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Oden anxious to get Blazers career under way
July 18, 2008
By Mike Freeman
CBSSports.com National Columnist
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Greg Oden was asked about his dream scenario for his comeback and if it involved cheerleaders and whipped cream?


Greg Oden spent his first year in the NBA on crutches. (Getty Images)

He laughed. "No cheerleaders or whipped cream," he said. "My dream scenario is to help my team win more games than it did the year before. I want us to make the playoffs and win a title. That's my dream."

That dream has been on hold thanks to microfracture surgery last year to repair the massive amounts of hyperviolence inflicted upon Oden's knee. Oden missed all of last season but began rehabbing soon after the surgery, some four days a week, week after week, month after month. But there is only so much rehabbing one can do.

So how did he fill the time?

"I went to a lot of movies," he said.

Which ones?

"I saw Hancock twice," Oden remarked.

Twice? It was that good? Twice?

"I really liked it," he said of the superhero flick. "It wasn't too long. I'm a big Will Smith fan. I even liked Wild Wild West. That movie cracked me up. I'm probably the only one who liked it."

I'm not even sure Smith likes that movie.

Oden has always had a splendid sense of humor and though he stands at 7-feet tall, his head has never been in the clouds. He's as down to Earth as they come.

The real question is when will the NBA see the Oden who dominated college basketball, nibbled on backboards and was said by some to have the potential to be one of the greatest havoc-wreaking big men we've witnessed in years?

Will Oden get the best of the NBA or will that pesky knee get the best of him?

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Katy's Take: Is Greg Oden ready to play?
Story Updated: Jul 18, 2008

By Katy Brown I spent 11 hours on Thursday dealing with the aftermath of Greg Oden?s 11-second soundbite about his health.

I talked to his agent, Michael Conley, Sr. - three times. I got through to Blazers General Manager Kevin Pritchard at NBA summer league - on his 41st birthday.

I interviewed them both about Oden?s ?I won?t be 100% this year or next? statement. Then I thought. And thought some more. And here?s what I came away with: Oden is a 20-year-old rookie who, understandably, is both excited and scared about next season.

Think about it: In one breath he leads us to believe his surgically-repaired right knee isn?t as healthy as we?ve been told. A split-second later, he proclaims he?s ready to play.

Sounds to me like a young man who is trying to make sure we don?t run wild with any thoughts of him leading a parade through downtown Portland next June with the NBA championship trophy in hand.

Here are the important points both Conley and Pritchard made in my interviews with them on Thursday:

1) Oden?s knee is in great shape. Both camps tell me he has full range of motion and that both legs are back to being equally strong. His agent says he will be at full strength by the start of training camp, and Blazers insiders are secretly giddy over how fantastic he has looked in closed-door workouts.

2) Oden is ready to go for next season ? with one important ?if?. That is if his knee keeps holding up once he?s cleared for five-on-five full-court basketball in September. At this point, both sides say, there?s no reason to think it won?t.

3) Oden understands he is viewed as the franchise savior and he does not want to disappoint. Conley told me he?s had to remind Oden that he?ll need time to adjust to the speed of the NBA game. Pritchard conceded he may need to start taking steps to take the mental weight of next season off Oden?s shoulders.

Katy's Take: Is Greg Oden ready to play? | KATU.com - Portland, Oregon | News