Greg is Alive
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 1:44 PM PDT
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PrintBefore we get to a recap of today's practice, how filthy are Brandon's new shoes...
The stitching on the top says "B Roy" and the design on the inside is a 7, Brandon's jersey number. Nike hit another one out of the park. Remember that Sparq campaign? Whatever happened to that...
Anyway, there was no open practice portion today, just an interview portion.
Nate was very straightforward in his assessments today. He said that with Greg out he will simply return to last year's rotation of Przybilla, Aldridge and Frye at the 4 and 5. No big surprise. He did state, "I don't know how many minutes Frye will spend at the five." I suppose one can deduce that in addition to dealing with Tim Duncan tomorrow, LaMarcus will be seeing heavy, heavy minutes.
More Nate on Greg: "He's not lost months." There was a sense of relief in Coach that Greg will be back relatively shortly. Nate also said, "He's down. He's disappointed" and said he told Greg that, "There's nothing you can do about it." If I ever get injured (carpal tunnel syndrome?) I hope Coach McMillan is the one assigned to letting me know that I'll be alright.
Coach also says that they will not rush Greg back, reiterating what KP said on Canzano's radio show yesterday. The team will "give him time to get healthy." He also said they would continue to emphasize Greg's cardio and conditioning, acknowledging that Greg is not in full game shape.
Coach said Travis will start at the 3 tomorrow night.
In the funniest moment today, someone brought up a comment Brandon made stating that the team hadn't really talked about Greg at all today. The question to Coach was something like, "Are you making a point of not talking about Greg being out?" Coach looked straight ahead and said, dead pan, "We know Greg's out." He waited a beat for everyone to laugh and then finished, "Regardless of who is playing, we've got to play a certain way: hard."
Nate closed with some advice for the team as a whole, "Calm down. Have some fun. Go out and play hard." When asked if it was difficult for him, a serious guy, to tell his players to have fun, Nate said "They just need to play basketball... This is what they do."
Martell seems very eager to get back on the court. He's bouncing around like he's been stuck indoors all winter. First, he was working out on one of those giant exercise balls. Then he was pretending to shake and bake while shooting 3 pointers yelling at Brandon to look at him, then he was shooting from a chair again. There was some discussion among writers about whether all that chair-shooting might throw off his form. Who knows.
Right before I was about to leave, a crafty veteran journalist pulled my ear to a bit of a surprise: Greg Oden was hiding out in the training room and was about to do a short Q and A. Oblivious me was all set to walk out and miss that entirely.
The question of the day was: how does Greg seem to be taking the most recent news? Will he be relieved, sad, depressed, anxious?
Greg didn't seem too upset. Rather, he seemed very professional. He didn't employ his super low voice and spoke directly and fairly candidly to each question. Most memorably, he noted that "there are a lot of things" he'd rather be talking about right now than another injury.
As far as how he is moving around: "I can walk with a shoe but it's more comfortable to walk with the boot."
He said that after his injury during the Lakers game, his ankle was untaped so the training staff could have a look. Greg said he "knew that was a bad idea" because it swelled up very quickly, making it impossible for him to return. He definitely repeated his previous statements about how he was trying very, very hard to play through the injury on Tuesday night. There is no question he wanted to be on the floor.
That's all for today.
-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)
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Good stuff, as always, Ben.
Won’t be long and people will be talking about an old, crafty, veteran journalist giving tips.
He who laughs last thinks slowest.
Thanks Ben!
It’s time to focus on the Spurs.
"From Bill Walton to Brandon Roy, we wanna know it all
From Clyde Drexler to Greg Oden, from the basket to the ball
Every move they make is covered, somebody make the call
The shot clock's always running at Blazers Edge"
Great work Ben.
You know what I realized as I was reading this? I cannot wait to truly get into the swing of the season. Once this media craziness surrounding Greg and this team dies down as NBA storylines emerge, things are going to be a lot more relaxed around Portland practices. Just for the players’ sakes, I can’t wait.
