Oden and Joel both practicing before the game and on the road trip

[Nikolokolus]

I agree but I also think that confidence can be a tricky thing and work both ways. If he waits till he feels 100% and comes back and plays well early on then he will build on that confidence a lot quicker.

I guess that's what I was trying to say. He's possibly afraid of looking foolish playing at less than 100% (what, 80, 85, 90%?) and would rather wait until he's feeling no discomfort -- trouble is, he may never be able to play the game of basketball completely free of discomfort ever again after all of the knee problems he's accrued; we could be waiting a really long time for a pain free Oden.

 

[Idog1976]

I have little or no confidence in what people I know in real life are thinking. I can't imagine having confidence in thinking I know what Oden is feeling or thinking.

Ed O.

Awesome dude, very humble and very true. Repped for class and making a much deeper point, thanks.

 

[Idog1976]

I will say I'm a huge Oden fan, obviously, and I am worried not about the injury but about his psychology right now. I have no idea what he's thinking, but his body language seems off somehow. It could be that he's uncomfortable talking to the media and that's certainly the simplest explanation. I just want to see him feeling ok on the court. The confidence will come with the dominance. God I was DYING to see Oden in against Phoenix. We would have won by 40. I was pissed we didn't go to Camby more for god's sake! That's how doughy soft they were in the middle.

Last night I wanted to see him playing against Kaman and Griffin.

Griffin by the way, complete stud, holy shit he's built like a fucking tank. He's an absolute beast and SOOOO fast for his size. I was totally blown away. Anyone else?

Back on topic, I expect Oden back around mid-November and I think he will do well, but not as well as he will starting May of next year. I've studied his Jyotish chart and actually posted about November of this year as a turning point for him, the one in May is much bigger and better. We'll see what happens. Let's hope we are deep in the playoffs then.

 

[BGrantFan]

I guess that's what I was trying to say. He's possibly afraid of looking foolish playing at less than 100% (what, 80, 85, 90%?) and would rather wait until he's feeling no discomfort -- trouble is, he may never be able to play the game of basketball completely free of discomfort ever again after all of the knee problems he's accrued; we could be waiting a really long time for a pain free Oden.

Well, if he doesn't come back this season, he'll likely have at least the beginning of the 2011-12 season off as well due to a lock-out. So, if the Blazers shut him down for this year, and then don't start play again until sometime in 2012, that would give Greg over two years off. I reckon if he can't get healthy with that much rest, it may not be in the cards for him.

 

[noknobs]

It's just all very wierd to me and can't remember the last time when the official statement about a player's injury is there is no timetable.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/heat/2010-10-12-dwyane-wade-injury-update_N.htm

Dwyane Wade improving, but no timetable for return to Heat

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nuggets-martin

Nuggets’ Martin says he has no timetable

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3288772

Lakers spokesman John Black said no timetable has been set for Bynum's return, adding: "We set a minimum of eight weeks. We didn't set a maximum."

http://www.nba.com/mavericks/news/InjuryReport.html

11.13.09 - DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks have announced today that Josh Howard will be out indefinitely as he continues to rehabilitate his left ankle from offseason surgery. No timetable has been set for his return.

09.22.09 - DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks announced that forward Tim Thomas underwent arthroscopic surgery today to repair torn cartilage in his right knee. Mavericks' team physician Dr. T.O. Souryal performed the surgery at Texas Sports Medicine. A timetable for his return has not been set.

05.28.09 - Dallas Mavericks guard Jose Juan Barea underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to repair a cartilage injury to his left shoulder. The surgery was performed in Dallas by Dr. Richard Levy of Texas Sports Medicine. A timetable for his return has not been set.

There's many more examples (Shaq, McGrady, Arenas, etc) but you get the idea. I hope.

Instead of pretending you know Greg's inner workings, and trying to read between the lines, just go to Google, type in "nba injury no time table" and realize this really isn't a unique statement. In any sport.

I think the fact Greg practiced 5 on 5 should be a little more important than there's no public time table.

 

[hasoos]

The other day Roy mentioned that Greg is a lot closer to coming back than a lot of people think. There had also been talk of Roy helping him through this, as he felt it was similar to last year when he had to learn to trust his body after his injury.

 

[Minstrel]

The lack of a timetable still seems odd to me. Are any goals or benchmarks being set for Greg's rehab? I can't blame the guy for seeming tentative or confused if he really does not have any sort of way to measure his progress.

You can measure progress without a timetable. Progress is being able to do more and with less pain. He may not know at what point in that progression he actually gets on the floor, but sometimes that's unknowable. It may be a judgment call by the doctors that they can't make ahead of time. Only while monitoring his progress.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I will say I'm a huge Oden fan, obviously, and I am worried not about the injury but about his psychology right now. I have no idea what he's thinking, but his body language seems off somehow. It could be that he's uncomfortable talking to the media and that's certainly the simplest explanation. I just want to see him feeling ok on the court. The confidence will come with the dominance. God I was DYING to see Oden in against Phoenix. We would have won by 40. I was pissed we didn't go to Camby more for god's sake! That's how doughy soft they were in the middle.

