Man, why didn’t someone tell me about this?

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Greg Oden is a big man with great skills on the hardwood.

After sitting out a year with injury, Greg Oden is starting to have the type of games everyone thought he would.

Oden put on a show down low, violently shaking the basket standard and shot clock with five two-handed dunks in the second half, including a thunderous rebound slam with 6:01 to play that pulled Portland to 94-91. But the Warriors twice knocked the ball out of Oden’s hands while he wound up to dunk in the final minutes, and Oden scored just two points in the final six minutes.

“Greg Oden did a great job just dominating the paint, doing what he does, getting us into more of a rhythm,” Roy said. “He is getting his confidence, which is good for our team.”

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We will have to keep an eye on this guy.

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Greg Oden is back to waiting mode and so is the NBA

In our continuing saga about Greg Oden and his injuries,

Greg Oden era almost begins

Greg Oden – Blazer Kiddy Corp part I

Oden sprains ankle, Portland holds breath

another chapter is born. Greg is hurt again. Still no NBA baskets for Greg Oden.

Only 2½ minutes into his NBA debut — which was delayed for a year by knee surgery in 2007 — the Portland Trail Blazers’ center suffered what the team called a sprain in his right foot. He played on it for the rest of the first half in the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, but when the third quarter began Oden was back in the trainer’s room, preparing for an X-ray.

Sixteen months of waiting … for less than 13 minutes of play.

The X-ray was inconclusive; Oden will have an MRI exam back in Portland on Wednesday.

Trail Blazers fans already have their own diagnosis: worst-case scenario. They drafted a They-Don’t-Make-’Em-Like-That-Anymore big man, only to find out he can’t play.

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With Oden in the Portland lineup, they have the chance to go from being an average NBA team to a good NBA team with chance to be a great NBA team in the future, but when will that happen?

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You would think it is the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain or would that be Arvydas Sybonis? Look that one up younger sports readers.

Portland is going crazy over Greg Oden. Anything he does is big news.

Greg sprained his ankle in practice. You would have thought the stock market crashed. Oh, that’s right, the stock market did crash.

Bad analogy.

You would have thought your grandma fell down and broke her hip or something. (hope she didn’t)

The frenzy over his ankle baffled the 20-year-old Oden (7-0, 279), who played one year at Ohio State.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he says. “I walked to the training room. I practiced the day after that.”

But given his potential — and health history, which includes 2006 surgery to repair ligaments in his right wrist, which he damaged in high school — the incident provided a glimpse into the pressures he could face in his delayed rookie year, which begins Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers (10:30 ET, TNT).

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Get excited over Greg Oden

Portland has reason to be excited. Greg took Ohio State to the NCAA finals in his freshman season. He doesn’t even have a lot of moves yet. There are not many true big guys in the game and let’s face it, Shaq is about done.

Dwight Howard rules the hardwood in the box and he has about two offensive moves.

Portland, you can let your breath out, Greg Oden is fine.

Photo source Newscom

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Rudy Fernandez

The Blazers purchased the rights to Rudy Fernandez from Phoenix.

Rudy will actually make less money to play in the NBA than if he had stayed in Europe. If you flash back to the Olympics, Rudy was an outstanding player for Spain, the Olympic silver medalists.

Fernandez has been a huge surprise in early games with his ability to make precise passes to teammates. In one game he threw two passes between a defender’s legs.

The Blazers knew Rudy could score and were claiming he was the best young European in the NBA.

“All I know is, Rudy is going to play, whether as a starter of reserve,” McMillan said. “He plays the game with his heart. He plays it with passion, on both ends of the floor. You rarely see that in the NBA. A lot of guys give that effort on only one end of the floor. When you have a guy who plays hard on every possession, with his kind of potential … once he figures everything out, he’ll be a special player.”

Demopoulos said Fernandez reminds him of Doug Collins as a player. McMillan said he sees a little bit of Pistol Pete Maravich in him.

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Nobody is saying that the Portland Trail Blazers will win the NBA or even win their division, but these two rookies have taken the town by storm and now plan on storming the NBA!

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Greg Oden

Last year the Portland fans went crazy when the team drafted Greg Oden from Ohio State.

Greg had led the Ohio State basketball team to the NCAA finals and dominated everyone along the way. He is the best big man to hit the NBA in a long time. He has the size and the beginnings of having the moves.

Will Greg be the new Shaquille O’Neal? That is a tough bill to live up to for anyone. We do know Greg will provide the big man presence the Trail Blazers need in the box.

Limited to 20 minutes in each game by coach Nate McMillan, Oden averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds, shooting .526 from the field. Of his 10 baskets, nine were dunks — six or seven of the rim-rattling, backboard-shaking variety.

Oden got few of his other attempts — jump hooks or putbacks — to fall. But he was aggressive on the offensive glass, and his presence at the defensive end meant opponents had to think before entering the paint with the ball.

Against Golden State, Oden dunked five times, more than once carrying an opposing arm or two up toward the basket.

“When he grabs on to that ball and pumps it up to the basket, you have two choices — get out of the way or foul him,” Portland assistant coach Dean Demopoulos said. “And a lot of the time, he’ll make the shot. Wherever he is, there’s going to be something physical happening.”

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Greg Oden is a tower of power that will make the Blazers a good team for years!
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