Now I'm pissed at Oden

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I used to be a fan of per48 or 36 or w/e, but is anyone else gettin' sick of it?
 
Wow, KingSpeed....you really should go back and look at Amare's "first" return. He couldn't jump, and got hurt again.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
Oden doesn't look uninterested - he looks like a mixture of anxious and depressed. Every call that goes against him it's like "oh no, not again".

I think it's a mixture of psychological and physical. I'm sure he feels like his body has betrayed him and he's not sure if he'll ever feel as good as he did before the surgery, and I think he really does feel like he's let a lot of people down and it's just snowballing. I remember the stories about how the first thing he did coming out of surgery was apologize and you've got to feel for him.

I just hope he's not literally clinically depressed.

On a related note, does anyone know what's happening with his dog (Charles Barkley McLovin)? I heard that it was blind.
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Good post . . . maybe he doesn't feel 100% and is wondering if he ever will feel like he did before and wondering if he can perfrom like he could before. Those thoughts, along with all the pressure, would make me depressed . . . especially at age 20.
 
bigbailes said:
why do most of the posters on here sound like they know nothing about basketball? WHERE IS THE ODEN I WAS PROMISED. seriously, give the guy some time. not only did he spend a year out of the game but he's recovering from microfracture surgery. listen to amare or zach, they all say it took two years before they felt comfortable in their game. not to mention he's a rookie big man, and many of those don't come into the nba and light it on fire in their first season. lay off the guy and let him develop.
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I'm happy to let him develop. But how long does it take to "develop" some enthusiasm and fire??? Injuries are one thing, but attitude is another. I want to see Oden get in the key and scream for the ball. I want to see him shake his fist after a good play. I want to see him exhibit some passion. If he had a little more of that, I think he'd be playing a lot better--and making more of a contribution.

As it is, he seems to be in a coma on the court.
 
He really needs to learn to keep his arms in the air. Half of his fouls are caused by him dropping his arms slightly, at an angle, making i tmuch easier for defenders to come up into his arms and draw fouls. It'll take time, and I'm fine with that.
 
Roy didn't do anything except defer to Z-Bo for most of his rookie season. And Zach was a black-hole, blame-shifting non All-Star. We've heard for a year or two how Oden "just wants to fit in and help the team". Yet I haven't seen anyone since the GSW game get the ball to him on the move on a P&R (you know, like Rudy did for Joel twice yesterday). I'm positive he's disappointed. But he's not lighting anyone up...he doesn't think it's his place.

Let me look at it from the big guy perspective. No one's getting him the ball where he's good with it. When he does get it, he's getting hammered. Few fouls are called. Yesterday I counted twice where Howard set up in the block and threw and elbow straight into Oden's chest. Yet on the defensive end, he's getting called for fouls on a lot of questionable plays. He's being taken out b/c of fouls, and isn't getting the numbers or the satisfaction of playing well.
 
RR7 said:
He really needs to learn to keep his arms in the air. Half of his fouls are caused by him dropping his arms slightly, at an angle, making i tmuch easier for defenders to come up into his arms and draw fouls. It'll take time, and I'm fine with that.
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This is true, he's always looking to stuff people, probably a tendency he got from playing smaller guys in HighSchool and College. He needs to learn to go straight up with his arms until he gets some more ref-respect.

The two fouls I saw on him early in last nights game was because his arms are bent forward, just as you describe, making it easy for Howard to come up into his arms.


He'll get it down, he had a double double last game....remember?
 
We have seen a pattern with Oden - a good game followed by a bad game followed by a good game.

He is a rookie. He will be fine.

Accept the fact that he was going against the best Center in the league, as a rookie without all of his athletic ability yet. It was to be expected.

Remember to bring your towel and, most important - Don't Panic.
 
andalusian said:
We have seen a pattern with Oden - a good game followed by a bad game followed by a good game.

He is a rookie. He will be fine.

Accept the fact that he was going against the best Center in the league, as a rookie without all of his athletic ability yet. It was to be expected.

Remember to bring your towel and, most important - Don't Panic.
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Oden disappears during big stage games (NY, LA, Boston) and hyped matchups (Shaq and Howard). I'm not knocking him at all I think he'll be perfectly fine. It's just he's a 20 year old kid who is a little overwhelmed by the big stage. Look at the games he's struggled NY, LA, PHX, Boston and Orlando. As the season progresses I think you'll see him relax and be the player we all hope he can be.
 
For crying out lout, he's a rookie! With only one year of college. At a position that often takes a little seasoning. With an entire season missed to injury. And, he's still likely not fully recovered.

Personally, I'd love to see him come off the bench, have success and slowly but surely gain confidence. Maybe have him really focus on defense and rebounding. Those are the two things he brings to the table that we really need. Offense, we have plenty of.

No need to rush him, other than an attempt to appease idiots who thought he'd be a 20/10 guy out of the gate. Those idiots aren't worth appeasing and 20/10 ain't gonna happen for a while anyway. Rebounding and defense are his easy strengths and if he gets that down solidly, the offense will come.
 
