Oden said he is not doing any cardio for rehabilitation right now. Muscle work is it.

Oden said there is no timeframe for his return, but he does expect to be ready for 2010-11 training camp.

Oden said he plans to do most of his rehabilitation in Indiana this summer.

Oden said team gave him OK to take a break from rehab, return to Indiana and “clear his head.”

There’s been a little, shall we say, questioning of Oden’s comings, goings and doings lately, so I’m sure it’s nice to get some answers. But let’s lay off. Even though many of you probably look at “clear his head” as something negative, it’s not fair to pretend we know what’s fully going on with him, nor is it fair to judge his comfort level with being around a team during a crucial stage which he doesn’t really have any part in.

All that matters for Oden is that his rehab goes smoothly enough that he can put in serious work on his game this offseason without being limited, and that he comes to training camp next year as ready as he was last October. If that’s possible at his current pace, then no need to rush. In the meantime, if the guy is working hard, there’s no reason to make him a target when a few pointed, and appropriate, questions suffice.

UPDATE: Here’s a movie of the full interview from Blazers.com. It’s good that it sounds as though they’re gathering different opinions and ideas from doctors on how to help Oden. You never know what’s going to click with someone’s specific physiology.

That video pretty much sums up a game in which the Blazers did the Happy Dance all over the Indiana Pacers. But let’s still take a look at what happened.

After going down a tad early on due to some nice Indiana shooting, the Blazers basically stole this game with a 9-1 run to open the second quarter and never looked back. The Pacers hung around in the teens for much of the third quarter and by the fourth quarter, everyone was all jokes.

It’s a fairly open and shut case, the equivalent of someone robbing a convenience store without a mask on and waving to the security camera before they leave. The Pacers had Danny Granger scoring 30 points for them and he was also the only Indiana player in double figures. It doesn’t matter if you have one player drop 50, if nobody else is scoring alongside him, you probably aren’t winning the game without using Jedi mind tricks whenever your opponent begins to shoot.

Both teams shot 43 percent, but the difference was at the foul line, where the Blazers earned 30 attempts to Indiana’s 11. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, as the Blazers get to the line the sixth most in the league relative to their field-goal attempts and the Pacers are the fifth-worst team at putting their opponents on the line, and it further exemplifies the suit-and-briefcase type of win this was. Sprinkle in 12 offensive rebounds, 10 steals and 18 turnovers from the Pacers, and nine times out of ten, those numbers are going to carry the more talented team to the finish line.

Though Nic Batum cooled off with his shot — he was still gliding about creating mischief — nobody really had a bad game. Aldridge took care of much of the scoring in the first half while Roy sustained the double-digit lead in the second, but the most positive thing to come out of the night was both Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless getting their good mojo flowing. Bayless took advantage of Indiana’s lack of interior, or otherwise, defense, started 4-for-4, connected from the perimeter and pulled down six boards while Rudy took 10 (!) threes, hit five and made a couple nice passes to collect five assists. Nothing spectacular from either of them, but still the kind of nights that leave you with positive images to think about over the next couple days when visualizing self success.

I won’t inundate you with any more of the “These are the wins playoffs teams get” schpeel because by this point in the season you probably get the idea. Due to their relative inefficiency on offense, the Pacers don’t match up well with a Blazer team that controls possessions. And when your own style already has you at a relative disadvantage on the road, you turn the ball over 18 times and your reading from a rulebook that says each NBA team is only allowed one offensive player that doesn’t stink, you probably have a sad face in your future.