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March 27, 2008Guard Swap?
March 28, 2008While the Ohio State Buckeyes are entering the final four of the National Invitation Tournament, former Buckeye big man Greg Oden is apparently playing in his own game. ESPN is reporting that the most recent first overall draft selection – who has missed the entire season after microfracture surgery, mind you – suited up for a pick-up game at a local fitness facility. And for some reason, the Blazers aren’t too thrilled.
“I know he is excited to be moving again, but as I talked to him about it he said ‘Coach, I promise I wasn’t running hard …’. And I was like — ‘I really don’t care’,”‘ McMillan said. “The thing is, we were surprised. So we let him know that he doesn’t need to be there. We have plenty of workout equipment and gym space at our facility.”
Now, had I been in a gym playing basketball with my buddies, it possibly would have been the greatest thing in the world to have Greg Oden on my team. Especially if I was a fan of any other team in the West aside from Portland. Heck, even if we play up to seven, it’d be like the old days of backyard baseball where we would argue over who would get to be Ricky Henderson. I would totally have been Mike Conley Jr., even if it took a rock-paper-scissors battle.
However, I would have also been hard-pressed to not go home and write about it afterwards – like one of the participants did – allowing it to spread like wildfire all the way back to the team.
While Web 2.0 busted the big man, it obviously wasn’t the smartest move to begin with, and the team has every right to be a tad on the upset side. Is it bad that I don’t doubt for one minute that he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong? I’m not making excuses, but he did just turn 20. And come on. With a face like Oden’s, how can anyone be upset?
(big thanks to commenter MoBot for the tip)
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2 Comments
Hey! That’s me!
Really? You are tall!