Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: Knicks Beat Lakers With Familiar Strategy

Moving On from the Oden Era


It's painful and it's really depressing but if pritchard has any sense then he must realize that it's time to admit that oden was a mistake and move on from this rather than exacerbate the situation. his recent long term planning has been based around building the team around a core of roy / oden & aldridge. that should change. maybe oden can come back and play well but the assumption should now be that he is going to continually get hurt and be limited in the minutes he can provide to this franchise.

what does this mean?

First I think it means that the Blazers must resist any temptation to extend this guy in the offseason. if oden can't come back from this injury or has another injury-plagued campaign in 2010/2011, the Blazers can walk away with no more financial obligations. if he does break out, they still have the option to match any offer he gets.

I think what also means that the Blazers need to consider packaging the remaining assets they have and work to find a 3rd piece to group with aldridge and roy. i think the timing is wrong to get that third impact guy in the lottery. his development would take time one, and two the blazers are not likely to be in a position to get a high pick. they may well miss the playoffs this year but they aren't going to do any worse than the 10 to 14 spot in the draft.

as for who this should be or what position they should play I honestly don't know. all i know is that I don't believe a team built around roy / aldridge + role players is ever going to contend for a title, these two are going to need another star-level guy to play with.

rudy and batum are probably the most attractive assets that we have. i like them both very much but i doubt that either one can develop to the star level we'll need to have a big three. both would be great role players but i believe role players are easier to find than core guys so if we have a chance to trade them and net that 3rd guy, it should be done.

i think anymore planning that is predicated around, "when greg comes back", wastes what opportunity we might have with roy. also this injury makes all the more painfully clear that it's roy that is this franchise for the forseeable future. as for aldridge, i really like him but i'm not sure he's got the talent to be 2nd bannana on a contending team. i think he's a solid third guy. i would honestly say that he should be on the table trade wise as well except that his current contracts renders him untradeable. that's not the end of the world. he's good, not 65 million over 5 years good, but good nonetheless.

the focus should be finding that 3rd guy to run with roy and LA, Greg's a great kid but the time for planning your organizations future around him should end today. whatever he can give us from here should be seen as a really nice bonus rather than something we're relying on.

Comment 30 comments  |  2 recs  | 

Do you like this story?

Comments

Display:

I made...

…a similar post. I think these ideas are valid. However, I regret making the post, just because I think the timing is wrong. Blazer fans as a whole just don’t want to hear this right now. It’s kind of like surviving the sinking of the Titanic and standing around the deck of the Carpathia talking about what you are going to do on your NEXT cruise.

  Yes, these are ideas that will need to be debated and discussed. Just maybe not today.

"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"

by Krang on Dec 6, 2009 1:06 PM PST reply actions  

the jury is out

and we have still have no proof…the proof is the product out on the floor…..Oden is not on the floor, once again…..It’s been a season that may be exposing the real truths about this team….?
  we will never be able to prove anything else using historical data on Oden…..When your not on the floor, (because of injuries), more than your on, then you have some significant evidence for being injury prone and not just bad luck. (even though it is …“bad luck”, when you play ball in the NBA you put your body on the line every day)…some survive, some don’t…but Greg’s body appears too fragile for a good long life in the NBA….all this, and the fact that Oden continues to lose valuable experience, will stall anything the Blazers may have in mind as to what there teams will look like, say 2 years from now…..

by WyEast on Dec 6, 2009 1:09 PM PST reply actions  

i agree that change is now necessary

but part of me still wants Oden to be that third piece no matter what happens, and thats part of the culture we have going on around this team… I believe that we can hang on until Oden returns, and after he returns… I think its possible to rearrange our team in a manner that will help us maintain our status as contenders in the West and yet ensure that Oden’s return will be smooth and not quite disruptive in terms of rotations or whatever..

we should be looking for role players, because the ones we have right now are either:
a-not fulfilling their roles
b-injured
c-not effective enough to help this team without Oden

Shane Battier or Gerald Wallace come to mind as players that can help this team tremendously yet without replacing Oden’s status as one of the pillars of this team.

by jbm01 on Dec 6, 2009 1:17 PM PST reply actions  

What really sucks is...

