Who is the most important Blazer for current and future success? A) Roy B) Aldridge C) Oden D) Other (specify) A way to look at this, if one of these players was injured and out of the NBA, which one would hurt the Blazers chances the most.
Oden. Roy is clearly superior right now but Oden will ultimately be the best player on the team and finding a good SG to replace Roy (in hypothetical universe #1) is easier than finding a good C to replace Oden (in hypothetical universe #2) in the long run. Ed O.
I typed up a response to this but then realized that with Paul's current health situation is was in bad taste to post what I had written. Best of luck to PA, I hope he kicks cancers ass!
It's clearly Brandon Roy right now. In the future, Greg Oden will be the most important Blazer by far.
I also think Batum will emerge as a critical player during the title runs and third most important player after Roy and Oden.
Roy is the best player, and has been the biggest part of our success up until this point. LaMarcus may be the most important currently, because with him out, we have a huge hole at PF. At least Rudy and Przybilla can step up for the other two. But my vote goes to Gregory. I think he is the most important because as Greg goes, the Blazers go. If we want to win a title, I think Roy and LMA can stay pretty much at the same level of play (Roy at 25, 5 and 5... LMA at 20/9 -- a little more than what they are currently doing, but around what they should/will be doing in their prime, IMO), as long as Greg progresses to a 18/13/3 player and a game-changer. I think honorable mention can def. go to Paul Allen.
I think everyone knows that Greg is the answer. Roy is important too, as is LMA, but Oden is the key to the championships. If Greg plays like we know he can, we win titles. It's that simple.
It depends on Stern. Does he want the big guys to shine? Then he will mandate that the refs allow a more physical game. Otherwise it will be the guys who control the ball. In this case Roy. Bottom line is you need both. Shaq is arguably better than Oden, but he needed Kobe/Wade to win it all. I agree with the premise that it is easier to find a excellent SG than an Excellent Center. That's why I still think Oden was the right pick over Durant. Theire are lots of shooters. But in the Blazers 40 years, we have had only ONE SG better than Brandon and one Center better than Greg. Enjoy it while you can.
If you look at history, championship teams have one thing in common. A dominant big man. Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Duncan, Robinson, Hakeem, KG...The only exception in recent history is MJ's Bulls...Greg needs to be consistent on offense and dominant on defense for this team to win a title/s. I'm confident that will happen.
Oden is my answer. Roy can only take this team so far. I think we've seen the limit. Oden, however, when he becomes dominant - will take us further yet.
'89-'90 Pistons, '04 Pistons, '08 Lakers also won titles without a dominant big man. The point still stands, however.
