Greg Oden’s first day in Vegas
Kevin Durant said that Oden “looked like his old self” out there, which I presume to mean that he looked like the pre-injury Oden. I don’t think he meant just that he looked old.
This piece by Chris Mannix on SI.com mentions Oden decking Derrick Rose on his way to the basket. That’s nice.
Durant was the obvious hit of the first day at the camp and was the best player on the floor according to all accounts I found. The Blazers had a Twitter entry that included a quote from workout supervisor Jay Triano calling Oden “the surprise” of the first day, but I couldn’t find it in print anywhere.
In the ESPN story, though, there was this:
Others who caught the coaches’ eyes included Rudy Gay, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon and JaVale McGee, and several team insiders said they were surprised how spry Greg Oden looked.
In the case of Oden, I don’t think you could find a more welcome description than “spry.”
UPDATE: Very sorry for missing this earlier. Casey Holdahl has video here of Oden running yesterday and yes, it’s a major change. He’s actually able to run now.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | July 24, 2009
There’s a video online of the practice. He does look far more “spry”….and even a bit mean. It’s early in the summer and it’s very encouraging.
Watching him run the floor was the biggest surprise. His stride seemed more fluid than at any point last year.
I don’t have the link handy…somebody should post it if so.
Man, watching that video that Casey posted, he seriously looks WAYYYYY quicker and lighter on his feet than last year. Such a welcome surprise. This makes me giddy. He looks like the guy we drafted.
Greg looked great. I was pleasantly surprised. He was kick to the ball on rebounds and patrolled the paint well. No easy ones around him and he wasn’t fouling. I love it.
Here’s the link
http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/Home/Photos/OfficialGalleryAlbum/tabid/165/GalleryView/MediaView/AlbumID/5077/MediaID/2994/Default.aspx
Indeed – Oden looks much better. He still had trouble getting back to his man on the pick and roll (even if his man doesn’t catch the pass, he ends up getting position for rebounds), but that can be coached. Overall though, Oden looks much better.
Wow!!! Love how he looks running the floor.
I’m pumped! That video makes Greg look like a new man!
I hope Oden turns into a beast–if for no other reason than watching Bill Simmons eat his words.
Oden looked pretty decent. He’s definately moving easier. Not sure about the explosive athleticism from that video, but it’s a good improvement none the less. I’m really looking forward to hearing more about the big guy and his development.
Dwight, as impressive as his running and rebounds were the best thing was his feistyness, anyone else notice that 2-3 times he was shoving guys around when they came inside. its all about the attitude
I am hopeful concerning Oden’s up-coming season. This vid buoys that hope to some degree. But this vid is not near enough at this point. I still believe Oden is going to be the center piece he was drafted to be. At this point tho it is going to take a lot more, like a camp and pre-season at least, of seeing is believeing before the hope for Oden’s breakout season becomes confidence.
a lot of peopel say it takes a full year of playing before you really come back from microfracture surgery, if that is true Oden could be a big surprise this year.