The blazers will probably let him go to another team (assuming he doesn’t come back at 100 percent….whatever that is) and he will become an all star for someone else.

by tmundal on Dec 6, 2009 1:18 PM PST reply actions  

I doubt they will get rid of him

       A patellar fracture is small vs a microfracture. Six months would be maximum down time. judging by Oden’s excellent recovery from mf it is really premature to think he won’t come back just fine. This is the same patella that was cracked/ chipped last year by Magette I am suspicious someone missed something on the follow up. I would not be shocked for him to make it back for the playoffs.
        As far as the roster goes we had issues before Oden. Roy and Aldridge need to get it together. If Roy had been applying himself the whole season like last night we would not have 8 losses. We need better perimeter defenders PERIOD. As long as our bigs have to cover the smalls on practically every play they are going to have foul trouble and increased risk of injury. Look at Lamarcus. Knee to Knee contact and a bone bruise. Thank god Joel hasn’t been taken out yet …but isn’t it just a matter of time if we don’t get serious about our SF/PG issues?
O.R.

by Odenrising on Dec 6, 2009 1:32 PM PST reply actions  

i think this point needs to be repeated over and over. There is no reason to think that this injury is not a lingering result of the collision with Maegette last year, which would completely ruin everyone’s theory that he is injury prone.

#52

by greatestfall on Dec 6, 2009 1:45 PM PST up reply actions  

the dr.s reported there was no connection to the chip from the collision with magette

I hate labeling guys as “injury prone” but its hard to argue otherwise right now

The Blazers as a whole are far more like my wife than like me in the sense of their physicality on defense.
-Dave

by chrischa on Dec 6, 2009 5:04 PM PST up reply actions  

Of course they are going to say that.

The alternative announcement would be, “um, remember when we said Greg didn’t need surgery last year? Yeah, about that… Wait, Greg, no need to call a malpractice attorney. What I meant to say was, the fact that you broke your patella in a freak injury that hardly ever happens to anybody has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the same bone was chipped less than a year ago. Nothing at all. Yeah, complete coincidence. Ha ha. Crazy. I mean, it’s not like we screwed up or anything.”

Call me a skeptic, but until somebody explains otherwise, when the bone that was just chipped later shatters in half on a noncontact play, I kinda sorta think the chip might’ve had something to do with it. Call me crazy.

Q: Is Greg favoring his knee?
Frye: He favors dunking on your head, that's what he favors.

by KP Corleone on Dec 6, 2009 5:46 PM PST up reply actions   1 recs

well I guess we could take statements the blazers make as flat out lies and instead listen to random internet posters with conspiracy theories

KP corleone or actual doctors…its ok, I won’t call you crazy.

The Blazers as a whole are far more like my wife than like me in the sense of their physicality on defense.
-Dave

by chrischa on Dec 6, 2009 9:15 PM PST up reply actions  

thanks

i really hate these posts, partuclarly the mistake lines. this is not the same thing as bitching about bad coaching decisions, poor play and lack of effort. we should worry about greg’s well being, find out the prognosis for recovery and then start this whole conversation from there.

i saw a comment in a thread covering all of the current bigs that suffered several long term injuries early and went on to good to great careers. he could list only 3 that did not face this issue multiple times.

"Oh Yeah!" ~ Kool Aid Man

by PDXBuckeye on Dec 6, 2009 2:45 PM PST up reply actions  

Sigh. The realization that we can no longer depend on Greg anymore is why last night ( and still today ) was so devastating as a Blazers fan.

We now have a big 2. I agree with pretty much everything said by the OP. NO ONE is untradeable anymore to get the player we need to round out our leaders. We can get role players later. We need a 3rd ( or honestly 2nd ) scoring option.

Also, we need to aggressively pursue our Euro players now to try and develop them, especially Joel Freeland. We have some juicy prospects over there, and need to maximize all of our assets to re-build around Roy.

