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So which summer is it for Freeland? Is it his 3rd after he was drafted?
 
Uncle Ty said:
Of course, Durant wasn't coming back from microfracture surgery and being out of shape for a whole year, either.

I was really hoping GO would be focused on nothing but working on his game this summer. He's been disappointing (to most), and he even admitted to being disappointed with how he played this season. I thought there would be plenty of motivation for him to work his ass off this summer, with so many people questioned him and all. I guess he could still work on his game in Ohio and going to school at the same time. But I thought Nate and KP sounded disappointed that GO is not committed to staying in Portland this summer to work on his game. Both sounded like they think it would serves GO well to stay in Portland working with the assistant coaches. It is GO's call though, and he's decided against it. We'll see how it will work out, but I'm not sensing much good out of GO working basically by himself on his game this summer. Whatever it is, I just want to see a MUCH improved Oden next season.
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While I understand why he wants to go back and finish school, I think maybe Portland should look at a different approach for Greg. We should hire PJ Brown as a assistant coach to just work with Greg. He was known as a hard nose defender and had a great work ethic, plus he has gone through playoff battles and could offer something to this team. We could send him to Ohio to work with Greg several times a week after Greg has started school and can work with him after classes finish. Summer School won't go all summer. Why not add another assistant
 
It is outrageous that Houston fans were using the n-word against Martell and their security did not know what to do! What the hell are they there for? To keep fans from asking for autographs?

What they should do is issue ONE warning and then throw those assholes out.

Saying Martell took it well - please. This is not Jackie Robinson in 1948. He should not have to take it at all. I think the Blazers should lodge a complaint.

Ribbing opposing players is part of the game, but there are lines that should not be crossed and it sounds like they were - a lot.

PS, as for Oden, it sounds like he needs a bit of time off to clear his head. I'd say compromise; let him go to summer school but as soon as that ends (August or so) he should be back working. BTW, what about Mutumbo as a big man coach? He's out of a job at the moment.
 
Peaceman said:
While I understand why he wants to go back and finish school, I think maybe Portland should look at a different approach for Greg. We should hire PJ Brown as a assistant coach to just work with Greg. He was known as a hard nose defender and had a great work ethic, plus he has gone through playoff battles and could offer something to this team. We could send him to Ohio to work with Greg several times a week after Greg has started school and can work with him after classes finish. Summer School won't go all summer. Why not add another assistant
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I like the idea, but I'm not sure Greg does. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for the exit interview. So much of the future of this franchise rests on his shoulders. Did all of the criticism get to the guy? Keep in mind it wasn't just Portland. It was Bill Simmons (time after time), Charles Barkley, and others piling it on. I wonder where his heads at. I would like to think he wants to bust ass all summer and prove people wrong. Why is it that I'm not sure he feels that way?

I actually thought about hiring a guy to work with him as well - not PJ Brown, but the idea of hiring someone to oversee Greg's workouts (both conditioning and on specific skills) But it sounds like (and I may be reading way too far between the lines) that Greg said he's got it all under control. He's going to head back to Ohio this summer, go to school, and workout with whomever he chooses. It sounds like he didn't leave the door open for the Blazers to suggest when, where, or who he works out with. Nate said he's going to fly out there a couple of times - almost sounds like it's to check on Greg and make sure he's doing what he needs to be doing.

I really hope Greg comes back markedly improved next season. If he doesn't, and his conditioning isn't strong to boot there is going to be a lot of disgruntled fans in Portland. It's just a huge off season for the guy. Many people criticized him this year, but many also defended him saying 1) he's a rookie who sat out a year 2) he's coming off microfracture which takes two years and 3) he's only 20/21. I think even most of his supporters point to next season as his time to shine. If he doesn't, it's not going to be pretty for the guy. Meaning if he comes back the same guy we saw all of this season - the silly fouls, the poor conditioning, etc. All we need this guy to do is play defense and rebound, and give us SOME interior points. If he can stay out of foul trouble, he can average 13/14 ppg just based on his size and strength. Now if he improves in the post and can give us more? We're talking 60 wins a possibility. Our biggest offensive weakness is that we don't have a consistent low post threat. LA has his moments but he tends to drift out to the perimeter a lot. Man I hope something clicks in Greg - it really can mean the difference in whether we win a championship or we are a perenial also ran.
 
