Why Greg Oden Might Be Better Than You Think

2008-09-10T07:02:54-04:00

2008-07-16T11:16:19-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:57-04:00

2008-07-18T11:43:48-04:00

KOL

Bloomington 455604

Nice little dig at Zach Randolph! Too bad Zach is a PROVEN NBA PLAYER and Greg Oden has only proven to be all HYPE thus far. Oden hasn't even scored a single point (hey me too!) in the NBA. Z-Bo is a 20/10 man. I guess Oden is more of the safe "fresh prince Carlton type" to Z-Bo's "big brown LeRoy Brown". 2254796

2008-07-18T11:42:36-04:00

KOL

Bloomington 455604

2008-07-17T17:04:33-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/440/961/thumb/flameeye.jpg 2775 CA

ahung: The Last Fighter

Santa Clara 441401

nice blog... 2248613

2008-07-17T01:41:18-04:00

IheartBeavers

Portland 454962

Canzano is such a Duck HONK its sickening. Try telling the real story in Oregon, John. Oregon State doesn't need all star recruits to beat your Duckies two years in a row. And dont even try giving me the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" Dixon debate. Please dont call yourself a journalist. You haven't earned the title until you report an unbiased opinion. Did you have to criticize Mike "gross pervert 'stache" Bellotti's drunken son to make yourself feel like you are more middle of the road??? FOR SHAME!! 2240874

2008-07-16T18:18:32-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/285/85/thumb/Camera_unload_316.jpg 3640 WA

Favrefan

Bellingham 28651

1. He wants to emulate his boyhood idol, Bill Russell. 2. He's a chameleon. Boom. 2239007

2008-07-16T12:26:22-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/754/01/thumb/singletary.jpg 3661

big west

Nor Cal 75701

We've missed two new posts!!! Tom, say good night, Dick | 07/16/08, 12:24 PM Not really. 2233200

2008-07-16T12:24:54-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/439/366/thumb/tlr.jpg 2863 TX

Tom, ALRanger

Richardson 439806

We've missed two new posts!!! 2233215

2008-07-16T12:24:26-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/879/92/thumb/447.jpg 5974 NY

Anthony Verna

New York 88292

1) Oden can play with his left hand. Oden can play with his right hand. He's amphibious. 2233170

2008-07-16T12:23:00-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/884/43/thumb/08_HOUdh_flyover_95874.jpg 7945 IL

Kari - DaPrez

Geneva 88743

2) Thought he was being drafted into the Army, just like his buddy Sgt. Dan. 2233154

2008-07-16T12:22:57-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/754/01/thumb/singletary.jpg 3661

big west

Nor Cal 75701

3.1415926 ) Is amazed by new shot called the "sky-hook" Clef - Too late now, Richard! | 07/16/08, 12:20 PM Nice Pi reference Clef! 2233120

An E-Conversation With…John Canzano Portland Oregonian columnist John Canzano is one of my favorite columnists because he's fearless with his prose. You can read him <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/" target="_blank">here</a>. Check back for similar chats with other writers around the country throughout the two weeks. Let's start. What can I expect from Greg Oden this year? Oden wants very badly to be good. I think you can expect that he's going to work hard, and be a bigger impact on the defensive end of the floor than the offensive end. The Blazers won't need him to score. Even with the injury, he feels like the early leading candidate for Rookie of the Year. You can't get anyone inside the Trail Blazers organization to say this publicly, but they love his workouts. The whisper is that management believes he will be even better than they thought he'd be when they drafted him.   Okay, so if Oden turns out to be better than management expected, where should we project the Blazers this season? Brandon Roy is a star. LaMarcus Aldridge might end up being the best player picked in the 2006 draft. If Oden is anything close to what he's supposed to be, the Blazers are right there fighting for the 7-8 spots in the West. The biggest loss this summer was James Jones, who left for a sweeter situation in Miami. His locker room presence will be missed. I wonder if the Blazers biggest obstacle will be its immaturity. And Oden is at the center of that. He's not as mature as the Blazers will have you believe. It may be boredom, or that he's young, or that he was sitting out with an injury, but he needs to grow and stay healthy if the Blazers are going to maximize things. They're a playoff team... maybe a 7 or 8 seed if everything goes right. Still, even on his worst day, I'd imagine Oden is  not exactly Zach Randolph. Have the Blazers won back the fans they lost from employing so many malcontents? The best asset the Blazers had all along was a fan base that wanted nothing more than to believe in the NBA team again. I'll maintain that the fans, not ownership, is what forced changes in Portland. The franchise didn't just have malcontents on the floor, it had bad actors in the front office. And fans stayed away until all that changed. The franchise still has the league's longest running lottery streak, but it also has some good traction, and the fan base is mostly back on board. It was a hell of a sociological experiment Paul Allen put on. There are still some holdovers who want to see a winning record, but I think after yellow Hummers, and airport metal detectors, and pit bulls, and league records for technical fouls, among other things, people in Portland are just looking for a competitive team that they feel good about supporting. It has that now. Nice. Gaze into your crystal ball. What will be the three biggest sports stories in Oregon for the second half of the year? I think Oregon is going to flirt with another BCS berth in football. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly then becomes America's sweetheart as far as coaching candidates go. I wonder what Oregon would promise Kelly to stay in Eugene. Also, Darius Miles bid to play in the NBA again has huge salary cap implications for the Blazers and there's such a deep-seated interest in him that his story stays on the radar. And while I think Oden is a huge story, I'm not sure that [Nike head] Phil Knight and his influence in Eugene doesn't continue to be polarizing considering the new arena is opening there. Never a dull moment with it involves Knight moves in your part of the world. Let's finish up with this: Give me the three blogs you can't live without. I'm not a huge blog addict but I read them. I like Sports By Brooks because we all take ourselves so damned serious all the time and I think its nice to laugh. I read <a href="http://thebiglead.com/" target="_blank">The Big Lead</a>, and <a href="http://deadspin.com/" target="_blank">Deadspin</a> but I think some of the best bloggers are guys working beats at daily papers. <a href="http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/eric+prisbell/" target="_blank">Eric Prisbell</a> blogs for the Washington Post, <a href="http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/author/pthamel/" target="_blank">Pete Thamel</a> blogs for the New York Times and <a href="http://blogs.mercurynews.com/buzz/" target="_blank">John Ryan</a> does a great blog for the San Jose Mercury News. The people in the trenches have so much more to say than we can get into newsprint anymore. 1529 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/396/4/thumb/mcentegart_pete.jpg 6586 NY

The 10 Spot

New York 3984