Oden's right foot off to wrong start

By Kerry Eggers

The Portland Tribune, Oct 29, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN / GETTY IMAGES

Injured Greg Oden can't do much but sit on the training table after the Blazers' drubbing by the Los Angeles Lakers.

(UPDATE: Greg Oden, who had an MRI and CAT scan on Wednesday, will be out 2 to 4 weeks, the Blazers said.)

LOS ANGELES – He sat in the training room adjacent to the visitors’ locker room at Staples Center, a boot on his injured right foot, a blank look on his face.

How could this have happened to Greg Oden?

After all the anticipation, after a full year of rehabilitation and hard work to return from microfracture knee surgery, how could Oden get injured in the first quarter of the Trail Blazers’ opener against the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night?

Oden suffered what was labeled as a “mid-right foot sprain” when he came down on Laker guard Derek Fisher’s foot on the third play of the game. He stayed in the game through the first half, then had to shut it down for the rest of the night. X-rays were inconclusive, and Oden was to undergo an MRI Wednesday morning.

“It sucks,” Oden said glumly, “but I’ll keep on working. It’s just a little setback. I’ll be in the gym tomorrow.”

Oden was the cover subject of USA Today’s sports section on Tuesday. The national media was out in force for his NBA debut, which was televised as part of TNT’s opening-night package. His matchup with another young 7-foot prodigy, the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum, was highly anticipated.

And Oden lasted a half.

“It happens,” said Oden, probably finding it hard to believe, too. “You’re out there, you’re playing, you’re battling, it happens.”

Like most of his teammates, Oden never found a rhythm in Portland’s 96-76 drubbing by the Lakers. He was 0 for 4 from the field, 0 for 2 from the line and had five rebounds in 13 minutes.

Oden’s one shining moment was a “get-that-stuff-outta-here” swat of a Bynum jump hook in the first quarter. Bynum didn’t do much, either, making 4 of 10 shots while finishing with eight points, three rebounds and three blocks in 28 minutes.

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