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• Vote: What has been the biggest stumbling block for Greg Oden?
• Chats: NBA Insider Chad Ford takes your questions, 1 p.m. ET.

All right, so more than 70 percent of SportsNation thinks Vince Young has a brighter future than Greg Oden, but could Portland's big man be the next to start living up to expectations? Oden went for 24 points and 12 rebounds Monday night against the Bulls, and while that's merely a good scoring half for Kevin Durant, it was a career high for Oden, the guy picked ahead of him. Speaking of Durant, it can't help Oden to have him around for such comparisons. Consider how SportsNation felt about the two on the eve of the 2007 draft.

• 59 percent said take Oden over Durant with the No. 1 pick.
• 68 percent thought Oden was right leaving Ohio State after his freshman season.
• 69 percent believed Oden's talent was on par with Shaq, Hakeem and Duncan.

To this point, it's not even clear Oden is better than Hakim Warrick, but he is just 21 years old. So putting Durant aside for at least a few years, how about a more reasonable comparison. Would you rather have Oden or Andrew Bynum as a young post?

An NBA player tweets his response to a blogger's suggestion, based on an increasingly popular statistical metric, that the player, likeable as he is, may have a few more holes in his game than conventional wisdom holds. Somewhere, Bill Fitch, Norm Nixon and Jeff Ruland are wondering what the heck just happened.

A short takeout from Henry Abbott's post:

• "Sometimes +/- can punish players simply for being on bad teams, but this is more than that. Mavericks' statistical expert Wayne Winston's in-depth lineup data shows that every one of Durant's key teammates -- Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, Nick Collison -- gets better, in many cases far better, results playing with less heralded teammates Thabo Sefolosha or Kyle Weaver while Durant sits."

Earlier this year, SportsNation voters had Durant on their ideal Team USA roster through the 2012 Olympics. But are expectations getting out of hand for a would-have-been college senior?

• Your Rankings: Is Kevin Durant in your top 10 preseason MVP candidates?

It wasn't so long ago that you didn't casually throw around phrases like "lock up for the long term" when discussing the Trail Blazers. That it's fair game these days is proof of why the team wants to lock up Brandon Roy with a long-term contract.

But if Roy is the face of a rehabilitated franchise, can he be the face of a championship franchise?

SportsNation voters have no doubt that the Blazers made the best of the 2006 draft -- Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay and others barely muster a challenge. And even if Portland is a hidden gem up in the Pacific Northwest, Roy gets his share of recognition. Last year, voters ranked him ahead of Kevin Durant among the best players then under the age of 23. And just a few weeks ago, voters were clear they want him on Team USA for the next round of major international competitions.

But none of that is the same thing as saying Roy is a championship cornerstone. When it comes to doing that, a lot of eyes are still on Greg Oden.

• Portland's version trails Halladay and Williams as the best Roy in sports.
• Vote: Is Brandon Roy the right cornerstone for a championship?
• Beyond the Nation: The Oregonian's John Canzano on new hope in Portland.
• Groups: Portland Trailblazers | blazer fans | Portland Trail Blazers Nation

• Rankings: Would you put Kevin Love in your top 12 for Team USA?

As far as Twitter goes, it's certainly less memorable than breaking the news of your coach's departure, but Kevin Love is once again proving wily in his use of new technology and living up to his nickname as "The Big Twitter." If he figures out how to get himself a raise in 140 characters or less, we'll be even more impressed.

ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan wrote about the chance Mike Krzyzewski is taking by staying on with USA Basketball through the 2010 World Championship and 2012 Olympics, rather than riding comfortably into the sunset after winning gold last year. Once done reading all about it, SportsNation had a chance to put together the Team USA it would take through the next three years.

One of the options was, you guessed it, Kevin Love, a big man with passing and rebounding skills ideal for the international game. And once Love caught wind of his virtual candidacy, he took to the tweet to rally supporters to the cause (granted, a cause that doesn't include an actual seat on the flights to Turkey and England, respectively).

We're sorry to say the outcome isn't looking good for Love, despite a surge of late support for the former UCLA star with a penchant for long-distance shots. As consolation for the Love faithful who heeded his call, we invite you to listen to his podcast visit with Bill Simmons, left.

For everyone else, here are SportsNation's top 12 for Team USA.

G: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Brandon Roy
F: Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett
C: Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire

• Voters wouldn't even trade Coach K for Phil Jackson on Team USA.
• Check out who SportsNation wanted for the Redeem Team last year.
• SportsNation Groups: Team USA!!! | Minnesota Sports Fans | UCLA Bruins

NO. 1: LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Bill Simmons thinks Blake Griffin should run away as fast as he can. Even after watching his favorite coach head to New York and Shaquille O'Neal come and go, Steve Nash still has it easier than Griffin, according to SportsNation. And did we mention the traffic? Welcome to the NBA, kid.

• More than half of voters think Griffin would have gone third or lower last year.
• Clippers jokes aside, 43 percent expect them in the playoffs within two seasons.
• Oklahoma one of only states that expects Griffin to be an NBA star.

NO. 2: MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Good barbeque and bad basketball. Since Robert Traylor's no longer in the mix, the former isn't enough of a selling point to convince current prospects to fix the latter. Ricky Rubio supposedly won't go there. Hasheem Thabeet canceled a workout. How are they supposed to draft someone they can later give away in a trade?

• SportsNation thinks Hasheem Thabeet a better fit for Grizzlies than Ricky Rubio.

NO. 3: OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
It appears a Red River tandem of Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin isn't in the works, but Taylor Griffin is still available. Hey, it worked for Harvey Grant.

• SportsNation and Chad Ford concur; it's Ricky Rubio to the Thunder.