"For the past two seasons it's been like, 'They're young, they're going to need some time,"' Roy said. "It doesn't feel like that this season."
Of course,
in 2-4 weeks, the frenzy will begin again.
"For the past two seasons it's been like, 'They're young, they're going to need some time,"' Roy said. "It doesn't feel like that this season."
RE: Brandon ditched those shoes
in LA he wore the same BB Zoom IIs he wore last year. The ones pictured are called Blue Chips, and they are kind of strange. They are $85 retail, and aren’t positioned as one of Nike’s premium shoes (Kobe’s and Lebron’s cost around $150, premium team basketball shoes are around $110). They don’t have any of the new B-Ball technology like Zoom Air, or foamposite, or anything. For years Nike has been preaching Zoom Air for guards and wings as the lower profile air pocket gets your feet closer to the ground to facilitate sharper cuts and more responsiveness. For whatever reason in these new Blue Chips, Nike has abandoned it and put in a normal Air bag which puts the foot further away from the court . . . it’s really bizarre and sneakerheads are in an uproar.
So, basically, as fancy as the ones pictured are, maybe Brandon has chosen to not wear them and use the superior (but older) BB Zoom IIs instead. It’s worth noting that Tony Parker also had custom Blue Chips that he wore in the pre-season, but in his opener last night he was back to his old BB Zoom IIs also.
Anyway, Ben, ask him what the story was with switching so we can figure out what it all means, please.
Free Sergio! http://www.freesergio.com
by sergioFTW on Oct 30, 2008 1:54 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
whoa… very interesting! i will ask him ASAP.
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 2:00 PM PDT up reply actions
I already asked
Brandon said he had to send the Blue Chips back to Nike because they were hurting his toes. He said they made some kind of adjustment, and now he’s back to wearing the Blue Chips. He wore that particular version (re: home white) during practice today to test out and break in before tomorrows game.
by Lance Uppercut on Oct 30, 2008 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions
awesome.
Thanks Lance! Glad to know you are taking care of our pressing shoe questions for us. If you have any insight into his opinions on the shoe, I’d be grateful to hear it. I’m also interested in hearing, in general, how much control players have in what specific shoe they wear once the contract is signed. For instance, I notice LaMarcus is rocking some sweet custom Huarache 08s which aren’t really part of the current Nike roster (they are awesome shoes to play in and totally underrated so it make sense he’s still workin’ them).
Free Sergio! http://www.freesergio.com
r those 4 sale?
Rudyculize: The act of Rudy making others look slow, dim and generally oafish.
http://www.myspace.com/y5k
A couple of questions to ask Nate when you interview him next.
1. How do you feel about the effect an absent Travis in the 2nd unit has on that squads dynamic? Is the addition of Rudy to add points from the bench blunting the affects of his decision to start Travis?
2. What did Sergio do to earn 4 minutes of playing time?
3. How many minutes are you projecting Bayless plays in the immediate future and why? What does Bayless add that Sergio doesnt already provide , ie turnovers, bad passing and minimal scoring and defense.
4. Why are you all of a sudden so fickle?
I noticed BROYS shoes during the game and I must say they are SICK.
Sophia
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson
alright couple of things to address on this for you…
first… i believe that nate looks at this as a single rotation rather than Unit A and Unit B. this is even more true with martell and greg out. so i think he would not answer question 1 as you might hope or he would try to weasel out of it. i think the subtext is, “why start travis?” i think nate, despite what they said previously about batum, did a gut check and realized that batum is not ready for primetime. that’s not a knock on nic, that’s just a reality when the kid is as young as he is and the quality of the opponents we are facing right off the bat. but this is a fluid situation, it will be sorted out over time.
second… on the sergio/bayless thing, i was told by one of the beat writers that in response to a question today nate was ticking off members of the “second team” and he mentioned Bayless and not Sergio… this despite the last few weeks of Nate saying sergio was the #2 point guard… there wasn’t any explanation of this point. however, i think what this allows us to know is that spot is still a toss-up at best. sergio hasn’t truly “won” the backup spot as most of us (myself included) assumed that he had… stay tuned for more on that.
third… on the pros/cons of bayless i will ask him about that, he didn’t speak to it today or recently that i remember.
