Bulkier Oden puts in the work

On the NBA

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Dec 18, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (24 Reader comments)

This and that about the NBA’s hottest team this side of Boston:

• Remember Greg Oden? The guy’s not just sitting around during his redshirt season. More than three months out from his Sept. 13 microfracture knee surgery, the 7-foot center says his weight is up to 290 – about 40 pounds more than he carried when he arrived in Portland last summer.

But don’t despair. It’s all good, says Bobby Medina, the Trail Blazers’ savvy strength and conditioning coach, who has overseen Oden’s rehabilitation work. Medina, in his 11th year in Portland 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.”

• It’s not surprising that the Utah Jazz – twice victims of the Blazers over a four-day span – came away impressed with the league’s youngest team.

The first thing veteran Jazz assistant coach Phil Johnson mentioned was “good young talent.” The second thing was “character.”

“They’ve weeded out the riffraff that was holding them back before,” Johnson says. “When you have good people who are good players, who really want to do what it takes to win, your chance for success is pretty good.”

• Utah point guard Deron Williams mentions the unselfishness of Brandon Roy: “He knows how and when to pass the ball. He does it all for that team. He’s their go-to guy, a very explosive scorer, and he brings a lot of energy.”

• Does anything sound funny about Williams’ next statement?

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