Truehoop loves some Roy

is just amazing.  

The highlight clip inclludes this stat:

Longest win streak after getting a #1 pick:
01 - 02 Wizards 9 games
76 - 77 Rockets 9 games
70 - 71 Pistons 9 games
07 - 07 Blazers 8 games

WOW!

And I think we may be the only team to make such a streak without that #1 pick.  

I don't think they'll ever be a perfect explanation of how Brandon Roy gets to the hoop with such ease, but I have noticed a few things over the past two years that TrueHoop didn't really cover...

1.) Roy always paces himself. Last year, I didn't really understand why we never saw ROY WONDER for 48 minutes. Sure, we'd see flashes where he would score our last 8 points in the fourth quarter, but he never really took over a game from start to finish. This year, we're beginning to see why. Roy is confident in is his own game to the point where he doesn't need to "test the waters" in the early goings, like most young players. Even when he was struggling, he approached every game the same way - "My shot will be there, let's get my teammates going..."

2.) Roy also has an extremely effective ability to make himself small and then explode to the basket. If you look at pretty much any picture of him dribbling towards the hole (or watch any highlight footage), he leans over at almost a 75 degree angle and bends his knees, so that he's about 6'1" heading into the lane. Then, once he's around the hoop, he explodes upwards and the transition from a 6'1" guard to a 6'6" guard (plus whatever his vertical is) causes all sorts of problems for shot blockers around the league.

3.) Roy is also crazy strong with the ball. I don't know how much he can bench, but my guess is that it would be a lot more than you'd anticipate just by watching his game. At first, I thought he was kind of built like Rip Hamilton (who has a shooter's build), but as I watch his game and how he handles contact around the basket- I'm more reminded of Jason Richardson (and a little of Baron Davis as he's kind of the prototypical strong guard).

You'll notice that when either player attacks the basket, they rarely ever go to the floor regardless of who is contesting their shot. Roy posterized Tyson Chandler early on in the game, and it looked like Chandler really wanted revenge. Later, the two players met head on (in the air) on a lay-up attempt and Brandon Roy absorbed the contact, adjusted his body ever so slightly and still finished. I just don't think his defenders appreciate how strong he is...

4.) I'm sure this applies to other guards as well, but the league really needs to assess how to officiate when Roy is in the paint because you rarely ever see him go flying into the first row of the stands (a la Manu or D-Wade). Instead, (and we've all seen this before) Roy takes his beating, adjusts, and still gets up a shot attempt. When this happens, it seems like the logic is "Well, he got it off, there couldn't have been much more than incidental contact..." but this isn't true at all. It's endlessly frustrating to watch Roy absorb all kinds of bumps, bruises and horse collar tackles (if your Chandler) only to get a missed lay-up out of the deal.

They should officiate based on the D-Wade logic: Excerpt from NBA Rule Book Section 112.i.b "If Dwyane Wade misses a lay-up, he was fouled." Can we add an addendum to this to include B-Roy?

I do like the D Wade rule. It seems brandon gets the call about 50% of the time that he is hacked going to the basket. If he could just get the call 75% of the time his scoring and FG% would go up considerably. I agree with everything you say, although sometimes I wish he would be more aggressive early in the ball game to set the tone. He's very herky jerky, is like a bowling ball going thru the lane, and can finish with both hands. He looks like a superstar in the making to me. A lot of people on this site felt his upside wasn't at an all-star level, let a lone a superstar level. Have any of you changed your mind?