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 2:09 PM PDT up reply actions
thats funny how its up for grabs
when the oregonian specifically quoted nate for saying sergio earned the spot.
by Philthyanimal on Oct 30, 2008 2:23 PM PDT up reply actions
they werent the only ones. that was the mantra for all of preseason. you saw the preseason games. that was his spot. then a total 180 on tuesday.
it was very strange.
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 2:29 PM PDT up reply actions
ya
well the final 2 preseason games it was sort of 180 if my memory serves me correct…i remember freaking out at that point. then nate reassures me by saying again its sergios spot…he just wanted to see what bayless can do.
Honor Terry Porter
by Philthyanimal on Oct 30, 2008 2:35 PM PDT up reply actions
i broke my ankle
i broke my ankle a month ago and i got stuck in a boot now too. with all the time greg and the blazers spend in boots…nike really needs to make their own boot for injured athletes.
maybe with an all air max model or some shox.
hell i’d buy a nike boot if they made it.
I've had a boot or two
I hated wearing dem bulky thanks….
Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game
yeah where can I get a pair?
Tom, where can you get me a pair for christmas, I wear a size 11!
# 10 Top Charles Barkley Quote: On the Portland Trail Blazers (back when they were known as the Jail Blazers) serving Thanksgiving meals: "In between arrests they do community service."
by BlazermaniacAndy on Oct 30, 2008 3:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Good stuff Ben
I bet Oden’s return is closer to 2 weeks than 4, if he’s already walking on it without crutches. The photos we saw yesterday of him on crutches were a bit ominous.
the initial buzz says closer to 2 than 4. but that they might give him some cushion to make sure he’s totally ready to go.
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 3:07 PM PDT up reply actions
...
and give him time to get into shape.
Start Sergio. Blake can't run the fast break for ****
by TheGreatDane17 on Oct 30, 2008 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions
He won't lose a whole lot of game shape from where he was.
He is swimming now and will be on the court in a matter of days. It’s not like he will lose conditioning instantaneously.
Oden's Weight
Probably the thing I feared the most going into this season was Oden getting injured. Little did I know it would happen in the first game! At least it’s not too serious this time.
I say this time because I’m concerned that Oden’s too heavy which slows him down, limits his jumping ability, and worst of all, puts too much stress on his bones. I watched a couple of clips on Youtube yesterday that showed Oden jumping and moving like crazy when he was in college. I don’t know how many years ago these clips were made, but it’s obvious he’s much heavier now. Does anyone know what his current weight is and what it should be? Obviously, not being able to work out and play in games isn’t going to help him lose weight and get into playing condition.
A couple weeks ago in Quick's chat...
Quick said that Oden was down to 273, and Nate wanted Oden to lose a few more pounds to get to the 260’s. I’ve read that Oden was in the 250’s by the end of his college season, so I guess that’s 15 pounds of extra mass.
Shave the Beard
That’s a few pounds right there.
Greg not even close to NBA conditioning
This injury was because he wasn’t in a physical condition to play the game of basketball at the NBA level. His body seems to tremble under his own weight and tremor at his exertions. It’s troubling. Duck was a big dude, but his frame and muscles could handle it. That’s not the case for Greg at the moment.
Somebody please let him get into game shape by playing on the second string and take the first half of the season to round into professional form. End the charade he’s ready for primetime, ratchet down the expectations, and let the guy get in shape and play properly by anchoring the second unit.
"You know when to say 'Yes', you know when to say 'No', everyone goes home in a limousine." - 'Fast' Eddie Felson
Eh...
