N o ve m b e r 24, 2010
Çortlanô (Observer
Page 21
Knees Betray Oden Once Again
Franchise player
out for the season
(AP) — For the third time in four years,
Greg Oden's knees have betrayed him.
The Portland Trail Blazers last week an­
nounced that Oden, the No. 1 pick in the 2007
draft, will miss the season because of
microfracture surgery on his left knee. The
operation was performed Friday in Colorado.
Oden's rookie year was postponed be­
cause of similar surgery on his right knee,
and last season he broke his left kneecap
early in December and again required sur­
gery.
He was still rehabbing when the latest
problem was discovered.
"As you can expect, this young man is
devastated about not having the opportu­
nity to play this season, being so close to
getting back on the floor and just all of a Greg Oden
sudden, this situation comes up and it's like,
here we go again for him," Portland coach after, an MR1 revealed the damage.
Nate McMillan said.
"We sat there and it was like we'd been
Blazers trainer Jay Jensen said the latest kicked in the stomach," Jensen said, choking
problem with Oden's knee became apparent up. "It felt like hearing someone close to us
about two weeks ago when he experienced had died."
some pain and fluid in the joint. Soon there-
The 22-year-old Oden has often has been
compared to former Portland center Sam
Bowie, whom the Blazers famously selected
in front of Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft.
The Blazers picked Oden instead of Kevin
Durant, who went to the Oklahoma City
franchise and has blossomed into one of the
NBA's best players.
Another Portland big man. Bill Walton,
was selected by the Blazers with the No. 1
pick in the 1974 draft, but he was dogged by
a broken nose, foot, wrist and leg over his
first two seasons before helping the team to
the NBA championship in 1977.
Oden has seemingly been cursed since
shortly before his rookie season, when
trouble in his right knee prompted surgery
the first time.
He showed promise the next season when
he played in 61 games, averaging 8.9 points
and seven rebounds.
But he really began to blossom last sea­
son when he became a starter and was aver­
aging 11.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks
in that role. Then he was hurt in a game
against Houston, crashing to the floor with
his kneecap visibly contorted.
Oden had just started easing into prac­
tices when the latest knee issue was discov­
ered. He has played in only 82 games during
Four Blazers on All-Star Ballot
Four Portland Trail Blazers are
featured on the 2011 NBA All-Star
Ballot, including guards Andre Miller
and B ran d o n R oy, fo rw ard
LaM arcus A ldridge and center
Marcus Camby.
A three-time NBA All-Star, Roy
would join Clyde Drexler (eight ap­
pearances) and Sidney Wicks (four)
as the only Trail Blazers with four
All-Star appearances.
There are several ways fans can
Miller is seeking his first All-Star cast their votes for the 2011 NBA
appearance while ranking 10th in All-Star Game, including at each
the NBA in assists per game. NBA arena; on NBA .com ; and
Aldridge is averaging 17.5 points, through mobile phones by texting
7.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per the player's last name to 6-9-6-2-2
game in his fifth pro season and ("M Y N B A ") o r by v isitin g
Camby ranks second among W est­ m.nba.com on any wireless carrier.
ern Conference centers with 10.9
rebounds per game.
Lineman Named to Army Bowl
Joins elite
group of
student-athletes
Brennan Scarlett, a defensive line­
man at Central Catholic High School
in southeast Portland has been se­
lected to play in the 2011 U.S. Army
All-American Bowl,joining an elite
group of student-athletes.
T he an n u al E ast vs. W est
matchup will be played on Satur­
day, Jan. 8 at the Alamodome in San
Antonio, Texas and televised live
on NBC featuring the nation’s top
90 high school football players.
“Brennan is a talented athlete
whose exemplary leadership and
teamwork qualities have made him a Brennan Scarlett
standout Central Catholic,’’ said Col.
Derik Crotts, director of Strategic
Communications, Marketing and
Outreach, U.S. Army Accessions
Command. “The strength, dedica­
tion, leadership and teamwork skills
necessary to succeed on the foot­
ball field are the same qualities mir­
rored in Army Strong Soldiers. We
are proud to honor all of our U.S.
Army All-American Bowl players
and congratulate them on their se­
lection.”
As a result of Scarlett’s section,
his head coach Steve Pyne is also
invited to travel to San Antonio and
attend the U.S. Army Coaches Acad­
emy, an elite three-day learning ex­
perience featuring NFL and NCAA
coaches, as well as participate in
game-week activities.
his NBA career, missing 176.
Jensen said it was unclear what caused
the latest damage.
The Blazers announced last month they
would not offer Oden a contract extension.
He was the first No. 1 pick since Kwame
Brown not to get one at the end of his rookie
contract.
Oden will be a restricted free agent next
summer and Portland will be able to match
any offers for him.
Portland's problems at center are not lim­
ited to Oden.
For the past several years the Blazers have
relied on veteran Joel Przybilla, but he also
was injured last December and required knee
surgery. The Blazers have since started vet­
eran forward Marcus Camby in the middle.
At the sta rt o f th is se a so n , J e ff
Pendergraph, who was backing up Camby,
injured his knee and required season-ending
surgery. The Blazers signed six-year veteran
Fabricio Oberto, but he retired from the NBA
just five games into the season because of a
preexisting heart condition.
The good news for the Blazers is that
Przybilla already has returned to practice and
has said he expects to be back by Thanksgiv­
ing.
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