Still on the Mend, Greg Oden Vows One Day to Be an All-Star

[duncan228]

Still on the Mend, Greg Oden Vows One Day to Be an All-Star (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/10/still-on-the-mend-greg-oden-vows-one-day-to-be-an-all-star/)
By Chris Tomasson

Greg Oden claims he doesn't listen to all the talk about how Portland should have taken Kevin Durant instead with the top pick in 2007 and about how he's joined Bill Walton and Sam Bowie on an infamous list of Trail Blazers' injured centers.

But there is one thing Oden believes should be heard when he speaks.

"When I get out there 100 percent, everybody will see what kind of player I am,'' Oden said in an interview with FanHouse. "When I get 100 percent and I get to improve on the court, I feel I can be an All-Star.''

Oden has a long way to go to get there, but it's hardly unreasonable. He doesn't turn 23 until January, there's a dearth of centers in the NBA and Oden was playing some pretty good ball before he went down Dec. 6, 2009 with a knee injury that ended last season and from which he has yet to return.

Oden, taken No. 1 by the Trail Blazers in 2007 while Durant, the Oklahoma City star forward, went No. 2, already has missed a Walton- and Bowie-like 164 of 246 possible NBA games. He sat out his entire rookie season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee and then came the surgery for the fractured left patella suffered when he went down 10 months ago against Houston.

"It's just tough,'' Oden said of his latest injury. "This is difficult because you can't really know what the timetable is. If I get out there and I'm not 100 percent, I'm not helping the team. I'm hurting them. So that's what I'm waiting on, to get to 100 percent.

"But I'm definitely keeping my spirits up, especially being around all (his teammates). They definitely pick me up a little more. I'm always staying positive.''

For now, the Trail Blazers have given no timetable on when Oden might be back. They won't even speculate.

Keep Reading... (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/10/still-on-the-mend-greg-oden-vows-one-day-to-be-an-all-star/)

[Ashy Larry]

doubt it G.O. ......

you gotta be healthy to work on a post game .......

[lefty]

Mark Price and Bernard King : " CROFL "

[Ari Gold]

He can make the all-star team.




































































If all the centers in the Western Conference broke their legs.

[Gutter92]

lol

[lil_penny]

^

laker fan is one to talk about centers with broken legs:lol

[duhoh]

lol laker fan :D

[jdiggy0424]

If hes healthy, he can can make the all star team. i believe during a stretch before his injury he posted an PER of 23.1 compared to Dwight Howards 24.0 at the time.
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if he's healthy that is.

[ElNono]

You'll see, you'll see :jack

[elemento]

he could be a star, a porn star !

[BadOdor]

he could be a star, a porn star !

hi lefty.

[badfish22]

Bruce Bowen - the truth

[DPG21920]

I honestly believe Oden would be an all-star if healthy. For the short time he has been healthy, he was a beast. If he could get some consistency and time to work on his game, I think he would be one of a few true impact centers.

[Latarian Milton]

I honestly believe Oden would be an all-star if healthy. For the short time he has been healthy, he was a beast. If he could get some consistency and time to work on his game, I think he would be one of a few true impact centers.

Big centers like Oden ain't becoming all-stars in the NBA of current day. the epoch of big centers was the second half of last century and the time has passed. All big centers are rather injury prone in today's NBA league. DH is the best center now but he's not nearly as much of a center as the European bigs by the conventional definition of a center.

There are only a handful of centers and they all have to use most of their efforts fighting injuries. it's time for them to enter museums tbh.

[DPG21920]

I mean all-star caliber, not elected to the team.

[Latarian Milton]

I mean all-star caliber, not elected to the team.

being elected into ASG won't mean much for the centers tbh. centers are scarce beings in the league now. they'll probably be elected all-stars just because they are centers, even when they are not all-star caliber. and consequently, centers are generally overpaid like the Houston Shite who was paid 17m last season without playing a game.

[Killakobe81]

Big centers like Oden ain't becoming all-stars in the NBA of current day. the epoch of big centers was the second half of last century and the time has passed. All big centers are rather injury prone in today's NBA league. DH is the best center now but he's not nearly as much of a center as the European bigs by the conventional definition of a center.

There are only a handful of centers and they all have to use most of their efforts fighting injuries. it's time for them to enter museums tbh.

