Oden lost for the season
The Oregonian
Portland Trail Blazers No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden will be lost for the season after an arthroscopic surgery on his right knee revealed more damage than originally thought, the Blazers announced today.
The Blazers have called a 1:30 p.m. news conference, so look for more updates this afternoon.
:-","xx
Wow-
Chris Webber - microfracture, now can't jump
Allan Houston
Jamal Mashburn
Terrell Brandon
Amare - now 100% or close
Penny Hardaway
Brian Grant
Stockton, Kidd, Randolph, and Amare are the only that i know that came back from this type of injury
feel bad for the kid
Supposedly hurt himself getting off his couch at home ???
Go figure
thats a big blow for sure
Blazers' Greg Oden lost for the season
The Oregonian
Portland Trail Blazers No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden will miss the 2007-08 season after an exploratory surgery this morning revealed cartilage damage in his right knee.
"Greg had an arthroscopy and a microfracture surgery today," team physician Dr. Don Roberts, who preformed the surgery, said in a news release. "He was found to have articular cartilage damage in his right knee. The area of injury was not large, and we were able to treat it with microfracture, which stimulates the growth of cartilage."
Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard and coach Nate McMillan remained upbeat at a news conference this afternoon.
"One thing I know is we picked the right player," Pritchard said.
"Greg Oden was our man, he still is our man," McMillan said.
Pritchard spent time with Oden before and after this morning's surgery, which started at 7 a.m. When Oden came out of surgery, Pritchard said, Oden and his mother "must have said 'sorry' 20 times."
"He felt like he let us down, and he hasn't let us down at all," Pritchard said.
Oden is expected to be on crutches for up to eight weeks. Recovery time from microfracture surgery varies, but generally takes between six and 12 months. He will do his rehab in Portland.
Pritchard said Oden's knee was in better shape than the Blazers' other recent microfracture patients, Zach Randolph and Darius Miles.
Roberts, the team doctor, said several factors should help Oden's recovery process.
"First of all he is young," Roberts said in the news release. "The area where the damage was is small and the rest of his knee looked normal. All those are good signs for a complete recovery from microfracture surgery."
Oden averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds for Ohio State last season, leading the Buckeyes to the NCAA national championship game as a freshman.
Fans celebrated the Blazers' selection of Oden with the top pick in June's NBA draft, and he was expected to be a key contributor this season. McMillan stressed, however, that he is not the whole team, and that other players will have to step up to fill the void.
"One thing we have to do is move on, as bad as that sounds," McMillan said. "Regardless of what happened here today, no one is going to feel bad for the Blazers and we can't feel sorry for ourselves."
Pritchard said he still expects good things out of the 2007-08 season.
"I still like our team," he said. "At the end of the year, I'm almost positive we'll be able to look back and say we're proud of this team."
Blazers President Larry Miller was optimistic about the effects Oden's injury would have on fans and ticket sales.
"We think people here are really going to continue to support this team and support Greg ... Yes people are discouraged, we're all discouraged with what's happened to Greg."
Now he has time to work on his smile 😮