Great Pick there, Portland

[Viva Las Espuelas]

This guy also speaks like he has the IQ of 3.
-----------------------------------


Report: Oden to have tonsils removed later this week


Portland-area hospitals may wish to stock up on ice cream for the arrival of a very big patient.

The Portland Trail Blazers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=por) will shut down rookie center Greg Oden (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=4243)'s summer league season after two games so the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft can have his tonsils removed, The Oregonian of Portland reported.



According to the report, the team has decided Oden's swollen tonsils need to come out in the next three-to-four days because they are obstructing his breathing, which in turn is limiting his stamina.

"Right now, it's more of a thing that they are so big, that when I'm running up and down the court, it's hard for me to breathe," Oden said Monday after scrimmages with the Denver Nuggets (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=den) and Los Angeles Clippers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=lac), The Oregonian reported. "I can't get any air in there."

While a final decision on surgery has yet to be made, it appears likely Oden will have the procedure done late this week, after taping the ESPY awards show in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the newspaper reported. According to the team and Oden's camp, he is expected to recover in about two weeks.

Oden had struggled in his two summer league appearances, fouling out of his first game and scoring 13 points in the second. But he did not use his tonsils -- which team general manager Kevin Pritchard said are the size of golf balls -- as a crutch for his performance.

"There's no excuses, because I was out there playing," Oden said, according to The Oregonian. "And if I'm playing, I'm playing, so if I have a bad game, it's not on my tonsils, it's on me. A lot of it is I just have to get used to this game, that's what everyone is telling me."





http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2931319&campaign=rss&source=NBAHeadlines

[O-Factor]

If Grant Hill had this injury, he'd be out 3 months...

[The_Game]

Yes because summer league results really matter.

the guy is 18, he was not projected to become great overnight.

[Oh, Gee!!]

I'd a done the same thing as what Portland done.

[BacktoBasics]

The thing people need to get out of their mind is that this guy is going to be a 20 and 10 dude or 24 and 12 guy. I don't see that ever happening, he's not an offensive game changer.

He's a great defender with great shot altering shot blocking ability. He'll get you 15-17 and 12-14 a game. Not historic numbers and never will be but his size and wingspan make him a dominate defender and potential game changer in that reguard.

[peskypesky]

The thing people need to get out of their mind is that this guy is going to be a 20 and 10 dude or 24 and 12 guy. I don't see that ever happening, he's not an offensive game changer.

He's a great defender with great shot altering shot blocking ability. He'll get you 15-17 and 12-14 a game. Not historic numbers and never will be but his size and wingspan make him a dominate defender and potential game changer in that reguard.

I agree with you. I think he will continue to get better for the next 3 or 4 years, and at that point he will be a great defender, and average about 14pts, 13 rebounds per game. Maybe a tad more.

[BacktoBasics]

If this guy has stat lines like 14 points 12 boards 4, 5 or 6 offensive 6 defensive 3 blocks 1 steal and 5 altered shots then they got a great pick with the number 1. This will also free up Aldridge to float around and utilize his range and length as well as Roy on the midrange to long range jumpshots.

[JamStone]

The thing people need to get out of their mind is that this guy is going to be a 20 and 10 dude or 24 and 12 guy. I don't see that ever happening, he's not an offensive game changer.

He's a great defender with great shot altering shot blocking ability. He'll get you 15-17 and 12-14 a game. Not historic numbers and never will be but his size and wingspan make him a dominate defender and potential game changer in that reguard.


You talk as if Oden is the first physically dominating big man to need a lot of work at the offensive end upon being drafted. Not all great big man prospects are NBA ready upon being drafted like Tim Duncan was. Bill Russell never averaged 20 ppg in any of his 13 NBA seasons. Karl Malone had a very poor perimeter shooting touch when he started his NBA career. Heck, David Robinson never learned how to play the low post in the NBA. How did David Robinson average in the mid-20s ppg for several seasons without any low post game? He found other ways to score, running the floor, being a top offensive rebounder, learning how to be effective in the high-post with a midrange jumper.

Why can't Greg Oden learn to polish those areas of his game as well as being an efficient low-post scorer?

I think Oden's determination to learn how to shoot free throws adequately with his left hand demonstrates how much willingness he has to improve his game.

[mardigan]

Ostertag dominated Duncan in his first summer league if I remember correctly and Duncan was a senior. Give the kid some time, he is well ahead of where most of the great bigs were at this point of their careers.

[Spurminator]

I had August in the pool for "first time the Oden pick will be prematurely second-guessed."

I was way off.

[dknights411]

I'm holding out until the preseason before I make a call here.

[tlongII]

The guy has playing in the summer league with tonsils the size of golf balls and he's criticized??? UNBEAVABLE! The city of Portland LOVES the guy! He works hard and makes no excuses.

[CubanMustGo]

Did they call those 10 PFs on his tonsils?

[tlongII]

Did they call those 10 PFs on his tonsils?

If you can't breathe, you can't move quickly. If you can't move quickly, you will be out of position. If you are out of position, you will be called for fouls.

[NorCal510]

tlong is right

greg oden is a mofuckin beast!

[spurscenter]

KWAME BROWN Part 2 but at least the ending will be better . The beginning and middle parts of the film are gonna stink.

[SRJ]

"Kwame Brown"? :lol Please. An average Greg Oden game will look like Kwame Brown at his very best.

[Mr. Body]

Too many stupid posters on this board. I project Oden to be Patrick Ewing, more or less.

Cue up the 'Ewing sux!' comments. You all are miserable toads.