Rudy Fernandez and the Portland Trail Blazers
Currently on the team of the Portland Trail Blazers, is player no. 5, Rudy Fernandez. He began his professional career with the NBA the same time as Greg Oden did, on June 28 2007. He didn’t rank as high as Oden, but was taken 24th overall by the Phoenix Suns who thereafter traded his draft rights to the Portland Trail Blazers. He officially joined the Glazers in September of 2008. Fernandez is originally Spanish but wasn’t the only Spaniard in the 2008-09 season in the NBA (others included Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Jose Calderon and Sergio Rodriguez). In 2009, he was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team and broke NBA rookie records for the amount of three-point field goals made, at 159!. He “hit a three-point field goal in 33 consecutive games.”
40 Year Anniversary of the Portland Trail Blazers
As the Portland Trail Blazers mark their 40th anniversary, let’s take a look back at some of their finer moments from the 2009-10 season. The basketball team in which Oden fans witnessed an increase of 2.4 minutes per game that he played also saw the team beat Oklahoma City a staggering 103-95 at the Rose Garden. It was Marcus Camby who brought the team to this level, adding 30 points – a season high – to the game, which really got the home crowd going. This was just one of the great moments for the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2009-10 season.
Team ODEN Oregon Mentors
As well as being an NBA basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers, Greg Oden is a mentor for kids throughout the Oregon region. This is a great way for kids to have adults they can relate to that they also think are cool. Check out what they do at: http://oregonmentors.org/teamoden/about/
Greg Oden Still Popular
There is no escaping the fact that Greg Oden is a great basketball player. He has done the NBA Portland Trail Blazers proud. Oden may have encountered some hiccups here and there but for the most part, the man is up there with the top players. So, like a recent article in the Blazers Blog stated, for those who may not realize how cool he is, they just have to accept the fact that “Oden is staying because he’s the one shot, as good as Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are.” It’s all too easy these days to focus on the negative.
Oden Plays Well
So everyone should just face it. They should accept what Greg Oden fans have known for a long time. Oden plays a great game of basketball. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and Greg Oden is just like everyone else. But he differs from many players in that he really has a lot to offer as when he’s out there, he’s playing super well, surpassing lots of other players. So keen basketball players need to remember that.
Greg Oden and Topps Trading Card Company
Shortly after Greg Oden entered the NBA draft back in 2007, he signed a three year deal (worth at least $3 million if not more) with Topps Trading Card Company. Topps is most well known for its production of basketball cards (which obviously Greg Oden was involved in), hockey cards, football cards, baseball cards and any other sports-based cards used for trading, often among kids. The company is based in New York.
Greg Oden and Bill Russell
Anyway, the deal that Greg Oden signed with the Topps Trading Card Company back in 2007, featured the man with Bill Russell in his first deal. Russell used to play US professional basketball, in the same position as Oden – as center. While like Greg Oden, he played on a very professional level, also for the NBA, he didn’t play for the Portland Trail Blazers, but the Boston Celtics. But Russell sure did the team proud in his time, winning the NBA MVP award five times and the All-Star, twelve times! So he was certainly someone Greg Oden could have been proud starring with on those trading cards.
“Dr. Jack” : Coach Before the Greg Oden Era
Dr. Jack Ramsay (a.k.a. “Dr. Jack”), has, to date, enjoyed a long and esteemed professional basketball career. Throughout this however, the work he has been best known for, was when he coached the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1976-77 NBA Championship. This is the team in which Greg Oden was selected first overall in the 2007 NBA Draft. This shouldn’t have been too surprising, since Oden was named the 2006 Indiana Mr. Basketball.
Ramsay was no longer coaching the team when Greg Oden was selected. But he himself has a pretty impressive basketball history, being the seventh highest-winning coach in NBA’s history, as well as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Prior to that he was head coach of the Sixers, successfully leading the team to three playoff appearances throughout four seasons. Unfortunately for him though, he made some pretty poor decisions when he traded away top quality players like Wilt Chamberlain and Chet Walker. The team suffered severely as a result. Before joining the Trail Blazers, he was coach for the Buffalo Braves but didn’t do them all that many favors either.
With the Trail Blazers however, he started earning back his high-class basketball coach reputation. The timing couldn’t have been better for him. The team hadn’t done well in the six years since its inception but just when Ramsay arrived, Maurice Lucas joined and the team was starting to really come together until Bill Walton. It was under Ramsay’s tutelage that the Trail Blazers earned their only NBA title to date. Now that’s something to be proud of.
Jack McCloskey – Coach for the Trail Blazers before Greg Oden
The second coach the Portland Trail Blazers had was Jack McCloskey. He served the team between 1972-1974. As well as being a coach, he was also a player for the NBA and an executive. During his time there, the team’s win-loss record was not something to be so proud of, at 48-116. Perhaps if it would have had Greg Oden playing (who only joined the Trail Blazers in 2007), things would have looked somewhat different. But as it was, McCloskey thus left in 1974.
When he did leave the Trail Blazers, McCloskey joined the Los Angeles Lakers, under Jerry West, as assistant coach. He hoped to have been promoted to head coach when West left but Paul Westhead was hired over him. In 1979, he became the general manager for the Detroit Pistons. This was probably where he was most well known since just two years ago, his name was honored in Detroit with a banner raised at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
A Discussion with Nate McMillan, Coach to Greg Oden
Nate McMillan inspires Greg Oden
Nate McMillan, the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers where Greg Oden plays Center, recently sat down with Benson Taylor of Sporting News. Coach McMillan explained that they’ve had a successful season, partly as a result of the excellent coaching staff. As he said, “We’ve got to be the hardest-working team out on the court. And our guys have responded to that.”
He plans to make a number of decisions in the offseason to help to rebuild the team so that it will be strong enough to compete in the Western Conference and possibly for a championship.
Greg Oden: Fun and Games
Apart from being a professional basketball player, Greg Oden also likes to play for fun, and to benefit kids. On one of his recent trips to Portland, Oden participated in a free throw contest, a three point contest and a game of horse. While he didn’t win all the games, Greg Oden was nonetheless delighted since the whole afternoon was a lot of fun and it was clear that the kids who participated had a ball (no pun intended). At the end of the day, being part of the game is often more important than who wins, and clearly Greg Oden is well aware of this fact.
Greg Oden Shoots a Public Service Announcement
See Greg Oden’s personality shine – and his charitable work take off – with this great video. Greg Oden is captured here filming a public service announcement for Team ODEN, his partnership with Oregon Mentors. Wouldn’t you love to be one of the kids hanging out with Greg Oden in this video?
