Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 10:30 am  |  50 responses

Greg Oden Aims to Have a Big Year

G.O. says next season is a huge one for him, and most observers would agree: “After sitting out what would have been his rookie year following knee surgery, Oden endured another injury last season. He performed well at times for the Portland Trail Blazers, but did not dominate consistently as a top pick is expected to do. ‘This is going to be a big year,’ he said earlier this week before heading back to Portland to prepare for training camp. ‘Everybody comes in and has that first year, that get-used-to-the-league year. But you have to break out in your second year. You have to, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”‘

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  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    Stay healthy first big dog. Then move up from there.

  • http://WWW.Facebook.com Watari Atari

    All right! Show your potential big man

  • http://slamonline.com/ niQ

    Man, that’s what I said last year about this guy..

  • Prodi

    GO’s gonna be alright…he’s too talented not to be

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    or some people just come in the league and dominate from the jump, they’re usually picked first in the draft. as much as it pains me to say this, g.o. will never dominate like the true great bigs. guys like duncan, shaq, dream, drob, ewing… they came in and got busy. that’s it. no learning curve or anything. you can be a good player over time, but greatness strikes you early in your career. the only obvious exception to that rule would be kobe. he wasn’t great off the get-go, took him a few years to clearly be HOF material.

  • sam

    he’s gonna have a big year……. in scrimmages where he cant foul out.

  • Lz – Cphfinest 3

    Best of luck to Greg. Such a nice guy deserves it.

  • sam

    being a nice guy didnt get grant hill anywhere… ^

  • ngoiekafita

    i love balls

  • Yesse

    Lol, i must say, that Greg really flopped.Im not a hater and i really hope he can be dominating the paint someday, even almost as good as Dwight or Shaq did in his prime.

  • sam

    imagine if portland had kevin durant right now….just imagine.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Yeah z except they all went to 3 or 4 years of college.

  • dave

    i think i’ve read this article before. i think last year, then he keeps getting little injuries here and there

  • chingy

    @Z, also KG and Dirk (and Nash if you consider him a “great”)

  • http://www.Lorenzogate.com Lorenzogate

    Hasheem Thabeet VS Greg Oden. Yes I also want GO to perform to his potential. If only because I want to see a shotblocking bad@ss on the floor.

    After the Golden age of Mutombo, Olajuwon, Ewing and Robinson the Center position has really been hurting for captivating, defensive yet graceful players. You’ve got defense with DHoward but no grace (and no moves). Then you’ve got the inverse with Yao. Don’t think GO has that complete package but i want to see some killer D and some pride brought back into the Center position.

    Watching Thabeet in summer, i don’t want to say it but he looked like a b-st. Hope he proves me wrong.

  • Nathalie

    LMFAO didn’t event read the blurp, just the title..

  • tavoris

    thank u Bryan…

  • tavoris

    sam…being a nice guy has gotten Grant Hill opportunities where other more “troubled” players would have been passed on. How many players with Hill’s injury history even get a serious look by another NBA team?

  • http://www.shoenut.blogspot.com ShoeNut

    Don’t say it, just show us G.O.

  • UnRel

    forget G. Hill.. nice didn’t help Mark Maddog Madsen..

    as far as Oden goes.. he will never be a threat on the offensive end.. and if he can’t get any explosiveness out his knees.. he won’t be much on D either.. he’ll be Theo Ratliff (post philly’s championship run)

  • 6marjon

    it’s harder to have a breakout year as a big man i’ll be happy if he’s averaging 20 and 10 in five years
    yao didnt breakout neither did dwight they just steadily improved

  • JoeMaMa

    Portland has obviously wanted more, but they knew that they could afford to give him some time; a big man with one year in college (not even a full year),huge potential and a great attitude. The trailblazers would probably do worse if he demanded the ball; they’ll be happy if he gets 10+ boards, 14+ points, and 2+ blocks. Pretty good, but not great numbers for a team that already has its pieces in place.

  • youngmuggsy

    Z – Kevin Garnett, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Gary Payton, John Stockton, Clyde Drexler, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki are also exceptions?

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    ghostface pryzbilla will have a better year

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    What are you talking about, Mugsy?! Barkley and Malone killed it from the very beginning! Stockton took some time, I’ll give you that. The rest of the list are very good players. Not great in a MJ, Dream, Magic sense. / Bryan, an argument could be made about spending only one year in college. But then you look at Melo, KD, DRose, Dwight… they went waaaaay harder than he did in their rookie years. / I’d be shocked if he ever becomes a dominant, night in night out 20 and 10 guy. The offensive feel is just not there.