Last night I wanted to see him playing against Kaman and Griffin.

Griffin by the way, complete stud, holy shit he's built like a fucking tank. He's an absolute beast and SOOOO fast for his size. I was totally blown away. Anyone else?

Back on topic, I expect Oden back around mid-November and I think he will do well, but not as well as he will starting May of next year. I've studied his Jyotish chart and actually posted about November of this year as a turning point for him, the one in May is much bigger and better. We'll see what happens. Let's hope we are deep in the playoffs then.

You just praised EdO for saying he doesn't know what his own friends are thinking much less GO and then you go on to guess what GO is thinking.

Did you just do that?

 

[The_Lillard_King]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/heat/2010-10-12-dwyane-wade-injury-update_N.htm



http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nuggets-martin



http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3288772


http://www.nba.com/mavericks/news/InjuryReport.html





There's many more examples (Shaq, McGrady, Arenas, etc) but you get the idea. I hope.

Instead of pretending you know Greg's inner workings, and trying to read between the lines, just go to Google, type in "nba injury no time table" and realize this really isn't a unique statement. In any sport.

I think the fact Greg practiced 5 on 5 should be a little more important than there's no public time table.

Good finds for the no timetable. Although looking into some those players, for instance Arenas, this is what they say:

Arenas was in a walking boot and missed his fourth straight practice Wednesday. Wizards coach Flip Saunders said Arenas will be reevaluated by doctors but will be out Thursday at Orlando and Saturday at Atlanta.

“He’s definitely not going to play these two games,” Saunders said. “We’ll evaluate and hopefully both of these days in the boot will let that, right now the tendon is inflamed, we got to get that thing to settle down. Once it settles down and some of that fluid gets out of it he’s going to have a better chance at playing.”

Seems more definite than what is said about Oden, but you are right the no timetable is used more often than I thought. I also think the 5 on 5 is much more important than a timetable and even better apparently he is doing OK today.

Only thing I said about Oden is to me it doesn't seem like he is anxious to get on the court (do you know that when Oden was asked why he went 5 on 5 that day his answer was because the coach called my name to get in there). I don't know, but Oden has never come across to me as someone chomping at the bit to play basketball . . . I'm sorry this offends you and others. I hope I'm wrong about this feeling.

And why should I google things when I have you around.

 

[noknobs]

I don't know, but Oden has never come across to me as someone chomping at the bit to play basketball . . . I'm sorry this offends you and others. I hope I'm wrong about this feeling.

Why would that offend me? I just think you're wrong.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Why would that offend me? I just think you're wrong.

I don't know, normally posters don't do a crazy symbol and tell people to stop pretending and such. But maybe just your way of communicating.

It's all good . . . and I hope I am wrong too.

 

[noknobs]

I don't know, normally posters don't do a crazy symbol and tell people to stop pretending and such. But maybe just your way of communicating.

It's all good . . . and I hope I am wrong too.

Ah, I see. I used that mean lil' crazy emoticon because I've heard the term 'no timetable for his return' so many times for sports athletes I can't count. So I thought it was crazy that you never had until now.

It grates on me when people think they know how someone thinks because they've seen him on the TV. Congrats on negotiating as part of your job, but I don't think that's really relevant here... Let's move on.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

It grates on me when people think they know how someone thinks because they've seen him on the TV. Congrats on negotiating as part of your job, but I don't think that's really relevant here... Let's move on.

Again, sorry if that upsets you or grates on you, not my intention.

Only reason I brought up negotiations is pointing out that many people try to figure out what people are really thinking and not take everything they say at face value . . . make sense or is that a crazy thought . . . I am on a roll with crazy thoughts.

(FWIW-I'm not saying I know what GO is thinking. I'm saying based on the last three years and the interview, here is my guess)

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Let me make this disclaimer as i seem to be bugging people with my thoughts on Oden.

I am ultra hyper compulsive when it comes to Oden. This is a person who caused me to go out and spend way more money than I ever should on Blazers tickets. I was convinced he was going to make this team a championship contender and I wanted good tickets for this run.

So yes I obsessively read everything about Oden, listen and read every possible quote by Oden or his agent and way over analyze everything he does and says. I cn see this being annoying to Blazers fans and I will try to stop.

Believe it or not I do stop myself from posting about Oden often but sometimes I can't help it (if you notice I have do keep out of a lot of threads about Oden when there is so much i want to say) I'm seeking help.

Peace all

 

[Trader Ed]

I agree but I also think that confidence can be a tricky thing and work both ways. If he waits till he feels 100% and comes back and plays well early on then he will build on that confidence a lot quicker.

I think your right on here. Confidence is a big thing with an athlete. He needs to be confident in his body.

 

[BrianFromWA]

so if you were, say, a beat writer for the team, do you think one of the priority questions you might ask sometime between Sunday and today is "Greg, how was the knee when you woke up Monday?" Normal swelling/soreness, felt great, felt stiff? Could you practice Tuesday? Did you have to take a day off of practice? Are shootarounds ok, but full practice too much? Are you just winded, and not injured?

