[OhCanada-Participant]

Often alot is said about Greg Oden and his injury issues. Greg has been the target of many jokes, and much ridicule, although after reading as many articles, and hearing many opinions I can honestly say I do not believe Greg Oden is injury prone to the point where he is incapable of avoiding a major injury for a full year. I found the article I read a while back on why he injured his knee, and how the medical staff in Portland should have prevented it. I also found some completely false statements from The Portland Trailblazers stating they were aware of Oden’s injury possibilities before drafting him. They are not going to take responsibility for this. Links for each article will be presented…

This post is the combination of three different articles. Any statement in bold and italics such as "this" would be my very own statements.

Last season before the All-Star Game, Greg bumped his left knee with Cory Maggette at Golden State on February 13, 2009 causing Oden to miss three weeks due to a fractured knee cap. At that time, Portland opted for an MRI over surgery saying the left patella was chipped. They believed then any swelling or stiffness would eventually wane and surgery wasn’t needed. Instead, Oden rested and returned to action with no major setbacks – that is until Saturday night against Houston.

Early last March, Portland essentially admitted they shouldn’t have listed Oden’s status as day-to-day. Team doctors and trainers knew then they were dealing with a potential long-term injury. And they were right.

But in an interview over the summer, a member of the Trail Blazers medical staff said that the reason Greg’s patella split in two was due to the sheer power generated by his thigh muscles.

Greg Oden is too strong for his own good.

His body weight drifted above 300 pounds and the team promptly told him to quit gaining weight, for obvious reasons.

What happened in Greg’s case was that his large muscle groups became imbalanced
In Greg’s case, the thigh muscle was pulling in the tendons of the knee, but there wasn’t enough counter strength to support the opposite movement. Now I’m no doctor, but what he should look to do is support the knee by building up the smaller muscles that counteract the thigh muscles primary action.

In other words, stop lifting so damn much that your thigh muscles can tear your kneecap in half. But while your at it, balance your strength between all of the muscle groups, not just the ones that help you jump higher or run faster, but the ones that support said muscles and tendons.

At the 50 second mark of this video you can see the emphasis Greg’s trainer put into building his upper leg muscles. This was a mistake the training staff has definitely been caught red handed for, and one that every NBA Training Staff should not make, but actually prevent.

 

Portland’s representatives would go on to say the were fully aware of Oden being injury prone, yet took a gamble over Durant which I believe to be a blatant lie. Here are Portland Trailblazers former presidents statements.

"They had an unique talent to look at a player – particularly Dr. Roberts when it applied to knees – and with great precision predict what would happen to that player in the future," Patterson said.
"There were points in time when there were others within the organization who weighed in on decisions who didn’t have the same perspective as the doctors," Patterson said. "And those decisions came back to haunt the organization."

Patterson would not elaborate on which decisions he was referring to, but he said Allen was aware of the medical ratings issued to Roy before the 2006 draft, and to Oden before the 2007 draft.

So in conclusion I would say Oden needs a change of scenery in the worst of ways, and Portland needs a 100% new training staff just as bad. Do I think Oden can be a dominant player in this league..definitely. Yet I do not believe he will ever realize the potential he once had.

http://www.onlinebasketballbetting.net/greg-oden-former-golden-boy-looks-to-return-to-his-golden-form/

http://www.clubblazers.com/blazers-discussion/odens-injury-the-fault-the-blazers-medical-staff-t2927.html

http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/MessageBoardRoot/tabid/158/aff/488/afv/topic/aft/2700/Default.aspx

[M-DYMESParticipant]

Look at that face man.  Greg Oden could been gettin served when he was in the 5th grade.  That is a man child if i’ve ever seen one.

 

If he can stay healthy no doubt he can be dominant.  Should be interesting to see how much Portland invests in him if they keep him around.

[WizardofOzParticipant]

This is what I’ve been saying for the longest.

[Toronto16Participant]

 I hope he can bounce back from all these injuries.

[sheltwon3Participant]

i wonder about Portland’s trainers.  I realize just like Gm and coaches some trainers are better depending on the team.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Getting out of Portland would be the best thing for Oden’s career.

[SteroidParticipant]

It’s sad to see a talent like him get derailed especially by the people that are supposed to be helping you. Greg Oden could have easily been a top 5 center in the league right now.

[bobbybParticipant]

He is the Most injury prone player i have ever seen. He started his college career with a cast on his shooting hand. When he was being scouted for pros he had buldging discs in his backs, he even had to have his tonsils out during the summer league! He is a walkin injury.  A team should only rely on him as a back up

[SteroidParticipant]

He is injury prone, but I am even more curious to see what kind of offers he will get in FA.

[Author]

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