Also, we can forget about any talk of firing Nate for the foreseeable future. This team needs some consistency right now, and Nate is going through the grinder with these guys. They are likely to rally around his cries for defense and hustle.

Oden fan for life

by dario argento on Dec 6, 2009 2:06 PM PST reply actions  

When the doctors say that Greg is done

then he is done. Or when the coaches say he is done.

They ain’t said that yet. And based on initial reports, there’s no reason to think so at this time.

It’s important to base decisions on reality, of course—if Greg comes back, and is a shadow of the player he was before, or if he doesn’t come back, then it’s time to move on. But we aren’t there yet.

There is one scenario where I could see the Blazers “getting rid” of Oden at this time—(which would consist of trading him for a healthy big man of lesser talent, or for an old guy at the end of his career; NOT of waiving him, which would be stupid)—and that’s if Allen wants to put all his chips on winning a title this year, and screw the future. Boston kinda did that to land KG, and Al Jefferson has been hurt a lot since going to Minny. But I’m not sure I like those odds; and a trade for a KG-caliber player (Tim Duncan?) would probably cost more than Oden.

Otherwise, since he’s on rookie scale, his potential if he recovers is worth more to the team than the serviceable-but-unspectacular big we could probably get in a fire sale, even if the downside of keeping him is that he doesn’t come back and we end up with nothing. There are other ways to acquire serviceable-but-unspectacular bigs should we decide we want one.

I am Spartacus and I approved this message

by EngineerScotty on Dec 6, 2009 3:17 PM PST reply actions  

Too early to give up on Oden, way too early

The Blazers don’t need to think about getting a 3rd big piece to replace Oden for another two years. A big 2 with LMA and Roy is enough while Oden is injured, as he unfortunately is again. When Oden is healthy he puts them over the top.

Roy is 25 and Lamarcus is 24, both with July birthdays, both in their fourth year in the league. Portland has five more seasons starting in 2010-2011 until Roy hits his peak at 30 and would start to see any physical skills erode. (Contractually speaking they both have 5-year deals inked.) So if Oden returns for 2010-2011 and has a good season, as he was having this year, Blazers get five seasons with all these guys together before anyone is 30 years old.

No way this changes the Master Plan. As people were saying last year at the trade deadline frenzy of hype about a big roster move … let the cake bake.

One of the reasons I like Miller and have been such an advocate for him playing a bigger role is, he’s a 3rd option who can step aside after a couple years, because of his age and seniority in the league.

I am looking forward to seeing this team respond, and to see Miller step up. The silver lining is getting Roy to play with Miller. The future success for the Blazers depends on Roy becoming more versatile off the ball. Oden’s injury doesn’t change that, if anything we may see it develop faster because Oden is now removed from the interior, where things were getting clogged and preventing Roy from dominating in his comfort zone. I hope now they mix back in his ability to get in there and attack, with a new ability to play with Miller and create easy buckets for No. 7.

by Dodoh on Dec 6, 2009 3:48 PM PST reply actions  

Your reasoning is...

Greg got hurt his first year. Greg missed a number of games his second year. And Greg will miss the rest of this season. He is 2/3 out, at best. Therefore we should give up on him. Brilliant! Insightful! You sir must be a genius to come to such cut and dried answers. Not even Blazer Management or team doctors (specialists?) can match the way you have cut to the chase. Spock would be proud of they way you have not allowed emotion to enter into your thinking???

As hard as it may be to understand, I do have a problem with your conclusions though. I understand that GO has been hurt a lot, and I understand that he may get hurt again in the future, but big time talents like Greg only come along so often, and if we want to win a championship, he cannot be replaced. He is nearly irreplaceable.

Even if we tried, we could not just go out and pick up another GO. And I believe our odds are longer in trying to find someone else rather than sticking with our 21 year old who could still turn out to be great. Will we automatically win titles if we stick by him? No. But we will also have a long way to go, without much cap room, if we don’t.

#52

by KINGofMACct on Dec 6, 2009 4:02 PM PST reply actions  

Greg isn’t done yet. I have my doubts too. But the fat lady isn’t warming up off curtain yet.

