That's the NBA, though. Unless you watched some other NBA where teams with closers win every game by 25 points, of course.
Roy covered up a bad offensive gameplan with some truly great late game heroics....but as 3? 1st round and out series confirmed, that type of iso play did not work in the playoffs as teams keyed on Roy, let him get the ball then double him and make him either take a tough shot or pass to a teamate with 2-3 seconds left on the shot clock, and if your team was good enough to close out on that guy...the Blazers were fucked.... That was not an offense.... Certainly management is partly responsible for not putting the proper types of players around Roy (shooters) if they were going to go iso heavy... and now Nate is trying to run the same type of late game iso....except he doesn't have anyone who can do it.... This has got to be Nate's last year....
Brandon was special player. Watching him night in and night out, you could identify some of the weaknesses in Brandon's game and that became a talking point on this board. But now that he is gone and the Blazers look clueless during crunch time (even with our new all star), it makes me not just miss having Roy during those times, but appreciate how fortunate we were to have him play for the Blazers for 5 years. Roy was the ultimate competitor that was highly spoken about by teammates and peers around the league . . . at one point getting the "toughest player to guard in the NBA" from Ron Artest. Roy was a classy, very skilled, smart and a warrior . . . perfect player to have on your team. I miss him.
I miss him but I cant think about it too much. It still doesnt seem real sometimes. Gotta move on but thats easier said than done when we are struggling the way that we are.
Fact is, we knew who would have the ball in the final seconds of a tied/close game and very often Roy delivered. Sure missed him vs. Dallas.
To quote Joni Mitchell: "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone."
I actually think there's a place for isolation plays within the game, but to me an offense should be a little like a diet -- you need a mix of things. Pizza is great, but I don't want to eat it for every meal.
Take that even further: an immature person with no real foresight into what makes for a healthy body would be just fine having pizza every meal. Children fall in love with a food and suddenly that's all they want even if it makes them fat and sluggish.
Good job, I have similar sentiments. Defense is crucial in this sport, and that should be the point of emphasis.
