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C Greg Oden (All B1G, All-American, Defensive Player of the Year, Butler Assistant Coach)

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Greg Oden has company - and support - from other Blazers who have dealt with late-game failure
By Jason Quick, The Oregonian
October 30, 2009

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Bruce Ely, The Oregonian
Greg Oden had nine rebounds against Denver, but he remembers the two missed free throws.

Greg Oden was only halfway through the agony of defeat when he missed two potential game-winning free throws with 4.6 seconds left Thursday night, essentially sealing the Trail Blazers' stinging loss to Denver at the Rose Garden.

As Oden was beginning to learn, a task just as difficult as making pressure free throws lay ahead: Dealing with, and getting over, the anguish of being a central figure in a loss.

"It may not be easy," Oden muttered afterward.

Luckily for Oden, he would soon learn that inside the Blazers locker room, he had comfort in numbers when it comes to late-game failures.
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Greg Oden has company - and support - from other Blazers who have dealt with late-game failure | The Blazers Beat - OregonLive.com
 
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Oden sounds off . . . and his newfound intensity could be a big boost
By Jason Quick, The Oregonian
November 01, 2009

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AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Blazers center Greg Oden knocks the ball away from Thunder forward Kevin Durant during Portland's 83-74 win in Oklahoma City on Sunday.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The most important development of the Trail Blazers' victory here Sunday evening took root in the morning, when the team gathered for breakfast.

Less than 12 hours after the Blazers' defense had been sliced and diced for 111 points in Houston, leading some players to question the effort of the team, coach Nate McMillan talked to the Blazers about a simple concept: family.

"Would you allow your brother to continue to do something he shouldn't be doing? Or would you say something to him?" McMillan remembers telling his team. "And that's what it is all about. They are brothers out there, this is a family, and if we are not playing defense or you are not covering your man, say something to him. It's not personal. It's holding each other accountable."

Not that anyone was taking odds, but not many would have bet on which Blazers player would apply McMillan's concept later that evening during the Blazers' 83-74 victory against Oklahoma City.

It was the team's gentle giant: Greg Oden.

As a matter of fact, there was nothing gentle about Oden on Sunday. With a voice that was as loud, forceful and stern as ever before, and with animated body language that has rarely, if ever, been seen from him in a Blazers uniform, Oden on Sunday barked, ordered and inspired his teammates.

"There was once in Toronto last year ... but it was not like this," Brandon Roy emphatically said. "Tonight, he was more vocal than ever. It was great. It was step one. But we can keep building on that."

Nobody is ready to declare Oden a leader yet. Not after one game. But what transpired here Sunday could be the start of the season's most important development.

It could be when Greg Oden came out of his shell. When he became a little nasty. Very much intimidating. And an immensely powerful force on this team.

It was so startling, so different, that Roy and Travis Outlaw were taking turns imitating Oden's deep growls at teammates during the game.
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Oden sounds off . . . and his newfound intensity could be a big boost | The Blazers Beat - OregonLive.com
 
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Paul Forrester> INSIDE THE NBA
Oden says goodbye to softer side

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Greg Oden is off to a promising start in his second season with the Blazers.
AP

Greg Oden didn't put in weeks of running stairs, playing endless pickup games and having long, confidence-building conversations with Trail Blazers coaches over the summer to see it all flushed away with a pair of missed free throws.

But in the minutes after the No. 1 pick of the 2007 draft clanked the potential game-winning attempts last Thursday against the Nuggets, sealing a 97-94 loss, Oden seemed destined to relive the quiet disappointment of last season.

"It may not be easy," Oden told reporters of how he would bounce back after the misses.

It seemed all to familiar for Oden. He played last season, his rookie year, as if weighed down by the expectations of becoming an immediate force upon his return from microfracture surgery. He was tentative, a 7-foot giant who missed dunks and appeared joyless.

But instead of reverting to his old form, Oden responded to the blown opportunity against Denver in an aggressive, animated way. Three nights after that loss, Oden barked and cajoled his teammates toward a victory against Oklahoma City. The 12 points, 10 rebounds and 4-for-4 from the line helped, too.

"I feel like he's coming into his own," general manager Kevin Pritchard said recently. "He's smiling. He's talking. He's the Greg Oden we had a few years ago when we drafted him."

Actually, he's a little less than that player -- 13 pounds less -- after coach Nate McMillan asked his team to arrive to training camp in shape.

"Light is better in this league," McMillan said. "First, it will allow [Greg] to get up and down the floor. And I feel it will allow him to be more explosive as opposed to being more powerful. He's not a guy who is going to lose his strength."

Though Oden has yet to show an expanded offensive repertoire early this season, he has doubled his block rate (from 1.1 to 2.2) and is averaging nearly three more rebounds a game (7.0 to 9.8).

"Progress [for Greg] isn't anything numerical or statistical," Pritchard said. "It's that he goes out there and makes a positive impact on the game, every game, and plays his tail off."
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Read more: Greg Oden showing more aggressiveness for Trail Blazers - Paul Forrester - SI.com
 
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Buckeyecty4;1585704; said:
That was one, if not his best game of his career in my opinion. Showed a solid offensive game vs Duncan, and was dominant defensively.
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I agree, last friday was Oden's best NBA performance. He's had bigger scoring outputs. But this game had it all, the national stage, and a very good opponent with a big time matchup. I saw vintage Oden, he contested almost everything inside, beasted out on the boards, and looked very comfortable on offense. This is only the beginning, he's a top 5 center if he can stay on the court by avoiding fouls. He's averaging about 8 rebounds in only 21mpg. There are many words that can be written about that game, but PTown pretty much summed everything up in one short phrase..'such a man' :)

Anyways, Oden is playing Conley right now. These are the only two Buckeyes playing these days With Redd & Cook out due to injury, and the other NBA bucks racking up DNPs.

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