Greg Oden is down and out for the rest of the season, a season in which Greg Oden had seemingly found himself and was playing the best of his NBA career. Greg Oden has been cursed by injuries since entering the NBA and once again the curse strikes.

It appears as if the whole Blazer organization is feeling the effects of the curse right now. Coach Nate McMillan has ruptured his Achilles tendon, which is minor when compared to the fact that his assistant Coach, Maurice Lucas, has a return of his bladder cancer, which is on par with the fact that owner Paul Allen of Microsoft fame has told everyone that he is involved with a fight with cancer.

NBAObsessed is a little bit sensitive to the cancer battles having recently fought off Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The entire Blazers organization is concerned about Greg’s welfare.

At Rebound, Oden still had his mind on the game. Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard, who was with Oden throughout the ordeal, said Oden continually urged Pritchard to check the score of the game on his Blackberry. Tests confirmed the worst by halftime and Oden returned to the locker room to be with his teammates, urging them to “keep fighting.”

Pritchard said the injury was like a “punch to the gut.”

“The challenging part for me is sometimes life’s not fair, you know?” Pritchard said. “I’ve seen this kid work his tail off. He’s put in the work. He’s done absolutely everything we’ve ever asked him to do and more. And he’s going to go through that again, and I know that’s challenging for him.”

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Greg Oden finds himself in an all too familiar position

Greg Oden missed his rookie season with the dreaded micro fracture surgery. In his sophomore NBA season Oden missed 15 games after the All Star break with a chip in his knee cap. Now this year after getting off to a great start he is once again out for the year.

NBAObsessed talked about Greg’s improvement before.
—–Greg Oden – Blazer Kiddy Corp part I—-

The scary part is that a writer from ESPN wrote how Greg Oden’s gate is all wrong and reminded him of other centers that never could get past the injury bug. Could that be what is happening or is it just the Curse of the Blazers?
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Paul Allen was high school buddies with Bill Gates and the quiet Microsoft co-founder. He is now worth about 11.5 billion dollars and owns several businesses, and a few sports teams.

He formed Vulcan in the mid-1980s to invest in media and communications companies, including America Online, DreamWorks Animation and cable operator Charter Communications Inc. He also co-founded a Silicon Valley research lab that he then shuttered after investing more than $100 million.

Beyond technology, Allen has used his Microsoft earnings to take his interests to an extreme.

A longtime sports fan, Allen bought football’s Seattle Seahawks and basketball’s Portland Trail Blazers, and he is part owner of the Seattle Sounders FC, a major league soccer team. Allen has been present at Seahawks games this season, chatting in the locker room with players.

He has a band and a recording studio, and built the Experience Music Project, a museum about rock music in Seattle.

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This is a very difficult post to write and really hits home for your intrepid author of NBAObsessed. You see, Paul Allen and NBAObsessed both have something in common. As much as it would be great that the thing in common was a great big fat wallet, it is not. The thing we have in common is non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the big C.

According to the memo, Paul Allen has diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a relatively common form of lymphoma.

Allen battled another form of immune system cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, more than 20 years ago and survived. The CEO wrote that Allen “is optimistic he can beat this, too.”

“Paul is feeling OK and remains upbeat,” she added. “He continues to work and he has no plans to change his role at Vulcan.”

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My cancer has been gone for a year and a half and that seems amazing to me. My oncologist tells me my odds of cancer returning is 60 – 40, which is probably better than the Detroit Pistons odds. With each day my chances of survival increase and so do the chances of Paul Allen survival.

Just like me, Paul Allen owns a boat. His is bigger.

Cancer is a marathon, a disease to be endured, that is fought by poisoning your system to kill the cancer and hopefully not to kill you.

Let me tell you something very important for Paul Allen and this is not a secret or something that was just discovered. Anything you can do for Paul will help him. Anything. If you pray, then pray. If not, think a positive thought, send a card, e-mail, even a smile in his direction. It makes for a better world, a world that Paul will want to continue to live in. It makes all the difference in the world. NBAObsessed knows this for a fact!
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The Portland Trailblazers have rid themselves of the old Jail Blazers moniker and now sport a kiddie corps that needed a veteran presence. They tried to get Hedo Turkoglu, thought they had him, only to watch him sign with Toronto of all teams. They signed Paul Milsap, yeah, Paul who, and the Utah Jazz matched his offer sheet. They inquired about Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, but the answers were no and no.

