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Oden eager to prove his value to Blazers
By Jeff Rabjohns
Posted: August 27, 2009
Greg Oden doesn't need to be reminded. He knows.
He is aware of how critical this season is to his career. He knows how he's
viewed. And he knows he has yet to perform like a No. 1 NBA draft pick.
The 7-foot center from Lawrence North High School is heading into his third
year in the NBA, one that could be the most important basketball season in
his life.
After sitting out what would have been his rookie year following knee
surgery, Oden endured another injury last season. He performed well at times
for the Portland Trail Blazers, but did not dominate consistently as a top
pick is expected to do.
"This is going to be a big year," he said earlier this week before heading
back to Portland to prepare for training camp. "Everybody comes in and has
that first year, that get-used-to-the-league year. But you have to break out
in your second year. You have to, and that's what I'm looking forward to."
Oden played in 61 games last season. He averaged 22 minutes, 8.9 points and
7.0 rebounds a game.
This is the third year of his contract, and under NBA rules, teams have an
option for a fourth before a first-round pick becomes a free agent. Normally
with star players, an extension will be negotiated before the fourth year if
a team wants to keep the player.
Without a breakout year during the rookie contract, a player's future becomes
a question.
"I definitely have to show them that I'm here, and that I am the guy you guys
drafted," Oden said.
The first No. 1 overall draft pick from Indianapolis since Oscar Robertson in
1960, Oden spent the summer training at Ohio State, the team he led to the
2007 Final Four.
He also spent time with Portland assistant coach Bill Bayno and played in the
USA Basketball minicamp for players under consideration for future Olympic
teams.
"It was a lot of conditioning, footwork, defense. But a lot of offense," Oden
said. "I worked on everything, but I'm getting a lot of confidence in my
game."
Oden forever will be compared to Kevin Durant, taken immediately after Oden
in the 2007 draft. While Oden has dealt with injuries, Durant has become a
star with Oklahoma City. Oden also has the unfortunate circumstance of
playing in Portland, where fans vividly recall injury-prone centers Bill
Walton and Sam Bowie.
Getting ripped on sports-talk radio and by columnists bothered Oden for a
while, until he quit paying attention to it.
"He's a kid that likes to please," Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer said.
"He's not an independent, stick-it-in-your-ear kind of guy, which in the
league he plays in, might not be to his advantage.
"He feels bad he didn't stay healthy, and that's what he wants to do this
year."
The Trail Blazers didn't draft Oden to be an offensive force. They saw him as
an anchor in the paint on a team whose offense revolves around All-Star guard
Brandon Roy.
"About the only time he gets the ball is in the paint with a 300-pound guy
leaning on him, and the only real move at that point is to muscle up a
jumper," Keefer said. "He has to change his game for that particular team."
For Oden, 21, there is time.
"I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater as far as Oden is
concerned," USA Olympic boss Jerry Colangelo said earlier this year. "A
career is a long time. If he could ever sustain himself in terms of his
health and build up the confidence that he needs, he still could be a major
force in this game."
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Oden加油！！
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