tlongII
04-14-2009, 08:41 PM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/04/behind_the_blazers_locker_room_13.html
Long before going behind the Blazers locker room door on Monday night, where among other things I would learn the new nickname preferred by Brandon Roy, my day started in the office of coach Nate McMillan.
It was 8:30 a.m., and coach was waiting in his gray Trail Blazers sweatsuit with a coffee on his desk. Before we got too deep into anything, we both marveled at the fact that there were only two games left in the regular season.
For the first time in McMillan's four years in Portland, the season had flown by quickly.
"I wake up this morning and I say, 'We've got two games.' That's crazy. Where are the rest of the games at? '' McMillan says.
I tell him I can remember like yesterday when he stood in front of the team before their flight to Los Angeles for the season opener. It's when he told the players that he believed in them, that he felt as confident as he has ever felt about a team heading into a season.
McMillan smiled. His first memory takes him to the day of the season opener against the Lakers. He is sitting in his hotel room in Los Angeles, struggling with indecision.
"We have six, seven hours before tipoff, and I'm thinking: Do I start Nic? And at the last minute, I decide not to.
"And now, the season ... it's ... gone.''
And a new season - the postseason - awaits.
But first, there was some housecleaning to do.
The Blazers on Monday rolled past Oklahoma City 113-83 for their fifth straight win, the 53rd of the season, and 33rd at the Rose Garden. The 53 wins is tied for sixth most in franchise history and the 33 home wins is the most since the great 1991-1992 team that lost in six games to Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the NBA Finals.
Now all that is left on the 82-game schedule is Denver on Wednesday at the Rose Garden, which will determine the Blazers playoff seeding. The Blazers can finish anywhere from third to fifth in the Western Conference and will face either Houston, San Antonio or New Orleans in the first round. If the Blazers beat Denver, they are assured of homecourt advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Preparing for a long battle
For the past month, I have been noticing a growing, yet quiet, confidence on this team both in their attitudes and their style of play. It started on that road trip through Atlanta, Memphis, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Milwaukee and has gathered momentum ever since.
This confidence is revealed in subtle ways.
On the court, it's the manner in which LaMarcus Aldridge attacks the basket now. The way Steve Blake is throwing more lob passes. The pep in the step of Sergio Rodriguez. The assurance of Rudy Fernandez when he spots up for a three.
Off the court, it is the way this team is talking. There is an absence of bravado, but a degree of conviction that is powerful in its subtly.
This is apparent inside the locker room, when I asked the players whether this season had gone by as quickly for them as it had for me. They all said that winning makes the season go by quicker. But Joel Przybilla and Brandon Roy both said something that struck me.
Even though both were six stalls apart, they both echoed the same sentiment. There is just a feeling among the players that they are in for a long ride. The way they said it - almost matter of factly - made me think this is not a young team that is just giddy to make the playoffs. This is a team preparing for grueling postseason battle.
"It just feels like the season is going to go on for a long time,'' Przybilla said. "It just does. It feels like we are going to be here a lot longer.''
Added Roy: "I still feel like the season has two months left. It's like, there's more work to be done.''
A summer of preparation
I found out something interesting about Roy after the game. When he left last season, he put on a good front for the media. The 41-41 record, Roy said, was a good season. Progress. But deep down, he was stung. Angry.
"When we ended the season, I was so mad at having to watch the playoffs and not be there,'' Roy said.
So he took it out in the gym. Every day, he simulated what it would be like to be in the playoffs.
"Mentally, I wanted to stay as if I was in the season,'' Roy said. "So I went to the gym and shot - I wasn't going all out - but I wanted to train myself mentally so when I do get to the playoffs, it's not going to seem like it's long. So honestly, right now, I'm not mentally fatigued. I want to get to the playoffs. I'm anxious to get there. Even my body, it feels good.''
The 'Death Look'
This, of course, is a large part of what makes Brandon Roy such an elite player. He is always thinking of ways to get better, both mentally and physically. It's one of his endearing qualities, and a big reason why he is the most beloved Blazers player since Clyde Drexler, and it's why I believe Roy will become the all-time face of the franchise by the time he retires.
But for a moment this season, Roy felt like Public Enemy No. 1 in Portland.
