Is Roy a Good Teammate?

Roy plays decoy a lot so that we can get wide open jumpers. A wide open jumper is a GOOD SHOT. It is not the best shot, but that is why the other team gives it up rather than allowing the drive. After a few wide open J’s, the defense starts to stick to their own men, and then Roy gets more room to operate/dish to the paint. Then the D starts cheating off their men and packing the paint to prevent Roy’s drive and Roy starts passing for the open jumper again.
Jabs aren’t the most powerful punch, but they feel out the opponent and set up the straights, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts.

Against Houston last year, I always found myself screaming “Pass the ball Roy”.

I like Roy. As a matter of fact, I love Roy. But, in the heat of the moment, when I wanted was for the Blazers to pull out a win, I found myself being incredibly irritated with his style of play.

I hate to sound like Bill Simmons, but if I had to rank the players on the Blazers whom I would want to play with, Roy would be down near the bottom. To play with Roy, you need to be prepared to spend a significant amount of time standing around.

but right now he (and frankly, the entire team) are defining roles and learning how to play with the new pieces in place. Now, we’ve all seen from the Houston series that “Brandon, do it on your own” is not going to be a long term success, so I’m hoping these are just growing pains on the offensive end building toward a full team offense

Because I think Roy is starting to realize that for the Blazers to win he needs to get his teammates involved especially at the end of games. I am heartened to hear the recent interviews where he has acknowledged this. Even the last game you saw this at the end when the Pistons had him totally bottled up.

In a way though he was trying too hard to move the ball and passed up a couple of open jumpers he should have taken. So on the other hand I agree with Jsnake also. Brandon is a cerebral player, I am not worried about him at all. He is no Kobe and even Kobe has figured out you cannot win it by yourself.

Maybe we can clear space for Allen Iverson or Ron Artest.

Roy would camp out at the 3 literally with hands on hips not even remotely involved in the offense.

That’s what people do when they’ve played 6 games in 9 days.

Brandon Roy is thinking about the post season.

I think Roy is a really good player, probably the all-around best on the team. But it’s still a team. I don’t care whether Roy goes to the All-Star game. I don’t care if he averages 20 points. I care whether the team wins and I think a Roy-dominated team is very easy to defend.

in terms of scoring distribution. If I remember correctly, nobody averaged more than 20 points a game but there were like 5-6 players who averaged over 10 points…and at least 2 more players hovering right under 10 points a game.

But he took plays off. Just like Randy Moss took plays off in Minnesota, Roy would camp out at the 3 literally with hands on hips not even remotely involved in the offense.

I’m pretty much to the point where I’d trade Brandon Roy for Deron Williams straight up.

But I don’t think Utah would.

Compared to most any other marquis player out there, he is very unselfish. If you ever get a chance, watch games that dont have the Blazers in them and you will see what many of us are saying. Our hated nemesis K0be used to be an amazingly selfish player till Pau ended up landing in his lap as a teammate and he realized that if he were to play WITH the rest of his team, they would win more. Guess what, they did. They won, a lot.

Roy knows this. He was quoted many times over the last few years with saying he was excited with the team we had because you never knew who would end up breaking out any given night and that was hard for teams to defend. He was right. However what really upsets me about this season, that same team first attitude doesnt seem to be there. That upsets me more then Roy being nominated by some as the most selfish player on the team. I feel the team has become more selfish in general due to the pressure of such a great season last year. Its unfortunate.

The announcers are right, he does play the right way. He is a breath of fresh air in the remains of the Thug Life NBA. I hope it stays that way.

The other thing I took a look at was the type of assists that Roy dished out. If Roy is passing for layups and dunks, why that’s a fun thing and it’s a joy to play with a teammate who provides you with easy buckets. On the other hand, assists that lead to jump shots—well, that’s a different story. It means the receipient of the pass is generally standing around waiting for something to happen and perhaps not involved in the offense (I’m thinking of complaints from Batum and Rudy along with the pretty weak expectations of offense from Blake and Webster: just make 3s).

I think you’ve missed the mark. The players you’ve alluded to here have games centered on being shooters. None of them can post up. None of them have the ability to consistently slash (though Batum and Webster show flashes). Why wouldn’t they love a teammate who is able to pull their defender away and give them the ball for a wide open shot? It doesn’t mean they aren’t involved in the offense… the offense is actually built around them being able to hit those shots. It’s a strength for this team. And because they are good at these shots, it should be veiwed the same as the dunks… they were provided an easy bucket by a teammate.

