I can't hate on Roy... the guy did so much bringing this franchise back up from hell and carried us single-handedly in games. It's just sad more than anything to see him fall so much in so little time. Not gonna hate on him for that when his body can't respond to what he wants to do.
The team is losing because of the way Roy puts together sentences. I just hate it when he says, "I told Nate to put me in." "These guys have held the fort without me." He puts it in the 1st person, "I gotta get the guys to play defense," instead of the more humble, "Nate told me to play defense and he's right." His words intimidate everyone else into not having a take-charge mentality.
This certainly, to me, is not primarily a Brandon Roy thing. His team mates sit around and watch and wait for him to do something. There is no movement. Some are blaming this on Roy, but to me, it's one of three things: 1. The coaches are not telling players that they need to move out there and get the ball to LA. or 2. The coaches are telling the players to move around and get the ball to LA, and they aren't doing it. or 3. The coaches are telling the players to do it, and they want to do it, but Roy is telling them not to do it and to give him the ball. Of those, I think 3 is the least likely. I think 2 is the most likely, and simply because this is how they're used to playing with Brandon. The coaches need to sit the team down and say, "Brandon is a hell of a player, but right now he's not at full strength, and until he is, this is LA's offense. We go through him. We will continue to play how we did when Brandon wasn't here. Brandon will be a nice asset off the ball and we will continue to run iso plays for him from time to time when LA is on the bench, but when LA is on the floor? The offense runs through him. Period. Until I say otherwise, that's the way it's going to be."
Roy is a natural-born leader. It's not his fault that he has to play with a bunch of betas, nor is it his fault that his body isn't up to the task of being an All-Star alpha anymore. If the Blazers were a wolfpack, LMA would be challenging Roy for leadership based on his oncourt superiority over Roy as often as he could. Eventually, Roy would become a loner on the fringes of the pack, and eventually cast off to be either a lone wolf in the wilderness, or an alpha to try and start another pack (preferably in the Eastern Conference). In the human world, emotions and personalities come into play, and beta-males aren't sure how to assert their dominance when the alpha has lost his physical dominance. It's what makes us human.
Do you really want to isolate LMA and go to him on every play all game long? Roy is a good 1 on 1 player. Shouldn't we take advantage of that when he's in the game?
Haha! Somebody just called into Canzano's show talking about a "pack mentality" since Roy returned. Who stole my idea!
He was in the 4th quarter against Denver. And he created a big three for Matthews too, in the OT I believe.
Res ipsa loquitor - the thing speaks for itself. Being a "fan" doesn't mean ignoring what is right in front of you. At least not if you are a fan of the team, as opposed to being a fan of individuals.
Currently, Roy isn't as effective or useful on the court as Dante Cunningham. And Dante can play every game (albeit, no longer for the Blazers). I hope for Roy to get better, but I won't be amazed if the other hand fills up faster, if you know what I mean.
Ah, see I don't think LMA needs to be isolated in the post either ... or at least clearing out to the weakside should only be done occasionally and depending on matchups. There are other ways of getting him looks from the block (which Nate actually did a good job of for the most part over these last few months with Roy out).
With 13 seconds to go, and were down by 1, in game five of the first round of the playoffs, I DAMN WELL HOPE Roy is still on our team. No, he's not the player he was and he probably never will be. But he is still value to the side and I still want him in a Blazer uniform.