It was Nov. 6, and the Blazers were playing Houston in the Rose Garden. Roy had nailed a jumper to give the Blazers a 98-96 lead with 1.9 seconds left in overtime. After a tiumeout, Houston inbounded to Yao Ming on the baseline. As the 7-foot-6 center turned for a fadeaway jumper on Przybilla, Roy offered help and took a swipe at the ball. He hit Yao's wrist and was called for a foul as Yao made the shot with 0.8 seconds left.
"I gave him The Look,'' Przybilla remembers. "Because we had just talked about 'no fouls'.''
The Look?
"Yeah,'' Przybilla said. "The Death Look.''
Roy shakes his head as if to say "let's not go there'' when asked about Przybilla's reaction.
"He looked at me crazy,'' Roy recalled. "He looked at me the way he looks at Martell most of the time.''
Przybilla wasn't the only stare Roy was feeling.
"When I fouled Yao, the first thing I thought was 'I can't believe it.' Then I looked at Joel, and he's never looked at me like that before. He looked at me like he was disappointed in me. But it's funny, because I felt the whole stadium was,'' Roy said. "I was like, 'This is the first time Portland has been disappointed in Brandon Roy.' You know? Wow. I was so upset. That was the first time I felt like I had let everyone down.''
Of course, Roy made up for it, taking an inbound pass with 0.8 seconds left and lofting a 31-foot three-pointer that swished.
"It was like it came out of the clouds,'' McMillan said at the time.
Przybilla remembers being on the sideline, and when he saw Roy's shot swished, he bolted past everyone and was one of the first to mob Roy.
A huge fan of the movie Dumb and Dumber, Przybilla remembers Harry's line to Lloyd after Lloyd traded in the van for a motor bike. Przybilla said he was thinking "You TOTALLY redeemed yourself" as he hugged Roy.
"I didn't know if he had seen the movie, so I didn't want to tell him,'' Przybilla said. "But I don't know why, I just kept thinking about that line: You TOTALLY redeemed yourself.''
Roy tries out a nickname
Roy and I started to reflect more about the season.
"That was a big moment,'' he said of the Houston shot, which made the Blazers 2-3. "But man, that seems like it was so long ago. So much has happened since then.''
I told him it didn't seem that long for me, that I could still remember McMillan's speech to the team before they left for the season opener in Los Angeles.
"Don't get me wrong,'' Roy said. "I remember, me, LaMarcus and Greg sitting down at coach's house ... that seems like yesterday. But the shot seems like a long time ago. But I remember preseason like it was today.''
At that point, Travis Outlaw came by on his way to the showers.
"Hey Quick. I've got a new name for him,'' Outlaw said.
"What's that?'' I said.
"Yellow Mamba.''
"Yellow Mamba?''
Roy interjects.
"Yellow Mamba. Like Kobe is the Black Mamba? I'm the Yellow Mamba.''
Why yellow I ask.
"My skin,'' Roy says.
"Or we can go red,'' Outlaw says. "You like yellow or red?''
"Well, I don't understand red.'' I say. "I get the yellow, but not red.''
"That's what I said. I can explain the yellow when we talk about it,'' Roy said.
Then he looked over to Outlaw.
"Yellow. Yellow.''
"OK. Yellow Mamba then,'' Outlaw said definitively.
"Yellow mamba,'' Roy said.
"We need to get that out there,'' Outlaw tells me.
I ask Roy if he likes the nickname.
"I like it, it's pretty good. Because the Black Mamba is the most deadly snake in the world. I'm not the most deadly, but ...''
I'm not so sure about the whole thing. For me, it's too close to Kobe's, not original enough. I ask Roy if he can really share a nickname like that.
"But I'm the yellow. He's the black.''
Hmm. We'll see.
Wallace ... Not Rasheed, William
Apparently, Roy and Outlaw engaged in this whole nickname conversation on Blazer One during the flight back from San Antonio last week.
The conversation was sparked while the team was watching "Braveheart."
"We were joking around, thinking of names for ourselves,'' Outlaw said.
The top choices, if you can call them that, were Yellow Mamba, Gladiator, Wolverine or William Wallace.
