In sports, a long-standing and commonly held philosophy is: "No pain, no gain." Today, the sports world has Greg Oden. Around March 2006, Oden suffered a couple injuries to his shooting wrist. Eventually, this turned into a right wrist that needed surgery. As a result, Oden was forced to limit his practicing and missed the first seven games of his collegiate career. Yet, he managed to play a year of college ball with the recuperating wrist. Later, pre-draft physicals brought warnings to Oden's long-term physical health, although the argument should be made that pre-draft physicals and workouts bring warnings about almost every potential draft pick. Oddly enough, Oden went on to miss most of the NBA summer league due to hurting tonsils. Finally, a few days ago, the announcement was made that Greg Oden would be having exploratory arthroscopic knee surgery. Today, that 'exploration' has become microfracture knee surgery. This is definitely a setback for Oden [and the Trailblazers as well].
There is the possibility that Oden may see his basketball career eventually end earlier than planned. Regardless, Oden is too early in his career to let the negatives get him down. Instead, he should spend his time working hard to recover and improve on his weaknesses. When Oden hurt his wrist, he developed a deadly off-hand to compensate. As a center, having the ability to use either hand on offense or defense is already an advantage that Oden has over his future opponents. Now, the big man has plenty of time to reflect on his struggles in the middle of the NCAA Final Four tournament and the NBA summer league games in which he played. At the end of his brief NCAA career, Oden learned that both smaller and less-known players can stop him. The frustration he showed, although out of character, was real. At the pro level, the referees might not cut him the 'good reputation' breaks that he caught during the tournament (such as the non-flagrant foul in the second round game versus Xavier). He already witnessed this in the NBA summer league, when he was charged with 19 fouls in two games. Thus, Oden must be ready to face more double teams, more athletic players, and more skilled players. His ability to deal with all this will be critical. As Oden may read about during his down time, there are unknowingly talented players hidden as bench players and journeymen, while there are also former big name stars from the lower levels that fail to make it as far as the so-called benchwarmers. In terms of Oden's attitude and work ethic, he should be fine. He just needs to make sure that he keeps his head up and realizes that Rookie of the Year candidacy is only a year further away than planned.
There is the possibility that Oden may see his basketball career eventually end earlier than planned. Regardless, Oden is too early in his career to let the negatives get him down. Instead, he should spend his time working hard to recover and improve on his weaknesses. When Oden hurt his wrist, he developed a deadly off-hand to compensate. As a center, having the ability to use either hand on offense or defense is already an advantage that Oden has over his future opponents. Now, the big man has plenty of time to reflect on his struggles in the middle of the NCAA Final Four tournament and the NBA summer league games in which he played. At the end of his brief NCAA career, Oden learned that both smaller and less-known players can stop him. The frustration he showed, although out of character, was real. At the pro level, the referees might not cut him the 'good reputation' breaks that he caught during the tournament (such as the non-flagrant foul in the second round game versus Xavier). He already witnessed this in the NBA summer league, when he was charged with 19 fouls in two games. Thus, Oden must be ready to face more double teams, more athletic players, and more skilled players. His ability to deal with all this will be critical. As Oden may read about during his down time, there are unknowingly talented players hidden as bench players and journeymen, while there are also former big name stars from the lower levels that fail to make it as far as the so-called benchwarmers. In terms of Oden's attitude and work ethic, he should be fine. He just needs to make sure that he keeps his head up and realizes that Rookie of the Year candidacy is only a year further away than planned.