Now more then ever after reading that…

Who wants to see an Oden poster dunk on Shaq now?

As we all saw last year, Oden looked tentative, slow and unsure of himself. This was largely due to the previous summer of simply rehabbing and not even being cleared until just before training camp.

We saw flashes of greatness, spots of mediocrity, and solid C play for the rest of the time he was on the court, not in foul trouble, with a better PER than Durant in his rookie year.

I am at once struck with the same, “I’ll believe it when I see it” skepticism that many other Blazer/NBA fans feel now, however there is one simple fact that remains:

This is the first full healthy offseason that Greg has had with professional level resources and coaching.

Considering that Greg with his limited summer training and rookie status still averaged 15/12 per 36, the simple fact that he is in much better shape alone leading to decreased fouls and more time on the court should put that at his basement production this year, not even mentioning any other work put in.

15pts/15reb/3b/60%fg/80%ft will put us in game 7 WCF vs the l*kers.

So even though this is preseason and I will not believe much of anything until I see it, I think this upcoming season will come closer to living up to expectations.

Oden will bring his A game this season! & very much looking forward to it!

don’t get too excited about off-season hype
don’t get too excited about off-season hype…………………

Nope, I can’t convince myself.

I like the commitment to a total program. He’s not just working on a handful of things. Oden changed his diet, he’s working on his defense, on his blocking, on his conditioning, on his offense and he’s back to his old happy self.

2 and a half months of 4 day a week 2 a days (plus basketball work on the “off days”) plus team USA mini camp (where they ran him ragged with the up tempo ball) plus the new diet should combine for a vastly better conditioned Greg Oden. Oh, and that whole not coming off a serious injury should help too.

Oden beasting is the best thing this team could hope for. Oh man, I hope it happens.

I’m not getting sucked into the vortex of Oden hype again.

I didn’t see anything about Oden working on his 3 point shot. How is he going to clear out space for LA if can’t hit the open 3?

I want to believe, and I think while Oden won’t be “the next Shaq or Russell” he will become a very very good one (a la Ewing, Parish) that warps he game towards his team on both ends but especially on defense. But pre-season reports are pre-season reports. Every team is great, every player is great, or something is really wrong and you obviously are in a bad starting situation. A solid double-double seasons from Greg with 2 blocks per game for good measure would be nice already, and 2000+ minutes on the court in the regular season (i.e. 24+ minutes per game). Ideally 2300+ minutes (28+ minutes per game), but that would be a huge addition of about 1000 minutes and a lot less fouls and a lot less Joel on the floor. We will see. Soon.

First Joe and then you Dave, … how am I supposed to contain myself to stay reasonably sane about the team and Greg Oden???

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2009/9/28/1059775/thoughts-observations-and-audio

That article made me giddy—and all the while I kept telling myself “this is not real evidence… this doesn’t prove anything.” and yet, I still felt giddy.

It’s part of being a fan. The hope or dream of a dominant Oden on this roster is just too tantalizing to resist.

The way I figure it, I’ll get to enjoy the hype for another month or so, dreaming of angry Oden blocks and ripping down backboards while yawning, checking his watch and updating his stock portfolio via mobile internet device. If Greg lives up to the hype, I will have a head start on everybody else in unabashed fandom. I will be senior on the committee for Oden enlightenment and head priest of Odenism.

If it all falls apart…whatever. I will still have had fun for a month.

Just don’t tell me he’s developed laser vision and jet propelled biceps. I don’t want to get too unrealistic.

File this under “I’ll believe it when I see it in a regular season game that matters.”
Here’s what I’m looking for, from the big GO.

- Can he avoid unnecessary fouls? I’ll be watching how he moves his feet while guards are moving near the rim. Part of Oden’s progression is for others to help him on defense as well. I swear half his fouls last year were on guys who blew by one of our guards or small forwards. So while Greg’s defense is clearly an asset, he’ll be even more valuable when he can focus on guarding 4s and 5s, and not so much on hacking at 1s, 2s and 3s.

- Heading into the all star break, is he starting? If so, are we getting 30+ minutes a night?

- Are we getting a double-double from him most nights? I want to see Greg involved in the offense. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t expect 15-20 a night from him. We have people surrounding Greg to do the heavy lifting from a scoring standpoint. But I’d like to see him become more active and less of an afterthought in the Blazer’s sets. I’m no basketball mind. Does the team even run plays specifically for him? Seems like he’s Plan C if A & B break down. That kinda deal.

That his goal is to be an ALL-STAR this year.

That’s pretty candid.

I know nothing has been shown on the court yet…but let’s be frank, Bayno wasn’t around until mid way thru last year. Everyone here wanted a tough workout schedule for Oden this offseason to improve conditioning, foul trouble issue, latteral quickness etc. And to the people crying for Oden to get a big man to help him work on his game…I’ll take Brian Grant everytime.

This is either a GIANT puff piece that will flame out, or a truly good sign for the Blazers