Image via WikipediaWhen the Portland Trail Blazers selected Greg Oden with the first overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, it was widely believed that he would be the final foundational piece to a team that would compete for championships for years to come. All-Star Brandon Roy was already turning heads and LaMarcus Aldridge was showing promise, as well. The Blazers had their big three and they were ready to make some serious noise in the Western Conference.
Still, the Blazers remain hopeful that at some point Oden will be able to take the court once again, and that he can be the center solution that they, like so many other teams, have struggled to find.
"We're hoping that Greg can come back and be that for us," Blazers GM Rich Cho tells HOOPSWORLD. "I think if you can have a dominant center like Dwight Howard or Yao Ming before he got hurt or maybe Bynum or Greg Oden when he was healthy, it gives you a lot more of an advantage up front. There's not a lot of those guys around, so if you can find one it gives you more of an advantage."
The Blazers may not have Greg Oden anchoring the middle and Brandon Roy has struggled to play through his injuries, as well, but the growth of LaMarcus Aldridge and the addition of Gerald Wallace got them back into the playoffs. The first two games of their first round series were extremely competitive, and rest assured the Blazers will give Dallas a fight now that the series resumes in Portland. Every team has setbacks, and the Blazers have had more than their share, but they're fighting through and looking to come out stronger on the other side.