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Kaydow said:
I really hope Greg comes back markedly improved next season. If he doesn't, and his conditioning isn't strong to boot there is going to be a lot of disgruntled fans in Portland. It's just a huge off season for the guy. Many people criticized him this year, but many also defended him saying 1) he's a rookie who sat out a year 2) he's coming off microfracture which takes two years and 3) he's only 20/21. I think even most of his supporters point to next season as his time to shine. If he doesn't, it's not going to be pretty for the guy. Meaning if he comes back the same guy we saw all of this season - the silly fouls, the poor conditioning, etc. All we need this guy to do is play defense and rebound, and give us SOME interior points. If he can stay out of foul trouble, he can average 13/14 ppg just based on his size and strength. Now if he improves in the post and can give us more? We're talking 60 wins a possibility. Our biggest offensive weakness is that we don't have a consistent low post threat. LA has his moments but he tends to drift out to the perimeter a lot. Man I hope something clicks in Greg - it really can mean the difference in whether we win a championship or we are a perenial also ran.
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Sounds like a lot of pressure. If I were Greg, I'd want to escape that pressure.

Why is Greg so different? Brandon is not staying in Portland. LMA is not staying in Portland. Travis "I could definitely use work on my game" Outlaw is not staying in Portland. I've been a crazy Blazer fan since 1986, and I've never heard any controversy about a player going back to his home town before. Give the guy some peace.
 
Greg's probably going to go on a stress relief trip. I would. The guy got fucked in the playoffs. and our offense did not flow through him as he expected.

The guy needs to work on his footwork yet, but he also needs more touches to become more consistent.
I think a break is exactly what he needs. Come back strong next season though Greg. The team is counting on that for sure.
 
Wizard Mentor said:
Sounds like a lot of pressure. If I were Greg, I'd want to escape that pressure.

Why is Greg so different? Brandon is not staying in Portland. LMA is not staying in Portland. Travis "I could definitely use work on my game" Outlaw is not staying in Portland. I've been a crazy Blazer fan since 1986, and I've never heard any controversy about a player going back to his home town before. Give the guy some peace.
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I think GO is different because he was the number 1 pick who sat out a whole year, is coming off a potential career changing surgery and has not developed as most thought he would to this point. Blazers are taking about being a championship contender next year and wants GO to be part of the big 3 for this championship contender.

This is an adult world where the big boys play. GO has been handled with kiddie golves ever since Blazers drafted him. I think it is time for the kid gloves to come off and for GO to be a man. Blazers have shown all kinds of patience with GO, and IMO, GO owes it to this organization to stay around and work on his game if that is what the organization wants. I know Blazers can't force him to stay in the off season, I was hoping GO would feel an obligation given the last two years.

Oh well, I hope he comes back improved . . . and I think it sucks that the Blazers will follow him around like a puppy always adapting to his schedule . . . but again big picture is the Blazers need the big fellow and as long as he continues to improve, I'll turn my cheek to what at times can appear to be a lack of commitment from GO.
 
HurraKane212 said:
what part of england are you in?
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Flint, MI. I'm not IN England, but I am English.

I was in England studying in Oxford in the summer of 2006.
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We might have crossed paths. I went to a conference in Oxford that Summer. I was also an undergraduate at St. Anne's College (ugly cement thing north of St. Giles between Banbury and Woodstock roads).

Some advice for anyone going to England, Try the beer, especially Cafferys, bring your own ranch dressing and anything you need to make your own mexican food, DO NOT eat the imitation mexican food, DO NOT eat the black pudding, pudding is not a desert there, and also, do not call it a "fanny pack" (if you carry one) and stay the hell away from kippered haddock, fish + milk = terrible. Try the cheese tho.
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Yes, "fanny" is slang for vagina in England. And Black Pudding is congealed blood sausage. Delicious fried for breakfast! (But, oddly enough, "pudding" in general means dessert - so you can "have ice cream for pudding". And as it says on The Wall, "How can you have any pudding if you won't eat your meat?")

The cheese, beer and chocolate are world-beating, though. Or at least, much better than typical American fare.

What was your pub of choice? Did you go punting?
 
