C Greg Oden (Portland Trailblazers)

[BGriffBuckeye]

Just as long as he is here be Florida I will be alright.

[vrbryant]

I'm going to make a prediction. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but I'm going to bet that when the season starts in mid/late November (more than five full months after the surgery), Oden and the coaching staff will feel confident that he's well enough to play. They'll probably take it easy on him for the first few games - maybe put a twenty minute cap on his game time - but come 9pm, Nov. 29...something tells me he'll be out in full force for that little contest.

[whodey]

Thanks

[HundedLane]

Yes, Greg will most likely be ready for Cinci on 12/16!

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Originally Posted by HundedLane

Yes, Greg will most likely be ready for Cinci on 12/16!

Yes, Greg will most likely be ready to crush Cinci on 12/16!

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

7/19

Oden could join team in future
Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Ohio State-bound center Greg Oden has been invited to attend USA Basketball’s training sessions in Las Vegas with an eye toward joining the team for either 2007 (if there is an Olympic qualifier) or for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Oden, an 18-year-old 7-footer, will attend the training for a couple of days but will not actively participate in practices. Oden underwent surgery on a torn ligament in his right wrist June 16 and is not expected to be playing until late fall.
"We feel badly that Greg will not be able to train with the team this summer, but he has huge potential and will be a valuable player for the United States in the future," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Former Ohio State guard Michael Redd, now an NBA All-Star for the Milwaukee Bucks, will be one of 24 roster players at the camp but will miss the FIBA World Championships because he is getting married.
— Staff and wire reports

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

7/20/06

OSU recruit's debut delayed

Wrist surgery might sideline Greg Oden until early January

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

LAS VEGAS - Ohio State knows it is probably getting highly touted center Greg Oden for just one season. Now appears it will be half that.
Speaking publicly for the first time since having major wrist surgery a month ago, Oden said he wasn't sure if he'd be back in time for the start of the Big Ten season in January.
``It will probably be in January sometime; I hope I can be back then by Big Ten season,'' Oden said at Team USA's first practice Wednesday at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. ``But you never know. That's the doctor's call, not my call.''
There were some reports projecting Oden's return in December so he could play in some of what is expected to be a loaded Buckeyes' nonconference schedule. Nearly five weeks after having a clamp and a screw inserted into his right wrist to repair a torn tendon, Oden isn't optimistic that will be the case.
``It is very disappointing, but you want to be healthy and you have to look at the long run,'' Oden said. ``I had to get this surgery as soon as possible.''
The national prep player of the year, Oden won't be able to play for Team USA in next month's World Championships, but USA Basketball invited him to observe the process with the expectation he will be part of the Olympic team in 2008.
Watching, though, has left him pining for when he can join the Buckeyes.
``This injury is hurting me,'' he said. ``But when I come back, it is going to hurt other people, too, because I'm going to be ready.''

[osugrad21]

Link

Oden's return might be January
Bob Finnan/RFinnan@News-Herald.com
07/20/2006

Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendly

OSU recruit recovering from wrist surgery


Bob Finnan
RFinnan@News-Herald.com
LAS VEGAS - Ohio State University freshman-to-be Greg Oden's wrist surgery has been well-documented.
The 7-foot, 260-pounder, who had surgery on June 16 to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist, said he won't return to the court until "probably January some time."
That could take him to the Big Ten schedule.
Oden, 18, was a four-year standout at Indianapolis Lawrence North High School and was one of the top recruits in the country.
He said he'll be "definitely ready" for collegiate competition when his wrist heals.
"It's hurting me," he said. "But when I come back, it will be hurting someone else."
Oden was a two-time Gatorade national high school player of the year - a feat only previously accomplished by LeBron James. Oden was the No. 1 college recruit in the country as a senior and the key member of Ohio State's vaunted incoming freshman recruiting class tabbed the "Thad Five" in honor of Coach Thad Matta, and a reference to Michigan's Fab Five in the early 1990s.
Joining Oden as part of the Buckeyes' highly touted incoming freshman class are the big man's Lawrence North teammate, Mike Conley, Dayton Dunbar guard Daequan Cook, and two-time News-Herald Player of the Year, Villa Angela-St. Joseph guard David Lighty.
Junior-college transfer Othello Hunter rounds out the Buckeyes' recruiting class.
The wrist injury will prevent Oden from playing for the U.S. men's basketball team this summer.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

usa basketball
Oden gains look at big time
Incoming college freshman joins all-pros in camp

By Marc J. Spears
Denver Post Staff Writer




Las Vegas - Incoming Ohio State freshman Greg Oden will have an interesting "Sin City" story to tell when his classmates ask what he did during his summer vacation.

