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Greg Oden Out For Season

Celebrated Trail Blazers rookie center Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, will likely miss the 2007-08 season after undergoing knee surgery Thursday, the team said.

Doctors found cartilage damage during an exploratory procedure, and team physician Dr. Don Roberts performed microfracture surgery to repair the damage.

"There are things about this that are positive for Greg," Roberts said in a statement posted on the Trail Blazers' Web site. "First of all, he is young. The area where the damage was is small and the rest of his knee looked normal. All those are good signs for a complete recovery from microfracture surgery."

The 7-foot center is expected to be on crutches for up to eight weeks. A full recovery likely will take six to 12 months, the team said.

The Trail Blazers will hold a 4:30 p.m. ET news conference to discuss Oden's situation. The procedure was performed in Vancouver, Wash.

"Certainly this is a setback, but our future is still incredibly bright," Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. "Is it disappointing? Yes. However, this is a great core of talent and players of strong character and will continue to be."

Oden described the knee pain in an entry Tuesday on his personal blog:

"On my vacation earlier this summer i got up off the couch and remember my knee having a sharp pain in it. That was about a month ago. I didn't tell anyone because i didn't want to seem like i was complaining or making excuses for anything. Plus i wasn't doing anything at the time i realized it hurt, so i figured it couldn't be anything big.

"After a couple of weeks, i had to finally tell someone so i went to St. Vincent's Sports Performance (where i worked out at before draft) and got my knee looked at. That was right before i moved to Portland for good. My knee was swollen since i was there. I finally just said that i need to tell my trainer because this is not normal. We went to the doctor's the next day to get a MRI and that night me and my mom ended up in the doctor's office being told that I have to get surgery. It's a light one, just a scoop, but still it's just another setback. I would like for me to be playing and not seem like i'm a high-maintenance player, but things just keep popping up."

If Oden does not play this season, he would become only the second player in the common draft (1966-present) to be selected No. 1 overall and not play in the year of his selection. David Robinson was drafted by San Antonio in 1987 but instead honored his naval commitment.

Source: ESPN

Sucks to be the Blazers right now...

Odd that we haven't talked about the NBA since that post tt, and the Blazers are one of the hottest teams in the league this year...

I'm actually kinda enjoying watching games this year, the Celtics have been interesting, already mentioned the Blazers, and there are some guys turning into straight up superstars this year...And, I might add, even though the Lakers have a similar record this year as they did last year, they look like a completely different team...Sans any serious injuries, they could contend in the west, espeically with the Spurs playing like they need a kick in the balls...

Yea, I had completely forgotten about talking about the season. Lol...

Celtics looked hot at first but now they have lost 2 of 3 and one of those losses are to the Bobcats. Of course they'll make the playoffs and probably go pretty deep, but I think their inexperience and lack of depth is really starting to show.

The Blazers have been a huge surprise this year. They have the youngest team in the NBA and 3rd youngest in history. I was able to go to a couple of the games when they were on their 13 game winning streak and it was some great basketball to watch. For the past couple years, Portland really hasn't supported its team because everyone was getting arrested or other kind of legal problems. Pritchard (the GM) has done a great job of assembling a young, disciplined team who are role models on and off of the court. With Oden coming back next season, they are going to be a dominant team.

The Knicks are a disgrace to the league and Isaiah Thomas needs to be fired. They really need some help starting over.

The Heat are a surprise disappointment. D-Wade was injured for a while, but he's back and healthy and still putting up good numbers while the rest of his team is playing like a D3 college. Shaq either needs to get back into shape or just needs to retire

The Knicks have been bad for a long time now...I'm sure they were bad before Isiah got there, but I agree, he needs to be fired cause they certainly haven't gotten better...For New York to be an absolute hoops haven, you almost think they can go out and find a better team on the streets...

Yea, just go grab some of the kids from Compton who play streetball. They'll do a lot better than the Knicks

Did you guys here about the possible trade rumor between the Heat and the Suns? Shaq for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. The Suns better not do this trade! It would absolutely kill their explosive offense. There is no way he can run the fast break, he can't do the screen-and-roll anymore, and there is no way he can space the floor for 3's. This would absolutely kill the Suns. Marion is a vital part of both that offense and defense. That's fine if Marion wants to be traded, but there has got to be some better offers out there besides this one

I already think that Shaq is overrated...Why would the Suns even contemplate this trade I wonder..? Maybe they are just trying to do to Marion what he did to them before the season started, when he pretty much demanded to be traded...

I was looking at a graphic on ESPN last night, and like the teams in the West that were in contention were separated at the most by 5 games...In the east, it was 17 between the best and the worst...Looks like the east is horrible again, but if they do this deal they'll gain some ground...

The trade is officially over pending physicals, but the Suns just blew their shot at a Western Conference Championship. Shaq is just not going to get it done for them. Stupid move...

trashtalkr wrote:The trade is officially over pending physicals, but the Suns just blew their shot at a Western Conference Championship. Shaq is just not going to get it done for them. Stupid move...

I don't know guys I think on the surface it looks bad but if Shaq can get healthy (a big IF) they may be alright. The game slows down in the playoffs and becomes more of a half court game which is suited to Shaq's game. He could bat down all kinds of stuff coming his way. I think it says more about Marion and his priorities than anything else. Why the hell would you want to approve a trade from a possible title contender to the WORST team in the League. All about money for Marion which is sad. How much is enough Shawn?

I'm curious what is going to happen with the Kidd trade now. Thought it would be worked out but I heard today it just isn't likely.

While I don't like the trade, Shaq will help the Suns. He'll be able to grab the defensive rebounds and then pass to Nash who can start the fast break. This will also allow Stoudamire to play PF and be able to run the court and play the game he's good at. So as good as Marion was for the Suns, Shaq will help them.

Marion was tired of not being the leader on the team. He was definitely the 3rd best player on the team behind Nash and Stoudamire, but he was vital to their success. He has been the #1 fantasy basketball player for a couple years now. So I think he did want money, but more than that, he wanted to be more of a leader.

The Kidd trade is really interesting. It was stupid for the Mavs to put a no-trade clause into the contract of someone who isn't even that good like Devean George. That just screwed him over. And then with what Jerry Stackhouse said about resigning with the Mavs after he's cut from the Nets completely ended the trade. Of course he didn't know about George's rejection of the trade when he said that. I really think this trade could have helped both teams. There still is a slight chance that it'll work but it wouldn't involve Devean George or Jerry Stackhouse