Keep in mind how young Greg is.

"Sometimes that light at the end of the tunnel is a train."
-- Charles Barkley

by halo_on on Dec 6, 2009 4:48 PM PST reply actions  

great post

it may be a bit early like a previous commenter said (for some fans) but I don’t think anyone is saying they’re still not a fan of oden. We’ll all be pulling for him to get better, its just that anything from here on out in his career will be icing on KP’s “cake.” You just can’t depend on the knees of GO going forward. Its not his fault and I hope he never gets hurt again, obviously. Its just how it is.

The Blazers as a whole are far more like my wife than like me in the sense of their physicality on defense.
-Dave

by chrischa on Dec 6, 2009 5:07 PM PST reply actions  

If it comes to losing Oden

can we trade him for Buck Williams?

Too soon?

by GMan83201 on Dec 6, 2009 5:10 PM PST reply actions  

Andrew Bynum?

He has hurt his knees twice in the last 3 seasons though not as serious of injuries as oden, they were stil nothing to play with. Look at him this year he is averaging i believe 18 and 9

"Good, Better, Best, never let it rest until your good is your better and your better is your best." Tim Duncan

by flynn4blazers on Dec 6, 2009 5:14 PM PST reply actions  

Exact parallel.

"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal

by timbo on Dec 6, 2009 5:35 PM PST up reply actions  

Ridiculous fanpost

Don’t extend Greg Oden? Sorry, I think that’s ridiculous.

It’s like we have a lottery pick for the 2010 draft and know we’re getting Greg Oden, one year older and better. Do we just give that away?

by jamon51 on Dec 6, 2009 6:08 PM PST reply actions  

My Wizards gave Gilbert Arenas a 6 year maximum extension....

….after missing 1 year and a half with an injury. And now we look like absolute idiots. Not only did Gilbert wind up missing yet another season (the first year into his extension), but he has come back playing very mediocre ball.

So, yeah, I would strongly advise against giving Oden an extension.

by John Park Williams on Dec 6, 2009 6:08 PM PST reply actions  

I agree we can't build around Oden any longer...

but we don’t want to toss him to the curb. If he demands a big pay day let him try to find it elsewhere but if he is willing to take a cheap extension and become a role player keep him in town for sure. We just need to find a guy like David Lee (maybe Joel Freeland?) that can play both post positions then we have a three man post rotation of LMA, Przy, and Player X and Oden can just be gravy at that point.

by Escrote on Dec 6, 2009 6:09 PM PST reply actions  

Find it pathetic to give up on Oden

I’m gonna stick by the guy. I know when he comes back he’ll be fine & instantly make us better. Not gonna sit here and say how we should kick him to the curb because he had got unlucky and fractured his left patella. As Flynn4Blazers mentioned Bynum had similar events happen to him, now people are saying he’ll be on the all-star roster.

by Oden_Favre_28 on Dec 6, 2009 9:32 PM PST reply actions  

nay sayers all of you

who says we were building around Oden in the first place? we’re a good team without him, whether or not he comes back at full strength is moot. you guys have forgotten the 5 steps of grieving, we’re supposed to be in denial and isolation! and I refuse to believe that we made the wrong pick in ‘07. where would we be with Durant? bottom of the conference with Roy and Kevin bitching at each other about who’s the star.
O
D
E
N
or have you forgotten?
I’m pullin for you Greg, and I’m willing to put the championship on hold (as if we have a chance this year) to wait for you to come be the beast that you are.

by sparks89 on Dec 6, 2009 9:34 PM PST reply actions  

Ridiculous

Giving up way too early. Ever heard of Zydrunas Ilgauskas? Man missed 237 Games in his first five years, including two whole seasons out with injuries. The next ten years he has missed only 44 games. When he came into the NBA he was already older then Oden, and he had foot injuries, which are much worse than things like a broken kneecap or broken arm. Oden will make a recovery and we will extend him because a 22-year old center with the ability to play like a monster is extremely rare, in fact who would you recommend we trade for that could replace Oden’s numbers?

by Blodgett on Dec 6, 2009 11:26 PM PST reply actions  

It's time to move on

from fans who don’t even know the full nature of the injury before giving up on a guy’s career.

