Around the Association

Around the Association is a look at the weekly news in the NBA

- I like a lot of other people are feeling really bad for Portland Trail Blazer Greg Oden at this moment. Poor Greg will once again be out of action with a knee injury. During Saturday's game, Oden went up for a rebound and broke his knee cap and will be out for the year.



Oden underwent successful surgery, but once again he will be out for the entire year. This has been an all too familiar feeling for Oden, who missed time in college with injuries and was out for his entire rookie year.

So what do the Blazers do now? They will definitely miss Oden's shot blocking and rebounding. They won't miss his usual foul troubles and have a capable replacement in Joel Przybilla. The Blazers are still a playoff team without Oden. But what do the Blazers do in the following years? And will they admit that Oden is injury prone? Can Oden get over these injuries like Zydrunas Ilgauskas did? Will Blazers admit that drafting Oden over Kevin Durant was a mistake? Is Oden over Durant the next Bowie over Jordan? Why does Portland have bad luck with big men, Walton, Bowie, and now Oden? Portland will have to answer these questions over the next couple of months.

Unfortunately this has been the luck for one of the greatest basketball cities in the United States. Out of all the sports jinxes, I'm surprised more people don't talk about the Trail Blazers and their bad luck with franchise centers?

- The other big announcement over the weekend in the NBA is the return of Allen Iverson to the 76ers on Monday night. My question is, what does Iverson bring to the table for the Sixers?

To steal a phrase from Steve Politi, bringing Iverson on the Sixers is like throwing the captain of the Titanic overboard after the ship hit the iceberg.

The Sixers already stink. They are 5-15 on the year and have lost nine straight. What is Iverson suppose to do for this team? How is he suppose to fit in on a reasonably young team? How is a notorious ballhog suppose to fit in with a team that runs the Princeton offense that relies on ball movement? Who is suppose to create shots for Iverson, because he's never been able to create shots for others? What will this do to the development of Jrue Holliday?

The answer to these questions, he can't help the Sixers. This was a pure money decision by the Sixers. They signed an attraction like Iverson to a low risk deal in hope to help their sagging attendance. This was in no way a signing in hope that Iverson can turn around this team. That ship is sinking and all what's left on board is the rats.

Just wait until the Iverson shine has worn off and the Sixers will once again see the low attendances return.

- Speaking of a sinking ship, the Chicago Bulls were punk'd twice this past weekend by Cleveland and Toronto.

The Bulls were blown out by the Cavaliers last Friday night on ESPN. And if that wasn't bad enough, LeBron James decided to throw a dance party late in that game. Needless to say Joakim Noah tool particular exception to this and called out King James from the sidelines.



I actually became a huge Joakim Noah fan after this. I hated Noah while he was at Florida, but I love him now. LeBron needs to be called out for his actions. He gets away with a lot of crap on the court and no one calls him out for it. Like the time he walked off the court after the Cavs lost the Eastern Conference Finals without shaking hands.

Needless to say though, the Bulls were still punk'd. And if that wasn't bad enough, then they were punk'd by Toronto guard Jarrett Jack.

Jack was bringing the ball upcourt and realized his shoes were untied. So Jack decided to tie his shoes while holding the ball. And the Bulls did nothing. They didn't try to steal the ball or anything. They were flat punk'd and did nothing about it.



Absolute fail all around by the Bulls this weekend. Now question for the Bulls the rest of the season is if Vinny Del Negro can keep his job as the Bulls fall to 7-11 on the year.