After Oden went down this year, I was all over the boards here on BE basically saying that everything we had hoped for in the coming years fell apart on that court in the Rose Garden that fateful night. Sure we can still watch B Roy do his thing, Bayless develop, and Lamarcus occasionally show up. But the whole “championship window” thing seems pretty far fetched at this point.

People were saying I was being negative, but at this point there isnt an Oden v Durant debate anymore, and its 75% safe to say that Oden is a bust. Not a bust from a talent or work ethic stand point, but a bust in the injury form.

I must also say that constantly pushing the “Oden potential”, “big men win championships”, and “we did the right thing” narrative by the Blazers organization and quite a bit from the owners of this sight starts to look a bit ridiculous at this point. I wouldnt ever expect the Blazers to publicly say anything bad about Greg, but for droves of fans to continue to act like we have the next Dwight Howard in waiting year after year looks like we are completely dillusional.

Greg could come back to be a servicable player. But ionjury history in the NBA suggests he will probably be a shell of what we hoped he would be. I actually cringed last night when I heard one of the mike’s say about Elton Brand " He used to be a dominant force in the paint, but the repeated injuries to his ankles have turned him into a somewhat effective bench player on the Sixers"……..ouch.

I only pray that KP and the rest of the Blazers staff which has done a great job of restructuring this team and franchise figure out the puzzle of our team and maybe look at building around a different “big 3” or possibly a “big 2” with 4-5 really good players around them. Either way, the Oden era is probably over before it started. But that doesnt mean that he cant be a good center on a championship team someday. He just wont be the guy we build around.

Sorry if this post hurt any of your feelings

Injuries can happen to any player at any time. The Blazers did what they should’ve done, and ended up with the worst possible scenario. Oden has had horrible luck with injuries. Let’s accept it and move on.

Darko was a bad pick, because he was a gamble. Oden wasn’t a gamble, he was, when we drafted him, exactly what we’ve seen when he’s been healthy. A dominant big man who changes the game. A monster in the paint.

Kevin Durant is an amazing player who will win scoring titles, but he is not going to carry the “Thunder” to any championships. He is a longer version of Allen Iverson, without the horrible rep. If he does get a championship, it will be because he will be traded to the Lakers or the Celtics and joins up with another All Star or two.

How many times and by how many different people does it need to be pointed out that Durant wasn’t and isn’t a fit for the team then or now?

Regardless of who got injured or how many injuries they have, there was only one pick that made any sense at all in the 2007 draft and that was Oden and still is Oden.

The key that negates all of the their argument against Oden is the fact that they had to concede that prior to Oden’s injury a month ago, he was looking worthy of the pick and was really beginning to come into his own against the NBA’s top bigs and dominate against the lesser crowd.

Speculation of the sort that was required to write that segment on Oden should be reserved for real estate no-money-down infomercials.

If you’re trying to counter that fact with ‘yeah but he was looking…’ then you’re Laura Ingalls Wilder running through daisies.

At least let the guy start a full season before you try and defend him. He’s got enough pressure on him trying to live up to the ever lingering hype.