NBA

Oden is playing catch-up with his teammates

Trail Blazers grew greatly without him, and he must get up to speed fast

David Zalubowski / AP

Greg Oden, injury or no injury, was always going to be more of a project.

OPINION

By Bethlehem Shoals

updated 5:38 p.m. ET Aug. 27, 2009

I like Greg Oden, I really do. And at this point, it's gotten a little silly to compare him to Kevin Durant. Durant just needed a competent NBA coach and presto, instant superstar getting better every day.

Oden, injury or no injury, was always going to be more of a project. Not in the totally pejorative way; I only mean that Oden had to be developed, not plugged in and expected to dominate. The lost year may have exaggerated this effect, but Greg Oden has to learn, not just stay healthy. I'm pretty sure that's par for the course with big men, even after the age limit.

That's why it's friendly and pleasant to read this off-season puff piece in The Indianapolis Star on Oden's new resolve to kick butt in the 2009-10:

"This is going to be a big year," [Oden] said earlier this week before heading back to Portland to prepare for training camp. "Everybody comes in and has that first year, that get-used-to-the-league year. But you have to break out in your second year. You have to, and that's what I'm looking forward to." [...]

Without a breakout year during the rookie contract, a player's future becomes a question. "I definitely have to show them that I'm here, and that I am the guy you guys drafted," Oden said.

This brings up my major concern: the Blazers were expected to stumble without Oden, setting up one of those Spurs-in-1995-like situations where an off-year allows a good team to unfairly get much, much better (note: similar things were said of the Heat in 2008). Instead, the team dug in, found their identity and were even on the verge of the playoffs for a while. Since then, there's been a gulf between Oden's coming along and the team fine-tuning their way into contention.

Had things gone as expected, with a Roy/Aldridge/Oden nucleus powering the team, then they would've had to wait for the center to come into his own. But as it turned out, Roy, Aldridge and a generally deep team got to that next level by themselves. Now they've got little incentive to wait for Oden, except for this lingering internal logic that they should. Oden, at the same time, was supposed to organically grow into a franchise player — as the franchise grew. Instead, he's playing catch-up on an individual and institutional level.

For Greg Oden to realize his immense potential, the Blazers need to somehow keep him on a parallel track, while at the same time not making him feel like he's a distraction or second-class teammate. A tall order, but that's exactly the kind of challenge this organization is eminently up to.

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