I have not been one to look back and question who was the right pick. As a matter of fact I have not thought or worried about Kevin Durant. After seeing this though, reality has set in and I think we will all have to come to grips with KD being a great player. Still have hopes for Oden, so long as the management can figure out the underlying problems making him injury prone. Needless to say, KD is seeming to already live up to his side of the deal.

Kevin Durant may have the greatest plus/minus improvement in NBA history. He was one of the very worst players in the league by that measure last season, and now he's second best. Only Dirk Nowitzki rates better in Wayne Winston's adjusted plus/minus. As of today, Durant's Thunder are giving up 11.5 fewer points per hundred possessions when he's on the floor. And they're scoring 13.75 more. That's unbelievable. (Interestingly, the next best player in the NBA, according to this early-season measure, is Marc Gasol. Then LeBron James and Luol Deng. If those numbers seem a little funny ... it's early yet. Plus/minus means a lot more with bigger samples.)

I agree with the article in the sense that Blazers management needs to understand this guy is playing on uneven stilts out there, against other large, professional athletes. Until they fix this problem by finding the most cutting edge help out there, he will be destined to a career of bang-ups and possible microfractures. A career summed up with one word, "hope".

A player will also be much more fatigued falling down and tripping. This drains the body of energy very quickly. 

 

Here's the article:

From ESPN.com - The State of Greg Oden

Just saw some video of Greg Oden playing against Brook Lopez and Kevin Love in the USA Basketball Showcase.

Look at him out there! Seven feet tall. Strong as an ox, even though he's just barely legal drinking age. Making rebounds that would be difficult for anyone else look easy. If he were still at Ohio State, anyone would consider drafting him at the top of the lottery, even with his injury history.

And this particular performance has been noted as somewhat encouraging.

I loved a lot of what I saw, particularly his conditioning, and commitment to containing smaller quicker ballhandlers.

But for whatever reason, watching this video was the moment that I lost a chunk of hope. In short: He has clearly been working out, working on his game and getting healthy. And as I have written a zillion times, he's an elite NBA rebounder right now, which is more than reason enough to keep him him on the court.

Nevertheless, you watch this and wonder if he'll ever be Greg Oden, as in the franchise-changing player who is a key part of big runs that win important playoff games. The Oden we have right now has some real and troubling obstacles.

• Even though he has been in the NBA mix for more than two years now, he still looks surprised by a lot of what happens on the court.
  
• He falls down a lot. Enough that it matters in and of itself. (If every player fell as much as he does, "wipeouts" would be a column in the boxscore.) Even more importantly, that many miscalculations and collisions, it's hard on a body, and he's been the king of injuries. The final reason I bring how often he hits the deck: It's a measure of the degree to which he is not anywhere near "in the zone" out there. When players are just rolling, they say everything seems to go really slow for them. To Oden, things seem to be going really fast.
• If you make ten perfect passes to him at game speed, he might make five decent catches.

He may well get there. He's a really nice seeming guy (to the extend I've met him) and I'm pulling for him.  But if he does become a superstar, we should honor his hard work, and also remember to look around for some coaches and trainers to thank for their hard work -- because we've seen enough to know he's not a natural.

The chances of Lamar Odom wanting to play in Portland while sharing time with Aldridge, Odom and Pryz are slim. I think if you are the Blazers you offer him a 3 year mega deal, then as he exits his prime we move on to the future. Addition by subtraction from the Lakers would catapult this organization past the Lakers IMO. We could then see what we can do about upgrading the PG position. Sure Odom shows up when he wants and is thought of as soft, but you take him off the Lakers and they suddenly do not have as many guys being long out there. That, is the #1 reason I believe they won this year, Kobe 2nd(maybe 3rd). Chances are slim to pull this off, I think you do as much as possible to make this happen because this takes you immediately into the first leg of championship runs with Roy. I am 100% confident in Batum and Roy's ability to take it to a declining Bryant.

This would leave Portland with:

Oden/Pryzbilla

Aldridge/Odom

vs

Bynum/Didier Ilunga-Mbenga

Gasol/Josh Powell

The Blazers owner(s), management and Oden's agents need to help Oden get fixed up.

I would be looking for the worlds foremost authorities on physiology and see if anyone can fix his alignment issues.

"The team executive noted that "big guys always seem to have bad backs.'' But he did express concern about Oden's wrist. "The people I talked to said it was pretty serious,'' the executive said. "Sometimes the wrist never comes back.''

I've also heard an unrelated rumor -- which did not show up in the Orlando physical -- that another team is expressing concern about the long-term health of Oden's knees.

"We haven't heard anything about his knee,'' said agent Bill Duffy, who represents Oden in association with Mike Conley Sr. "One thing we are aware of is that his hip alignment is off. One of his legs is longer than the other, but he's obviously had that for a long time.''"  2007 Pre-Draft

This says a few things:

-Oden broke his shooting wrist, this could or could not be bad.
-Oden has one leg that is longer than the other, which causes known hip alignment issues.
-Oden's knees do not particularly look so good. They coud be prone to injury.

 

A few observations:
Oden's hook is not pretty. The touch does not seem to be there and the accuracy is not so high. Could be a bum wrist folks? Not too down on this if the rest of Oden is healthy.

When Greg is walking on the court, he walks with a hitch and does not look coordinated while playing. One side looks like it is walking down an extra step. I suppose all of us wouldnt look so coordinated trying to, bounce a basketball while running on half stairs with 7'+ Andrew Bynum draping over us. Add in other players feet and misaligned hips I would guess this could result in a few rolled ankles, especially when the body has extra weight on it.

Why Greg's knees are prone to injury and has already had microfracture surgery. When a body is misaligned it begins getting wear and tear on the joints. Oden's ankles and knees are the closest joints to the bottom of his feet, where the impact during walking/running occur.

