Greg Oden Has Micro-fracture Surgery:
World Ending
Watch out for the four horsemen, Sam Bowie comparisons. Photo Courtesy of abcnews.com
Blazer fans don’t panic. Don’t jump. Un-tie the noose, put the chair away. It’s not that bad.
Granted, hearing Greg Oden, micro-fracture surgery, and out for the season in the same sentence makes you want to turn in your season tickets for a full refund. However, there are a few factors to remember here to make you feel better.
Zach Harper braves the deluge of knee-jerk media reactions.
Blazing a New Trail
By Zach Harper
The Portland Trailblazers have completely re-loaded in the past couple years. Gone are the days of Damon Stoudamire, Rasheed Wallace, Zach Randolph, Qyntel Woods, Ruben Patterson, Bonzi Wells, and Nick Van Exel. They have gone with a youth movement that will provide them with the chance to win now as they have completely overhauled their roster through savvy drafting, shrewd player personnel decisions, and the purchasing of first round draft picks. Portland Trailblazers owner, Paul Allen, has been purchasing first round draft picks like I purchase bad Jean Claude Van-Damme DVDs. Often.
In the past two off-seasons, they have added Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Sergio Rodriguez, Channing Frye, Greg Oden, Josh McRoberts, Rudy Fernandez, Petteri Koponen, and Taurean Green, all through draft night traded and draft picks. That reads like a McDonald’s All American roster. They are loaded with young talent. To get those players, they’ve had to get rid of Zach Randolph, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, Fred Jones, Dan Dickau, Tyrus Thomas, Randy Foye and about $8 million in cash considerations.
They also traded for James Jones and signed Steve Blake to a 3-year deal. Rudy Fernandez will probably play overseas and Peterri Koponen, Josh McRoberts, and Taurean Green will most likely start the season on the inactive list or in the D-League. With Darius Miles contemplating retirement because of contracting a Jonathan Bender type knee injury, the 12 man roster is pretty much set.
Here’s how their roster plays out now:
PG: Steve Blake
SG: Brandon Roy
SF: Travis Outlaw
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge
C: Greg Oden
Bench:
Jarrett Jack
Martell Webster
Joel Pryzbilla
Channing Frye
James Jones
Raef LaFrentz
Sergio Rodriguez
That’s going to be an excellent defensive and rebounding team. Portland was 28th in rebounding last season with 39.3 rebounds per game and 12th in rebounding differential at +0.3 per contest. With the new athleticism in the frontcourt, Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge will probably grab a combined 25 per game just by themselves. Travis Outlaw also is an excellent rebounder at his position and could average around 6 or 7. That leaves the rest of the team needing to average 7 per game just to get to last year’s total. 4 more rebounds per game as a team on top of that and they’ll be at the top of the league.
The Blazers were also 14th in the league in points allowed per game but were 26th in points per 100 possessions allowed. With starting two intimidating shot blockers up front now (Oden and Aldridge), the Blazers back court and wing players will be able to be much more aggressive defensively because they can at worst funnel the players inside to the awaiting big men. Allowing players like Frye and Pryzbilla to be the backups allows them to have a defensive presence on the bench as well. Brandon Roy and Travis Outlaw combined for 2 steals per contest last year but with the added height and shot blocking down low, they should be able jump the passing lanes and utilize their athletic ability to force more turnovers.
The biggest question for the Blazers will be at the point guard position. They have 3 talented young point guards, but not any one of them are the clear cut best point guard on the team. Jarrett Jack in just his second season became the starting point guard and allowed them to jettison Sebastian Telfair in the scheme to acquire Brandon Roy. Jack started 79 games for the Blazers and was able to average 12 points, 5 assists and 1 steal per game. He also shot a very respectable 45% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc. He was also first among regular rotation players with 87% free throw shooting.
So why did they go out and sign Steve Blake, especially with young phenom Sergio Rodriguez salivating at the chance of running the second unit?
Steve Blake has proven himself to be a very efficient and productive point guard over the past 2 seasons.
Steve Blake
YR |
Team |
G |
GS |
MIN |
FG% |
3P% |
FT% |
REB |
STL |
TO |
AST |
PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
05-06 |
POR |
68 |
57 |
26.2 |
.438 |
.413 |
.791 |
2.1 |
0.6 |
1.2 |
4.5 |
8.2 |
06-07 |
MIL |
33 |
2 |
17.7 |
.349 |
.279 |
.550 |
1.4 |
0.3 |
0.8 |
2.5 |
3.6 |
06-07 |
DEN |
49 |
40 |
33.5 |
.432 |
.343 |
.727 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
2.1 |
6.6 |
8.3 |
06-07 |
Total |
82 |
42 |
27.1 |
.411 |
.322 |
.672 |
2.0 |
0.7 |
1.6 |
5.0 |
6.4 |
He had a terrible start to the season last year after emerging as an efficient floor general the year before in Portland. His entire game improved exponentially when he moved to a much better team in Denver. With shot blockers like Marcus Camby and Nene behind him, he was able to play more aggressive on defense and average a steal per contest. There’s no reason to believe that he can’t do the same playing in front of Oden and Aldridge. His deal for 3 yrs and $18 million doesn’t make it a huge commitment to him, but it is interesting considering that Jack seemed like a lock to run the point for Portland.
If the Blazers are looking to keep developing and not focus on trying to win with their young team (average age is 23 years old), then Jarrett Jack is the starting point guard. But Paul Allen is a very competitive man and he’ll want Nate McMillan to win with this team now. He doesn’t expect a championship, but he does expect to contend for a playoff spot. If they want to try and make the playoffs now, Steve Blake’s steady hand will be the answer at the point guard position with Jack adding a scoring mentality off the bench.
It will be interesting to see which way they go with this decision. Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge will have to stay healthy, stay out of foul trouble, and provide excellent defensive effort and activity for the Blazers to be a 40 win team. Steve Blake is going to have to be able to guide this young team and keep them focused on offense. Otherwise, the $18 million could end up being wasted money spent by Paul Allen.
Just like me buying Jean Claude Van-Damme’s In Hell. Straight to DVD.
Grade: C+
Photo Courtesy of rockymountainnews.com