Greg Oden - strongman

I copied this story from Jason Quick who covers the Portland Greg Oden's for the Oregonian

The Ambush

The locker room is quickly emptying. Players grab pieces of pizza as they leave. By now, only four players remain: Roy, Outlaw, Aldridge and Oden.

I interview Roy, then move over to Aldridge, who is especially quiet and terribly behind everyone else. Everyone else is dressed and gathering their belongings, but Aldridge is still in only his towel.

He has a headache, probably lingering from his concussion, and he is upset with his game: 8 points on 4-of-16 shooting. I get some information from him about a new text service he is helping start. As we finish, Roy calls to me from behind.

I look over my shoulder and there is a sudden burst of chaos.

While I was talking to Aldridge, Roy and Outlaw had lured Oden over to the corner of the locker room by Outlaw's locker. When they had him cornered, Roy alerted me.

As I turned, they ambushed Oden. Roy went low to the legs, Outlaw up high.

They were attempting the rookie initiation of Oden, which typically involves one of three treatments: a cold shower, a dunk in a tub of ice water or a dunk in a garbage can.

This season, the team has already given Batum and Bayless the cold tub dunk.

But Oden is a different beast.

The action is violent and frantic, as if an animal is being attacked by lions.

But it lasts for only a couple seconds.

That's how long it took for Oden to not only fend off the 6-foot-9 Outlaw and 6-foor-6 Roy, but get them both in a headlock.

With Roy and Outlaw under his arms like little brothers, Oden parades them in a circle, all while he has a deliberate, ho-hum look on his face.

As if ...

Oden releases them both and straightens his sports coat with a tug at the bottom and a couple of brushes of the sleeves.

Defeated and short of breath, Roy red adjusts his cockeyed stocking cap.

"We need a big man,'' Roy said panting. "Two of us ain't going to do it.''

Oden proudly struts to the pizza table and woofs a piece. It is yet another reminder to everyone what a physical specimen Oden is.

It's not like anyone had forgotten, though. In Cleveland on Thursday, the Blazers players got quite the rise out of watching Oden shove LeBron James to the side and administer a hard foul on "The King". James is quite the physical specimen himself, but Oden was neither fazed nor intimidated.

I asked him about the two incidents at the morning shootaround. On the brushing him aside after his dunk, Oden was matter of fact.

"I turned around and he was right there,'' Oden said. "He was in my way. So I was either going to look like a punk or ... ''

He shrugged and smiled.

James also took exception to a foul by Oden.

"That was just a hard foul,'' Oden said. "Wasn't no big thing to it. I mean, what am I supposed to do, let him score? I'm not going to do that.''

Back in the Milwaukee locker room, Oden surveys his stalkers as he munches his pizza. He is clearly amused.

Roy is still panting, lamenting a plan gone awry. He is convinced it will take three players. At least.

"We need that big man. LaMarcus over there, could have used him, but he would have lost that towel and been naked,'' Roy said. "We don't need that. I think we're going to have to get big Mike Ruffin.''

With that, another road trip had ended. But this wasn't just any trip. It might have been the most important week of the season. I thought the Blazers found an identity - that of a scrappy, don't-take-any-crap team. They also came to fully understand the value of movement on offensive - both with and without the ball.

And it was when Oden not only came back to the team, but once again reminded everyone just how valuable and how missed his was for those 15 games. The stats might not show it, but Oden played great defense - impact defense -for the Blazers.

It was a lot of fun ... and to think, it's only going to get more fun. The playoffs are just around the corner.