Greg Oden has been participating in five-on-five pickup games every day this week in preparation for the Sept. 29 opening of training camp.
"I'm ready," said Oden, who missed the entire 2007-08 season after undergoing microfracture knee surgery last September. "But the good thing about last year, it got me to calm down. I'm not crazy. "I'm excited, but I'm not like, 'It's coming up! It's coming up!' I'm like (softening his voice), 'It's coming. Let's get it on.'"
Five weeks of workouts with trainer Jay Jensen and strength and conditioning coach Bobby Medina have dropped Oden's weight from about 300 to 285.
"I'm getting there," said Oden, who is experiencing no pain in the knee. "I'm not going to say I'm in the best shape of my life, but it's getting a lot better. I can tell the difference the past two weeks."
Once camp starts and the Blazers move into the preseason, will Oden have restrictions on what he can do?
"I don't know yet," he says. "There might be some, to make sure I get through camp without getting hurt. They might not be that strenuous on me."
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