Furthermore, teams with the some of the best records in the league and considered to be Title favorites include the F@kers, Nuggets, and Cavs. K0be, Carmello, and LBJ are all in the top 5 in points per game and play for these teams. If anything, Roy should be trying to score more.

Fans love dunks; they’re a joy for us to see. Fans don’t love jumpers; they’re cringe inducing. I’m all for more dunks, as I believe you probably are.

I was going to do a fanpost about this, but I think it fits here. People are always talking about how Brandon “needs the ball in his hands to be effective.” As such, we need a good shooter to pair with him, particularly down the stretch when it’s “Brandon time.” And it’s not that important that the shooter be able to dribble or pass particularly well. Clearly, Brandon has a great repertoire of moves to get by players, shoot over them, draw fouls, finish at the rack and find the open teammate. But this all happens when he gets the ball around the three point line.

Brandon has proven to be much less effective when acting against a defense that is wholly focus on preventing him from making a play. When he brings the ball up the court and is trapped, he gives the ball up relatively easily. His teammates then tend to pass and dribble around the perimeter aimlessly, before the ball finds its way back to Brandon with limited time on the shot clock.

If you compare Brandon’s behavior in this situation to other ball-dominant guards, there’s a marked difference. Chris Paul, Kobe, Wade and others will do one of three things when faced with a trap designed to get the ball out of their hands: (1) keep dribbling, either around or through the press, or draw a blocking foul by running into one of the trappers while his feet is moving (2) give the ball up for momentary relief, but immediately seek the return to initiate the offense (3) see a teammate with an advantage resulting from the 4-3 situations spread across the rest of the court, and make an incisive pass leading to a quality shot for a teammate.

Brandon tends to pass the ball to Steve Blake far from the basket, who supposedly works the best with Brandon. However, Steve has exactly the wrong instincts and skills for going after a defense that is trapping. Steve’s instincts are to take the safe pass. Unfortunately, we want the ball in Brandon’s hands, and the defense is intent on making the return to Brandon as difficult as possible. To make matters worse, when Steve begins to dribble against a high pressure, high energy defense, his play-making capabilities seem to vanish. Thus, Steve dribbles around the perimeter, wasting precious shot clock time before making a “safe” pass to a teammate who’s not in position to make a play.

The maxim that “Brandon needs the ball” presupposes that our team is capable of getting Brandon the ball in a position to be effective on a regular basis. Until he shows that he can either keep the ball effectively despite defensive efforts to take it away, or that he can get sufficiently open so Steve Blake can find him, Andre needs to be on the floor. Because the Brandon time offense doesn’t work if Brandon doesn’t have the ball.

I know the feeling.. but at the same time, I think you are worried over nothing this early in the season. Knowing your teammates takes time and with two new starters, it can be difficult. Miller plays a different style than any player Roy has played with in college or the NBA as of yet.

Brandon does need the ball in his hands and rightfully so, he is an excellent scorer and distributer. I know you feel as if he isnt creating quality shots, but we are a JUMPSHOOTING team. thats what we do, so drive and kick is the appropriate play. If you want to discuss him making better passes for easier buckets, thats really a knock on Nate and his lack of running a motion offense. I imagine if he stressed that people need to cut to the hoop, it would create more layups but also cause some confusion in the lane (especially in a 1-4 set, in which is it nearly impossible).

I think Brandon will run the fast break more the sooner we take Blake out of the starting lineup and get in Miller as the PG. Miller is a fast break guard and one of if not the best upcourt passers in the league. Once you start running it becomes infectious. I think Blake fits more of Nate’s style of ball control offense. Of course this can be de-railed by arguing with the officials as you point out, but frankly as annoying as it is, yes I freaking despise it, there is some favortism in the NBA and complaining about calls makes them happen. Phil Jackson is living proof. So the next time he flies in the lane and loses the ball and screams he will get that call.

