http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/...urtiama (Center Court Blog - by Casey Holdahl I know Holdahl is a Blazers employee, but he's usually pretty fair minded and isn't a huge sunshine pumper like some other Blazers employees that shall remain nameless, but I think it's worth a read if you think Brandon is somehow obsessed with getting his. He sounds like a guy who doesn't have the same mojo between his ears that he had last year and if anything it sounds like he's probably struggling with the expectations that A) last season's record created, and B) trying to play up to his new contract instead of just playing the way he always did before ... the same way that earned him the contract in the first place. Cut the guy some fucking slack. Don't you think he's earned it?
The media is like sharks, and they love to feed on Portland. You have to remember that. Brandon Roy has done a lot of good for this franchise and is a good kid. I have more worries about how the team is being coached/GM'd then I do about him.
He was getting continuously burned on defense last night. That was my biggest gripe about him. In fact, at times, he almost appeared nonchalant....back-peddling back on D, while Wade was running (working) past him.
You know it is easy to blame him for that, but the whole team completely fracking sucked on defense besides Greg guarding the rim. How many times did he save the teams ass last night? It is a sad fact when Dante Cunningham comes in and plays better defense than a lot of guys that have been here for years played. He got scored on some, but he was there every time, in his guys face. He also rotated correctly, and switched back after a switch was made at the first opportunity. At least his effort was there, that is lot more than I can say for the rest of the team.
It looked to me that Roy was guarding #6 much of the time (Webster was on Wade, and did okay at it, too). But Roy constantly cheated off of #6 and as a result gave up some wide open 3 pointers throughout the game. The walking (!) on D that he did a couple of plays was just not excusable.
Roy sounds like a guy that is comfortable being the man, but doesn't like to share unless he is getting his. Everytime Roy talks about helping the team, it is mentioned in the same breath as him shooting or scoring. Everytime Roy talks about the Blazers struggles, he also mentions how he needs to get back to doing what he does best. Well, Roy has been the man, so he feels he needs to continue to be the man for the Blazers to win. This team has a much better record when Greg is invloved than when Brandon scores 25 points.
I agree that Roy has been a little soft on D, and I think that when he isn't such a big part of the O it just..well..looks really bad for him. But, to his credit, Wade makes everyone look foolish on D. He torched up Miller quite a few times last night too.
Almost every run against the Blazers in the last few games has happened with Oden out of the game. The one that shoudl have opened everybodies eyes was last night Greg came in and they whittled the Miami lead down to 4 with like 37 seconds left. He was pulled out to "protect" him from foul trouble. The lead was back up to 10 by half time. That is what happens when nobody is defending and Greg is saving our ass at the rim. He goes out, and the other team goes on a scoring rampage.
He's waaaaaaaaaaaay over thinking things. He's been worried about who is playing, who gets what shots and what's everyone's role is far too much this season. He needs to put all the BS out of his head and just go out and have fun. He looks miserable out there.
I feel for Roy, every time the team loses a game they should have won, Roy gets peppered with questions and I think he feels the need to come up with different answers each time. But there is a reason it is Roy (and not a Webster) who gets all the questions and is expected to solve the issues on the court. Roy is our max contract guy, the player this franchise decided they will build around. If your going to make max money, pressure comes with the territory. So while I feel for him because he obviously genuinely cares, I don't think he should be cut much slack. Roy negotiated hard for the max contract, even going public. He got what he wanted so badly, now he needs to accept the responsiblity that goes along with it . . . that being that the press and many fans will look at him first when the team is not doing well.
True, but Wade never gives up on a play even if his teammates do little to help him. For how much Roy compares himself to LeBron/Kobe/Wade, it sure would be nice to see him put forth that same sort of unrelenting effort and set the tone for the rest of the team.
I'm still not in the Roy is selfish camp, but it does worry me that, in the first game after he said that he needs to just go out and play, he chucks up 25 attempts and plays poorly on defense. 25 shots is a freak'n BUNCH! Go Blazers
I don't think Roy is selfish. I think he's making the mistake many people make: that things can always be the same. Last season was, in many ways, a dream season. Yes, fans will grumble about the first-round playoff loss...but it was a season where a young team seemed to jell, Aldridge and Roy really put themselves on the map and the offense hummed along extremely efficiently. And Roy and Aldridge got huge contracts, as the cherry on top (and being paid a lot is important to almost every human on Earth, even if his pay is not important to you). In many ways, considering the place on the development curve that the team was at, it was an ideal season. So Roy is somewhat understandably confused and frustrated that major changes are occurring on the heels of so much success. He and the team had major success doing things one way, and now, in his eyes, he's being asked to scrap all that. I think it would bother a lot of people. Even though I think he's not reacting ideally to this, I do consider his reaction very understandable. The thing is, teams change and evolve constantly. They brought in a high-quality veteran point guard. They have Oden taking on a bigger and bigger role as he improves quite rapidly. They've had some injuries. Things are obviously going to change and they are going to keep changing over the years. This is the first time that Roy has really had to wrap his head around following success with change. I think he'll eventually realize that he will keep needing to adapt over the course of his career and then things will be fine. But right now, when it's still a new concept to him, it's been a bit rocky. But I don't think there's anything wrong with his character. His reaction is a perfectly natural one.
The guy says he needs to stop pointing fingers and focus on his game and suddenly he is an asshole? Roy is here for the duration folks so you better hope he figures it out.
You know almost all those guys were in much the same until the recent Olympics when they saw how hard Kobe works out, how hard he practices, and how hard he goes on D. That is why I wanted Roy and Aldridge to get in on those Olympic team practices. I wanted them to be exposed to that so they could understand what the next level is. Everybody who went through those practices came out better players. Including Greg Oden and Durant.
Some players, coughAllenIversoncough, don't ever learn this lesson. I don't think Brandon needs to score 25 a night, I think 21-23 is good. LaMarcus could be about 19, and Greg should be about 17. Hopefully he (and the rest of the team) will start playing defense.
