Two Bigs’ Problems
Darko Milicic and Greg Oden may not have much in common, other than roughly the same number of points scored in their NBA careers, but last week was unkind to both bigs. Oden will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery sometime this week to clear up some pain and to see if there are any more serious cartilage problems. Milicic, playing for Serbia’s national team, lashed out at the officials in extremely, um, colorful language after losing to Greece by a point. The Grizzlies’ 7-footer was fined about $14K by FIBA, and was chastised by his teams’ front office.
Darko’s wallet might be a bit lighter, but his situation isn’t too serious. Oden, on the other hand, has had nothing but problems in the past few years. Oden played his only year at Ohio State with a wrist injury, and had a tonsillectomy just a couple months ago. The Blazers certainly hope that the luck they had in being able to land Oden, does not revert back to the bad luck days of yesteryear.
The Blazers are doubtlessly nervous about the status of their new franchise player, and judging from his past medical history, for good reason. Oden hasn’t played healthy in two years (although he’s been scary enough at 80%), but could the man-child’s body not be up to the rigors of the NBA? With training camp set to open at the end of Sept., and the regular season a month later, having an injured rookie center has got to be reason for concern in the Pacific Northwest.
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