The jumping problems are because of the rehab. Amare couldn’t get off the floor when he first returned from microfracture, now he’s jumping all over the gym.
Greg is doing his best to rehab correctly, so I think we’ll at least see shades of the hyper-athletic Greg before the season is out. He just has to quit picking up these annoying little injuries along the way.
Jerryd Bayless has two emotions: Kill and Win.
"I think it’s going to be very beautiful game next year."
-Nicolas Batum
NorrisHopper30: "someone injure pubert jones"
by rockingharder on Oct 30, 2008 10:45 PM PDT up reply actions
Media Questions for Greg
Does the media ever ask Greg any fun type of questions anymore that really bring out his personality? He is always asked serious questions about injuries and his mind set after these injuries. He used to get asked random questions that really brought out his funny sound byte side. I miss that Greg. I think the media should be asking questions like: Is he going to wear a costume to the game on Friday since he won’t be suiting up?
funny that you ask that.
the tribune was asking greg all sorts of random questions today as part of a season preview or something i believe.
but greg was not in a joking mood so much.
its hard to joke with someone that’s just had bad news like that. especially when hes a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier.
that side will come back, i’m sure. right about the time he breaks off his first 20 and 10.
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 2:16 PM PDT up reply actions
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!
Broy’s shoes = dope!
Good eye, Ben, those are sick.
"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"
by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Oct 30, 2008 2:19 PM PDT reply actions
Is "filthy" another contemporary slang word for "cool"
or just a sarcastic comment on how clean they are?
Where do I go to keep up with current slang? I’m not around young people all that much and don’t want tv shows geared to them so I really need a continually updated list of translations so when I AM around them I know what they are saying!
I would wear those shoes just cuz they are so …um …. insert current slang phrase for “cool” here …. but I suppose they don’t make them small enough for me…
"That game sucked, but I saw so much that makes me wanna see the next game. ... There's so much to be excited about. I'm so happy to be a Blazer fan." - hobobob 10/28/08
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=filthy
definition #2
NOT definition #1
:)
im sure filthy is played out by now, but at some point it was a popular slang term…
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 2:38 PM PDT up reply actions
yeh you used filthy to describe shoes all the time
was wandering through your draftkevindurant website and you called Kevin’s shoes filthy too. I’ve never heard filthy used like that…interesting.
He who laughs last thinks slowest.
his yellow ones?
those were classics!!!!!
nike marketing was supposed to send me some high res pictures of those but never did!
boooooo
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions
haha i liked them too
still not as cool as the shoes I rock though….blue for ballin’, silver for street shoes, and red pair for backup
He who laughs last thinks slowest.
I usually try to wear heals every day
i wonder if I could hoop in those?
Sophia
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson
ugliest shoes ever
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson
for a long time
when i was growing up, when someone talked about ‘Pumps’ (as in heels) I would always picture the Reebock Pumps
Jaws were hitting the floor as Greg repeatedly attempted to tear the rim off the backboard...
lol
i always think about pump as a verb…
anyway I call them spikes or plats (short for platform obviously)
sticks is an occasional as well.
Sophia
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson
lol
I actually have a pair of reebok pumps…black ones…i even wear them occasionally
He who laughs last thinks slowest.
by prezofdeath on Oct 30, 2008 10:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Great job Ben.
It helps to hear some insider info.
My favorite teams are the Blazers and any team that is playing the Lakers.
Great reporting, Ben.
Poor Greg.
Rudyculize: The act of Rudy making others look slow, dim and generally oafish.
http://www.myspace.com/y5k
...
Has anyone said that he is going to be focused on getting into shape? No more ice cream, red bull, sweets etc…
Start Sergio. Blake can't run the fast break for ****
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/10/oden_it_happened_and_im_going.html
freeman has a line about that
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 3:16 PM PDT up reply actions
i didn’t tape it today, sorry.
it’s something we could do in the future if there is interest.
in the past people seemed pretty lukewarm to the idea but if that’s changed i can do that.