  • youngmuggsy

    03-04 MVP – Garnett 04-05 MVP- Nash 05-06 MVP- Nash 06-07 MVP- Nowitzki 07-08 MVP- Kobe, the players I said have been some of the best players this decade. Barkley and Malone put up about 14 points 8 rebounds a game their rookie years if I remember correctly, good rookie numbers but hardly HOF performance straight away.

  • badnewsb8ller

    blah blah blah.. nice guys finish last!
    DJ Mbenga>G. Oden! not really but that shows i feel about him.

  • badnewsb8ller

    tavaris!! grant hill has something called talent! thats why he’s still here.

  • http://slamonline.com YKnot

    Trade him for Haddadi, he’s the next inline of “star” centers.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Yeah but they didn’t have only one year of college and then have a whole year off. They never lost the timing and feel they developed. Shaking off rust and injuries greg oden put up solid numbers in limited minutes, comparable numbers to dwight howard on per minute adjustments. I’m not saying the guy is gonna be great but I’m not saying he isn’t , anyone who predicts greg odens future one way or the other is either full hyperbole or full of sh*t. Either way its too early to tell.

  • http://slamonline BossTerry

    Hope he does have a big year, staying healthy is the key.. You cant get better wearing a suit and tie..

  • STICKZ

    this just in- Kwame brown has said he expects to have a great year! And this tidbit from NY-Darko Milicic is expecting a breakout year! And from Washington-Andray Blatche is gearing up for a great year! And Shelden Williams, and what’s this-Ron Mercer is coming back, and says he will dominate this year!

  • http://ballislife.com Moose

    And the sad and vicious cycle that is Greg Oden’s life becomes immediately apparent…

  • henry

    what if he has a soph. slump?

  • chingy

    ^^^ LOL

  • http://fdjsklf.com Jukai

    UnRel: Are you kidding me about Madsen? Dude has no basketball skills what-so-ever yet has stayed in the lead THIS long… F*ck, being nice MUST have helped him somewhat!!

  • Shem

    Great dude, an offense built for him to succeed and the 1st year injury probably set him back a lot. He would have had a much better rookie year if he didnt have the 1 year delay.

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    One thing that’s misleading about per36 or per48: THERE’S A REASON WHY SOME GUYS PLAY MORE THAN OTHERS. Oden is a foul machine. He wakes up at night and foul bigs while he’s sleepwalking. It’s not like POR wanted to keep him off the floor. They HAD to sub him out. Not picking up early, silly fouls is a very important skill for a dominant big. Kinda like why Dwight has to play sissy defense sometimes because he racks up 2 early fouls in the 1Q. That’s a big disadvantage for your team.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Happy 60th Greg.

  • http://slamonline BossTerry

    Z is right about the fouling, and dude is injury prone.. Dont count him out just yet, dudes still like 20-21…

  • http://nba.com tealish

    Let’s just aim for a year — a full year. GL, GO.

  • iLL wiLL

    Dacre,

    ahahahahaahahahaahahahaha

    Seriously though, I hope Gregory has a nice season.

  • Shem

    greg oden still cant drink

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Bryan Posted: Aug.27 at 2:09 pm
    Yeah but they didn’t have only one year of college and then have a whole year off. They never lost the timing and feel they developed. Shaking off rust and injuries greg oden put up solid numbers in limited minutes, comparable numbers to dwight howard on per minute adjustments. I’m not saying the guy is gonna be great but I’m not saying he isn’t , anyone who predicts greg odens future one way or the other is either full hyperbole or full of sh*t. Either way its too early to tell.
    ___
    When is it appropiate then…?
    I will wait for him to give fans ONE full year of health and court time. If he can’t give us that – how can we give him positive support?

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    This guy, along with Mike Beasley has really tainted the new generation of “stars” in the NBA for me…
    where’s the new breed of young cats, smart, healthy and sane?

  • Rusty

    Big Man Big Injuries.

  • http://twitter.com/SnowdaJake SnowdaJake

    He has to at least average a double double right?

  • 6marjon

    there was a difference with some people like barkley, he didn’t need to dominate because of his surroundings saying that barkley did have fairly impressive numbers his first year, and malone killed it

  • http://www.realcavsfans.com Anton

    Very admirable of him to come out of retirement because of the recession. Man has grandchildren to feed.

  • hillbilly

    Greg Oden = Sam Bowie 2.0
    Dude’s talking about having a “breakout year”? Yeah, maybe. If he stumbles into a patch of poison ivy or eats a lot of chocolate or something…but otherwise, nah.

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