C Greg Oden (Portland Trailblazers)

[ScriptOhio]

Originally Posted by OregonBuckeye

Great to have the big fella back! Playoffs, here we come!

[GrizzlyBuck]

Good to see Oden back on the hard court. I have not been much of a fan since Dr J was plying his trade in Philly, but I do believe I will follow it much more closely with Oden doing his thing in Portland.

[Rookie]

Originally Posted by NOTREDAMECHIEF

???? I really do not understand all of the love for this guy. If I were you guys I would always remember this guy with a "what if " reaction that would sort of rub me the wrong way.

First, who doesn't like this kid. He's got a great attitude and a wonderful smile. Secondly, I don't blame the kid for leaving early. If I had a chance to make that much money and be the number one pick in the draft after my freshman year, I would leave and so would many others. He did a great job at Ohio State took us to a National Championship in Basketball?

Great kid, and It was wondeful having him on our team for only one year.

[BUCKYLE]

Originally Posted by NOTREDAMECHIEF

???? I really do not understand all of the love for this guy. If I were you guys I would always remember this guy with a "what if " reaction that would sort of rub me the wrong way.

He had his pick of any school in the country. He chose to be a Buckeye. I don't expect you to understand. The only "what if" that comes to my mind is "what if" he'd been healthy all year. Other than that, he will always be loved by us. He is one of us. He's a Buckeye.

[Bucky Katt]

Watching the highlights, man has he filled out through the chest. A ton bigger than he was 1-1/2 years ago.

[Flocka]

Originally Posted by NOTREDAMECHIEF

???? I really do not understand all of the love for this guy. If I were you guys I would always remember this guy with a "what if " reaction that would sort of rub me the wrong way.

Yeah, this guy is awesome!!!!

[osugrad21]

Link

Belated rookie season
Utah Jazz: Oden looms for Jazz

The center from Ohio State will bolster a young, talented Portland lineup
By Ross Siler
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 10/12/2008 01:53:32 AM MDT


He's the 20-year-old center with the potential to shift the balance of power in the Northwest Division for years to come. He's also the former No. 1 overall draft pick who underwent microfracture knee surgery before he'd even played one NBA game.
More than merely heading to the Pacific Northwest for today's preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Jazz also will get their first appraisal of Greg Oden and what his addition means for a team that beat them three times last season.
"I thought he was a wonderful player his first year in college," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said of Oden, "and obviously getting hurt, you hate to see that happen to any team, because great players are good for our league."
Oden, who led Ohio State to the NCAA championship game as a freshman and was chosen ahead of Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA Draft, technically is still a rookie after missing all of last season following the microfracture surgery.
His play in the Blazers' first three preseason games has been encouraging, especially for the fans who bought more than 3,500 new season tickets after Oden's arrival. He has scored in double figures in all three games, averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 21.0 minutes.
Cont..

[NOTREDAMECHIEF]

Originally Posted by bigballin2987

Yeah, this guy is awesome!!!!

Sure is ...Big East player of the year.

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Originally Posted by NOTREDAMECHIEF

Sure is ...not close to being in Oden's league

fify

[jimotis4heisman]

agreed. great player.

[Buckskin86]

Commentary: Greg Oden's burden
Posted by Jason Quick, The Oregonian October 19, 2008

Greg Oden was mad, and he was mad at me.

It was late last week, and I told the Trail Blazers' rookie center that I had to be honest: Through four exhibition games, I had been underwhelmed by his performance.

Upon hearing this, Oden's eyes pierced. His lips tightened. And for a second, I thought my head was about to be squashed like a grape by the 7-foot, 273-pound center.

His direct stare at me was, uh, let's say ... moving.


Bruce Ely/The Oregonian

"I take this very seriously," 20-year-old Blazesr rookie center Greg Oden says. "I put a lot of pressure on myself to do good and to win.""Are you mad I said that?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, sounding equally hurt and angry.

I apologized, and it was a whole-hearted apology. Being at practice everyday, I understand what this 20-year-old is going through as far as expectations and attention go, and I had just added to it.

The media, both national and local, have been so consumed with the former No.1 pick that I say only half-jokingly that if Oden belches, sports editor Mark Hester will want me to write five paragraphs detailing how loud, what he ate and whether his surgically repaired right knee survived the event intact.

"Every step," Oden said, shaking his head about the media.

Commentary: Greg Oden's burden - Behind The Blazers Beat - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com

[bluechillj]

I didn't see this picture from a few days ago posted anywhere:

Portland Trailblazers: Greg Oden Couldn't Be More Thrilled With Your Request For A Photo

Cracks me up That's how I would probably look in about 95% of pictures if I was a celebrity.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Greg Oden scored 13 points with nine rebounds in just under 30 minutes.

[BuckeyeMan]

Greg just needs to work on his TO's and stay out of foul trouble.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

si.com

Wait over, Oden is ready to go


Center Greg Oden has been renowned for his intimidating defense since his high school days.


Whatever one might say about the interminable period between the drafting of Greg Oden on June 28, 2007, and his first on-court action, in a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings in early October, the Portland Trail Blazers weren't waiting for Godot. Oden was everywhere. He performed a painfully off-key karaoke rendition of *NSync's It's Gonna Be Me at an event he hosted last month for an Oregon mentoring organization; accompanied Justin Timberlake on the piano (O.K., he pretended to play) in undersized tux and oversized Elton John glasses at July's ESPY Awards; chatted by phone last February with Barack Obama ("He said he wasn't feeling my Mohawk," Oden reported); blogged about various aspects of his private life (he took a cold shower at his mom's house; met Caribbean chanteuse Rihanna, on whom he's had a crush for a long time; concluded that a summer cold was "def not" the flu, yada yada); and in general fashioned a larger-than-life, good-guy persona -- the Benign Big Man -- that hasn't been seen in an oversized NBA youngster since a smiling Shaquille O'Neal strode confidently to center stage in 1992.
But now?
"Everybody's seen me sitting around on the bench in a suit and doing other stuff," says Oden, 20, who missed all of last season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee, "but now it's time to really accomplish something."

Continued.............