden says, “but if we make the playoffs and I don’t get rookie of the year, I’m perfectly fine with that.”
Oden has done what he can to get prepared for the season. The rest of it depends on luck.
Can he avoid injuries? Can he be the kind of player the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft is supposed to be?
Very soon, we will begin to find out.