I knew there would be a moment soon that was going to make me want to take an ax to the back of the Blazer bandwagon.
I mean…..this is pretty silly.
Tonight, Greg Oden was interviewed on Trail Blazers Courtside…and some Blazer fans were burning. Check the O-Live forum or Blazer’s Edge. There were two things that irked some fans:
- The fact that Oden didn’t watch any Summer League games.
- Oden hasn’t talked to any of his teammates since the end of the year.
Notice I said some. I cannot make a complete generalization because there has been a lot of people who didn’t find this to be a big deal. But there was a mini-uproar. In my book a completely unnecessary mini-uproar. And I’m sitting here with my jaw dropped. Someone had the nerve to compare Oden to Zach Randolph another said he might not have the passion to play. Complete overreaction. I guess I should have expected this. I really should have. More than likely these are the same people who jumped right back on the bandwagon when we drafted Oden, bought the t-shirts, said we were winning a title and jumped right back off when he got hurt. And then jumped back on during the winning streak.
I’m not sure how any fan could complain about anything Blazer-related right now. Honestly. There are about 1,000,000 positives. No longer is Zach Randolph around. Same to Darius Miles and Ruben Patterson. Neither is Sebastian Telfair or John Nash. Kevin Pritchard isn’t coaching and we are out of barely getting 20 wins. Players aren’t getting arrested. We’re not getting ripped on nationally every two seconds. The roster is completely stacked, led by All-Star Brandon Roy and incoming beast Greg Oden. How could their be a complaint in the world? Do people forget a couple years ago Voshon Lenard was one of our best players?!?! We just had a rebirth people. I’m positive I have a different perspective and thus a different outlook on this…but come on now.
Notice I say complain and not be skeptical. I myself am very skeptical about how this season is going to work out. Not a lot of people are talking about it but Nate has a hell of a job ahead of him. He has to find a way to make this team work. The pieces are all there, weapons all over the place. Now he has to make it work. Can he open up the offense and find enough shots for all our perimeter players and post players? Everyone (minus Blake) of our guards either likes to shoot (Travis, Rudy, Sergio, Bayless) or needs to shoot (B-Roy, Martell). And I put Martell in the second category due to his confidence issues. Let’s not forget that LMA likes to throw the ball up to. Nate has to find a way to balance everything out and get everyone to buy in. And right now…I’m a bit skeptical about that.
I’m not complaining though.
And I’m definitely not complaining because Greg Oden didn’t watch a summer league game or hasn’t talked to his teammates. First off…can you blame him for not wanting to watch 2 hours of meaningless basketball with 10+ guys he will never play basketball with? No. There is an argument that maybe he should have taken a look at Bayless to get familiar with him. What’s that going to do? The way that Bayless played in Summer League is going to be different than the way he plays when the season starts. So what impression is Oden going to get of him? Those who make a big deal of him not talking to his teammates since the end of the year also need a slight reality check. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t like anyone. It just means he’s living his life just like they are living their life. Once you get past the high school level of basketball, the relationships in basketball completely change. It no longer is spending time with some of your best friends. On the college and professional level it all changes. Money is involved (contracts or scholarships) and politics are increased. At the end of the day you’re going to have your friends on the team, you’re going to get along with people but at the end of the day when it’s time to break off and live your life….you’re going to live your life. These guys are around each other for 8-9 months out of the year non-stop. Day after day, going through the grind of practice, and travel and games. Just because they aren’t talking for the 3 months they don’t have to doesn’t mean anything. And for anyone to insinuate that is ridiculous. It’s just human nature.
So those who are making a big deal out of this? Please relax. Take your seat on the bandwagon and calm down before I go back there and make you watch the entire 2005-06 season.