As we previewed earlier, Greg Oden played his second NBA game tonight in a successful return from a sprained foot injury suffered in the long-awaited season opener in Los Angeles. Contrary to expectations from the more cynical corners of the globe, no appendages flew off of Oden and no stretchers were required. He played, he did not wince, and hey! the Blazers won.But Oden wasn't exactly a star on the court. He played only 16 minutes off the bench, and tallied only three points, two blocks and two rebounds. He came in with three minutes left in the first quarter ... and looked gassed two minutes of play later. Oden had a fitness curve before the foot injury as a big guy in his rookie NBA season. Spending two weeks in various states of recovery obviously doesn't help.
One of those other Blazer rookies played a major role in Portland's victory over Miami, though. Rudy Fernandez went absolutely nuts in his 29 minutes off the bench, dumping in a team-high 25 points on 11 FGAs. This isn't a fluke. Fernandez has hit double figures in seven of the team's eight games, and has hurdled the 20-point mark twice now. With Miami closing (on the back of Dwyane Wade, who is BACK) late, Fernandez -- shot clock winding down -- drove to the foul line, spun away and hit a nasty turnaround/fadeaway/floater thing. The arc of the shot defies physics, making the make a perfect cap for Rudy's perplexing adventure.
Oden finds himself with a long way to go in terms of both his NBA career and the 2009 Rookie of the Year award. But Rudy (only 23 years old and cheap through 2011-12) is well on his way on both accounts.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Oden sucks; He is a bust;
The only one laughing is his agent all the way
to the bank;
In college Al Horford and Noah demolish Oden TWICE
or back to back ;
Chek it out IF that was the case with Bill Walton ??
In fact, b4 he played for the Blazers Walton was
above any college player ( back to back champion) in college ball;
Oden and Walton NOT the same by far, done.
did this guy just say horford and noah dominated oden in the national championship game?? 25-14, while putting three monstrous front court players in foul trouble and holding them all scoreless when he manned up against them is obviously getting dominated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wts9V9kIKH4
I dont think oden is ever going to live up to his ability because of his injury, but to say the guy didnt have flat out potential is ridiculous. I think he'll still be a great player, about as good as horford... which sucks because he could have been so much more. Whatever, lets not count our chickens early... oden could still rock it (i hope he does, the guy is a pimp)