 

[mgb]

Speaking of the interview, did anyone find it strange that GO's advise last year to Griffin was to stay connected to the team while injured?

I mean staying connected with the team was not exactly Oden's high points last year.

While that is true of last year, he did stay with the team and go on road trips the first year he was injured.

 

[mgb]

Let me make this disclaimer as i seem to be bugging people with my thoughts on Oden.

I am ultra hyper compulsive when it comes to Oden. This is a person who caused me to go out and spend way more money than I ever should on Blazers tickets. I was convinced he was going to make this team a championship contender and I wanted good tickets for this run.

So yes I obsessively read everything about Oden, listen and read every possible quote by Oden or his agent and way over analyze everything he does and says. I cn see this being annoying to Blazers fans and I will try to stop.

Believe it or not I do stop myself from posting about Oden often but sometimes I can't help it (if you notice I have do keep out of a lot of threads about Oden when there is so much i want to say) I'm seeking help.

Peace all

I think to a degree you might figure what someone is thinking, but say Oden is looking depress sitting in street clothes behind the bench, you might assume he's down because he isn't playing when actually he might have had a fight with his gf and that is what he's thinking about. I don't know if he has a gf, just using that as a example, but you never know. Of course in a interview it's different because he's being ask questions, but his over all mood could still be because of something other than the questions.

 

[julius]

I think it's hard to know when the mental barrier will be crossed. Physically, he might be ready in a week...but mentally he might not be ready for 2 weeks or less. Or he could secretly have Steve Johnson's knees, and Kiki Vandeweghe's back and Ronnie Murphies work ethic and Walter Berry's love of Portland and the same love of basketball that I have for diarrhea.

 

[Rhal]

I think to a degree you might figure what someone is thinking, but say Oden is looking depress sitting in street clothes behind the bench, you might assume he's down because he isn't playing when actually he might have had a fight with his gf and that is what he's thinking about. I don't know if he has a gf, just using that as a example, but you never know. Of course in a interview it's different because he's being ask questions, but his over all mood could still be because of something other than the questions.

He could have been depressed because the tailor made him pay extra to make sure his tripod wasn't strangled in the suit.

 

[Nate Dogg]

Wow, your post makes no sense and is really difficult to read. Slow down, re-read, use a spell checker. Punctuation and grammar help too.

Hey, hey, I like Mixum's math and grammar skills.

 

[Natebishop3]

Some people make a career out of reading body language and voice inflection. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that we could read into his interviews. Have you guys ever seen the show "Lie to Me"? The show is exaggerated, but it's based on a real person.

 

[Elton]

noknobs--

Your avatar--Is it just me, or does Joel looks about as uncomfortable in a suit as Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross? Someone needs to tell him "Coffee is for closers".

 

[HailBlazers]

Not out of the Realm of Possibility at all. But the Point is you never truly know another person's point of view. As far as I know, the matrix hasn't been created yet

 

[Natebishop3]

noknobs--

Your avatar--Is it just me, or does Joel looks about as uncomfortable in a suit as Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross? Someone needs to tell him "Coffee is for closers".

Probably Alec Baldwin's best role.

 

[Spud147]

Lack of a timetable takes pressure off Greg. I don't think that's a bad thing.

That's what I think as well. At this point it's more about his mental/emotional fortitude than his physical condition. Also, keep in mind that the early season schedule (already had a back to back and now on a long road trip) has really limited practice time and the team is going to need to adjust to having him in the line up.

I'd prefer to have them adjust the rotation in practice rather than on the fly during these early games. We have to get these wins against the weaker teams.

 

[mook]

I have no keen insight into body language, but I remember saying to my wife at the start of the interview, "Jesus, Oden has this 'Here we fucking go again' look on his face." I don't think I've ever felt as bad for him. It's got to be sickening to have this amazing world-class talent, to love what you do, and then get asked repeatedly for the majority of 3 years how it feels to be such a disappointment.

 

[Spud147]

Let me make this disclaimer as i seem to be bugging people with my thoughts on Oden.

Ahhh, don't sell yourself short. You're not just bugging people with your thoughts on Oden... you're just super annoying in general about, well, everything.

 

[Idog1976]

You just praised EdO for saying he doesn't know what his own friends are thinking much less GO and then you go on to guess what GO is thinking.

Did you just do that?

I liked Ed's deeper point that you really can't do it and claim authority. I claimed no authority and simply went on to describe my worries and speculation as is the norm on a Sport's forum.

I don't try and guess what he is thinking, just said that I was worried. I'm hopeful about Oden, hell I love the guy and he's my favorite player to watch on this team (seriously). I just liked what Ed O was pointing to which was to remind us that we are all speculating. That's cool, but to pretend to ACTUALLY know, I think that's a mistake. That was what I got out of what Ed was saying. He also I'm sure meant it literally. Ed's a wait and see the proof is in the pudding, kind of person from what I've seen.

 

[Idog1976]

Not out of the Realm of Possibility at all. But the Point is you never truly know another person's point of view. As far as I know, the matrix hasn't been created yet

Then you are so hopelessly trapped and dependent on the Matrix that you are a threat!