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Greg Oden interview (plans to come back for 2013)

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Pioneer10

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Although Greg never took my bait and blamed the Blazers for his premature return, it's impossible not to wonder if Portland's medical staff contributed to any of the problems Greg endured during his injury-plagued career. This isn't to say Greg never would've gotten hurt had he played somewhere else, but Portland's medical staff has long been rumored to be less than stellar.4 At any rate, nobody can deny that Greg genuinely felt pressured — either by the Blazers, their doctors, his own guilt, or all three — to return to the court before his body was ready. That's why he claims he wasn't surprised that he needed a second microfracture surgery. That's why he responded to the news by shrugging his shoulders and saying "OK" as if he had just been told by a McDonald's employee that the McFlurry machine wasn't working.

This second microfracture operation led to another missed season, which meant that in Greg's first four years in Portland, he played in only 82 games. Somewhat thankfully, the NBA lockout forced him away from the Blazers' facilities last summer, and he moved to Los Angeles to continue rehabilitating at a private clinic. Even if the change of scenery served him well, that clinic was juggling too many athletes to give him the personal attention Greg thought he needed, so he found a different clinic that was more hands-on. Greg's new physical therapist informed him that, while his left knee was healing well, it wasn't nearly as strong as it should've been. He referred Greg to a New York colleague who specialized in things like "making someone's knee better after it endures two devastating injuries in less than a year." Before Greg shifted operations to New York, however, the lockout ended and forced him back to Portland. Again, he felt rushed to return to the court before he was ready. And wouldn't you know it — he ended up needing another microfracture surgery in the same knee he was already rehabbing.

I thought Greg might retire from basketball after Portland released him. That's not happening. Right now, his plan is to take off the entire 2012-13 season, move back to Columbus, take all the time he needs to rehab his knee back to full strength, and continue working toward the degree that he abandoned after one year at Ohio State. Once he feels ready, he plans to sign with an NBA team in 2013 and (hopefully) string together a few years of injury-free basketball. No NBA player has ever returned from three microfracture surgeries, so there's no denying that the odds are against him. But here's the good news: Even though his appearance would lead you to believe otherwise, he's only 24 years old. There's still enough time to salvage a decent NBA career and maybe even reach some of the potential that once seemed so limitless. Not that he's thinking about it that way, of course.

"I don't care about what all of these injuries mean for any legacy I might have," he said. "I just want to play basketball. I could've signed with a team after Portland cut me and just sat on the bench and collected paychecks, but that's not my style. That just seems really unethical. Besides, money doesn't matter to me. I've got enough money. All I want is to get 100 percent healthy and get back on the court."

Always liked Oden as a person. Too bad his body hasn't help up. Looks like Portland has some real issues up there (Roy and Oden may not be coincidence)

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...-overall-pick-greg-oden-injury-plagued-career
 
His career is done. I'm sorry but the truth hurts.
 
He could barely walk the night Ohio State played Duke. He honestly looked like he needed a cane his posture was so bad. I just don't even see him playing again. He was born big, but his body wasn't built for the size. He was an unnatural big...when he first needed surgery at 7 for the length of his legs, it should have been apparent physical activities would one day take its toll on his body. The Blazers really ignored a lot of information that was out there....
 
sweet priorities

"For starters, Portland isn't a great city to live in if you're a young, African American male with a lot of money,"

tho article does essentially point out that he probably wouldn't have lived up to the hype or anything close to it had he actually been able to stay on the court.
 
sweet priorities



tho article does essentially point out that he probably wouldn't have lived up to the hype or anything close to it had he actually been able to stay on the court.

1. You're right. He should have stayed shacked up in his house. I mean, what 21 year old wants to go out and have fun.

2. The last 7 games he has played: PPG/RPG/BPG - MPG
1. 16/6/1 - 24
2. 16/5/3 - 24
3. 24/12/2 - 27
4. 18/8/4 - 25
5. 13/10/3 - 28
6. 9/3/0 - 24
7. 13/20/4 - 30

As denoted in the article, he avg 15.6/9.1/2.4 in only 26 MPG...rushing through a devastating knee injury. I'm not suggesting he would have been great or not, but it really looked like he was coming into his own.

If he would have stayed at the aforementioned stat clip, he would have avg PER 36 16.7/12.8/3.4. Or, in NBA, he would have been 3rd in rebounding, 2nd in blocks, and 6th in scoring (for Centers) while shooting 61%. His WS/48, .214, was twice the avg NBA player. To put things in perspective, the .214 WS/48 would have been 12th best all time.

