I knew that guy was really Robert Parish, 19 my butt.

looks like another lottery pick next year for sure.

Let the OJ Mayo era begin!

I think you're selling the rest of the team short... Remember B Roy? Aldridge? Both talented players.... Besides recovery, Oden has some work to do to play in the NBA...
Have some Hope...jeezsus!

One question I have is when did he really injure that knee. If it was hurting when he worked out for the draft and he didn't say anything about it, I have no use for him.

There's no way we're a worse team this year, with or without Oden. Any team would KILL to have Frye and LaMarcus down low, and we've upgraded at every position.

Oden will be fine. Better to have the surgery now before his knees get a 82-game pounding. We just won't have him until 1/3 way through next season. Oh well, we'll live, right? I'm not the eternal optimist, but things are still moving in a great direction...

Brings back memories of Brian Bosworth.

Hope our young Mr. Oden had the sense to buy a big honking disability policy, paying the premium with his own after tax bucks after getting that signing bonus.

That tax free disability income sure can be fun.

we've upgraded at every position

My eye. Who's the shooter? Still don't have one. Who's the center? Joel.

Raef's still around. Darius is still around.

Maybe this is the year Outlaw wakes up. Hope springs eternal.

Frye and LaMarcus down low

If Frye even makes the team, and if LaMarcus doesn't wind up in the hospital again.

Frye has been every bit the LaMarcus clone during USA basketball and summer scrimmage. Do you realize those two down in the block is Twin Towers-lite, even without Oden? Defensively, we've upgraded by leaps and bounds by adding Frye, Blake, Jones (and Oden before injury).

No, we didn't add a shooting guard, but adding Blake will send him, Roy and Jack into a PG-SG hybrid rotation. Word is Jack has developed an outside shot... maybe it doesn't pan out, but I'm encouraged by what I'm hearing in the development of all the returning players. That includes Outlaw, Raef AND Webster.

We've been so impatient with their development, but the high school kids are finally coming into their own.

also... Joel will have a hard time making it off the bench. 10 minutes a game, tops.

"We know this is discouraging news for all of our fans, however, the people of Portland are very enthusiastic and compassionate about their Trail Blazers and I know they will stand behind Greg and the team during his recovery," Blazers President Larry Miller said.
--------------

Yeah, Rip City, Baby!

Whatever...

TK: It all sounds swell. It always does, until the season starts. They'll be fun to watch, but I wouldn't expect much in terms of winning games. Blake was here before -- we know what he can and can't do. Rookies are rookies, and Frye and Aldridge have, what? Thirty NBA games between them?

Roy will wind up carrying the team again. I hope he can stay healthy.

Nate had better figure out how to coach an offense. So far he hasn't shown he can. "Hybrid rotation" doesn't sound promising at all.

The fact that you are speaking positively about Raef LaFrentz detracts greatly from your credibility.

Lottery again.

The Red Sox got a curse hung on them for trading Babe Ruth. A-Rod hung a curse on himself for going for all the money and thus has never played in a World Series. The Mariners let Randy Johnson go and since then haven't had decent starting pitching.

Maybe the Blazers have a curse at center. Maybe it goes back to making Walton play on that gimpy ankle too long in '77 or '78. Anway, it's not just Bowie. It's also Michael Thompson, Steve Johnson, Sabonis, hell even Pryzbilla. About the only Blazers center I remember who stayed remotely free of injury was Kevin Duckworth.

Kevin Durant-- some scouts compared him to Michael Jordan, not necessarily in skills, but in drive and desire to win. I'm beginning to think it's 9184 all over again.

If Frye even makes the team

Bookmarked for future reference. One of us is very wrong about him. We'll know in March.

Er, that's 1984. I'm numerically dyslexic.

I hope Frye's a success. I suppose that with today's news, he'll play.

But I wouldn't start talking "Twin Towers." One of the towers has a heart problem, and the other one's a rookie.

I hope Frye's a success.

He's my favorite Blazer right now, so I get a little defensive. I think he'll do well. The big question mark right now is #10. We haven't heard a peep about him all off-season.

OK, two points to make...

This will be Frye's third year, and they were considering starting him at the '3' sometimes (before Oden got hurt) because they couldn't stand letting his skills wallow on the bench. He's impressed them that much. He has the same exact frame as LaMarcus... who plays the 4 or 5 is irrelevant.

LaMarcus' heart problem was minor and very fixable. No one is worried about it.

Herniated disc, degenerated knee, face of a black Abe Vigoda. What's next? Gout? Incontinence? How old is this guy really?

What's next?

Diabeetus.

He'll probably move back to Indiana for the year. Nothing to stay in Portland for.

What a complete and total bust.

How long before they take the giant Oden jersey off the side of the Rose Garden? How much do the Blazers have sunk into ads with Oden's photo in them?

We can second guess this pick all we want, Oden was quite obviously THE choice at #1. How can we say the pick was a bust if he just went under the knife today? He hasn't even had a chance to recover yet (his microfracture situation is considered 'best case' for the procedure by the way) and he's already being written off in a huff.

If fat-faced Zach Randolph can work his way back from microfracture, I'm pretty damn sure Oden has the will to do it. He may well turn out to be a bust, but the odds are still in his favor. Can we all just calm down and keep an open mind until then?

It's times like this when I'm glad I don't really give a rip (city) about pro basketball.

Get well soon, Mr. Oden.

You realize this is your fault, Jack. St. Roch didn't like your crack about Bennett Salvatore. He talked it over with St. Jude (police officers) and St. Sebastian (athletes), who work together as patron saints for referees (who are sort of a combination of Jude's and Sebastian's beats). They decided to screw you over.

Remember: be nice to refs, or their patron saints will get you.

One advantage to being a professional critic is that you can always say "I told you so." Most scouting experts and grizzled NBA front office veterans were united in proclaiming Oden the #1 prospect for Portland. What might've been "obvious" to you wasn't to the best talent evaluators in the world. The Blazers did their homework and made the right pick. Then, this morning, they drew the short straw. While I realize the purpose of this blog is mostly to delight in the failure of others, one needs to be careful to weight luck vs. skill when Monday morning quarterbacking.

The Blazers did their homework

But they didn't. There were stories about his knee problems, and the Blazers settled for MRIs. MRIs weren't good enough.

The proof of the homework is in the results.

While I realize the purpose of this blog is mostly to delight in the failure of others

Not really. But due to your failure to adhere to our comment policy, you won't be back.

plenty of scouts said "choose Durant." plenty of "monday morning quarterbacks" said the same.

Oden a good choice? sure, as good as any. the "obvious" choice? hardly.

and, just for the record, plenty of scouts and writers congratulated Portland on their choice of Sam Bowie, called it "wise".

He talked it over with St. Jude (police officers) and St. Sebastian (athletes), who work together as patron saints for referees (who are sort of a combination of Jude's and Sebastian's beats).

The Blazers definitely need Jude now. He's the patron saint of hopeless cases.

I suppose this would be the wrong time to blame the whole thing on not picking Adam Morrison. Thought so.

I figured you'd get around to that.

I just tried to choke PJ through my monitor out of frustration.

I'm going to cry when Durant lights up Frye for 30+ on Christmas Day, and when he gets ROY...