The best way to prolong Oden's career may be to...

[RoyToy]

see Tim Grover, Michael Jordan's old trainer.

He has already turned Wade's career around after a couple injury riddled seasons and he recently got Mcgrady back on the right track, and McGrady absolutely raves about the guy.

http://www.attackathletics.com/inde...ack-client-to-see-results&catid=1:latest-news

"His whole body was imbalanced from basically his shoulder blades down to his feet," Reavy says. "He was developing a lot of back problems ... He was developing strength in an imbalanced fashion. And what I see in Tracy, in general, he had no core strength, he couldn't hold a plank."

"[Tracy] took a hard fall seven years ago in 2002 and he said he was never able to dunk off his left leg [since]. We got him dunking off his left leg four and a half months post micro-fracture, which is basically unheard of," Reavy says. "The results that we get here are basically unprecedented because we take the force off the injured area, we make the body absorb the force equally, so that it can heal properly and faster without the loading that it's constantly getting before.



We took the force off the knee. The knee's not absorbing the force like it was before. Tracy was playing in pain. When I talked to him initially, he said his pain was 8-9 on a scale of 10. An athlete as the ability to block that pain out, but knows he can't push it, so once you take that pain away, they can perform at that level again, because the pain is what really limits them. If you have pain in a certain area you don't know if it's gonna tear. You don't know. Your worst fear as an athlete is to get injured, but if you have that pain, that's gonna limit your body's performance, 'cause you have that in the back of your head, "Oh, I can't cut this way, I can't cut that way, I can only go this way." It limits your dynamics as a player and it's easier to defend you if you're only one dimensional."

These guys work miracles. Oden needs to reach out to these guys.

An off-season with these guys and 1on1 work with Olajuwon would be killer.

 

[THE HCP]

It couldn't hurt.

 

[Nikolokolus]

If that's what Greg wants to do then he should do it ... anything he can do at this point to help himself stay healthy is a major positive in my opinion.

 

[RoyToy]

Who knows if Greg even knows who he is. I'd bet on that he doesn't. I think this could be very beneficial for him, but probably never comes to fruition, which is kind of a shame. These guys seem to be the best of the best. They were Jordan's preferred trainers after all.

 

[Sug]

Is this the same group that worked with Amare? It sounds a lot like the same approach in terms of building the core, or other groups of muscles to change the impact on certain areas of the body. As I was typing the first part of this post I decided to Google the Amare thing and I found the SI article by Ian Thomsen LINK.

A few quotes from the article back on September 18, 2007

"It's like the ACL was back in the day: It's a mystery,'' says Dr. Micheal Clark, who has overseen Stoudemire's rehab in Phoenix with Suns athletic trainer Aaron Nelson. "Surgically, they're getting significantly better -- less invasive, less intrusive with the surgery itself ... but then the rehab comes and nobody knows what the hell to do. Everybody is afraid of it. It's swollen up: Do I bend it or do I not bend it? Do I load it or do I not load it?''

Clark and Nelson applied a logical and science-based approach to Stoudemire's rehab. They focused on improving other areas of his body besides his knee.

I think this is something that the Blazer staff did to some degree, but I don't know if they were as "science-based" in their approach.

"People say, `That's the way I walk, I can't change it.' Well, they don't want to change it,'' says Nelson. "Over the years we've dealt with it, dealt with it, dealt with it with Amare, and now he walks pretty normal.''

I have heard a lot of people talk about Oden's walk. It was an issue with Amare as well, but they changed it.

 

[southnc]

May be to....

Treat him like "icing on the cake". In other words, do NOT build around him and make him the main guy. You build around Roy and LMA and bring Oden in as firepower off of the bench, like Outlaw. Oden is too injury prone and unproven to make him a franchise player.

I now agree with Roy's initial impressions - we should have stayed with last year's starting team and brought Miller & Oden off of the bench. Last year's team won 54 games and just got a bad match-up in the 1st round of the playoffs - it happens. There was nothing wrong with that lineup, except getting Webs integrated with Batum's injury. Had they focused on that a little more during training camp, the performance would have been better.

