Greg Oden continues on his way back. This is good.
Good for the Blazers, and good for basketball.
As reported by The Oregonian's Jason Quick:
The rehabilitation of Greg Oden and his right knee is officially over.
Now, it's all about basketball.
So on Monday, the Blazers' 2007 No. 1 overall draft pick who missed all of last season because of a knee injury, began the latest and most significant step in his comeback. He practiced for the first time in full-contract drills, going up against teammate Channing Frye for 45 minutes at the Blazers' practice facility in Tualatin.
There is still a long way to go, but getting back to hoopin' it up is no doubt an important step for the big man.
Quick also reported that Oden had his share of troubles with Frye and looked definitively out of game shape. But that's to be expected for a guy who just missed an entire season. With the rest of the summer and training camp to address physical issues, if Oden doesn't suffer any setbacks with his knee, he should be able to get himself into reasonable shape for NBA competition this fall. No, he won't be playing 40 minutes a night for 82 games this season, but there is no reason for him to be doing so as a rookie big man in the first place.
That he's playing basketball at all will be a huge boost for this Blazers team, and it will mark a new beginning to his development as a professional basketball player.