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SportS IlluStrated 10/26/2000 nbablazerS.l/o rIGHt paGe 111/2 oF 2Version:32 10/16/2009 603pM kerr syken carltona.d./ext: long name Here/x0000 Statushere: 10/16/2009 05:09pM eric Marquardrevise comments: art FInal±local read± ±Conference± ±art approval± ±Hold:updates/Checks ±Hold:art

oc tober 26, 2009 | S p o r t S I l l u S t r at e D

Portl andTrail Bl a zers

HIS rookIe season was erratic at best, and Greg Oden heard about

it. Plenty. “[People] were on me, even for things that weren’t my fault,” says the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, who sat out ’07–08 after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee. “And when things were going well, they said, ‘He should have been playing that way.’ That’s kind of tough to handle.”

After the season coach Nate McMillan talked to Oden about not only improving his condition-ing to become more explosive but also remembering what he loves about basketball. Oden obliged, undertaking a rigorous off-season program with assistant

Bill Bayno while taking classes at Ohio State. After 10 weeks of five-on-five scrimmages, lessons in post positioning and defensive technique, and talks about his role on the Blazers, the 21-year-old center emerged 13 pounds lighter in body and decidedly lighter in spirit. “The lesson I took from this summer is that I’m here for a reason,” Oden says. “I worked for this, so why can’t I be excited and become an All-Star?”

While that certainly would advance Portland’s cause, the team’s deep stockpile of young talent lessens the pressure on any one player. “Collec-tive responsibility,” said G.M. Kevin Pritchard of the team’s

approach. “It ’s as much up to me as it is LaMarcus Aldridge or Brandon Roy or Joel Przybilla or Andre Miller or Steve Blake. We’re trying to get all of us not to focus on expectations but on doing our best. And that’s all we care about with Greg.”

Portland’s plan seems to be working. Oden’s subdued de-meanor of last season has given

way to smiles, jokes a nd a n out wa rd

display of confidence—but not cockiness. “I’m not going to try and take over,” says the 7-foot Oden. “I’m smarter than that. All I’ve got to do is go out there and not worry about anything else, not question anything else.”

After all, he has plenty of people in Portland ready to do that for him. —Paul Forrester

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gREg odENHe has shed 13 pounds

and his dour demeanor.

Rudy fERNANdEzAf ter scoring double digits as a rookie, the soaring spaniard leads a strong second unit.

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T he only element they lost was point guard Sergio Rodriguez, and they replaced him with Andre Miller—so that was an upgrade. They showed

last year they can come back in a lot of different ways; this is the year they apply that experience and excel in the playoffs. . . . when I see LaMarcus Aldridge putting up that turnaround baseline jumper that defenders can’t get near, it makes me think of Rasheed wallace. I think Aldridge is already one of the better big men in the league. . . . Brandon Roy is a top 15 player, and he’s on the edge of being a franchise player. guys like

him who understand the game so well, they grow in terms of leadership and floor presence—and that’s what I expect to see from him in the years ahead. . . . Before he was injured last season, [swingman] Martell Webster had turned into a shooter you needed to rotate to. . . . Is Jerryd Bayless a point guard? To me, he’s a high-volume scorer who needs a lot of touches, and that could be to the detriment of their team. . . . Rudy Fernandez is going to be good. he knows how to play in addition to being an excellent athlete who gets off the ground quickly and anticipates well.

E N E M y L I N E s | A r i vA l s c o u t o n t h e t r ai l b l a zer s

P R o j E c t E d s tA R t I N g f I V E w i t h 20 0 8 – 0 9 s t a t i s t i c s fA s t fA c t

18 Games won by the 2008–09 Blazers

after trailing by double digits, the most in the league. the last team to win as many games by overcoming a double-digit deficit was the ’02–03 suns, who also did so 18 times.

Pg aNDre Miller PPG: 16.3 APG: 6.5 rPG: 4.5 sPG: 1.33 fG%: 47.3

sg BraNDoN roy PPG: 22.6 APG: 5.1 rPG: 4.7 sPG: 1.13 fG%: 48.0

sf Nicolas BaTuM PPG: 5.4 rPG: 2.8 APG: 0.9 fG%: 44.6 3fG%: 36.9

Pf laMarcus alDriDge PPG: 18.1 rPG: 7.5 BPG: 0.95 sPG: 0.95 fG%: 48.4

c greg oDeN PPG: 8.9 rPG: 7.0 BPG: 1.13 fG%: 56.4 ft%: 63.7

coach: Nate McMillan (fifth season with Portland) • 2008–09 recorD: 54–28 (second in Northwest) PoiNTs scoreD: 99.4 (14th in Nba) • PoiNTs alloweD: 94.1 (fourth in Nba)

Key BeNch Players: G rudy Fernandez, 10.4 PPG; G steve Blake, 5.0 APG; f Travis outlaw, 12.8 PPG; C Joel Przybilla, 8.7 rPG • New acquisition