OT: Very candid interview of Greg Oden

[carrrnuttt]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id...-overall-pick-greg-oden-injury-plagued-career

Very good, insider interview of Greg Oden. Really makes you wonder if our training staff can do anything for him. Its kind of hard to feel bad for a young man in his twenties that doesn't have to work for the rest of his life (if he was smart with his money), but I do feel the kid got some bad breaks.

Although Greg never took my bait and blamed the Blazers for his premature return, it's impossible not to wonder if Portland's medical staff contributed to any of the problems Greg endured during his injury-plagued career. This isn't to say Greg never would've gotten hurt had he played somewhere else, but Portland's medical staff has long been rumored to be less than stellar.4 At any rate, nobody can deny that Greg genuinely felt pressured — either by the Blazers, their doctors, his own guilt, or all three — to return to the court before his body was ready. That's why he claims he wasn't surprised that he needed a second microfracture surgery. That's why he responded to the news by shrugging his shoulders and saying "OK" as if he had just been told by a McDonald's employee that the McFlurry machine wasn't working.

 

[SirStefan32]

Initially, I wasn't buying this, as it would make sense for Portland (or any team, or even individual) to want to protect their investment. Then I remembered thinking, "Roy is going to kill his career by coming back too early from the surgery" when he tried to make a comeback against the Suns in the playoffs a couple of years ago.

I am still not sure I am buying this, but Portland certainly has a history of making similar mistakes.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Let's bring both Oden and Roy in and let the training staff have a go at them. What could it hurt?

 

[jagu]

Let's bring both Oden and Roy in and let the training staff have a go at them. What could it hurt?

Don't we already have enough jokes? Bringing in Oden and adding to that might be a horrible idea.

 

[SirStefan32]

Honestly, while I am OK with giving these guys a try, I am really afraid that they might play well enough to win enough games to get us out of the top five picks.

 

[Mainstreet]

It appears Greg Oden may have other problems as well. See link from RealGM below.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...ssue_In_Past_Wont_Play_In_12_13_To_Rehab_Knee

 

[SirStefan32]

Yeah, that was all in the original interview carrrnutt posted. It was actually a really interesting read.

 

[carey]

It was a good read, but that wasn't much of an interview. It was more like Titus, knowing his story from being friends, wrote a little biography piece about him with a few lines thrown in from a dinner or something.

 

[TJ]

Let's bring both Oden and Roy in and let the training staff have a go at them. What could it hurt?

Their knees