You paint a pretty bleak picture ...but you are right. Look at last season alone Yao, Bogut, Bynum and Kaman all battled injuries. Even Shaq battled them most seasons after his MVP year ...Howard is definitely the best, though he might not be a pure center (like Zo, or even Tim he seems like a suped up PF) ... And there isnt much in college either ...

[duncan228]

Broken, not beat, Oden vows to return strong (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=mc-odenblazers102010)
By Marc J. Spears

Greg Oden missed his first NBA season after having surgery on his right knee. He lasted 13 minutes into his second season before injuring his right foot. His third season was cut short after 21 games after he broke his left kneecap – an injury from which he’s still recovering more than 10 months later.

So it’s a fair question to ask: Is the Portland Trail Blazers’ supposed franchise center simply prone to bad luck? Or is he on his way to becoming one of the league’s biggest busts?

Oden has his own answer.

“I’m not worried about people believing in me. I believe in myself,” he said. “If you’re going to doubt me, doubt me. But I know what I can do, and I know I’m going to improve, and I know that I can bring a lot to this team.”

If it were up to Oden, he would have already contributed plenty. After arriving as the No. 1 pick of the 2007 draft, he was expected to team with Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge to make the Blazers a contender in the Western Conference. But while Portland has improved – advancing to the first round of the playoffs in each of the past two seasons – injuries have kept the team from reaching its full potential.

And no Blazer has struggled to stay healthy more than Oden, who’s played in just 82 of a possible 246 games in the past three seasons. The frustration of Portland fans has been compounded by the fact that Kevin Durant, who was selected one pick after Oden, has developed into the NBA’s reigning scoring champion and an MVP candidate.

“He’s been through a lot,” Roy said of Oden. “He’s had major injuries for a young kid to deal with who’s had all these expectations. … I think more people would be more down than he’s shown.”

Oden had hoped to already be back playing after injuring his left knee on Dec. 5 while jumping in a game against the Houston Rockets. He is participating in half-court workouts with Blazers assistant Buck Williams, but has been limited to playing one-on-one as he tries to work through some tendinitis in the knee. Oden won’t give a specific timetable for when he thinks he’ll return, but Blazers coach Nate McMillan is optimistic it will be before the end of December.

“I do a little bit more each day,” Oden said. “I keep on pushing it. But I’m not going to put myself out there until I can go and do the things I need to do.”

Said Roy: “He’s closer than I think people think.”

Oden’s repeated injuries have forced him to learn to become patient, though he still doesn’t sound like a big fan of the concept. Staying positive is a challenge.

“It sucks,” he said. “It’s tough to deal with. You can have confidence all you want, but when a lot of time is going by, your confidence starts to die down.”

Oden’s contract situation also has weighed on him. He’s eligible for an extension, but it’s clear the Blazers want to use the full season to better assess his health before deciding to commit frontline money to him. Oden will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, which will still allow the Blazers to match any offer he receives.

“I’m really just trying to concentrate on getting my knee back,” Oden said. “I would love for it to happen, but I got to prove it. I got to earn it.”

Oden started to show some of his potential before he was injured last season. In the seven games before he went down, he averaged 15.6 points, 9.1 blocks and 2.4 blocks.

“I know I can play well in this league,” Oden said. “I showed that the beginning of last [season] before I got hurt.”

No one doubts the Blazers’ talent. They have the depth and size to match up with the Lakers, provided they can get healthy. Joel Przybilla, who will help Marcus Camby fill the center position until Oden returns, is recovering from an injury similar to Oden’s and is expected back in the middle of November. Roy has become an All-Star, but he was also slowed last season by his own knee problems.

“People have often asked who are we and how good we are,” McMillan said. “But we can’t say because you haven’t seen Brandon, LaMarcus or Greg for 50 games [together], and that’s your foundation. That’s your anchor, supposedly. We’ve been labeled as a team that can’t rebound and we’re not a physical team. Well, part of that is due to the fact that we haven’t had our big guy with us.

“The potential is there when having everybody healthy. But over the last few years we haven’t seen that because we’ve had major injuries.”

Most of them have belonged to their young center. So go ahead and write off Oden. Just excuse him if he’s not ready to do the same.

[dirk4mvp]

He's at least got the right attitude, unlike some vagina like Darko.