Uncle Ty said:
I'm guessing because GO is a special case. He was expected to be our franchise player (perhaps more so than Roy) and suffered a serious injury that requires a lot of work.
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I think we know Oden is willing to work hard. Last year, he was told to work out with weights since he couldn't take part in basketball-related activities. Now the team is saying that maybe he overdid it with weights and built up his upper body too much. So, Oden seems to be quite a hard worker, which is consistent with reports about him prior to the draft, that he was intelligent and had a great work ethic.

So, I'm not that concerned. I think Oden will put in the work necessary to get into the best shape to play his game and to expand his game.
 
B-Roy said:
Love the fact that Roy and LA are priority 1 and 1A. At least Pritchard knows what the most important part of the offseason will be.
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And the only guys who showed up in the playoffs, 1 and 1a too.
 
Uncle Ty said:
I remember that was mostly Bobby Medina. Nate was against, iirc. I remember reading that Nate wanted Oden around 265lbs coming into camp. Of course, GO came in a lot bigger. I don't doubt that the Blazers wanted GO to lift weight to get stronger, but perhaps getting that big wasn't what they had in mind. Clearly, it wasn't what Nate had in mind.
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Considering he was monitored the majority of the time he was lifting weights I'm sure they could have stopped him at any time.

The fact is that the best physical shape Greg has been in was when he was working out at Ohio State before he got to Portland. Perhaps a return there to work out with a personal trainer as well as old trainers (in addition to some Blazers coaches coming out) while going to summer classes isn't bad at all.
 
Uncle Ty said:
You mentioned Oden lifting weight, and that was a perfect example of him working hard but doing it perhaps in a way that wasn't positive for him.
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Yes, and that was a team suggestion. ;) So I guess it's a perfect example that perhaps he shouldn't just do what the team recommends?

I'm half-kidding, of course. I don't think he should blow off what the team wants from him. Nor do I think we should assume that not doing exactly as the team requests is bad. Ultimately, as an adult, he has to decide for himself and hopefully he makes the right decisions.
 
lamb roasts, cornishes, donners and meat pies are the best!

Londons sucks! GO LIVERPOOL! LIVERPOOL FC! EVERTON!
 
I think it matters little where Greg spends his summer. What matters is the results.
 
hasoos said:
I think it matters little where Greg spends his summer. What matters is the results.
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I think Nate feels the result is likely to be better if he stays in Portland.
 
I think Oden taking some time off is a good idea whether he was going to stay in Portland to workout or not. I wouldn't be surprised if that knee he hurt earlier in the season is still causing him some pain. Rest up the rest of May and hit it hard in June. Players make their biggest improvements in the off-season, and this off-season is really important for Oden.

I do however question him working out at Ohio State. He didn't exactly come into training camp last year in great shape and honestly was never in great shape the whole season. Hopefully this works out though, or Greg will be subject to a lot of criticism that imo would be warranted. He's taking a risk here.
 
Wow. Greg proved after his surgery and all last year that he is an amazingly hard worker. He rehabbed daily, and hard. That can't have been easy. The Blazers put him on a weight program and he got huge -- too huge by some accounts. That didn't happen because he isn't driven. I think the single most important thing Greg needs to do right now is go home, decompress, get away from basketball for a little while, and clear his head. If taking a class or two in the summer helps accomplish that -- go for it. Once he's back to his old self, he can start to focus on conditioning and footwork. I've spent a summer taking a few classes and working out, and there is plenty of time to do both. Of course it is possible that Greg will party and dog it all summer, but I've never seen one single indication to think that he might. Anything is possible, but I'm not going to worry about something that appears so unlikely.
 
RoyToy said:
I do however question him working out at Ohio State. He didn't exactly come into training camp last year in great shape
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He was in excellent shape, just not basketball shape because he couldn't play basketball while recovering from the surgery. He couldn't do exercise that required his knees to bear his weight. He could only do upper body weight training and aerobic exercise in a pool. According to the team, he put enormous effort into both of those. But there's no way he could be in great basketball shape being unable to do proper aerobic exercise on his legs.
 
