Portland’s Kneed
Two and a half years ago, Ohio State’s Greg Oden was the consensus number one draft pick of the Portland Trailblazers. It was hoped the seven-footer would bring the franchise back to prosperity. Since that day, Oden has been a mainstay on injured reserve.
Unfortunately for the Portland big man, his season was once again shortened due to a fractured left patella.
Oden played in 61 games last season, averaging only 21 minutes per game. This year, his season ended after only 21 games, making it only one full season he’ll have played after two in the league.
Prior to getting hurt, his minutes, points, rebounds and blocks per game were all up compared to last year. That all came to a disheartening end on December 5. If there’s any good to be taken out of this, Portland has played without him in the past and knows they will have to do so again for the remainder of this season. That still doesn’t leave Blazer fans feeling all warm and fuzzy.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2009.