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With all the attention given to the return of Greg Oden this season, you might have thought the rest of the Blazers were chopped liver. Did people forget that Brandon Roy was an All-Star last season, or that LaMarcus Aldridge is a budding Rasheed Wallace clone (minus the occasional crazy, of course)? That's why it was kind of funny to me when a lot of folks started predicting doom for the Blazer when Oden got injured again against the Lakers. This team won 41 games in the Western Conference with Roy dealing with a bum foot for a good part of the year (Roy only officially missed seven games last season, but he was basically playing injured for a good amount of games).
A young team with tons of room for improvement was already playing .500 ball in one of the toughest conferences in NBA history. That tells me something folks. Basically, with or without Oden, this will be a solid team for years to come.
Roy and Aldridge proved some of this during the Blazers home opener last night against the Spurs. The two of them honestly look like they can turn into one of the top guard + big combos in the league. Roy had 26 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals, while Aldridge totaled 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. As well, both of them hit a ton of clutch shots down the stretch, with Aldridge hitting what would end up being the game winner.
After watching this game it was obvious to me that this wasn't the same Blazer team that showed up to play the Lakers on opening night. All the hype surrounding Oden, followed by the concern for his injury totally got the Blazer off their game. Yeah, I'm sure the Lakers being really freaking good had something to do with it too, but I'm sure you get my point.
When Oden comes back, I really think the Blazers coaching staff should make things as easy as possible on Oden and his teammates. Oden needs to be free of pressure to dominate, while his teammates need to feel free to play like they did last year without concern for incorporating Oden. The best thing Oden can do is come out and try and be a force on the glass and on defense. He should be trying to turn himself into a seven foot version of Ben Wallace in his prime (I guess that would just be Bill Russell, right?). Because that really is what the Blazers need right now (see: Aldridge's paltry 5 boards). Other than that, he just needs to stay out of LaMarcus' and Brandon's way on offense.
With or without Oden, I think this Blazer team will definitely make the playoffs.
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