Did you guys see the coaches corner with Mo Lucas?

He was at the practice facility!! Is he back?!?!!

I think that will makea HUGE difference. I think by the all-star break, you will see a new Oden... he will imrpve greatly with someone dedicated to improving his game. Lucas will be awesome! Man, that pumped me up when I saw him.
 
MrJayremmie said:
Did you guys see the coaches corner with Mo Lucas?

He was at the practice facility!! Is he back?!?!!

I think that will makea HUGE difference. I think by the all-star break, you will see a new Oden... he will imrpve greatly with someone dedicated to improving his game. Lucas will be awesome! Man, that pumped me up when I saw him.
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Maurice Lucas: 'I'm still standing'

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Assistant coach and Trail Blazers legend Maurice Lucas returned to practice today after battling bronchial pneumonia for the better part of the last two months. I got a chance to talk to Coach Luke today after his one-on-one workout with Greg Oden. Here's what he had to say.

How are you feeling on your first day back?

Maurice Lucas: I’m feeling OK. A little weak. I haven’t participated in much exercise in the last two weeks or so. It just takes time. I’m going to take my time getting back, make sure I’m right before I get fully committed. It’s just one of those things where you’ve just got to take your time. I’m not getting any younger, so I’ve got to make sure everything is just right before I come back. Pneumonia is something you just don’t play with.

What exactly was your diagnosis?

Maurice Lucas: They call it bronchial pneumonia, so it was down in my lungs. How you catch it? Who knows? I was doing a lot of traveling -- I went to a couple of different countries and around the states -- and I just got caught.

It takes you out. It totally takes you out. It takes away your muscle movement and your breathing ability. It’s one of those processes that you have to go through the meds and take your time and get a lot of rest and drink a lot of liquids. It’s just a matter of time now.

How does it feel to finally be back with the team?

Maurice Lucas: It was good. You can bore yourself to death too! There’s a couple way’s you can die: You can die physically or you can bore yourself to death and I was getting close to the bored side. But I’m smart enough and mature enough to know that I have to take my time.

Did being sick and away from the team give you a chance to view team differently?

Maurice Lucas: Actually it did. It game me an opportunity to watch all the games; not only our team but all different teams and get a better perspective as to who was playing what and how they were playing different guys. How they were playing us prior to us playing them. It gave me a different scouting capacity. As far as our team, it gave me an opportunity to really look at each individual as a player and how they play. That was good for me.

You were working with Greg a lot before you got sick. What have you thought about his performance so far this season?

Maurice Lucas: He’s coming. He’s just got to understand the fact that he’s a big man and he’s got to play like a big man. He’s got to increase his aggressiveness in a positive way. He’s got to get meaner and tougher around the basket. He’s a tough kid, don’t get me wrong, but he’s just got to get aggressive like (Dwight) Howard and (Chris) Bosh and guys of that size that are under there battling. Once he does that, whoo, Katy bar the door, because he’s got all the tools. It’s just a matter of him learning the game, learning different defenses that guys are throwing at him, technique on how to get himself wide open. He’s going to be OK. I’ve got big hopes for him.
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ehizzy3 said:
most.bi.polar.fans.ever.
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Ain't that the truth. I told myself this morning that I wasn't going to look on the board because people would be overreacting to the loss but I caved. :crazy:

I just want to point out that before the season who would've guessed we'd be 15-8 in the first 23 games? The schedule has been brutal. 23 games in 43 nights with 15 on the road. I know the box score makes it look like the Blazers played well last night but it was obvious during the game that the guys are not just physically but mentally fatigued. They almost never fold at winning time like that and you have to give Orlando credit for making the defensive stops at crunch time. If the guys didn't learn this from the Celtics game they should know now - you can't take a night off in the league and expect to win. There is no shame in losing to Orlando, they're clearly a very good team. Guys come on! This team is no where near the level of LA or Boston and should not be expected to win every night. All I've wanted for them is to get into the play offs this season. It's all gravy for me after that. This is a 3, 4, 5 year plan... we're not winning the championship this year! Get over it and let's just enjoy watching the young guys learn, improve, and grow together. To quote KP - Let's just let the cake bake for now.

Once we get through the last game against the Jazz they're going get to spend some time at home. They'll be able to practice (seriously, with that schedule they really haven't been able to practice and it's hard to correct things on the fly during a game). They'll get some home cookin' and love from the fans and they'll be just fine. Even if we lose tomorrow I'm still thrilled that we could be 15-9 over the first 24 games, I never would've predicted it.
 
Shooter said:
I'm happy to let him develop. But how long does it take to "develop" some enthusiasm and fire??? Injuries are one thing, but attitude is another. I want to see Oden get in the key and scream for the ball. I want to see him shake his fist after a good play. I want to see him exhibit some passion. If he had a little more of that, I think he'd be playing a lot better--and making more of a contribution.

