First, you have to have a third threat to win big with Brandon and LaMarcus. Neither are dominant enough to do it as a duo, even though Roy is a legit superstar and franchise player.

But second, you can’t have your third person in the Win Big Trio be a ballhandler, or really even a shooting guard or small forward, because they will somehow be encroaching on Brandon’s “space”, just like a Durant would. And power forward is already “taken” by LaMarcus.

Third, having a dominant big man, who is at least a consistent threat to score so he demands D, is a time tested method for winning Championships, to the point that it rarely happens without that precondition.

That is why Pritchard wisely drafted Oden, and is why we all have to count on him in this incarnation of the Portland Trailblazers.

Without rebuilding, it is our only chance.

I am convinced Oden has the talent to be a dominant all around center, generally speaking. But he needs to screw up a bunch of times without worrying about it — not to get shut out, or yanked off the floor. When you are learning, you have to be able to screw up, even when you are super talented.

I’m not on the fire Nate bandwagon, but Nate has it wrong if he thinks Oden should just be a defensive guy. I find his manner of speaking about Oden — that we flat out DON’T WANT OR NEED his offense, and that he should focus on defense INSTEAD of offense — to be mildly offensive. You are really selling the guy short and screwing with his self image.

And the “win now” thing? We just need to win enough to get to the playoffs, though it would be nice to win more. But we absolutely need Greg to be 100% integrated to win in the playoffs, even if costs us a few regular season games to get there.

First, you have to have a third threat to win big with Brandon and LaMarcus. Neither are dominant enough to do it as a duo, even though Roy is a legit superstar and franchise player.

But second, you can’t have your third person in the Win Big Trio be a ballhandler, or really even a shooting guard or small forward, because they will somehow be encroaching on Brandon’s “space”, just like a Durant would. And power forward is already “taken” by LaMarcus.

Third, having a dominant big man, who is at least a consistent threat to score so he demands D, is a time tested method for winning Championships, to the point that it rarely happens without that precondition.

That is why Pritchard wisely drafted Oden, and is why we all have to count on him in this incarnation of the Portland Trailblazers.

Without rebuilding, it is our only chance.

I am convinced Oden has the talent to be a dominant all around center, generally speaking. But he needs to screw up a bunch of times without worrying about it — not to get shut out, or yanked off the floor. When you are learning, you have to be able to screw up, even when you are super talented.

I’m not on the fire Nate bandwagon, but Nate has it wrong if he thinks Oden should just be a defensive guy. I find his manner of speaking about Oden — that we flat out DON’T WANT OR NEED his offense, and that he should focus on defense INSTEAD of offense — to be mildly offensive. You are really selling the guy short and screwing with his self image.

And the “win now” thing? We just need to win enough to get to the playoffs, though it would be nice to win more. But we absolutely need Greg to be 100% integrated to win in the playoffs, even if costs us a few regular season games to get there.