I know, lot's of ifs. But his trajectory (and this article) demonstrated that he was, in fact, climbing towards playing at an elite level.
 
One of the better sports articles I have read in a very long time.
 
1. You're right. He should have stayed shacked up in his house. I mean, what 21 year old wants to go out and have fun.

2. The last 7 games he has played: PPG/RPG/BPG - MPG
1. 16/6/1 - 24
2. 16/5/3 - 24
3. 24/12/2 - 27
4. 18/8/4 - 25
5. 13/10/3 - 28
6. 9/3/0 - 24
7. 13/20/4 - 30

As denoted in the article, he avg 15.6/9.1/2.4 in only 26 MPG...rushing through a devastating knee injury. I'm not suggesting he would have been great or not, but it really looked like he was coming into his own.

If he would have stayed at the aforementioned stat clip, he would have avg PER 36 16.7/12.8/3.4. Or, in NBA, he would have been 3rd in rebounding, 2nd in blocks, and 6th in scoring (for Centers) while shooting 61%. His WS/48, .214, was twice the avg NBA player. To put things in perspective, the .214 WS/48 would have been 12th best all time.

I know, lot's of ifs. But his trajectory (and this article) demonstrated that he was, in fact, climbing towards playing at an elite level.

I'm not even going to tip-toe around it. If Greg Oden could've stayed healthy, he would've been better than Dwight Howard by a good margin. I think he would've been that good. The guy was just a monster.
 
I'm not even going to tip-toe around it. If Greg Oden could've stayed healthy, he would've been better than Dwight Howard by a good margin. I think he would've been that good. The guy was just a monster.

Maybe.

In any event, I would love to sign him this off-season, shelve him for the entire year, let him rehab & get his body/knees sorted out and start him in 2013 (all depending on what we do in this draft).
 
Would be great to see him back on the court one day... Taking the 2012/13 season off might be a good idea, just wondering how he is going to finance all the doctors and rehab in general without a NBA team taking care of it. I guess using the services of the best doctors the country has (which Oden needs to do) wont be cheap
 
Would be great to see him back on the court one day... Taking the 2012/13 season off might be a good idea, just wondering how he is going to finance all the doctors and rehab in general without a NBA team taking care of it. I guess using the services of the best doctors the country has (which Oden needs to do) wont be cheap

No more expensive than any other injury/rehab. Someone will definitely take a chance on him.
 
No more expensive than any other injury/rehab. Someone will definitely take a chance on him.

No...You didnt read correctly. He said he wont sign for a team until the 2012/13 season is over because he finds it "unethical"
 
No...You didnt read correctly. He said he wont sign for a team until the 2012/13 season is over because he finds it "unethical"

That means "I'm not going to sign a contract below market value due to injury. I'll sit out a year, get healthy and sign a better deal"
 
That means "I'm not going to sign a contract below market value due to injury. I'll sit out a year, get healthy and sign a better deal"

It also means he has to pay doctors and rehab by himself....
 
1. You're right. He should have stayed shacked up in his house. I mean, what 21 year old wants to go out and have fun.

2. The last 7 games he has played: PPG/RPG/BPG - MPG
1. 16/6/1 - 24
2. 16/5/3 - 24
3. 24/12/2 - 27
4. 18/8/4 - 25
5. 13/10/3 - 28
6. 9/3/0 - 24
7. 13/20/4 - 30

As denoted in the article, he avg 15.6/9.1/2.4 in only 26 MPG...rushing through a devastating knee injury. I'm not suggesting he would have been great or not, but it really looked like he was coming into his own.

If he would have stayed at the aforementioned stat clip, he would have avg PER 36 16.7/12.8/3.4. Or, in NBA, he would have been 3rd in rebounding, 2nd in blocks, and 6th in scoring (for Centers) while shooting 61%. His WS/48, .214, was twice the avg NBA player. To put things in perspective, the .214 WS/48 would have been 12th best all time.

I know, lot's of ifs. But his trajectory (and this article) demonstrated that he was, in fact, climbing towards playing at an elite level.
You're right. Fuck actually worrying about rehab and forming some sort of legitimate career when you can just go out and bang easy whores while on the way to becoming an alcoholic. That is what you call prioritizing.

That's a pretty awesome sample size tho. What it doesn't tell you, that this article does, is that Oden is too fragile mentally to succeed, paranoid, immature, and frankly just not able to hold himself accountable.

It's easy to look good in a select few games. It's not easy to become an elite player and stay at that level without succumbing to increased pressure from everyone as well as increased temptations off the court.
 

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