Oden was the only college basketball player invited to take part in USA Basketball's training camp in preparation for the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan next month.

The two-time consensus USA Today high school basketball player of the year initially turned down the opportunity to rub elbows with the likes of Team USA stars Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. While the move might have seemed cocky, it was actually quite the opposite.

"I honestly felt that I wasn't there yet," Oden, 18, said. "I got to be there mentally and physically, and I'm not there yet."

The 7-foot, 250-pounder averaged 22.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots as a senior in leading Indianapolis Lawrence North to a No. 1 national ranking in USA Today.

Despite being turned down initially by Oden, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo refused to take no for an answer. He talked to Oden in Chicago at a high school all-star game in April to explain why it was important for the teen to join the NBA stars in Las Vegas.

"We wanted him to be exposed and indoctrinated into what we were doing, because if everything goes well he can be a candidate in '08 (for the Olympics)," Colangelo said. "If not then, then maybe the next cycle."

Said Oden, "I'm very happy that he came out and talked to me, because I would have hated to miss this experience."

Oden wasn't able to participate fully this week in workouts, because he is recovering from surgery June 16 on his right wrist. He left camp Thursday to attend summer school at Ohio State.
"I was hoping he'd be able to practice, obviously," Colangelo said. "It's unfortunate, because if he had a chance to practice with these guys, it would have been great for him."


Said Oden: "Right now I'm seeing them, watching them and being around them. But playing against them is totally different."

USA Basketball's roster has four players who went straight from high school to the pros: James, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire and the injured Kobe Bryant.

Oden couldn't go from the preps to the pros because of age limits in the latest NBA collective bargaining agreement. Either way, Oden said he planned to go to Ohio State first.

"The other day on the bus, LeBron said something to him about, 'I know you're mad they put that rule in effect,"' Anthony said. "But I told him: 'Look, this NBA ain't going anywhere. You've got time.

"Go there for however many years you're going to. This NBA will be here for you."'

Footnotes Nuggets coach George Karl, on Anthony playing for Team USA: "I'm excited about it, because I heard they're working hard on defense and I think he's going to play some four (power forward), which is something we talked about during our preseason meetings. Some of the things we're leaning to doing next season, he'll be doing for the USA team."...After James asked for several ice bags after Thursday's practice, Wade joked: "It's because you're 30. Check the birth certificate." Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

7/21/06

Basketball: Oden enjoys his time at top with Team USA

Web Posted: 07/20/2006 11:47 PM CDT

Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS — The first preview of life as an elite NBA player reached Greg Oden on an air-conditioned bus ride on a sauna-like desert day.

No less an NBA luminary than the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James called out to Oden as the Team USA bus approached Cox Pavilion on Nevada-Las Vegas' campus.

"I know you're mad about the rule (the NBA) put in effect," James said.
Oden, 18, the consensus high school player of the year, must wait until after his freshman season at Ohio State before he can consider making himself available for the NBA draft.

The NBA's collective bargaining agreement prohibits players from jumping directly from high school to the pros and raised the minimum eligibility age from 18 to 19. Oden's high school graduating class of 2006 was the first affected by the new rule.

Oden has remarkable athleticism and skills on a 7-foot, 250-pound frame. Many NBA general managers believe he would have been the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft, ahead of Italian Andreas Bargnani, had he been eligible. That would have brought Oden a guaranteed three-year contract worth more than $12million.

James, whose jump from high school to the NBA made him an instant millionaire, could not resist a gentle jab at Oden, a late addition to the roster of players invited to training camp before next month's World Championships in Japan.

Before the players made their way to the gym for their first workout, Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, whose lone year of college ball produced an NCAA title for Syracuse, put his arm around Oden and offered a few words of encouragement after James' razzing on the team bus.

