Is there a complement to Roy out there?

by pualo on Dec 17, 2007 4:56 PM PST

A lot of people seem to think that Roy would be (or is) a great point guard on offense, but cannot handle the role of point guard on defense. At the same time, or team seems to missing one key player, that being a starter alongside Roy at guard.

So, my general NBA knowledge being a bit limited, is there a player out there that is the opposite of Roy? That is, a player who is a great point guard defender, but not a good shooting guard defender, and at the the same time has the offensive skills of a shooting guard, but not the skills of a point guard?

I would guess that such a player might have a hard time fitting in most places, since you usually want a player who is good at the same position on offense or defense, so the perfect player for Portland might even come cheap. But I have no idea who it would be. Any ideas?

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luther head?

maybe

by DominicanAvenger on Dec 17, 2007 4:57 PM PST reply actions

Eric Gordon

I say we trade up to get Gordon or maybe even Mayo

Plays like an SG, can lockdown on PG's

Blazer's fan since '84, Currently exiled in Tennessee and North Carolina

by HurraKane212 on Dec 17, 2007 5:12 PM PST reply actions

Delonte West?

Travis Outlaw drops the sledgehammer on Daequan Cook for a dunk so vicious, it's illegal in 48 states.

by BlazerBandit on Dec 17, 2007 5:15 PM PST reply actions

Ben Gordon

a good catch and shoot player

by jsh on Dec 17, 2007 5:16 PM PST reply actions

Aaron Brooks!

The Rose Garden is our House.

by JTDuck22 on Dec 17, 2007 5:30 PM PST reply actions

The best complement

to Roy I've seen so far has been Steve Blake.

He defends well, he shoots the long ball, he does his job night in and night out and he gets the hell out of the way in the 4th when it's Roy's time to shine.

For all the chirping we've heard about our "dire" PG situation this season, I think the three man rotation of Blake-Jack-Sergio has been working rather well.

Over time, Sergio's role should become more prominent and Blake's less so.

I just hope we don't make the mistake of fixing what ain't broke by going after a big-name PG like Chris Paul and disrupting the chemistry we have now as a result. We could also break our bank by signing such a player, which could entail losing the likes of Martell, James Jones, Frye, etc...

"Life is a meaningless sequence of events in between Blazer championships"

by broggerboy19 on Dec 17, 2007 5:56 PM PST reply actions

The player would also have to bring the ball up.

I think the best solution is to treat Roy like a 2. And then on a bunch of the plays the call is to have Roy go one-on-one, like how Michael Jordan was used. The rest of the time you have a point guard who plays like a point guard. Ideally I want Roy to be a cog in a machine, not the star around which everyone else orbits. If things go as I expect Roy will be our third best offensive player.

However, I have had fleeting thoughts of whether Rudy Fernandez can guard opposition point guards, because a back-court of two ball-handling shooting guards sounds interesting.

by EnglandDan on Dec 17, 2007 5:59 PM PST reply actions

Meh

I like the blazers right now, plus I think the question is wrong.

Of course, I don't know the right question or answer. I think I'd just like to continue watching and learning about the players and then really consider what we want for a starter at the end of the season.

I still don't think that Roy should be a point guard, but I also thought Jack would the be starter at PG, so there you go.

The question of who we want for starters is definitely in the back of my head, but I feel it's too early to really figure that out yet.

hmmm... it does bring up the fact that we'll need to make some moves and say good-bye to some players we love.

That... will suck. I really love this team (minus miles)

A wink is the same as a nod to a bat!

by ratbastird on Dec 17, 2007 6:52 PM PST reply actions

I think

that besides being a good defender and playing well off the ball it's important that the other guard is good at leading the fast break.

by Bruno on Dec 17, 2007 7:13 PM PST reply actions

I think the point guards

Brandon can't defend present problems to every point guard defender in the league. Also, Brandon can guard point guards at least as well as J-Jack. Someone made a statement that Roy can't guard point guards so now it seens to have become fact among blog posters.

by TwoDeep on Dec 17, 2007 8:43 PM PST reply actions

I confess

I am probably not the only or the first to say it but I did mention in a post recently that I didn't like the idea of Roy as the point. My thinking was he doesn't look to push the ball when he is controlling it and they need to be able to push the ball at least a little bit to get easy baskets.

My other point was that I didn't see him guarding the opposing PG effectively for the bulk of his minutes. He would tire faster and he needs his legs down the stretch. It wasn't primarily that he couldn't do it. It was more of a question of where you want him to spend his energy.

I like Blake right now. He is playing as smart as he always was and now he is hitting his shots which opens things up for him more as guys have to find him on D. He pushes the ball more than Roy and can find open men in the break and in the secondary break. He knows where everyone is and can get them the ball.

I like the way Roy is being used and I think with how guys are panning out (this is early to say and it may change as the season goes on) I think they need to look big in the draft this year to replace Raef when he moves on. They need a guy who can do the hustling, rebounding, defense thing more than they need another scoring option or ball handler. I have no idea if McRoberts can be that guy.

by tssbro on Dec 17, 2007 9:44 PM PST up reply actions