Greg Oden Looks Like a Different Player

SACRAMENTO -- In his heart and in his mind, Greg Oden is back. But it won't be official -- to him, anyway -- until he's the starting center for the Portland Trail Blazers.

He will be. It's only a matter of time.

"Starting is something that will show I've had a great summer," Oden said before Portland's exhibition game against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. "And it will mean that I deserve to be a starter in this league. I want to show everyone the work that I've put in."

Oden was a starter on Wednesday against the Kings, but only because coach Nate McMillan was switching around his lineup from the night before. Still, Oden made a strong case that's where he belongs.

He finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and while he wasn't dominant he was awfully good. And it sure sounds like McMillan is beginning to lean Oden's way.

"The player will make that decision," McMillan said about who will start between Oden and Joel Przybilla. "I've always been a coach who if you earn it, you get it. He knew at the end of last season that at the start of training camp he wouldn't be at that starting center spot. I wanted to see him hungry. He's been hungry to become a starter. ... He's coming in working for it."

Oden is way ahead of where he was last year at this time. He had microfracture surgery in September 2007, spent the next several weeks on crutches and then began the slow, arduous rehab process.

Oden not only missed what should have been his rookie season, he wasn't healthy enough to put in work last summer. As a result, when he participated in his first training camp a year ago, he found he still had a ways to go.

"Last summer I didn't do anything but shoot jump shots and do some post moves," Oden said. "But I couldn't go up and down. I couldn't do any of that. Last year I weighed a little bit more so it was tough on me getting back. But this year I've had a good summer. I got to play a lot so I'm not coming in behind."

Oden's preseason debut against the Kings on Tuesday in Portland was more than a little bit encouraging. He had 18 points, including 10-of-12 from the foul line, and nine rebounds in 26 minutes.

And as good as that was the news was even better Wednesday with Oden backing up that performance with another nice effort. Oden said conventional wisdom about it taking two years to come back from microfracture surgery sounds about right.

"There's some truth to that," Oden said. "You've got to work out all of the kinks in your knee. And it's tough. You definitely think about it a lot. But I finally had me a good summer and I'm doing things I couldn't do before. It's behind me now."

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