Blazers' Oden all business in trying to earn his standing in the NBA

Greg Oden's rookie season hasn't been easy, but the Trail Blazers believe he's starting to get more comfortable. AP Ian Thomsen's Mailbag Ian Thomsen will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

PORTLAND, ORE. -- The story of Greg Oden's long-awaited first year has been, by some versions, that he wasn't worthy of the wait. He has managed but 8.0 points per game this season, and even worse, he hasn't been entertaining. If he isn't going to dominate, can't he at least crack a self-deprecating joke now and then?

So here is another view of Oden's first season thus far: He can't win.

Going back to the 2007 draft, when Oden was the No. 1 pick, the two big concerns involved his health (as noticed by a minority of team physicians) and his attitude. Many NBA scouts and executives wondered if Oden cared enough about basketball to become a championship center. (Of course, they thought he should be the No. 1 pick anyway; they were simply guessing at his ceiling).

He was so easygoing, so quick with a joke as to raise questions about his dedication. Would he be serious in his work?

Now we find Oden more than a year later in a very serious state indeed, so solemn and grim that hardly a smile has been seen across the opening months of his season. His newfound behavior has been criticized as sullen and withdrawn.

Too extroverted before, too introverted now. What do people want from him?

"That's honestly the thing I think about too,'' Oden said after a Blazers practice last week. "It's like, man, what's going on here, what can I do?''

My own view is that Oden's attitude has been highly promising for himself and his team. No, he hasn't been (or shouldn't be expected to be) anything like a fully matured NBA star. But he is a 20-year-old center off to a good start in his commitment to the job.

Look at it this way: How would people feel if he were struggling to get out of his own way on the court -- committing a foul every 6 minutes as he has done so far -- and then responded by cracking jokes in the locker room afterward? They would question his commitment and his heart.

Instead, he has been leaning the other way. Apparently he has been taking on too much pressure while being excessively hard on himself. That's not such a bad thing, especially when you ask why.

"I'm taking this seriously,'' he said. "You know I'm a good guy and I like to have fun, but really, this is serious right now because I'm out here playing.''

Miami rookie Michael Beasley is still dealing with impressions that he lacks the focus to be a reliable NBA star. Oden is demonstrating at the very least that he wants to deserve his celebrity.

"He's uncomfortable with all the attention,'' Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "He doesn't necessarily need it. He doesn't really want it. He would prefer to come in and earn that attention. He feels uncomfortable about the fact that it's more talk about him than it is about Brandon Roy and LaMarcus [Aldridge] and guys who have been here.

"It started two years ago when [USA Basketball] invited him to the Olympic team,'' McMillan continued, phrasing Oden's response as: '"You're just inviting me because of what I did in college or high school. I haven't earned the right to be there.' He has always had that appreciation of coming in and taking somebody else's attention without earning it -- that is uncomfortable for him.''

This isn't all-or-nothing. This isn't a call for everyone to leave Oden alone; it isn't even an outright criticism of his critics. Most of the disapproval has been structured as constructive criticism, based on a premise that Oden needs to express himself and find joy in basketball in order to develop as a player.

"As I told him, 'Unwrap yourself,' '' McMillan told local reporters last week. "He's a beautiful person, he wants to do well, people want to get to know him, want to see him. Unwrap yourself and let the people in.

"We are working on it, we're trying to get it. He looks like he's a little bit more comfortable, especially out on the floor. The one thing he wants to do is do well [as a player]. And when you do that, I think you open up. You're not afraid to open up and talk to people. It definitely is coming from his play.''