#52

by jscot on Dec 7, 2009 12:27 AM PST reply actions  

I can sympathize

We have a similiar situation down in Houston with Yao. His Free Agency is approaching and what are we supposed to do. Heres a guy who missing 3 of our last 4 playoff runs. Are we supposed to commit max money to him for 3+ more years? Injuries suck =(

ROCKETS FAN

by LarsV8 on Dec 7, 2009 2:25 AM PST reply actions  

lets be honest

did you really think the blazers were going to win the nba championship this season?
i didnt. i thought they could challenge for WCF at best.

odens injury while bad is not nearly bad enough for me to label him injury prone, or a bust.

lets try and be positive guys, the blazers will still be decent even without oden.

by Yawnie on Dec 7, 2009 4:18 AM PST reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

The ultimate coverage and analysis of the Portland Trail Blazers.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Small
The Blazers Future Regarding Free Agent Signings
Small
Thunderous Manboobies
Img_0878_1__small
Why do we hate LaMarcus Aldridge?
Small
Oregonlive "journalists" 2 new posts...same old drivel
2474796688_7cdc78828f_o_small
Greg Oden Suffers Life-Ending Injury; Gets 3-Year Extension

Recent FanPosts

Small
The Blazers' Future Regarding Trades
Small
WHAT TO DO WITH NIC BATUM BECAUSE WE WILL LOSE HIM IF NOT TRADED.
Small
Trade that helps us out now and the future
Small
How can the All-Star game be more fun and competitive?
Small
Earl Boykins!
Small
LaMarcus Aldridge about to become the 10th highest scorer in Blazers franchise  history
Small
New trade that gets us a new point and a three point shooter
Small
Portland getting.....
Small
The Sun Behind the Clouds: Blazers still on track.

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

FanShots

Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.

Recommended FanShots

It's pretty clear that the season is over already ;)
Double rainbow of sadness:

1) JBay is getting shorter
2) We never got to see him with a mustache

I miss you tiny raptor man.

via The Basketball Jones http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/2012/02/09/things-of-note-for-february-9-2012/#more-34561
Blazers Broadcasters Mike Barrett and Mike Rice re-enacted NBA referee Scott Foster's controversial goaltending call on Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who was defending Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star forward Kevin Durant, during this week's edition of Blazers Courtside. Remarkably, no one was injured during the taping of this segment.

Original video of the play here. 
Quotes from the players and coaches here. 
The NBA admitting it got the call wrong here. 
Dave's  extended thoughts here. 
BlazersMakr's FanShot: Major Vegas action on OKC prior to tip here. 
Audio of Chad Doing of 750 AM The Game going HAM on Foster here.

OK, that should just about wrap up the goaltending discussion.

Courtside video via Blazers Broadcasting cameraman John Curry.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
In 2008 Tim Donaghy indicated that Scott Foster was a ref that also fixed games
Blazers Owner Paul Allen Ranked No. 3 American Philanthropist In 2011

Recent FanShots

"You Must Be Known For Your Defense, Because You Definitely Stole My Heart"
Bill Simmons: Deron Williams To Dallas 'Is A Lock'
LaMarcus Aldridge Needs Support Around Him
LaMarcus Aldridge Finds Out He's An All-Star With His Teammates
Congratulations to Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, on his first All Star selection.

As seen on www.trailblazers.com
AWoj: Aldridge an All Star
CRAZY stat from Houston game
NBA MVP Rankings... LMA @ #10

+ New FanShot All FanShots >


Editors

Kitten_small Dave

Headshotsmall_small Ben Golliver

Lead Moderators

Getfuzzy-satchel_small Timmay!

Bucky3_small Cablinasian

Authors

Plainlc_small Storyteller

Moderators

Lamb_small T Darkstar

Small douglast

Terryporter_small prezofdeath

Small usmcr3049

Lrg_magpie_small Corvid

Wallpaper_small geoffm