Las Vegas Review-Journal - Sports

Oden was a force on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring seven points in 24 minutes for the White squad, but the Blue team posted a 100-81 win in front of 6,427 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

For Oden, it was a small yet significant first step in what he hopes will ultimately culminate with a spot on the 2012 Olympic roster.

"It was all right," he said. "I played decent. I tried to hold down the paint and concentrate on defense.

"It was good to be out there, getting some up and down and playing against this kind of good competition."

Oden said the three-day Las Vegas minicamp was a good experience, especially given the fact it was the first one he could participate in.

"I thought they were thinking, 'It's a lost cause,' " he said. "I was afraid they had forgotten about me, but I guess they were still looking at me."

Through all his injuries -- the broken right wrist while still in college that sidelined him in 2006, the tonsillitis that KO'd him in 2007, the microfracture surgery to his right knee in 2008, the USA Basketball hierarchy never lost faith.

"I haven't given up on him," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. "I've said this many times; people who put the time in, people who want to be part of this program, people who have built up some equity, we're going to give them a chance.

"Greg wanted to be here each summer, and had he not been sick or hurt, he would have been. It's not his fault."

Colangelo said Oden's injury history, the latest mishap a chipped left kneecap which forced him to miss 10 games in March, was taken into account when it came time to decide whether to invite him to Las Vegas this week. Ultimately, Colangelo, coach Mike Krzyzewski and the rest of the USA Basketball coaching staff wanted to see how Oden would play.

"It's way too early to throw the baby out with the bathwater," Colangelo said of Oden, who has played a grand total of 61 NBA games in two seasons. "He's still struggling to get off the mark on his career. He needs to build his confidence level and have some success."

Only 21, Oden said he knows some people are already labeling him a bust as a pro. But he doesn't care.

"I don't worry about all that," he said. "I'm just going out there and playing. It could be a distraction, but I don't get caught up in that."

His focus is on trying to catch up in his development. He has spent the summer working with Bill Bayno, a Blazers assistant coach and former UNLV head coach.

Bayno said Oden will catch up.

"People forget he's just a kid," Bayno said. "He's going to be fine. He's still maturing, and you can't rush developing a big man. But he's one of the best people I've ever been around, and he works as hard as anyone I've coached.

"Sure, his career hasn't started as quickly as everyone hoped because of the injuries. But trust me, he'll be fine."

Oden said all he can do is try to move his career forward, which was what Saturday was all about.

"You want to start out well and be looked at as a premier player," he said. "But things happen. You just gotta play through it."

• NOTE -- Memphis' Rudy Gay led all scorers with 27 points for the White squad. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant led the Blue team with 20.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.