William Wallace? You all were seriously considering selling Brandon Roy's nickname as William Wallace?
"Did you see the movie?'' Outlaw said. "He was a cold-blooded killer.''
They went back and forth. Roy as William Wallace, Outlaw as the Gladiator. Roy as the Gladiator, Outlaw was Wolverine.
Eventually, they came to Roy being the Yellow Mamba.
"I think we ended up with me being Wolverine,'' Outlaw said. "But I think I will move to Wallace.''
Just Wallace?
"No, you've got to put the whole Braveheart guy,'' Outlaw said. "You'd be Rasheed Wallace if you are just Wallace.''
Putting the 'power' in power forward
At this point, Outlaw is the only player left in the locker room. He is often the last to leave, in part because like anything Outlaw does, he takes his time. But it's mostly because after every home game he spends 15 to 20 minutes lifting weights immediately after McMillan's postgame speech.
"I've got to put the power in power forward,'' Outlaw says, playing off the fact that most of his playing time the past two seasons has come at power forward instead of small forward. "I've got to lift the weights so they can't bang me down low.''
He says he likes to lift after the game because his adrenaline is still pumping. Most of his work is done on his upper body. Usually, he is joined by Aldridge, and sometimes Blake.
He continued his postgame practice on Monday even though he played mostly small forward as an emergency starter for Nic Batum, who was experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Aldridge, who dresses next to Batum, said Batum's illness caught everyone by surprise, including Nic.
"They said it just hit him all of the sudden,'' Aldridge said.
Outlaw said he learned of his starting assignment about 15 minutes before game time, after the team had taken the court for pregame warmups. Outlaw was summoned back to McMillan's office, where the coach had a short-but-pointed directive.
"He said, 'You're starting. I'm going to put you on Durant. Play D,''' Outlaw remembered.
Outlaw did just that and more. Kevin Durant finished with 10 points - more than 15 below his season average - while shooting 5-for-15. Meanwhile, Outlaw had 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting while grabbing five rebounds. However, his three-point shooting slump continued as he missed both of his attempts, making him 6-of-38 from beyond the arc over his last 14 games. Since hurting his right pinky finger, Outlaw is 4-of-24 from three-point range.
A new Oden
Durant is completing a great second season - he is fifth in the NBA in scoring - which brings natural comparisons to Blazers center Greg Oden, who was picked ahead of Durant two years ago.
The fans who aren't convinced Oden was the right pick over Durant might be on their way to converting after Monday night. Oden looked strong, fluid and involved, yet it is obvious he has much to improve upon. That being said, Oden still finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds and one block in 20 minutes. Not too shabby.
I don't know which development is better - the team finally looking for him on lobs, or Oden finally shedding the shell he was encased in all season. For the past month, the old Greg everyone had grown to love, but had been missing all season amid a surly and sulking demeanor, has reappeared.
"I think I have just been me,'' Oden said. "I mean, at the beginning of the year, I probably wasn't myself, but you know I think I have been lately. I still have my days, when I come in and I'm quiet, but everybody has those days.''
I get the sense that Oden is coming around, both in his confidence and his conditioning. With the rugged style of the playoffs - where referees typically allow more physical play - I can't help but think this will be an advantage for Oden. So much of his season has been hindered by foul trouble, in particular ticky-tack fouls. If the refs allow him to play through those ticky-tack fouls, Oden will stay on the court longer, and that could be a huge development.
As Oden is talking, he is fiddling with a plastic clasp to attach the French cuffs on his orange dress shirt, which features his initials stenciled on the cuffs. I remark to him that I'm amazed at how many French cuff shirts he has when he refuses to wear cuff links, which he says are too tedious for him to fasten.
"It's not like I've picked out every shirt I've bought,'' he says.
That task belongs to David Schottenstein of Columbus, Ohio. Schottenstein - whose family name is on the basketball arena at Ohio State - purchases the wardrobe for Oden.
"Most of my suits, if you look inside them, there's a color, so I know what color of shirt to match with the suit,'' Oden said. "It makes it easy on me.''
However, Oden can no longer wear most of his suits. His shoulders and biceps have become so large that he is liable to split the seams. It won't be until summer than he is able to have the suits altered.
