Greg Oden and 2007 NBA Draft

When Greg Oden was in the first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, initially no one knew if this was 100% true or not. But it was Bill Duffy who confirmed that yes indeed, Oden had been selected first by the Portland Trail Blazers. Bill Duffy is the head of one of the, if not the, most well-known agencies for those professional basketball players good enough to be selected to play for the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Greg Oden and Bill Duffy

Bill Duffy is definitely someone you want to represent you if you are a top basketball player like Greg Oden. Apart from being a very well-known agent in the field, he is also extremely talented. His company – BDA Sports Management – represents many highly reputable players, such as Brandon Jennings and Baron Davis. As well, Mr. Duffy certainly knows what he’s looking for when it comes to highly talented basketball players. He himself was a professional player at some point, being selected in the 1982 NBA Draft in the fifth round.

Trail Blazers Camp – Following in the Footsteps of Greg Oden

Certainly, if you’re a 7-13 year old child, there is no better place to be this summer than at the Trail Blazers Hoop Camps. These awesome camps are designed to coach kids from all skills levels and to offer them the fundamentals of the life through basketball. They’ll learn about hard work, self esteem, teamwork, self discipline, education, respecting themselves and their peers, and so much more.

The camp will take place at the Trail Blazers practice facility, where the likes of Greg Oden, Juwan Howard, Patrick Mills and the rest of the team practices. Campers will get to spend the week learning Trail Blazers basketball with former Oregon Ducks Shooting Guard Adrian Stelly. The campers will get to check out the facilities as well, with a full tour of the locker room, training room, player lounge and more! You can’t get much cooler than that!

For any Greg Oden fan, or for a fan of the Trail Blazers in general, this is a unique opportunity. They can feel like Greg Oden as they learn the moves and have fun following in his footsteps - on his court!

Lenny Wilkens – Long Before the Greg Oden Era

Lenny Wilkens was more than just a coach for the Portland Trail Blazers over three decades ago. He is probably best known for his double induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, in 1989 as a player and then again in 1998 as an NBA coach.

He did well as vice chairman of the Seattle SuperSonics ownership group, becoming its President of Basketball Operations in 2007. But less than three months later, Wilkens resigned from this organization. He’s still in the basketball picture today though. He sometimes appears on Northwest College Hoops at game nights as well as Northwest FSN Studio as a College Hoops analyst.

Wilkens only coached the Trail Blazers for one season, but retired with a pretty impressive array of wins. Indeed at the time of his retirement, he boasted 1,332 wins and 1,155 losses, which puts him in second place for most wins. He has over 35 years of professional coaching, which is one of the longest of any NBA coaches. Perhaps if he would have been around today, in Greg Oden’s time, he may have remained with the Trail Blazers for a somewhat longer period of time.

Greg Oden a New Kind of Athlete

Mike Conley Senior, the father of Greg Oden’s friend and teammate, Mike Conley Jr. and an athlete in his own right- winning Olympic gold in the triple jump, had this to say about Greg Oden in the days before he was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers.

"He's Shaq but shoots free throws," Conley said. "He has close to a 40-inch vertical jump. You've never seen anyone like him. You can't label him like Dwight Howard or like Shaq. Both of them are great, but he's neither one. He's a new kind of athlete."

Less Motorcycle Accidents in Buffalo

It’s great that there are now way fewer motorcycle accidents in Buffalo, NY. That took a long time to change. For ages the opposite was true. There were just more and more of these accidents. But this year has seen way less.

This is good news for everyone. Greg Oden was born in Buffalo, NY. No one wants to think about the place where they were born being a danger-zone.
The bad news though is that it’s thought that the reason for this reduction in accidents is because bikers are watching their budgets as the economy is going bad. People like Greg Oden wouldn’t be happy about this. A bad economy is bad news for everyone. But for bikers or biker family members, it’s got to be good news that there have been over 500 less deaths than there were last year.

Oden Named Best Defensive Player for Trail Blazers

As the basketball season winds down for the NBA and the playoffs loom on the horizon, the Portland Trail Blazers have recognized their best players for the 2009-2010 season. The winners of the All Blazers Awards were announced as of the beginning of April.

The Most Valuable Player Award was given to Brandon Roy, who’s excellent playing this year helped lead the Trail Blazers to a spot in the NBA playoffs.

The Best Defensive Player of the Year was awarded to Greg Oden. Oden is the best shot blocker in the league and among the best of the great rebounders. He was leading in several defensive categories such as blocks per game; best defensive rating; best rebound percent; best block percent in PER stats.

The Rookie of the Year was given to Jeff Pendergraph who played a few times as a starter and posted some quite admirable numbers, such as 8 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks and more.

Oregeon Mentors with Greg Oden

Oregon Mentors is a powerful program in Oregon that Greg Oden helps to support. Their mission is to offer positive life opportunities to all Oregonians by connecting kids with caring mentors and role models. They have isolated more than 100,000 children in Oregon who could benefit from a mentor at this time.

By the end of 2010, their goal is to have another 20,000 mentors available to children in need.