Blazers Oden out up to 4 weeks with sprained foot

Greg Oden might not be able to “catch a break” but he did catch a sprain in his first NBA regular season game.  The Portland Trailblazers #1 draft pick in 2007 missed all of last season following preseason knee surgery.  So how does he start his NBA career?  How about stepping on Derek Fisher’s foot going for a rebound, coming down awkwardly and spraining his foot.  He’ll be on the mend 2-4 weeks and when he returns he’ll be looking for his first regular season points as a NBA player. Oden’s take on the injury: "I was trying to go get a rebound, and kind of came down on Derek Fisher’s foot on like the third play of the game. I kind of fell and didn't think twice about it”

The Blazers’ All Star shooting guard Brandon Roy offered some sympathy:

"I feel bad for him. I know this is a big year for him and he had a lot on his shoulders."

Joel Przybilla will resume his spot from a year ago as the team’s starting center in Oden’s absence.  The team is also counting on reserve power forward Channing Frye to bolster their interior defense and rebounding.  Frye said that the team isn’t panicking over the situation:

"We've played how many games with him. Half of one and some preseason. I have to be honest, we're probably more used to playing with Joel [Przybilla] than we are with Greg at this point. And that's nothing against Greg; he's just been hurt and he's had these fluke injuries. We're going to deal with stuff. Injuries happen and Greg's a great player, but goodness gracious, the sky isn't falling."

Portland coach Nate McMillan didn’t sound panicked, though his comments did smack of some exasperation with the scenario:

"You don't want injuries, and he's worked so hard throughout this summer to get himself back. And we tried to do everything we could to get him ready for the season and the opener, and he steps on a guy's foot."

Oden will miss 6 to 12 games and when he returns he’ll have to improve upon his less than stellar “career” numbers:  4 FG attempts and 2 free throws—all misses—in 14 minutes of play.