A talk about Behind the Locker Room
As Oden was getting dressed, he was sharing a hearty laugh with Channing Frye about a player on Oklahoma City. Oden was about to recount the funny story to me when Frye stepped in and told him he shouldn't go any further.
I've been getting a lot of that lately since Behind the Locker Room Door has been hitting the website, where players will start to say something, then look at me, smile and stop in mid-sentence.
So on Monday, I decided to get it all in the open.
I talked with Roy, Blake and Przybilla about the series. I wanted to know their feelings, their reservations, and just their general impressions of how it has gone so far.
They all gave me the green light, but it was a green light that was about to turn yellow.
Roy said he has been fine with the series, that he sees what I'm trying to do - connect the team with the fans - but he worried for me that at some point I will get too personal, and air something that a player doesn't want aired.
Przybilla said he hasn't heard any rumblings from players, but reminded me that the locker room is the players' "sanctuary" - their special place where they can act and say whatever they want. It was up to me to respect that privacy, he said.
And Blake said he didn't have any problems, but since he discovered what I was doing, he has made a habit of watching what he says around me.
So, I will proceed with Behind the Locker Room Door, knowing some of the stories will be muted, knowing I'm being looked at a little more warily by the players. But I will also proceed with a greater sense of openness - they know where I stand, I know where they stand.
All I can guarantee is that I will be open and honest with the players, and along the way be as revealing and in depth as that trust-level the players afford me will allow.
It's a fine line, but one I hope we can all toe together.
And finally ...
A scene that shows how fired up owner Paul Allen is: As the media was waiting to get inside the postgame locker room, Allen emerged from his private suite. As he walked through the gauntlet of reporters he looked at me and smiled. "Are you ready? Ready for the playoffs?" And with that, he extended a fist for a fist-bump. I think it's safe to say Paul is ready for the playoffs. And I think it's safe to say Paul is glad he didn't sell the team a couple of years ago. I still contend he is one of the best owners in sports. The guy has continually stepped up to pay for a winner. He's going to be asked to do it again soon, as the rookie contracts of Roy and Aldridge expire after next season.
Long before going behind the Blazers locker room door on Monday night, where among other things I would learn the new nickname preferred by Brandon Roy, my day started in the office of coach Nate McMillan.
It was 8:30 a.m., and coach was waiting in his gray Trail Blazers sweatsuit with a coffee on his desk. Before we got too deep into anything, we both marveled at the fact that there were only two games left in the regular season.
For the first time in McMillan's four years in Portland, the season had flown by quickly.
"I wake up this morning and I say, 'We've got two games.' That's crazy. Where are the rest of the games at? '' McMillan says.
I tell him I can remember like yesterday when he stood in front of the team before their flight to Los Angeles for the season opener. It's when he told the players that he believed in them, that he felt as confident as he has ever felt about a team heading into a season.
McMillan smiled. His first memory takes him to the day of the season opener against the Lakers. He is sitting in his hotel room in Los Angeles, struggling with indecision.
"We have six, seven hours before tipoff, and I'm thinking: Do I start Nic? And at the last minute, I decide not to.
"And now, the season ... it's ... gone.''
And a new season - the postseason - awaits.
But first, there was some housecleaning to do.
The Blazers on Monday rolled past Oklahoma City 113-83 for their fifth straight win, the 53rd of the season, and 33rd at the Rose Garden. The 53 wins is tied for sixth most in franchise history and the 33 home wins is the most since the great 1991-1992 team that lost in six games to Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the NBA Finals.
Now all that is left on the 82-game schedule is Denver on Wednesday at the Rose Garden, which will determine the Blazers playoff seeding. The Blazers can finish anywhere from third to fifth in the Western Conference and will face either Houston, San Antonio or New Orleans in the first round. If the Blazers beat Denver, they are assured of homecourt advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Preparing for a long battle
For the past month, I have been noticing a growing, yet quiet, confidence on this team both in their attitudes and their style of play. It started on that road trip through Atlanta, Memphis, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Milwaukee and has gathered momentum ever since.
This confidence is revealed in subtle ways.
