C Greg Oden (official thread)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

si.com

Weekly Countdown

Oden has impressed Blazers -- now he just has to play

Posted: Friday April 11, 2008 1:03PM; Updated: Friday April 11, 2008 2:23PM



Greg Oden isn't expected to start playing in full-court games until September.

5. Remembering his last game. One year later, Oden was in his Portland home with his uncle watching the NCAA tournament final, a game his Ohio State team lost to Florida in 2007. "The first play,'' he said, "the announcer said something about me and the trouble [Memphis' Joey] Dorsey had with me [in an Elite Eight game], and that was kind of cool -- like, 'Dang, I was there just last year.' "


Continued.....

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

msnbc

Blazers' Oden 'antsy' to get back on court

No. 1 pick of 2007 draft still rehabbing knee, but excited to finally play


updated 10:41 p.m. ET, Fri., April. 18, 2008


PORTLAND, Ore. - Greg Oden is simply not the type to dwell on the misfortune of his first season in the NBA.
The perpetually positive 7-footer is looking ahead.
?I?m just antsy, you know, to compete. To get out there and to be able to win a game, I miss that feeling,? he said.
Oden?s rookie season was iced before it even started when he had microfracture surgery on his right knee last September. The procedure is designed to stimulate cartilage growth by drilling tiny holes in the bone.
Recovery time can take six months or more, and the Blazers exercised caution. He would sit out the season.
The news stunned Oden, not to mention the fans who had hailed the big man as the team?s savior.

Continued.....

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Oden into his off-season training

I don?t need to waste too many words on this, just let the pictures tell the story.
All that needs to be said is that Greg Oden has some time on his hands now that the Portland Trail Blazers are done playing, and he decided to spend some of it this past weekend where you might have least expected to find him: at Penn State.
You can take the sophomore out of college, but you can't take college out of the sophomore.
Oh, if the guy wearing the king?s crown looks familiar, it's Brookhaven graduate Jamelle Cornley, who just so happened to have Oden show up for his 21st birthday party.
Cheers!


Posted by Bob Baptist on April 22, 2008 12:34 PM

[Buckskin86]

The Oden Impact
by Dave on May 7, 2008

The one guy we haven?t talked about in our Player-by-Player assessment of the team is, of course, Greg Oden. It wasn?t appropriate to include him in the season recap but since we?re now transitioning properly into summer and anticipating the season to come it?s time to chat about his impact. Long story short?it?s going to be significant.

Oden?s calling card to this point in his career has been his defense, but he?ll also make a huge difference in the Blazers? offense. While Oden?s post game isn?t polished yet (and will likely take a while to become NBA-ready) his sheer athleticism makes him a legitimate threat already. One of the reasons we had some difficulty with decision-making and attacking in the halfcourt offense this year was that opponents basically cheated off of the post. I love Joel Przybilla and what he did for us this year. We would not have been nearly the same team without him. But his presence in the offense allowed the defense considerable leeway to pinch and gamble against our better scorers. Many of our sets were just aching for somebody in the middle to catch and score. Joel wasn?t that man. He has trouble catching passes with the slightest imperfections. If he does catch the ball he has trouble doing anything productive with it in any kind of traffic. He doesn?t score or pass naturally. Even when he finds himself free Joel is unable to finish above the rim unless he?s already cutting towards the basket. Count the number of times Joel got passed to and couldn?t finish, then add all of the times his teammates looked the other direction. That ends up being a lot of possessions. All of that goes away with Oden on the floor. He has good, big hands that are only going to get better with practice. One of his best qualities is his fluidity. Watching him with the ball is like watching a much smaller man. Plus he?s huge and he?s not going to get bumped off of his line easily. He already has the rudiments of passing down and he?s showed some court vision last summer?more than some rookies I?ve seen anyway. I anticipate he?ll be at least a competent passer if not a downright good one. And Greg doesn?t have any trouble finishing above the rim. As a matter of fact he can get his forearms above the cylinder on a flat-footed jump and darn near get his elbows up there with a step and a half. Even if he doesn?t end up scoring big numbers at first he?s going to draw attention which will immediately create more open shots for everyone else. One of the key flaws in the Blazer offense this year was spending a bunch of time to create a mediocre shot. If the defense was dedicated we had trouble getting free. Once Oden gets rolling offensively it?s hard to see how we?re not going to get someone free. And with our new-found perimeter prowess that?s liable to be scary for the opposition.

The Oden?Impact - Blazer's Edge

[Bestbuck36]

Got my Oden jersey and I'm ready to climb aboard the bandwagon. Go Blazers!

[Buckskin86]

A prize: Greg Oden, the No. 1 NBA draft pick in 2007, plays contest winner Lawrence Pierce, 11, Tuesday. Oden didn't play this season and can still win Rookie of the Year next season. - Charlie Nye / The Star

Big man back on campus
Oden lost rookie season to injury but feels 'lucky' and wants to prove self
By Jeff Rabjohns
Posted: May 14, 2008

Greg Oden pulled into the back parking lot at Lawrence North late Tuesday afternoon, near where he parked so many times for high school and basketball games as a student.

He was in the same spot geographically, but so different in reality.


The 7-foot center rolled up to his old high school in the blue Mercedes he bought for his mom. He was making an appearance for Topps, one of the companies he endorses, and had two public relations representatives to manage the stops for TV cameras.

Earlier in the day, he did a photo shoot at St. Vincent Sports Performance, where he trains when in town, for an upcoming magazine article on his workouts.

"It's not that bad," he smiled as he leaned against the trunk of the Mercedes in a Portland Trail Blazers shooting shirt and shorts. "You have to take care of business, but taking care of the stuff on the court comes first.

"I've been lucky to have some stuff happen to me without even playing and proving myself that some guys who've been in the league 10 years don't get. I've been lucky."

Big man back on campus | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

Greg Oden plays some ball with fans | IndyStar.com gallery | The Indianapolis Star

[BuckeyeInTheBoro]

Originally Posted by The big guy

"I've been lucky to have some stuff happen to me without even playing and proving myself that some guys who've been in the league 10 years don't get. I've been lucky."

There's a guy that has the ability to become one of the all time greats... perhaps on the basketball court too, but truly one of the all time great "fan favorite" type players. I love his refreshingly honest humility... I may even start watching the NBA again.