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 3:28 PM PDT up reply actions
I download
the podcasts released by the Portland Trail-Blazers through iTunes. If there was a Blazersedge podcast available. I would be the first subscriber!
by MavetheGreat on Oct 30, 2008 3:46 PM PDT up reply actions
don’t forget dave’s excellent podcast that he does with casey and gavin… or is that the blazers one that you’re talking about?
honor terry porter
by Ben Golliver on Oct 30, 2008 3:51 PM PDT up reply actions
Yeah
I listen to that through the Blazers podcast subscription.
by MavetheGreat on Oct 30, 2008 4:51 PM PDT up reply actions
Nice tip for avoiding comments by Blazers RULE:
Peruse the actual story threads instead of the fanposts.
"For the past two seasons it's been like, 'They're young, they're going to need some time,"' Roy said. "It doesn't feel like that this season."
As valuable a tip
as any I’ve seen! He isn’t banned yet for his constant taunting? I remember back in the day when fatty was on thin ice…
He's Coming! Oden Slayer of Giants
Start Pryzbilla
I think they should start Pryzbilla and bring Oden off the bench. When Pryz came in the other night they all seemed to calm down. Oden is a rookie and is far from being in game shape. The foot injury only makes things worse. We all have had ankle injuries and know that they can nag you for months. Bring him off the bench, limit his minutes, let him gradually get into game shape, and hope the foot continues to mend. This will also take some pressure off the guy. I also don’t buy into the spin that the Blazers have put on the micro fracture surgery. He’s still not moving like he should. Remember how long it took Amare Stoudemire to come back from the same surgery.
i guess he is everywhere :(
Jaws were hitting the floor as Greg repeatedly attempted to tear the rim off the backboard...
That's not him.
This guy has been a member for a few months, plus he didn’t say bro, bruh, dude, or bungle once in this post.
"For the past two seasons it's been like, 'They're young, they're going to need some time,"' Roy said. "It doesn't feel like that this season."
good points...
Jaws were hitting the floor as Greg repeatedly attempted to tear the rim off the backboard...
I was in tri-fold britches?
Oh yeah. I guess I was.
By all means, share your opinion. ‘Blazers Rule’ would like to make it sound like we dislike him because he has a different view. The reality is that he is very annoying and aggravating, and intentionally so. Most of us have no problem with differing perspectives shared intelligently.
Blazer Centers
It just seems that the Blazers have always been jinxed at the 5. Walton, Martin, Bowie, etc. The Blazers had Moses Malone in camp from the ABA dispersal draft and let him go. Of course they had Walton at the time. Sabonis should have come earlier. When GO went down it made me sick. I just hope that he breaks the curse. I certainly wish him the best.
Tri-fold britches
I raised three children using cloth diapers and pins. I could put those things on them with both hands tied behind my back.
is anyone going to be
recording and torrenting games? unfortunately my work situation means i cant always catch the live streams :(
I LOVE GREG ODEN.
it must suck to be him, but I LOVE this guy.
He’s just to darn eager to please us….
I’m not sure if it’s a trait or a curse, but I love it.
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
Oden's Weight
Sounds like he’s actually more like +23 lbs over his college weight. He needs to be very careful or he will end up seriously slow and/or seriously injured.
I like the idea of having him on the second team. Takes the pressure off a little and reduces his playing time until he gets in shape.
I'm starting to agree with the
Bring Greg off the bench for awhile meme. It will build his confidence as he crushes other 2nd tier and below centers or if the other team decides to bring their best 5 in when GO goes in that will make it that much easier for our starting squad to score.
He's Coming! Oden Slayer of Giants
Does anybody know what shoes Roy wore for the season opener?
The all black/red ones…loved em.
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Ice cream has no bones!
stupid to try and conceal the swollen ankle.
Greg exhibits poor judgment sometimes. Don’t try and hide injuries anymore Greg. Please. And lose a bunch of weight Greg. Please be lithe and light.
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
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