On the court, it's the manner in which LaMarcus Aldridge attacks the basket now. The way Steve Blake is throwing more lob passes. The pep in the step of Sergio Rodriguez. The assurance of Rudy Fernandez when he spots up for a three.
Off the court, it is the way this team is talking. There is an absence of bravado, but a degree of conviction that is powerful in its subtly.
This is apparent inside the locker room, when I asked the players whether this season had gone by as quickly for them as it had for me. They all said that winning makes the season go by quicker. But Joel Przybilla and Brandon Roy both said something that struck me.
Even though both were six stalls apart, they both echoed the same sentiment. There is just a feeling among the players that they are in for a long ride. The way they said it - almost matter of factly - made me think this is not a young team that is just giddy to make the playoffs. This is a team preparing for grueling postseason battle.
"It just feels like the season is going to go on for a long time,'' Przybilla said. "It just does. It feels like we are going to be here a lot longer.''
Added Roy: "I still feel like the season has two months left. It's like, there's more work to be done.''
A summer of preparation
I found out something interesting about Roy after the game. When he left last season, he put on a good front for the media. The 41-41 record, Roy said, was a good season. Progress. But deep down, he was stung. Angry.
"When we ended the season, I was so mad at having to watch the playoffs and not be there,'' Roy said.
So he took it out in the gym. Every day, he simulated what it would be like to be in the playoffs.
"Mentally, I wanted to stay as if I was in the season,'' Roy said. "So I went to the gym and shot - I wasn't going all out - but I wanted to train myself mentally so when I do get to the playoffs, it's not going to seem like it's long. So honestly, right now, I'm not mentally fatigued. I want to get to the playoffs. I'm anxious to get there. Even my body, it feels good.''
The 'Death Look'
This, of course, is a large part of what makes Brandon Roy such an elite player. He is always thinking of ways to get better, both mentally and physically. It's one of his endearing qualities, and a big reason why he is the most beloved Blazers player since Clyde Drexler, and it's why I believe Roy will become the all-time face of the franchise by the time he retires.
But for a moment this season, Roy felt like Public Enemy No. 1 in Portland.
It was Nov. 6, and the Blazers were playing Houston in the Rose Garden. Roy had nailed a jumper to give the Blazers a 98-96 lead with 1.9 seconds left in overtime. After a tiumeout, Houston inbounded to Yao Ming on the baseline. As the 7-foot-6 center turned for a fadeaway jumper on Przybilla, Roy offered help and took a swipe at the ball. He hit Yao's wrist and was called for a foul as Yao made the shot with 0.8 seconds left.
"I gave him The Look,'' Przybilla remembers. "Because we had just talked about 'no fouls'.''
The Look?
"Yeah,'' Przybilla said. "The Death Look.''
Roy shakes his head as if to say "let's not go there'' when asked about Przybilla's reaction.
"He looked at me crazy,'' Roy recalled. "He looked at me the way he looks at Martell most of the time.''
Przybilla wasn't the only stare Roy was feeling.
"When I fouled Yao, the first thing I thought was 'I can't believe it.' Then I looked at Joel, and he's never looked at me like that before. He looked at me like he was disappointed in me. But it's funny, because I felt the whole stadium was,'' Roy said. "I was like, 'This is the first time Portland has been disappointed in Brandon Roy.' You know? Wow. I was so upset. That was the first time I felt like I had let everyone down.''
Of course, Roy made up for it, taking an inbound pass with 0.8 seconds left and lofting a 31-foot three-pointer that swished.
"It was like it came out of the clouds,'' McMillan said at the time.
Przybilla remembers being on the sideline, and when he saw Roy's shot swished, he bolted past everyone and was one of the first to mob Roy.
A huge fan of the movie Dumb and Dumber, Przybilla remembers Harry's line to Lloyd after Lloyd traded in the van for a motor bike. Przybilla said he was thinking "You TOTALLY redeemed yourself" as he hugged Roy.
"I didn't know if he had seen the movie, so I didn't want to tell him,'' Przybilla said. "But I don't know why, I just kept thinking about that line: You TOTALLY redeemed yourself.''
Roy tries out a nickname
Roy and I started to reflect more about the season.