"I just told him, 'Look, this NBA ain't going anywhere; you've got time. Go there for however many years you're going to. This NBA will be here for you,'" Anthony said.

Oden led Lawrence North High School, in the Indianapolis suburbs, to a 103-7 record and three-straight state championships in four seasons. Lawrence North was 29-0 last season and No. 1 in USA Today's Super 25 at season's end.

He is aware of the No. 1 draft pick speculation but insists he has no problem waiting for the NBA's millions.

"I felt I wasn't ready for the NBA yet," Oden said Thursday. "I felt I would have gone on to college anyway, even if they didn't change the rule."

Oden is not competing for a spot on the team. He had surgery on his right wrist June 16 and won't be able to play again until this fall.

Nonetheless, with an eye to the 2008 Olympics, Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo invited Oden to camp in Las Vegas.

"We wanted him to be exposed and indoctrinated into what we were doing, because if everything goes well, he can be a candidate in '08," Colangelo said. "If not then, than maybe the next cycle."

Oden attended the team dinner Tuesday night and has also attended each practice session, soaking up the experience.

"I've never been around guys like this before in a basketball environment," Oden said. "I'm loving it. I'm learning so much. Just having this opportunity is wonderful."

Oden headed back to Indianapolis on Thursday afternoon with one powerful thought: improving enough to be on the 2008 Olympic team.

"After being out here, yes, that is a goal now," he said. "I hope my game will be at that level by then. I'm going to work at it, and I'm going to do my best to get it there."

[vrbryant]

LAS VEGAS - Ohio State knows it is probably getting highly touted center Greg Oden for just one season. Now appears it will be half that.
Speaking publicly for the first time since having major wrist surgery a month ago, Oden said he wasn't sure if he'd be back in time for the start of the Big Ten season in January.

I'm sticking to my prediction. November 29th.

[BayBuck]

Originally Posted by Oden

``This injury is hurting me,'' he said. ``But when I come back, it is going to hurt other people, too, because I'm going to be ready.''

Great quote

[Bestbuck36]

Lebron needs to quit razzing him! We want him here a while.

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Big guy, big talent, big plans

OSU recruit Greg Oden fits in, but admits he can learn from Team USA

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

LAS VEGAS - Were Greg Oden to dance around the local laws and try a hand of blackjack or a slot machine while milling around the gambling capital of the world, not even the most skeptical pit boss would ask for ID.
There's quite a collection of freakishly gifted athletes gathered in Sin City for Team USA's basketball training camp this week, but perhaps none has the physical attributes of the 18-year-old Oden. His size and maturity are almost shocking, even on this grand stage.
It wouldn't take smoke and mirrors to sell an unknowing fan that Oden was LeBron James' older brother.
He's 7 feet tall and 250 pounds with thick arms and shoulders, so it is easy to understand why scouts have been raving about Oden's future for years. It helps explain why some enterprising fans have reserved and faithfully updated www.GregOden.com, even though he has nothing to do with the site.
It's why Ohio State fans celebrated his decision to come to Columbus -- even if for a single season, as if that guaranteed a national title. He already has been recognized and pestered for autographs on campus, where he has been taking summer classes for the past month. It figures only to get more intense when the fall quarter starts.
The general consensus is that Oden, an Indianapolis native, would have been the No. 1 overall pick in last month's NBA Draft had the new 19-year-old age minimum not been in effect. As with James, when all were watching and waiting as his amateur career played out, some go so far as to say Oden could have been the top pick after his junior year of high school in 2005.
All that bottled-up potential is why Oden is hanging with the NBA stars during Team USA's preparations for the World Championships. A healing right wrist, which required surgery to fix a torn tendon last month, is keeping him from taking part in drills and practices. But he is soaking up the experience, a part of USA Basketball's courtesy invite that came with the expectation he'll be a part of the national team for years to come.
``Being able to watch these guys has been great, but it would be even better to go out and join them,'' Oden said. ``Just being around them and realizing that these guys are human, too, has helped me. They are the best at their craft.''
It is Oden's craft as well. His senior-year averages -- 22.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 74 percent shooting -- hint at his ability and dominance over his age group. Yet watching all-stars play for Team USA has kept his ego in check thus far.
``I'm not good enough to play with these guys at this stage of my career, not now at least,'' Oden said. ``Mentally and physically I'm not there yet. Give me a year or two and I'll be there.''
In all likelihood, it will be just one college season -- one probably cut two months short due to his injury. Oden isn't tipping his hand -- as is normal for teen phenoms in his position -- but all pundits figure he's going to give the Buckeyes just one season until the rules allow him to become an instant millionaire.
Until then, he'll absorb the atmosphere and some advice from those who have gone before him.
``I'd tell him not to let the pressure take advantage of him, don't let anybody tell him what he can do and can't do,'' James said. ``He has a bright future and he seems like a good kid. I wish the best for him.''

