Great.... now Brandon has peaked and is on the downside of his career? Simply amazing the way some people think around here. What a fucking joke!
Actually I had forgotten that and my image of him from last season was more how he was after the injury. So hopefully, the injury is over and the superstar is back. I really wasn't trying to bash Roy, I was just concerned a tad. As far as the preseason shit goes, who gives a fuck. Preseason matters for the players who are vying for minutes, not the star of the team.
They don't. Compare playing time of the starters between pre-season and regular season games. It's not. You are pretty much the only person who thinks so. Players view them as a chance to get up to playing shape and coaches view them as a chance to see what they have in their lesser-used reserves. Based on the quality of your posts, I think I'll pass on your advice. You understand, I hope.
Pre-season is time to fight for minutes. Hopefuly, this is not a testiment of a real drop-off in ability, but rather a testiment of how overly-confident Brandon Roy feels minutes-wise. You say "he's letting others shine". Well, how do you explain the minus 20 in half a game (we won by 16 when he was on the bench). I don't think a "leader" of a team likes to look like he doesn't belong in the starting five (or the roster, for that matter) when everyone around him is giving their all to try and succeed in showing they deserve more minutes (Rudy, Mathewss). There should be no-one above the rest, no-one should be guaranteed minutes just based on reputation or past all-star appearances, not even B-Roy. I'm not saying bench him because of the Utah game, I'm not saying bench him if he does poorly the next game. But if he does poorly the next game, I would consider it a real issue.
Kobe was atrocious against Barcelona so he must have something wrong with him too right? Bottom line: I don't think the vets really give a shit about the pre-season and they are mostly approaching this as a warmup or a chance to get into game shape. If he's still playing "badly" by mid November then we can talk, but until then people just need to chill the fuck out.
They DO matter, I agree. The team can set a tone in a good way or a bad way. The thing is that you're judging Roy's effort and his preparation based on stats that don't really mean much. I didn't see the game, but if he shot 1-6 and it's considered bad, it seems reasonable that he could have had a couple shots rattle in and suddenly he was 3-6... does that mean that he spent more time in the offseason preparing, or that he was trying harder? I think that some on this board overrate Roy's place in the NBA, BUT... he's a damn good player. He's going to be the best player on the Blazers this year, and I'm delighted that we have him. I don't see how the stats from a couple of preseason games is any indication that I should change my mind. Ed O.
You can not possibly be serious. Can ANYTHING happen without people completely losing their shit around here? It's fucking preseason. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/brandon_roy/career_stats.html
Obviously every team knows this. That's why the last game of the preseason not one starter typically plays. Because it's just that important. Or maybe it's because teams don't give a shit, would rather have a month of practices and think the pre-season is a waste of time.
I've listened to every second of all the games and watched the Fan Fest. Nothing I've seen or heard has lead me to believe that Matthews has been dominating the ball.
The more you post about basketball, the more I think you don't even understand the game. (lets forget politics for a second, thats a whole different story) The Spurs who are always NBA contenders are notorious for playing shitty preseason basketball. Preseason is about understanding the offensive and defensive sets, looking at young talent and getting the rust off players games from the summer.
Sure they will. Barcelona is clearly better than the Lakers, but won't be in the NBA playoffs. Fortunate for LA.
