Is It Time To Give Up On Greg Oden?

[Josh Dhani]

When we heard of Greg Oden during the 2007 NBA Draft, we thought he would be the next best thing. The future. The Blazers had the No. 1 pick. Picking Oden, he and Brandon Roy would make a better combo than Kobe and Shaq in the early 2000's. But if they picked Durant, it would be a strong backcourt. It was a tough decision.

 

And we all know what happened. They picked Oden, obviously. But at the start of 2007-08 season, Oden was already out. Injury. And that's where Kevin Durant flourished in his rookie year, being picked second in the draft with the SuperSonics (now the Thunder).

 

At the start of the 2008-09 season, words kept haunting the Blazers and Oden: "Bust" and "Sam Bowie." Just like that. Oden was available for the season, but only played 61 games (starting 39) and averaging 8.9 PPG and 7 RPG. Many people saw it as disappointing. To me, I thought he still had potential.

 

Really, this was just pretty much his rookie year. His first season actually playing. Entering the 2009-10 season, I think Oden would be on the mark. In the preseason, he was a monster and was on track. He was looking good. Scary. But, could it be enough.

 

It was. Oden rocked for 21 straight games, averaging nearly a 10-10. He was at 11.1 PPG and 8.5 RPG. Looking good. Great, actually. But that's when the haunting came. The Sam Bowie curse as you may call it, probably now. Oden was out for the season...again. This is now marked the second time, in just three years, that Oden would now have to miss the rest of the season.

 

And now the Blazers are relying on Marcus Camby and LaMarcus Aldridge. Now entering the offseason after the playoffs, what should the Blazers do with their 7-feet tall, 250-pound center? Should they just give up? Well, you might say he can flourish next season after seeing his performance but something might be in the way of that.

 

The nude pictures that leaked the Internet. Oden said he took them on his phone a few years ago and sent it to his girlfriend. He really didn't respond that much to the incident. But now for the next few years, most people will now remember Oden as "that nude picture guy." Just go and check out the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. The first article there talks about that. And the man who wrote that is right. He also said that if you Google up Greg Oden in the next 20 years, guess what you'll see? The nude picture incident.

 

That will most probably come first before his NBA career. That is, as of right now. So what should the Blazers do with Oden? Should they keep him as backup? Or they could do this if they were to keep Joel Pryzbilla: they could leave Aldridge and Camby at starter and let Oden backup for LaMarcus and Pryzbilla behind Camby. It could work out. But does Oden want that?

 

Or do the Blazers do in fact want to start Oden? What do you think?

[fish7718]

I may be be the minority but I still think Oden can be a dominant big man. If not offensively then at least defensively, which is really all you ask for at the center position. He obviously is still rough around the edges and commits way too many fouls but he is still very young. At this point right now though he should be nothing more than a guy getting 20-25 mpg backing up C.

[Warren2ThaG]

They seem obligated to start Oden when he's healthy but I think he can produce off the bench and not be considered a bust. Joel Przybilla is a good starting defensive Center.

Future SL should be: Bayless/Roy/Batum/Aldridge/Przybilla, and then have that deep bench with Oden.

[YugoRocketsFan]

Give up on Oden? The guy has had some injury problems but its not like he was a scrub when he played, he was really good defensively and usually scored in double figures, and he is still only 22, I am so glad some online people arent GMs.

[Flash]

Absolutely not. When he's healthy he's on of the top defensive centers in the league.

[Check my Stats]

Oden is already arguably the 2nd best defensive C in the league, it is scary to think how good he could be on the defensive end if he could stay healthy and learn not to foul so much. He is as good a rebounder and shotblocker you could want though.

 

If he has one more huge injury though it might be time for the Blazers to find a new C moving forward. But you can't give up on a kid who is still only 21 or 20 years old, I don't remember how old he is.

 

If he plays well people will forget it, people have put all those things in the back of their mind about what Kobe did before (The Denver incident, the Bynum video, asking for a trade, etc).

Edited April 11, 2010 by travesy3

[Dr. Feelgood]

Hah! Give up on Oden? As someone who has watched all of Oden's games since he became a Blazer (all 82 or so games), before he got hurt this season (I was actually at that game when he went down), he was improving every single game. He was learning to stay out of foul trouble slowly but surely. He still has loads and loads of potential. He may not be that player we once thought he was going to be, but he'll be one of the best defensive centers in the league once he gets healthy.