As far as one on one goes, I think again that really comes down to the offense. Its a designed 1-4 set. Its not a great idea and I think EVENTUALLY they will change it up. I would rather see a high pick and pop with LaMarcus with Greg on the block, Rudy hiding in the corner and miller cutting to the hoop and setting a backpick for rudy on the other side if he doesnt get it.. but again thats just me. One thing you have to remember is that appreciating Roy’s passing is a function of his one on one. Other teams are scared of it, and they double, that leaves players open for drive and kick or drive and drop to the big men. If he didn’t do it often, they wouldn’t likely doubleteam and then no one is open. Ever see Blake drive? Wonder why he has so much trouble passing from it? No one doubles, cuz no one is scared of him.

I understand the criticisms on defense. I do. Roy frankly is just a mediocre defender. But he will get better. Almost all of defense is effort. And expending so much energy on the other end makes it hard to be a good defender. Unless you are freakishly large like LeBron, being a great scorer and great defender don’t usually go hand in hand. Occasionally a player will be great at both but I cant even think of one since Jordan. So understand that its a work in progress. We expect all first team NBA stuff out of Roy but this is only his 4th year in the league. I am happy with him thus far as we should all be.

My concerns are really with the offense and how its structured. It should not be focused on Roy, he should just take over when need be. Although he is not persona gratis #1 around here, Phil Jackson runs the triangle offense. Regardless of his players, he doesnt change the offense. He runs it knowing that when things get stagnant or time is running down, his superstars will know when to break that offense and get a shot off or get to the line. Nate needs to trust that Brandon can do this and stop with the 1-4 offense. Keep it simple.

Interesting post though.

… worrying what winning $100 million in Powerball is going to do to your tax bracket.

Regarding the first set of bullet points:

Roy has to have the ball in his hands – that is not unusual with the best player on any team.

Roy talks to the officials about a no-call instead of getting back on defense – this one might bother me some, but I’d like to see some real evidence that it happens frequently enough to be a problem. It’s been my observation that he usually does this after play has stopped. And I’d rather have one of my guys talking to the refs in a low key and professional manner so that later in the game we get a call, then yelling and scowling at them.

Roy walks the ball up the court – don’t have a problem with this. I see it as part of what goes into Portland’s ability to control pace and their excellent offensive efficency numbers.

Roy doesn’t run the fast break – see above

Roy doesn’t play off the ball well – I don’t see proof of that. The fact that he doesn’t play off the ball that much is not the same as saying he can’t.

Roy can’t play with Miller (people don’t say that much any more) – you answerd this one yourself.

Roy can’t play with Rudy – not true. Others here have shown that Portland’s best unit ncludes Roy and Rudy.

Roy can’t play with Sergio – who cares? Sergio is not on the team (and can’t get playing time on the team he is on.)

Roy can’t play defense; Roy doesn’t try on defense – Roy has demonstrated that he can play defense. As for how much effort he puts in, some of that has to do with tradeoffs. How many times do we see the statement that one way to keep at great offensive player from killing you is to make him work on defense? Granted, I would love it if Brandon averaged 26 per game and was named to the 1st team All Defense. But I don’t consider that to be a must see requirement. Besides, Portland has one of the best defensive rankings in the league right now. That tells me he’s not a lousy defender or not putting forth any effort.

Roy plays too much one on one – I don’t see that mattering as long as he produces.

I doubt you would find many people who would argue that Brandon Roy has no room for improvement. The guy who would argue the hardest that he does is Brandon. But his still having facets of his game that need to improve should not be cause for disquiet.

from a worry wart

Is it heresy? Can anyone even say these things without getting stoned?

evidentally

In order to rule upon this matter, I submit the following for evidence:

Roy can’t play with Sergio

Roy has scored over half his points “unassisted” in five of those games:

9 to 5 (Denver) L
15 to 4 (San Antonio) W
8 to 3 (New Orleans) W
16 to 3 (Charlotte) W
8 to 7 (Altanta) L
Does this promote stagnant offense? Is this appropriate for your superstar? I’ll be frank: I was surprised that it was only five games. I thought it would be more. Perhaps I have inhuman expectations of Roy.

youre last bullet point

etc.

LOL

verdict: yes you are high

-Sophia

He is a terrible teammate. he makes everyone around him worse. He is selfish and spoke out against the team when he did not immediately get the contract he wanted. Last season was a fluke, and I highly doubt he will be an All Star this season. Portland is better off Roy-less.

If he doesn’t play the right way at home, chances are he won’t at work, either.

Ugh