Hooped Up

After watching Greg Oden slam dunk his way through portions of a two-hour workout Monday at the Trail Blazers’ Tualatin training facility, General Manager Kevin Pritchard was left with a good feeling about his 7-foot center. “The thing we worried about was, would he have his explosion back?” Pritchard said of the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft, who missed last season after September microfracture surgery on his right knee. “I think the answer is yes, and (the knee) is coming back maybe stronger than it was before.” It’s far too early to tell that for sure. But Oden looked powerful, if nothing else, in the 20 minutes of Monday’s session with Portland assistant coach Dean Demopolous that was open to the media. Oden returned to Portland from Columbus, Ohio, last week and is beginning his second week of early conditioning with Demopolous. Oden has been joined by Blazer teammates Steve Blakeand Channing Frye, who have made Portland their off-season home. In two-on-two drills with 7-footer Steven Hill from Arkansas, Oden dunked often with two hands. At one point, he took a lob pass from Blake and rammed in a two-hander, celebrating as he bounded to the floor.

Portland Tribune

Bobby Medina, in his 11th year in Portland as their strength and conditioning coach after five years with Seattle, says Oden reminds him of a young Shawn Kemp or Jermaine O’Neal in terms of work ethic.

“Greg’s a monster in the weight room,” Medina says. “I’m not at all worried about his (weight). Once he gets into his cardio, running up and down, he’ll be fine – he’s an active guy.”

“Right now is a tough time because all he can do is ride a bike and do a little work in the water. But when he gets to the point where he can run, he’ll lose some weight and keep all the muscle and his tone.”

“We don’t want him to be a football player. We want him to keep his athleticism, but he needs to be strong at that position.”

Oden gets that sheepish grin when asked how he’s doing.

“Right now, I’m just enjoying being big,” he says. (Don’t you just love this guy?)

“I’m the strongest I’ve ever been,” he adds. “I hope I can stay that way, but that I’ll be able to get my weight down after I’m able to start running again. Jay (Jensen, the Blazer trainer) says I can do that at four months, so I’m a few weeks away.”

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=KhI7VYV9-_Q]

Darius Miles may be one step closer to rejoining the Blazers.

The small forward returned to practice Wednesday, taking the court for the first time in 13 months.

Miles worked in one-on-one drills with rookie Josh McRoberts and did individual work with assistant coach Bill Bayno before pronouncing himself 90 percent healthy.

“I’ve been patient for a year, actually, a little bit over a year,” Miles told reporters. “So it’s been very hard.”

Miles underwent microfracture knee surgery just before the 2006-07 season and missed much of the previous season after tearing the meniscus in his knee.

There has been some speculation floated out there that the Blazers could become involved in helping the New York Knicks unload disgruntled Stephon Marbury in exchange for the bloated contracts of Darius Miles and Raef LaFrentz. Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard chuckled at the idea on Thursday, saying he could bring up the “C-word” (culture) as a reason, but instead, he opted to comment on the current team.

Oregonian

I have been awed recently by the sight of Greg Oden, who has been practically living in the Blazers weight room now that he is off his crutches. The first thing that pops out is his upper-body. His shoulders are bursting, and his biceps are now cut and defined. And get this: A high-ranking Blazers source told me that Oden today still has the same body-fat percentage (7.8 percent) as he did when the Blazers drafted him, yet he has gained nearly 30 pounds, bringing him near 280 pounds.

Oregonian

The Portland Trail Blazers got Greg Oden and felt like they won a championship. The Seattle SuperSonics settled for Kevin Durant, thrilling fans disappointed by the trade of All-Star Ray Allen to Boston.

The Trail Blazers ended months of debate Thursday night when they chose Oden over fellow college freshman Durant with the No. 1 pick in a highly anticipated NBA draft.

Portland opted for the 7-footer who can dominate a game with his defense over the sensational scoring of Durant, who would have been the No. 1 pick in many other years after one of the most outstanding freshman seasons in NCAA history.

But franchise centers are hard to find, and most believe the Blazers got one.

CNN SI

Alright, now that it is essentially official that both of these players will pass up their final 3 years of the college experience in order to pursue a life in The League I feel safe discussing (a) who I think is the correct pick at the #1 spot (b) who will actually get picked at that spot (c) and who i think will in the long run be the better NBA player. Here goes:
The Sporting Rambler

Ohio State center Greg Oden (along with teammates Mike Conley and Daequan Cook) is expected to declare for the NBA on Friday, ending months of anxiety by NBA executives and NBA fans who feared he might return to college. Whewwwwwww . . . Two weeks ago we gave you five reasons why Kevin Durant should be the No. 1 pick in the draft. I received a lot of feedback, both pro and con, including some from folks who thought I’d lost my mind. Think again. While the argument for Durant is persuasive, there might be even better reasons to take Oden with the top pick.

ESPN