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Oden, Howard enter new world
Centers get taste of what it takes to play international game
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Greg Beacham
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOHN GURZINSKI LAS VEGAS REVIEW - JOURNAL Wrist surgery is keeping Greg Oden out of workouts, but the future Buckeye is soaking up the international game from the sideline.
LAS VEGAS — Greg Oden and Dwight Howard aren’t old enough to gamble, so this Vegas trip is all about business.
The two most talented American centers under 21 are in camp with the U.S. national team, soaking up instruction and atmosphere as the club prepares for its trip to Asia for the world championships in August.
They’ve endured their share of ribbing about being the camp’s youngest players, and they’ve logged plenty of videogame time in their rooms while their teammates check out the neon lights. But Howard and Oden are likely to be fixtures of the U.S. team for years to come, and the club’s top brass wants the international game to be second nature.
"This is really giving me the will to want to be a better player," Howard said Friday after a workout. "I’m still working on a list of things I have to do to be among the top players (in the world), and you can learn so many things here to help that."
Oden, the 18-year-old future Buckeye, won’t be on the team this summer while he nurses a surgically repaired right wrist. But Howard is expected to have a role — and the precocious Orlando center is living up to his reputation for maturity and preparation.
Howard, 20, stayed on the court while his teammates relaxed after practice, taking dozens more shots and working on his footwork with assistant coach Johnny Dawkins. Brian Hill, Howard’s coach in Orlando, stopped by for a chat at the same time U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski was praising his center to reporters.
"He’s very much developing," Krzyzewski said. "He’s already an outstanding player, so this type of experience just enhances his career. He’s like a sponge. He wants to learn everything."
Howard is getting his first taste of international play, with its wider keys, slicker basketballs and more liberal goaltending rules. It’s unfamiliar, but fun.
"There’s a lot of different stuff that you can do," Howard said. "I went up and took the ball off the rim a couple of times, but it didn’t feel right. Once we get a little further along in it, that won’t be as weird."
U.S. managing director Jerry Colangelo deliberately chose a younger roster for the world championships in Japan. Just three players in the 25-man pool are in their 30s, and the core could include several players under 25: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Amare Stoudemire and Howard.
Eventually, it will include Oden, the consensus high school player of the year. He probably would have been the top pick in the draft this year if the NBA hadn’t raised its age requirement.
"Whether it be in the 2008 Olympics or the 2010 world championships, I would think Greg Oden is going to be somebody that’s here," Krzyzewski said. "And who knows? Dwight might be the next great center. He’s a kid that didn’t go to college. What we’re doing here helps him and helps (American) basketball."
Oden’s wrist injury might keep him sidelined until January, but he is pleased simply to be absorbing film study and instruction from Krzyzewski’s staff before going to Columbus.
"I felt I was going to go to college anyway," said Oden, who wasn’t expected to attend the entire training camp. "I didn’t feel like I was ready yet. ... I’ve learned a lot of stuff in just these two days. It’s been a great experience."
But the Americans’ fate in Japan won’t hinge on their big men. Krzyzewski and assistant coach Mike D’Antoni are installing a version of the Phoenix Suns’ offense that relies on speed, perimeter shooting and little low-post play — a typical pitfall for previous U.S. teams, which couldn’t adjust to the three-point-dominated international game.
Paul, the NBA rookie of the year last season with New Orleans, also is getting his biggest taste of the international game at 22. And Paul might be even more important than the young big men: Krzyzewski spoke glowingly of Paul’s pure pointguard play Friday, perhaps indicating a large role in Asia.
"We brought a lot of young guys for a reason," Colangelo said. "This is going to be their team for a number of years. We want them to take it."