The decision to integrate Oden and Miller into the starting lineup has disrupted chemistry and may have even made Oden's injury more certain, with all of the pressure and focus placed strictly on his game. PER for Roy, Blake, LMA, and Joel have also gone down this year as a result.

When Oden does come back, I hope they take a more gradual approach to integrating him, so that he can have a successful and LONG career.

 

[Natebishop3]

I like this idea. Grover is first rate.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

In addition, the Blazers need to plan to not have Oden for major portions of each season. One way is to keep Joel- at any cost- for his defense. Another may be to do what it takes to draft a center who can help fill in.

 

[BenDavis503]

Our staff wouldn't do anything like that, which makes sense! So that's not going to happen.

 

[hasoos]

If you actually look at this situation, it is very similar to Amare's situation. But not as bad. Amare actually had ligmament damage. He has came back and played strong after 2 knee surgeries. But he went that extra mile. Greg may have to do that.

 

[Buzz Killington]

No. You Play Oden when he's ready as much as you can. Just have to take more precautions (knee braces) in the future when he's playing.

 

[BenDavis503]

If you actually look at this situation, it is very similar to Amare's situation. But not as bad. Amare actually had ligmament damage. He has came back and played strong after 2 knee surgeries. But he went that extra mile. Greg may have to do that.

Kenyon Martin too. He has had tons of surgeries and comes back OK.

 

[hasoos]

Big Z of Cleveland had major foot problems before he came back and played ok for many years. But for a long time he was the big guy who was always hurt. When he finally came back he wasn't as mobile, but he wasn't hurt all the time.

 

[Pontius]

If you actually look at this situation, it is very similar to Amare's situation. But not as bad. Amare actually had ligmament damage. He has came back and played strong after 2 knee surgeries. But he went that extra mile. Greg may have to do that.

And I have no doubt that Oden has it in him.

 

[PapaG]

Big Z of Cleveland had major foot problems before he came back and played ok for many years. But for a long time he was the big guy who was always hurt. When he finally came back he wasn't as mobile, but he wasn't hurt all the time.

Ilgauskas' game isn't built on athleticism, and it never was. He's had a 15' "jump" shot for years. Without it, he wouldn't see the court, because it's the only thing he does really well for his size. He's a nice player, but I really hope Oden becomes more than Big Z in terms of impacting a game.

 

[hasoos]

Ilgauskas' game isn't built on athleticism, and it never was. He's had a 15' "jump" shot for years. Without it, he wouldn't see the court, because it's the only thing he does really well for his size. He's a nice player, but I really hope Oden becomes more than Big Z in terms of impacting a game.

I wasn't comparing their games. I was just pointing out that he came back and got and had what I would consdier a successful career, eventually breaking the cavs record for games played in. With Oden, half the battle is making sure he is out on the floor to contribute. The talent and physicality isn't in question.

 

[Idog1976]

see Tim Grover, Michael Jordan's old trainer.

He has already turned Wade's career around after a couple injury riddled seasons and he recently got Mcgrady back on the right track, and McGrady absolutely raves about the guy.

http://www.attackathletics.com/inde...ack-client-to-see-results&catid=1:latest-news





These guys work miracles. Oden needs to reach out to these guys.

An off-season with these guys and 1on1 work with Olajuwon would be killer.

Make it so number one! Great ideas.

 

[Kaydow]

I wasn't comparing their games. I was just pointing out that he came back and got and had what I would consdier a successful career, eventually breaking the cavs record for games played in. With Oden, half the battle is making sure he is out on the floor to contribute. The talent and physicality isn't in question.

I've thought about that too. Guys like Ilgauskus, Sabonis, Grant Hill, Ron Harper and others came back from several years of debilitating injuries. There are also guys like Ralph Sampson, Pervis "out of service" Ellison, & our very own Sam Bowie that were just always injurred. Who knows what lies ahead for Greg. He could shake these injuries off and have a productive career, or he could continue getting hurt and be out of the league in 3 years.