"That was a big moment,'' he said of the Houston shot, which made the Blazers 2-3. "But man, that seems like it was so long ago. So much has happened since then.''
I told him it didn't seem that long for me, that I could still remember McMillan's speech to the team before they left for the season opener in Los Angeles.
"Don't get me wrong,'' Roy said. "I remember, me, LaMarcus and Greg sitting down at coach's house ... that seems like yesterday. But the shot seems like a long time ago. But I remember preseason like it was today.''
At that point, Travis Outlaw came by on his way to the showers.
"Hey Quick. I've got a new name for him,'' Outlaw said.
"What's that?'' I said.
"Yellow Mamba.''
"Yellow Mamba?''
Roy interjects.
"Yellow Mamba. Like Kobe is the Black Mamba? I'm the Yellow Mamba.''
Why yellow I ask.
"My skin,'' Roy says.
"Or we can go red,'' Outlaw says. "You like yellow or red?''
"Well, I don't understand red.'' I say. "I get the yellow, but not red.''
"That's what I said. I can explain the yellow when we talk about it,'' Roy said.
Then he looked over to Outlaw.
"Yellow. Yellow.''
"OK. Yellow Mamba then,'' Outlaw said definitively.
"Yellow mamba,'' Roy said.
"We need to get that out there,'' Outlaw tells me.
I ask Roy if he likes the nickname.
"I like it, it's pretty good. Because the Black Mamba is the most deadly snake in the world. I'm not the most deadly, but ...''
I'm not so sure about the whole thing. For me, it's too close to Kobe's, not original enough. I ask Roy if he can really share a nickname like that.
"But I'm the yellow. He's the black.''
Hmm. We'll see.
Wallace ... Not Rasheed, William
Apparently, Roy and Outlaw engaged in this whole nickname conversation on Blazer One during the flight back from San Antonio last week.
The conversation was sparked while the team was watching "Braveheart."
"We were joking around, thinking of names for ourselves,'' Outlaw said.
The top choices, if you can call them that, were Yellow Mamba, Gladiator, Wolverine or William Wallace.
William Wallace? You all were seriously considering selling Brandon Roy's nickname as William Wallace?
"Did you see the movie?'' Outlaw said. "He was a cold-blooded killer.''
They went back and forth. Roy as William Wallace, Outlaw as the Gladiator. Roy as the Gladiator, Outlaw was Wolverine.
Eventually, they came to Roy being the Yellow Mamba.
"I think we ended up with me being Wolverine,'' Outlaw said. "But I think I will move to Wallace.''
Just Wallace?
"No, you've got to put the whole Braveheart guy,'' Outlaw said. "You'd be Rasheed Wallace if you are just Wallace.''
Putting the 'power' in power forward
At this point, Outlaw is the only player left in the locker room. He is often the last to leave, in part because like anything Outlaw does, he takes his time. But it's mostly because after every home game he spends 15 to 20 minutes lifting weights immediately after McMillan's postgame speech.
"I've got to put the power in power forward,'' Outlaw says, playing off the fact that most of his playing time the past two seasons has come at power forward instead of small forward. "I've got to lift the weights so they can't bang me down low.''
He says he likes to lift after the game because his adrenaline is still pumping. Most of his work is done on his upper body. Usually, he is joined by Aldridge, and sometimes Blake.
He continued his postgame practice on Monday even though he played mostly small forward as an emergency starter for Nic Batum, who was experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Aldridge, who dresses next to Batum, said Batum's illness caught everyone by surprise, including Nic.
"They said it just hit him all of the sudden,'' Aldridge said.
Outlaw said he learned of his starting assignment about 15 minutes before game time, after the team had taken the court for pregame warmups. Outlaw was summoned back to McMillan's office, where the coach had a short-but-pointed directive.
"He said, 'You're starting. I'm going to put you on Durant. Play D,''' Outlaw remembered.
Outlaw did just that and more. Kevin Durant finished with 10 points - more than 15 below his season average - while shooting 5-for-15. Meanwhile, Outlaw had 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting while grabbing five rebounds. However, his three-point shooting slump continued as he missed both of his attempts, making him 6-of-38 from beyond the arc over his last 14 games. Since hurting his right pinky finger, Outlaw is 4-of-24 from three-point range.