As it is, he seems to be in a coma on the court.
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If that's what you want from Greg, you're never going to get it. He's never been like that his entire life. He's the quiet type even when he's dominating.
 
KingSpeed said:
But Greg says his knee is fine. And certainly, Amare and ZBo played much much better than this when they returned from their surgeries.
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You're such a drama queen.

Amare and Zach had NBA experience to fall back on, even if their athletic ability wasn't there. Oden doesn't. He's recovering from a year away from the game AND he's adjusting to life in the NBA. On top of that, he's completely out of shape. It's unprecedented and absolutetely dissimilar to the situation for Zach and Amare when they were coming back from microfracture. By the end of the season, Oden will be confident about his knee, he'll be in shape and he'll know a lot more about how to play in the NBA and he'll be dropping monster numbers on teams.
 
Who knows what's going on in Greg's head, but I have a feeling the combination of personal expectations, his body betraying him somewhat, and being out of competitive basketball for a year and a half have all collided with Greg's somewhat melancholy (possibly over thinking) personality traits.

I have a feeling we're going to see even more of this "good game, bad game" oscillation all season long until he's completely recovered his explosiveness -- or as much of his explosiveness as he's going to recover.

I don't know about anybody else here, but I can't imagine what it must be like to being compared to a hall of fame athlete all throughout your teenage years, getting knicked up with injuries, and then taking all of that baggage as a twenty year old and trying to go and play in the world's best basketball league while your body is still not back to 100%. I think Greg is probably going to need a solid off-season of conditioning, getting his knee up to full and then hours upon hours of footwork drills and practice.
 
Yeah, this off-season Greg is going to need to eat right, make sure he is in GREAT SHAPE, work with a big man coach, but other than that, take it a little easier than last year and let himself recover.

He will make a HUGE improvement and be EASILY a top 5 center next year, most likely top 3.

This is a very important learning year for Greg... along with tryouts to see who will be in our rotation next year, and along with hopefully getting our guys some nice Playoff experience.

While I hope we can make it to the WCF this year, I think we are contenders next year!
 
I think Greg is probably going to need a solid off-season of conditioning, getting his knee up to full and then hours upon hours of footwork drills and practice.
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Agreed, when we were talking about the Bynum/Oden comparisons all summer that both of the guys had to get a year under their belt before we could really start comparing. Oden needs another year to show if these are his true colors or not. There is only so much you can learn by watching your teammates from the sidelines for a year. He needs to play more with them so he doesnt have to think where he should be, he just does it.

Physically/conditioning there is a lot to be desired but at the same time it would be unfair to blame that on him...shit happens. I mean when was the last time that EVERYTHING in his body was 100% during a basketball season...high school? Im not saying that to call him injury prone rather that he needs to know what his body can do at 100%. Hell, if you think about it he probably came back from his ankle injury with still a little bit of tightness which Im sure has subsided by now...so what are we talking about? TWO weeks of healthy (thou out of shape) in the last 3-4 years of his bball career??? The guy needs some time regardless of what his ceiling is.
 
Well, he looks like he doesn't really enjoy it. Its tough to judge if he loves it or not.

But he used to look like he enjoyed it... He was interviewed and someone asked him why is he always down and serious, and he said that he is just concentrating on business right now, not anything else. So IDK, it seems like its turned more into a job he HAS to do then something he enjoys to do, ya know?
 
Hell, Id be interested in gay sex if it meant I got paid what he does :drumroll:
 
i will wait until season 3 to really get pissed about Oden if he still is a wuss.

tim duncan doesnt look like he's having fun either.
 
I'm not worried.

I'm also not at all interested in whether he has fire. Or whether he looks like he's having fun. Or whether he looks scared or intimidated.

He'll either play well or he won't. Whether he gets there by screaming like Rasheed Wallace or being quiet like Robert Parish, if he plays well that's ALL that matters.

Clearly he's not playing well consistently, but (as we all know and have read and/or typed a million times) he's young, he's a rookie, and he's coming off of significant time off following surgery. I'm 100% willing to give him time and while I won't praise his play because of his potential, I also won't damn his facial expressions because of it, either.

Ed O.
 
I agree with the comment that Nate should just let Oden play and foul out late. When he got his 4th foul last nite why not let him play? So what if he fouls out. The only reason I could come up with is that Joel might play less aggressive knowing that Oden wasn't there to come in.

I see Oden getting criticize for trying to fit in? For not demanding the ball? For doing exactly what his coach is asking him to do? This makes no sense to me. As to emotion I know he certainly shows no emotion when he dunks. He softly puts it through the hoop and yawns.

Remember that one game when Oden just threw players off of him? Loved the aggressiveness, but what happen? He was called for the foul. If he fouls he doesn't play. Is it a big surprise he's toned it down a little?
 
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I can't believe some of you guys. Your opinions are based on what? A couple shots of him on the bench with a stoic look on his face? Nobody on here knows whats going on in his head. He doesn't seem to show his emotions, so what? Back off and let him play. I hope we all remember some of these reactions about him once he starts playing like we know he is capable of.
 
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