ESPN  

I'm in, which should be hilarious, as I got up insanely early this morning and am due to stop making sense at about 10 p.m. ET, which is a half-hour before the game even starts. Who has time to worry about making sense, though, when the 2008-2009 season is upon us at last? Bring the crazy ... See you at game time.

• The game has not started yet. But having just watched Boston and Cleveland, I'm kicking myself for not having considered Leon Powe when I recently had to pick who would be the NBA's Most Improved Player. He's fantastic -- constant effort to go with plenty of savvy and a vicious willingness to handle his business like an hombre around the basket. Powe in the post may already be one of Boston's steadiest play calls. 
• What are you doing reading TrueHoop? At some point, you should be sure to read Eric Neel's tale of the Boozer family's battle against sickle cell anemia. Amazing stuff.
• Trying to think how to describe my feeling as a Blazer fan, heading into my first Oden game ever. Here's what it is: It's Christmas, and somebody has just handed me an enormous wrapped gift. Not sure what's in it, but I am sure it's unwrapping time, and it feels kind of fun knowing that I got the biggest present of all. 
• A few seconds into the broadcast, I notice that Greg Oden is limping. Now the broadcasters are on it too. Awesome. I'm not worried at all. Seriously. Stop limping.
• The Lakers look pretty good. The Blazers do not. Andrew Bynum is showing that clearly the book on Oden is to beat him up. He's just going to have to get used to that. It helps when you're enormous.
• Rudy Fernandez finally removes the lid that had apparently been on Portland's basket.
• I'm not sure what kind of defense the Lakers are playing right now, and neither are the Blazers.
• Channing Frye's interior monologue: "I shoot 3s now! I shoot 3s now!"
• Greg Oden has nice patience in the post. Triple-teamed, and he still gets a nice look, followed by an offensive rebound. But then he joins all of this teammates in mishandling the ball, apparently out of nerves. Greg Oden also looks exhausted.
• The Lakers need to stop playing so well, because they are surely going to hurt the TV ratings. If they go another three or four, the NBA's remaining East Coast fans will go to sleep.
  
• Portland, in ongoing jitterland, mishandle the clock on each of their last two possessions of the first half.
  
• A couple of things from the boxscore: Kobe Bryant has eight rebounds! Pau Gasol has missed just two of his nine shots. Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez are the two Blazers shooting better than 50%. Amazingly, both teams have the same number of turnovers, rebounds are close (L.A. +3), the Lakers have four more fouls, blocks are equal, fieldgoals attempts are nearly identical. ... So how is Portland sucking? With misses. Lots of misses. Of all the ways to trail, this is one of the best, because you can keep doing the same thing and expect a better result. If you can improve in the other areas, and shoot better, then you have a shot at making it a game.
  
• As Portland evolves, they'll be needing to nurture a Tayshaun Prince-like defensive stoppers. I'm excited that Nicholas Batum could become a guy like that. He's long and quick and makes things happen at that end of the floor. The thing that occurs to me, though, is that LaMarcus Aldridge is even longer and even quicker. With a month at Tayshaun Prince University, he could me one hell of a defender.
• The Blazer with the best +/- in this game so far, and it's not all that close, is Joel Przybilla. Worth noting that he has been on the floor when Greg Oden has not been.
• Oden has not returned to the floor after halftime. Still no word as to what the story is, although that first-half limping is said to have been ankle-related.
• Oden has, per Cheryl Miller, hurt his foot, and is getting x-rays. Not great.
• If the Oden news is bad, I'm going to go into total denial, and will write posts tomorrow about how glad I am everything is perfect with Oden's health.
• Prediction: Once the game is out of reach, Portland will lose their jitters and play much better.
• On the Blazers' official website, Casey Holdahl tells us:  "We've just learned that Greg Oden injured his foot and will not return to the game. X-ray's are being done. Nothing about this night is going the way we had hoped."
• Ten minutes left, down twenty ... I'd consider resting Roy to keep him fresh for a tough week. Plus, he's slowing down an up-tempo squad with Bayless and Fernandez that ought to at least strut its stuff for a little while to see what that feels like.
• Why I'm not a coach: Immediately after I say to bench him, Roy has a jumper, a steal, and an assist all in a matter of seconds.
  
• Update from Cheryl Miller on Oden's injury: A "mid-foot sprain" with x-rays inconclusive. He'll have an MRI tomorrow. Feet are sensitive, especially in big men, but I'm glad to hear that a broken foot bone is not part of the conversation at this point.
  
• There is some talk about how much the Blazers have to learn and all that. But I don't take it like that. I take it like young teams run hot and cold, and tonight they ran cold. Roy will play better. Aldridge will play better. They'll figure out the Oden situation. And most importantly, I think this season will prove that the Blazers will have plenty of company in looking bad on this floor against the mighty Lakers.