A new Oden
Durant is completing a great second season - he is fifth in the NBA in scoring - which brings natural comparisons to Blazers center Greg Oden, who was picked ahead of Durant two years ago.
The fans who aren't convinced Oden was the right pick over Durant might be on their way to converting after Monday night. Oden looked strong, fluid and involved, yet it is obvious he has much to improve upon. That being said, Oden still finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds and one block in 20 minutes. Not too shabby.
I don't know which development is better - the team finally looking for him on lobs, or Oden finally shedding the shell he was encased in all season. For the past month, the old Greg everyone had grown to love, but had been missing all season amid a surly and sulking demeanor, has reappeared.
"I think I have just been me,'' Oden said. "I mean, at the beginning of the year, I probably wasn't myself, but you know I think I have been lately. I still have my days, when I come in and I'm quiet, but everybody has those days.''
I get the sense that Oden is coming around, both in his confidence and his conditioning. With the rugged style of the playoffs - where referees typically allow more physical play - I can't help but think this will be an advantage for Oden. So much of his season has been hindered by foul trouble, in particular ticky-tack fouls. If the refs allow him to play through those ticky-tack fouls, Oden will stay on the court longer, and that could be a huge development.
As Oden is talking, he is fiddling with a plastic clasp to attach the French cuffs on his orange dress shirt, which features his initials stenciled on the cuffs. I remark to him that I'm amazed at how many French cuff shirts he has when he refuses to wear cuff links, which he says are too tedious for him to fasten.
"It's not like I've picked out every shirt I've bought,'' he says.
That task belongs to David Schottenstein of Columbus, Ohio. Schottenstein - whose family name is on the basketball arena at Ohio State - purchases the wardrobe for Oden.
"Most of my suits, if you look inside them, there's a color, so I know what color of shirt to match with the suit,'' Oden said. "It makes it easy on me.''
However, Oden can no longer wear most of his suits. His shoulders and biceps have become so large that he is liable to split the seams. It won't be until summer than he is able to have the suits altered.
A talk about Behind the Locker Room
As Oden was getting dressed, he was sharing a hearty laugh with Channing Frye about a player on Oklahoma City. Oden was about to recount the funny story to me when Frye stepped in and told him he shouldn't go any further.
I've been getting a lot of that lately since Behind the Locker Room Door has been hitting the website, where players will start to say something, then look at me, smile and stop in mid-sentence.
So on Monday, I decided to get it all in the open.
I talked with Roy, Blake and Przybilla about the series. I wanted to know their feelings, their reservations, and just their general impressions of how it has gone so far.
They all gave me the green light, but it was a green light that was about to turn yellow.
Roy said he has been fine with the series, that he sees what I'm trying to do - connect the team with the fans - but he worried for me that at some point I will get too personal, and air something that a player doesn't want aired.
Przybilla said he hasn't heard any rumblings from players, but reminded me that the locker room is the players' "sanctuary" - their special place where they can act and say whatever they want. It was up to me to respect that privacy, he said.
And Blake said he didn't have any problems, but since he discovered what I was doing, he has made a habit of watching what he says around me.
So, I will proceed with Behind the Locker Room Door, knowing some of the stories will be muted, knowing I'm being looked at a little more warily by the players. But I will also proceed with a greater sense of openness - they know where I stand, I know where they stand.
All I can guarantee is that I will be open and honest with the players, and along the way be as revealing and in depth as that trust-level the players afford me will allow.
It's a fine line, but one I hope we can all toe together.
And finally ...
A scene that shows how fired up owner Paul Allen is: As the media was waiting to get inside the postgame locker room, Allen emerged from his private suite. As he walked through the gauntlet of reporters he looked at me and smiled. "Are you ready? Ready for the playoffs?" And with that, he extended a fist for a fist-bump. I think it's safe to say Paul is ready for the playoffs. And I think it's safe to say Paul is glad he didn't sell the team a couple of years ago. I still contend he is one of the best owners in sports. The guy has continually stepped up to pay for a winner. He's going to be asked to do it again soon, as the rookie contracts of Roy and Aldridge expire after next season.