On one level that would be awful. OTOH, that could only happen if you believe he is faking his knee condition. For the sake of my own sanity, I prefer to believe his injuries are legit, and that he isn't just tanking.
I guess I missed the Blazer press conference that said his career was over. I understand he will be playing with a lot of pain (Bone on Bone) but there are players who have done it. Just because he is out for 5-10 games, doesn't mean he is "tanking it". There are rememdies that can ease the pain and hopefully he finds one.
Aside from knee replacement, what remedies exist? He's already been doing lubricant injections for a couple of years ... I guess he could get hopped up on mountains of pain pills. So yes, it's possible that he could reinvent himself, but his greatest strength was always his ability to drive and finish or drive and pull up but spotting up on the wing has never been all that strong and I would say the odds are against him becoming a great NBA catch and shoot player even with a change in mindset. The retirement press conference may not be imminent, but the check's probably in the mail.
Real fun ball! The Blazers had 81 points with 2:50 left against Utah. Only Deron Williams making shots and the Jazz having to foul got the Blazers to 90+ for that game. Style of play didn't get the 15 points in the last 2 minutes; free throws and the Jazz making shots did. Last night, 75 points when the only person to show up to play was LMA. How is that "entertaining"?
What he said. I'd love it if we had a fully functioning Roy on the team. I'd love it even more if we had a fully functioning Roy who could play in something other than an Iso-Roy offense. It does not appear we have either. I'll settle for a diminished Roy who is willing and able to fit into the new offensive scheme. I'm holding out hope for that, because then we would be a better team 'with' Roy. Notice how much better Aldridge and Rudy perform now that Roy is not demanding they stay out of the middle so he can 'operate?' Roy needs to stay out of the middle so others can operate, especially LaMarcus. Brandon will still get plays called for him, and he'll still get his chances to do what he does, but no longer at the expense of a team game. I like that.
There is a difference between running some and not running at all. The lack of Portland's running was to a point where it was bad for the team. Last night Portland only ran some. They really didn't get out and get easy buckets. That is why with a talent challenged team like the Blazers, they need to get out and run. They are just not good enough to score in the half court. Even if Portland had played their "half court" game all night to try and hold Denver down, it wasn't going to happen. It would have just ended with Portland scoring 63 instead of 77.
I see it differently and don't conclude Aldridge and Rudy are playing better because Roy is not demanding they stay out of the middle. I remember when Oden was healthy and Rudy loved to lob pass it to him and seemed to develop good chemistry with Roy playing. Rudy plays well with someone down low in the block, which is what Aldridge is providing. With Roy out, we have to adapt to our strengths and that is going through Aldridge. We need a down low presence and that is what we are trying to create with Aldridge. It seems everyone is caught up in pointing the finger at Roy whether we are better or worse with him. We tend to make assumptions/conclusions based off Roy when in reality, we need to think outside the box and hold the team accountable, not one person.
I agree. And I don't dispute Miller and Greg and Rudy and Greg worked well together while Roy was also on the team. Unfortunately, having Greg on the court has been a rare event, indeed. Rudy has always played well in a two-man game with a post player, even in Spain. And post players play better rolling to the basket instead of camping out 15 feet from the basket and taking turn-around jump shots. Rudy and Miller knew how to play with Greg. I love Aldridge's new role on the team.
If Roy does come back and is able to be healthy (probably not likely), I hope we continue running the offense through Aldridge. He has been a beast and it seems he is becoming more and more comfortable each game with the role he is playing. He is really starting to figure out how to use his length to his advantage.
You tell me. How is shooting a 43% aggregate against Denver and Utah while turning the ball over 15 times on average "entertaining"? I just don't see the big difference. Portland is averaging 94 ppg, yet the last 3 games against two uptempo teams, the average has fallen to 91 ppg.
Portland averages 11.6 ppg on the fastbreak for the season. After a week without Roy, that number has exploded to 9 ppg the past 3 games. What am I missing? http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/fastbreak-points-per-game
Last night wasn't the best example, but I have enjoyed watching the style of play lately. Just sucks we don't have a healthy center on our roster.
Also don't have a healthy All-Star/All-NBA player at SG, either. Of course, Roy having Juwan Howard starting at center for a long stretch of last season doesn't seem to matter to the reactionary crowd.
Roy needs to hurry up and get back. He'll be good for about 3-4 "old Roy" performances before transforming back to "new Roy". I'm looking forward to those 3-4 games because that's when the Blazers are the most fun to watch for me. There's something special about watching a guy that can take over a game and Roy is/used to be one of those guys. Also, trade Miller asap. I'm tired of watching a 10+ year veteran that can't shoot. There's something really sad about that and it just bothers me. If you can't shoot after 10+ years in the league then that's just sad. The worst part is defenders giving him a ton of space and daring him to shoot and he can't do anything about it. Tired of it.