The Ogoscue Method of realignment doesnt subscribe that one leg longer than the other is such an anomoly that its not worth considering(high % of diagnosis incorrect), I am sure it is not the only physical system or method that believes this. Most can be fixed through alternate methods. At this point not any one person should not be calling all the shots to fix Oden. This is a job for everyone to get involved in and come to a conclusion. I got a good feeling the standard method of doing microfracture/rehabbing is not the right solution to Oden or most others. Not when a fix to the cause, not the symptom is in need.

Greg has overcome quite a few things, but he is going to need more help in this field from the people around him. He used to fumble the ball quite a bit. I heard rumor it was from a Sham-Wow he was using to dry his hands. He used to get stripped a lot more. He learned to keep the ball up and dunk quicker. When he came back from his late season injury, it seemed his knee had more spring after getting that short time of rest. A whole summer will be nice.

Oden is a priz e fighter...he needs to be walking on level ground like Dwight Howard or as close as possible. Don't let politics ruin the mans chance at a proper career!

If it helps, Greg, get Brandon doing it....it would help alot.

Hope this was easy to follow.

This is a great jump shooting team...but the shots we should be taking are pretty much only when someone is wide open for three. We shouldnt be jacking shot after shot up. We need to get this team in foul trouble just as they do us. They are experienced and often put their heads down and bull rush the basket. The Blazers gotta force the refs to blow the whistle, because right now The Rockets physical style of play is getting the benefit of the calls. They are allowed 100% more contact before a whistle is called.

Right now the Rockets are winning the game in the game(hence the 2-1 series advantage despite being tied 3-3 in pts in a half). A good way to combat this without experience/savvy is to put your head down and drive to the lane hard. BRoy shouldnt be the only guy doing this. Hes got to protect his body more than anyone else.

To anyone who says that it was Rudy who got us back in the game with long jumpers...I agree! Those should be however some of the few long jumpers we should be taking. Wide-open shots with our better shooters. We should be much more mid-range and attack the basket plays. At first it migh tlook ugly but the refs and the Offense will come around! Be strong and muscle through the adersity of shot blocks and swallowed whistles! It will pay off within a quarter!

I say "we" because, I do refer to the Blazers as "we".

I have wanted Outlaw benched for most of the season. If I were coach I would only put him in to close out quarters/games and we need a shot or a distraction. I don't want him sniffing the court the rest of the time. If you are a one trick pony and can only do this, then you better be able to come in like Steve Kerr and already be HOT.

 

Here's TO's per game stats after 3 playoff games.

min: 28.33

fgm/fga: 9-30 (30%)

ft's: 3-6 (50%)

reb: 2

ast: .67

blocks: .67

to's: 1

smart plays: 0

 

Everyone states-- "how are you gonna get your shot back Trav?" How about-- "How else are you going to help this team Trav?" According to the numbers he is not helping with aggressiveness to the hoop. Thats 3 trips to the line in 85 total minutes. He's not helping with playmaking for others or by rebounding either. 2 rebounds in 28.33 minutes per game? Thats 6 rebounds in 85 minutes Can we finally bench this guy?

What's the hold-up? Travis Outlaw...the BIG leak in the hose.

That the first time he played Andrew Bynum, he was thrown to the ground on some of the first few plays. Shortly after that, he re-injured his foot and Bynum played him more aggressively than I have ever seen anyone play Oden. Oden was hobbling around and Bynum was putting his entire body weight all over the guy. As if to say he did not care if Oden was injured-- he was going to push that injured foot to the limit.

I am not a mind reader, but I am sure the goal was to not preserve any health Greg had left. All of that work to get back after microfracture only to sniff a few minutes of a game and be gone once again.

I hope you remember that tomorrow Greg.

I hope the team remembers Ariza's hard foul on Rudy.

I hope the team remembers Odom's hard foul on Roy.

This team does not deserve any friendly thoughts or contact from the Blazers.

The last 3 games have been absolutley spectacular from LaMarcus. He is running the floor and attacking. During an interview he said that he wanted to do everything better and it shows.

LaMarcus, you have just joined Roy as my two favorite Blazers.

I never thought he was soft, just young. A 20 y/o is always going to have trouble physically against a 28-35 y/o who does the same things as you. As Lamarcus gets even older and stronger he is going to be incredible! He is showing he wants to bang down low and he's still young! With this attitude and the fact he is getting older and wiser by the day.
So props to you LaMarcus--- it's all going with notice and you da man.

Nick, you're up next.

Oden, you could or couldnt happen at any time. I'm betting you will.

Bling Bling goes the Rings

19 out of 20 games he kills me. Forgive me for not posting to the Denver game section, but I need to vent!

They put Outlaw into the game and Carmelo nails shot after shot in his face. Does he even read the scouting report? Does he not know he shouldnt give up space to Carmelo?

He does not rebound. He does not pass well. He does not play like he reads a scouting report. He does not make smart plays. He makes dummmm plays. He hardly ever knows who to gaurd on his way back on D, if he even gets back fast enough to gaurd someome.

All he seems concerned with is wether or not he can shoot the ball.

I am so tired of watching the same BS ball from this guy I am about to quit watching this team. He is the weakest link and I do not understand why Nate plays him so much.

For all the Travis apologists who say he makes so many clutch shots--- he is the reason most of the time the team is down and must come back. IMO he brings everyones +/- down and Roy has to bailout the negative play Travis brings to the team.

I wouldn't be ripping him so bad if I did not see him, rebound, defend and hustle when his family is in town. If I was a coach, this would be unacceptable!

Now I will go back to watching the Blazers try to climb their way back into this game. Hopefully Travis will be riding the pine.