http://www.nba.com/2008/news/features/dave_mcmenamin/12/19/suns.blazers/index.html "Roy took the ball with him over to a postgame interview with TNT's Craig Sager before tucking it safely into his locker to keep as a memento of the night. Next thing he'll be taking over is the league."
It doesn't get any better than this. Portland is the center of the basketball world today, and Brandon Roy is the king.
This could not have come at a better time on national TV, and before the ALL STAR GAME!!!!! Huge for ROY and for Portland!!!!!!!!
He definitely will not be voted into the All-Star game, but hopefully it's enough for him to pass up some of the nine players in front of him.
While there's nothing official about order of coach's selections, I'll bet Roy is, in fact, the first reserve guard selected. He seems well-liked and well-respected and he's been playing at a level just below the Kobe/Paul tier.
I still can't believe Alston and Billups and T Mac are ahead of Roy in the voting. Lots of ignorant fans out there... I say, based on THIS YEAR, in the west the top 3 guards are Paul, Roy and Bryant. In that order.
Billups will probably get voted in by the coaches with Roy. That'll leave a bunch of good guards vying for the fifth guard position on the all-star team. It's nice to think that Brandon is one of the guys that are probably a lock.
Going into the season, Denver was widely predicted as a team on the brink of collapse. Instead, they are sitting at 17-8, and Billups has been a key reason. The guy deserves to be in the top 4.
It's the China vote with a dash of TMac's diminishing hype and a sprinkle of And1 mix tapes thrown in.
Oh yeah? Kobe just missed a game winning shot against the Heat tonight. Roy doesn't miss game winners.
Yi Jianlian is the third leading vote getter in the Eastern Conference at forward. Just a little bit behind KG.
I hope Yi passes Garnett and then the NBA can get rid of this stupid online fan vote. Of course, I'd guess Yi is actually leading, but the NBA is manipulating the results so as not to show the fan vote as being totally in the hands of China.
There is no way that Roy gets snubbed from being a coach's pick. Chauncy Billups and Tony Parker will also make the team. Steve Nash might steal someone's spot based on reputation, but honestly he doesn't deserve it, as his numbers are significantly worse than in previous years. Other young stud guards have been hurt and not playing as well as they did last year, such as Derron Williams and Kevin Martin.
I posted this in another thread: "Roy deserves to be an All-Star, but I wonder if he will get snubbed this year. There's so many good guards in the West. Obviously CP3 will make it, as well as Kobe. McGrady might get voted in. If those 3 get in, then there might be only one spot left. Nash may not be putting up MVP numbers, but he is still one of the best point guards, so I don't see how the coaches will leave him out. So that's 4 guards. Would they add yet another guard to the roster? Assuming they do, there's still Tony Parker. Despite the early season injury, he's as solid as ever. Deron Williams is coming back from an injury as is putting up okay stats and will only get better as he gets further away from the injury. Those two are Roy's biggest obstacle I would think. So if either the Spurs or Jazz go on a winning streak, Roy may likely get snubbed. Last year, I think Deron was snubbed because Roy's stock was raised in light of the Blazers' and Roy's surprisingly superb play in that 13 game win streak. So that might happen again this year, but in reverse. And what if Roy or the Blazers hit a slump. Who knows what could happen? Therfore, I wouldn't say Roy is a lock. However, if I were a betting man, my money would definitely be on Roy to make the All-Star game (as a coach's vote-in.) Especially if he continues the type of play he has displayed in the last 5 or 6 games. Edit: And I completely blanked on Billups. He is in the early MVP talk, so I think he has as good a chance as Roy to make the All-Star game. So Billups, Parker, and Williams all have chance to get in. Roy's advantage over these guys is that he is a shooting guard while these guys are all point guards. It'll be intersting how this year's All-Star roster shakes out."
The coaches will vote in Roy, more easily than the fourth or fifth guard on the roster. They'll do it because Brandon Roy is exactly the kind of player they'd want to coach.
