There are players in the NBA who do certain things better than him, but nobody can cause a man to commit in the wrong direction or navigate the lane with as much ease as he can. He makes it look like he's not even trying, and yet guys are falling down all around him. That shot with 1.9 in the Houston game (not the game winner), He's just turning around for a pull-up jumper. Yet, both Artest and McGrady are falling down to the ground like he just broke their ankles or something. It's surreal.
The other thing about Brandon is that he's built like a football player. He basically has "no neck". I think his power along with his left hand are what makes him so effective when driving into the lane.
Hmmm. Oden's pretty strong, but he's got a neck. Wilt Chamberlain was incredibly strong, and he had a neck. I don't get how having no neck makes Brandon any stronger, but maybe I'm missing something.
Have you noticed that he tucks and protects the ball like an NFL runningback when he's going down the lane? Now that's protecting the ball!
I think that's one reason Roy get's so many foul calls, he has both forearms covering and protecting the ball when he's going down the lane. If you slap at the ball, you're going to hit his arms.
I am shocked that none of these hacks covering the league and writing about Roy ever talks about the time distortion field he has around him that makes all these uber-athletic players move in slow-mo when they are guarding him. It's amazing and probably the best proof of alien life forms we ever got - but no one is talking about it. NASA should stop wasting money with the rovers on Mars and send some of their rocket scientists to the Rose Garden. It's a conspiracy, I tell you.
Obviously "no neck" is a figure of speech. Everyone has a neck. More highly developed neck and shoulder muscles give the "no neck" appearance. That is the case with Brandon, imo.
Hey Spud, PM me your current email. I took some close ups of Rudy in Sacto I can scan for you. "Kids" are fine, Orlando is adorable but I have to accept Rudy (my cat, not the Blazer) and Margot will never be tame. I used my longest zoom lens to take their photos for my holiday cards. Are you at the same snail mail addy? Work is busy. We recently completed a big project. Another woman and I did most of it. We just got envelopes with certificates and bonus checks! Woohoo! Totally unexpected. Some new positions just opened in Hillsboro so I am trying again, but with second thoughts. I've lost touch with Portland friends. Would I know enough people to be able to host a Thanksgiving dinner? I thought at one time of throwing a Blazer board house warming if I moved but in light of recent threads I'd have to say "no homophobes" in the invite. Maybe I'm just getting old and putting down roots here by the Bay; is there one more adventure in me? To the Roy point, I had long thought he reminded me of Tim Duncan so I'm glad to see others think the same. One more comparison. When Duncan was a free agent he really could have gone to almost any team in the NBA. And he chose to stay in San Antonio. Partly out of loyalty but also because he's a low key guy who does not need to be in the spotlight. And while he may have had more lucrative endorsements in a bigger market, he knew his family would not starve on what he made in San Antonio. Compare that to LeBron James; we are already hearing discussion of where he will go. He leaves Cleveland and the Cavs immediately are irrelevant; ticket sales, jersey sales, games on national TV and any title hopes go down the tubes. I hope, and really think, Roy would make the same decision as Duncan. And I hope he also gets a handful of championship rings. Meanwhile, because of his prowess at cleaning up messes, KP should have run for president, although I'd rather he continue to be Blazers GM. I hope "that one" we elected does as well!
