The Brandon Roy conundrum

Was Bynum the key to the Lakers this year?

 

Does that have anything to do with Portland? Two different teams.

 

Wondering what makes Oden the key to a championship, that's all. Was Kendrick Perkins the key to Boston?

 

Again, the Celtics have nothing to do with Portland, just like the Lakers. Those two teams are built differently with different players and play a different style of basketball.

If you want to make that type of comparison, use the Magic, who wouldn't even have sniffed the finals w/o Howard. They're a 3pt shooting team(just like the Blazers), but Howard averaged 20+ppg and does it all in the paint to balance things out. The Blazers don't have that currently and it really limits the offense and makes it a little too predictable.

If Oden doesn't become that dominant force(for the record I think he will), then it will be much more difficult to win the championship. Much more.

 

That's a good assessment and thanks for expanding on your post. I may not necessarily agree with it all, mainly because Orlando doesn't have a Brandon Roy who consistently gets to the rim and finishes, but I do agree that Howard was absolutely the primary reason that Orlando made the Finals. Whether Oden can be that player, and whether the team can adjust its style if/when it happens, still remains uncertain to me.

 

Actually, the Lakers is a better comparison. The Magic? We won 54 games with Oden sucking and only playing part of the season. Would the Magic win much with Howard recovering from microfracture AND having a midseason set-back AND it being his first year? Of course not.

 

I'm bumping this thread, because you could argue that what we're seeing now is Roy fighting against the inevitable transition.

 

Roy did play with Zach being the main focus on the offensive end and he seemed to do fine in that role. In fact, actually looked better than he does this season. I also think him losing some of his strength really hurt him. He's not as powerful driving to the paint like last season.

 

Damn after reading that post I'm not really sure why I was ever as OK with the Miller signing as I was ... then again Miller does do things off the ball like cut, but ... hrmmmm.