Seriously, Is It Time For Roy To Go?

Seriously, is it time for Kevin Durant to go?

He is across the board worse than Brandon Roy this season. Lower PER, lower FG%, lower 3pt, 95 Ortg/110 Drtg...

What a bum!

 

Seriously though, what do you think about the possibility that Roy might have lost some of his elevation and quickness from all the knee injuries? I think it's a legitimate question.

 

B-Roy will be fine. We need our 2 horses back. When we get them we'll be playing a totally different style of ball.

 

Why should that matter? Roy needed to become an off-the-ball player, so he doesn't need elevation. I'm not sure I ever saw Joe Dumars or Rip Hamilton dunk the ball or take someone to the rim.

 

I thought he had some great looks that just didn't fall when he was moving without the ball. So you're saying, if those were going in, nobody would be complaining?

 

But we're also talking about a player that can no longer defend- at all. A player that walks when the team requires him to run. A player that can no longer be counted on, at all, to handle the ball in close games. A player that is making others around him worse and not better. Those are legitimate concerns.

 

I'm saying, after reading the non-stop "ISO" bitching and such over the summer, that Roy actually has changed his game, and people are still complaining about him. Watching him last night, he was still able to penetrate when needed, he just made some bad decisions with the ball.

This thread is ridiculously over-the-top IMO.

 

Roy has the best Drtg of his career through 6 games, and saying he makes other around him worse is simply not based in reality. This post is waaaaayyyy out there.

 

Not even man. I know it has been a while since Jack has played here, but I still have not erased from my mind the way Jack would dribble with only one hand, stare straight down at the floor while dribbling, and the worst of all, find a way to make a turnover at exactly the precise time to blow the game. In fact it was so bad the last year he was here that myself and LittleAlex actualy became pretty good at predicting exactly when it would happen in game. He was that bad.

 

I'm one of those that was asking for less "ISO" offense, and I'm glad to see less of it. However, my concern is that I disagree with the bolded part. I haven't seen Roy able to penetrate and beat his man off the dribble at all this season. And his man-to-man defense has looked atrocious as he gets blown by. I'm just hoping that both of these concerns have nothing to do with health / injury.

I also agree that this thread is over-the-top. But I do have some concerns after the limited sample set from this season.

 

Apparently "+1" isn't a long enough post, so I'm going to say "I agree" instead.

 

Roy's defense is getting much, much worse. And that is really concerning.

You look at the Heat this year or the Celtics in recent years, and you see superstars who really changed their games to become much, much more defensive-minded to help turn their teams into championship-caliber.

I'm not giving up on him by a long shot. But somebody needs to sit down with our superstar and show him Paul Pierce, Wade, LeBron, Kobe and even Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton, and explain to him he's not nearly the caliber of defender as those guys. And there's no reason he couldn't be. (Well, at the very least the Ray/Rip level.)

He's approaching Sergio Rodriguez level, where I dread him guarding anybody. Unless it's the last minute of a game, when he miraculously comes to life on that end.

 

I'm not saying Roy is Bruce Bowen, but his Drtg through 6 games this year is 105, and his career number is 110, with a 109 last season. So, if he is getting "much, much, worse", it still appears that the team's defense is better than it has been at any other point in his career. What troubles me more are his offensive numbers in terms of team play, which are way off of his career norm.

Also, Rip Hamilton? He's a fucking sieve on defense. Not having Sheed and Ben Wallace makes a big difference.

 

Apparently he only sees LeBron scoring, and not LeBron chasing people down on a break and swatting the shit out of their layup.

 

I must be watching different games than some posters, because Roy's defense of Sefalosha and James Harden was not the problem last night. If the PG could simply box out Westbrook, the Blazers win the game.

 

More problematic than his offensive woes is his lack of defense. Roy could arguably be the worst defender on the team. During the past 3 offseasons, Roy has said that his main goal was to work on his defense. However, it seems like his defense has worsened in the past 3 seasons. He doesn't move his feet on defense, he gambles with his hands and is out of position.

I think your best player has to be one of your best defenders. Down the stretch in a tight game, you want him to step up and try to shut down the opponent. During the Bulls championship years, Jordan was their best defensive player, Olajuwon was Houston's best defensive player, Kobe was the Lakers, Tim Duncan was the Spurs, Lebron and Wade are Miami's, Dwight Howard is the Magic's, etc...

 

Should the Lakers trade Kobe too while he still has trade value?

 

Harden had his best game of the season against us last night. The guy has been playing TERRIBLY and he hit some big shots in the second half that helped get them back in the game.

 

Yes. To Memphis. It's only fitting.