I too am up in the wee hours having just had a nightmare about Greg's chip fracture of the patella.
In the dream, I was on a bus riding around Portland. Travis Outlaw spoke. The situation on the bus was tense. Danger and despair swept over the people. Brandon Roy looked worried. The driver was strange. It was unclear if it was a hostage situation.

The bus stopped at Lloyd Center. Bonzi got on. He looked tired.

The driver was mean and threatening. He said we had tickets out of town to Seattle so we'd have to go. There was no way off the bus. We argued until he pulled over on the side of the freeway and started to let us off. I reached in my pocket and offered the driver 5 bucks to at least take us to someplace safer up the road. He agreed and just then I woke up.

"It would be too easy to take a cheap shot and say that the Blazers should have picked him in the player draft rather than Greg Oden"

and talking about it only makes us feel that much worse.

Your real bus nightmare is going to be a little different from the one you described.

I'm not sure if I've seen a bigger "Look at me - I can play this game - remember this when I'm a free agent" display than Durant's last night.

Whoa.

The game is so easy for Durant. Look at his jumpshot. He doesn't release it high over his head. He almost shoots it off his chest. Why? Nobody can get to him fast enough or high enough to block it.

The play that really stood out for me was his reverse dunk late in the game. He took off, rose under the basket, threw it down, started to react to it and then after all that was done, his body still kept rising for two more beats.

I saw a young man who believes he is the next great star of the NBA. If he didn't he'd have been too bashful to score that much in a rookie/sophomore game.

Nice of Tri-Met to release that info Friday evening...

Maybe they should raise the price a bit instead of cutting people's transportation?

I'm not sure if I've seen a bigger "Look at me - I can play this game - remember this when I'm a free agent" display than Durant's last night.

I am sure Durant will put financial considerations aside and set his sights on being a career franchise player for the Oklahoma City, uh, what are they called again?

Oden missed the entirety of what was supposed to be his rookie season, so I am sure it is little worry to him to miss the All-Star rookies game. He can come back as a sophomore next year and get 5 fouls, 4 points and 1 rebound in 11 minutes.

It is really hard to compare the two, even after the first 46 games for each. Oden has 1/2 the points but Durant takes 2.7x the shots. Oden has 2x Reb's but 1/3 the assists.

They really have 2 very different roles and comparing stats is really worthless at this point.

Durant certainly has improved his game over his performance last year, when he usually took 25 shots to get to 20 points, had very few rebounds or assists and played spotty defense. He's the whole package now.

That said, great small forwards rarely win you an NBA championship. Great centers usually do. At least a championship team needs a decent center. No team without Michael Jordan has won an NBA title in the past 20 years without a respectable center (I'm counting Duncan as a center, though he starts at power forward).

Not saying Oden will be a great center, but he's shown enough to be a pretty good center if he stays healthy.

I'm not jumping off the Oden bandwagon. I just worry about the injuries. I forget what he was doing when he broke his hand in college and the knee could have been cumulative.

But the thing with Golden State was a case where 2 players collided, our player got hurt and theirs didn't. Maybe Oden's bones just aren't as strong as the players he has to bounce off of - players who have good careers.

I sure hope not. I think the world of Greg as a young person, and when he's healthy he is that low post presence that teams search for sometimes for decades. The other night against the Thunder, besides his own stats, he altered the entire game from 15 feet in.

Still, I am questioning how much I want to get caught up in this. I don't need sports to bring me down - not in this economy.

Oh well. One thing that has changed: I am now a Kevin Durant fan.

Oden is another Sam Bowie....The curse still lives !!!

IF Oden can stay injury-free (big maybe) and learn how to play without fouling, I am beginning to see his potential.

That's the curse of having the #1 pick, you need to choose the best guy and at the time Ode looked better. IN addition, its a lot easier finding b-grade swing guys (yes, I know Durant is way better) and they were hurting for any kind of inside player.

I'm happy we picked Oden. I think he's doing fine for a rookie. The problem isn't him so much as sky-high expectations. Do you expect a center to score 25 points a night?

Get off his back. He could school all of you armchair general manages put together.

Get off his back.

Exactly. The last thing he needs now is a back injury.

For the record, I stand behind the Blazers picking Oden - I think he was the right addition to our team and the correct #1 choice. I've said so many times on this blog. If we're patient, a virtue not valued in the blogosphere or talk radio where snark and snap judgments reign supreme, Oden should be a franchise player for years.

But you have to give Durant his due - last night was a huge showcase for his talent. He guaranteed that the Thunder won't be able to afford him when his contract expires.

I stand behind picking Oden too but this kneecap chip fracture thing is SCARY. That knee didn't swell up for no reason.

There is a silver lining to this.... At the Blazers have not invested a Darius Miles amount of money into this first pick bust.

For the record, I stand behind the Blazers picking Oden - I think he was
the right addition to our team and the correct #1 choice. I've said so
many times on this blog. If we're patient, a virtue not valued in the
blogosphere or talk radio where snark and snap judgments reign supreme,
Oden should be a franchise player for years.

Substitute "Bowie" for "Oden." Sounds familiar.

But you have to give Durant his due - last night was a huge showcase for
his talent. He guaranteed that the Thunder won't be able to afford him
when his contract expires.

Substitute "Jordan" for "Durant."

Forget them both. After seeing Jarryd Bayless play extensive minutes from the 100-level twice now, I'm jumping on his bandwagon. Portland hasn't had a guy who could freeze a defender in his steps and cut to the basket this fast since Rod Strickland. He never complains, he takes the pain when he gets hard-fouled by jealous defenders and doesn't get the call because he's a rookie.

In two seasons, Bayless will be leaving Deron Williams in the windstream of his jock smell. Chris Paul will barely be able to stay in front of him. Roy and Bayless mean you can't double team either one. Behind them you have Sergio and Rudy. Sweet.

Oden doesn't need to be the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain if Bayless gets the opportunity he needs to develop as fast as possible into the starting PG.

I'm just saying the Blazers are really lucky to have both Greg Oden & Joel Pryzbilla. There are quite a few NBA teams that would trade dearly to have a pair of centers like the Blazers have.

"Substitute 'Jordan' for 'Durant.'"

I'm a Tar Heel - that's sacrilege, sir.