Minstrel said:
He was in excellent shape, just not basketball shape because he couldn't play basketball while recovering from the surgery. He couldn't do exercise that required his knees to bear his weight. He could only do upper body weight training and aerobic exercise in a pool. According to the team, he put enormous effort into both of those. But there's no way he could be in great basketball shape being unable to do proper aerobic exercise on his legs.
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Yeah, it isn't like Greg came into camp with a beer belly. He came into camp with a massive amount of muscle (supervised by the team) added on with a year off from playing basketball.
 
Tince said:
I think Nate feels the result is likely to be better if he stays in Portland.
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Yes I am sure he does. But I would remind folks that Aldridge goes home to Texas every summer, and it hasn't seemed to put a damper on his improvement that I can tell. What matters is how hard the player works on their game, and that they work on the right part. Coming into camp in shape is typically a learning process, although some guys on the team seem to cruise in year after year, and fail Nates physical.(Outlaw...).
 
Uncle Ty said:
Of course, Durant wasn't coming back from microfracture surgery and being out of shape for a whole year, either.

I was really hoping GO would be focused on nothing but working on his game this summer. He's been disappointing (to most), and he even admitted to being disappointed with how he played this season. I thought there would be plenty of motivation for him to work his ass off this summer, with so many people questioned him and all. I guess he could still work on his game in Ohio and going to school at the same time. But I thought Nate and KP sounded disappointed that GO is not committed to staying in Portland this summer to work on his game. Both sounded like they think it would serves GO well to stay in Portland working with the assistant coaches. It is GO's call though, and he's decided against it. We'll see how it will work out, but I'm not sensing much good out of GO working basically by himself on his game this summer. Whatever it is, I just want to see a MUCH improved Oden next season.
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why is the assumption that if oden is going to summer school at ohio state that he won't be working out much and when he does he'll be working out alone? i'm sure oden is going to have access to all the ohio state facilities and i'm sure it can be arranged for him to have people to workout with.
 
Uncle Ty said:
Perhaps. It would be quite a statement that perhaps something is not right with how the Blazers have been working with GO though. I'll just agree with Wheelers on this. Anything GO does this summer is up to him. If he comes into camp in great shape and improved on his game, all credits should be given to him. But he'll deserve every bit of criticism if he comes into camp out of shape and has not made much of an improvement. We'll see.
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That is how I feel.
 
BBert said:
Wow. Greg proved after his surgery and all last year that he is an amazingly hard worker. He rehabbed daily, and hard. That can't have been easy. The Blazers put him on a weight program and he got huge -- too huge by some accounts. That didn't happen because he isn't driven. I think the single most important thing Greg needs to do right now is go home, decompress, get away from basketball for a little while, and clear his head. If taking a class or two in the summer helps accomplish that -- go for it. Once he's back to his old self, he can start to focus on conditioning and footwork. I've spent a summer taking a few classes and working out, and there is plenty of time to do both. Of course it is possible that Greg will party and dog it all summer, but I've never seen one single indication to think that he might. Anything is possible, but I'm not going to worry about something that appears so unlikely.
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Oden came into camp fat and out of shape.
 
Minstrel said:
He was in excellent shape, just not basketball shape because he couldn't play basketball while recovering from the surgery. He couldn't do exercise that required his knees to bear his weight. He could only do upper body weight training and aerobic exercise in a pool. According to the team, he put enormous effort into both of those. But there's no way he could be in great basketball shape being unable to do proper aerobic exercise on his legs.
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I'm talking just shape, not basketball shape. He was upwards of 40-50 LBs overweight if 265 is where the Blazers want him. He came into camp with a belly and didn't really look good at all. This is when my expectations went down for him this season.

He may have been working hard, but I doubt his diet was what it should be. Anyone that knows anything about working out knows that nutrition is the most important thing.
 
RoyToy said:
I'm talking just shape, not basketball shape. He was upwards of 40-50 LBs overweight if 265 is where the Blazers want him. He came into camp with a belly and didn't really look good at all..
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Can you provide a photo verifying this? Because it certainly isn't my recollection. He came in heavier than McMillan wanted him but, according to reports, it was muscle mass not fat.
 
[video=youtube;QBH61DIdv3w]

Not the best shot but he definitely fills out that shirt, and it aint muscle. You can see it in his cheeks that he put on fat, and Greg himself has admitted it isn't all muscle. I try and find that clip also.
 
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