Finally the Trailblazers began to think that Andre Miller could fit the bill of veteran point guard. Andre met with them and signed thinking he was going to be the starting point guard. It hasn’t worked out that way and Portland is claiming they told Andre when they signed him that he would be backing up Steve Blake.

Andre Miller is known for his heads up team play

Facing that alone would have been fine, because Andre is confident that he would have won the starting job. He has talent. Even his teammates acknowledge that.

“He’s such a talented player,” Blazers All-Star guard Brandon Roy said. “We’re just trying to see where he’s best, because that’s how he’s going to help our team. …We needed him on this team.”

Miller has shown flashes of how he can help the Blazers. He’s a smooth, smart point guard who throws a great lob pass. He should help the Blazers, one of the league’s slowest-paced teams, improve their fast break, even though he’s not exceptionally athletic himself.

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This past year there were many games in Philly that Andre was about all they had. Portland had to be a better deal with all the young talent they have.

But…Suddenly Andre is being vilified by fans and media. He failed a running test in practice and the media got on him about being out of shape. It was said he would not sign an autograph for a young boy and the media got on him about it. Top it off the Blazers are a close team and Andre is pretty much a loner. The media and fans got on him about it.

“I’m sitting on the baseline and I’m hearing fans in the audience say, ‘Sit with the team.’ I just got here. [The fan] said, ‘Sit with the team. Stop acting like that.’

“I was like, ‘Damn.’ They wouldn’t have said that if [the media] didn’t give a false impression. I never have had any problems with any fans. I socialize with fans at appearances and in public.”
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So what happens now? Andre is obviously a better point guard than Steve Blake and the Coach knows it, but stresses that maybe it is who finishes the game that matters, not who starts it. You just have to wonder how well Andre will handle this situation.

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What is going on with these teams anyway? The Mavericks, Knicks, and Trail Blazers are fighting, that is right, fighting to sign Jason Kidd. Why? He will be a basketball grandpa age of 37 next year and how is he supposed to keep up with the speedy young guards if his team makes the playoffs?

Will Jason Kidd be able to keep up with the young guards, let alone the Tony Parkers of the world?

Jason Kidd will be in the Hall of Fame and there is no questioning that at all, but he will be there for piling up stats like the rest of us pile up our dirty clothes in the corner of the room. He is long past his prime and hardly worth the money to the three teams involved. These are all building teams.

Let us say, just for example, that you have a team with a superstar or two and all you need is a point guard to handle the rock and you are heading to the conference finals. Hey, Jason Kidd would be perfect, but that does not describe any of the above teams.

Kidd has enjoyed a fantastic career. A great deal of what he provides cannot show up in individual statistics, but individual statistics have also helped inflate his worth. He’s a bit of a liability to an offense if he isn’t dominating the rock, dishing out tons of assists. He has a reputation as a fast-break point guard, but I can’t tell you how many would-be breaks have been halted by Kidd chasing after rebounds, instead of leaking out and waiting for the outlet pass. And his jumper, though on-point in 2008-09, comes and goes.

This is the point where I have to point out that I’m not pointing toward denigrating this point guard’s skills. He’s a fine, fine player, even at this stage. He helps teams. I just don’t get where he fits into the plan for a team like the Knicks, or the Trail Blazers.

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Darius Miles and the 18 million dollar basketball

Darius Miles wanted to play and Portland will pay, but he won’t play for Portland. Darius will play for Memphis.

Confused?

Portland released Darius saying he was medically ineligible, but if he plays 10 games for anyone then Portland is on the hook for 18 million bucks. Portland’s owner even sent out a mass e-mail to all the NBA owners not to sign Darius. That did not sit too well with a lot of owners.

Miles was signed by the Grizzlies as a free agent on Dec. 13 after missing two seasons (2006-08) following micro fracture surgery on his right knee. The 27-year-old signed a free-agent contract with the Boston Celtics on Aug. 22, 2008 and appeared in six preseason games.

It was believed that Miles had to play in 10 regular-season or postseason games in a season for the $18 million to count against the Blazers. But his six preseason appearances with the Celtics counted toward the 10. Miles then signed with Memphis, served a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy and played in two regular-season games for the Grizzlies.

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Darius has tried to stay out of it saying he just wants to play.

Photo source Newscom

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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!

Photo source Newscom

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