The B-Roy Factor

Hey guys, it's RCM, taking a quick break from my mountain of homework. I trust you all had a great Thanksgiving break.

I just want to take a little bit of time to talk about Brandon Roy's play this year. Brandon Roy has been under fire lately from sportswriters around the league for not taking shots, not scoring points, and not leading his team like he has to. Are any of these accusations founded? As always, feel free to respond, give feedback, etc.

Rookie of the Year. Two-time All Star. Prodigious 19.8 ppg career paired with a solid 5.1 apg.

Max contract player. 5 year contract.

Team Captain.

#7, Brandon Roy.

Analysis

Yes, we all know and love Brandon. He has a very complete game, and he seems to be able to do everything. Let's analyze his game:

Offense

Brandon Roy is most definitely an offensive superstar.

First and foremost, he has great court vision. He seems to always know where his team-mates are at all times. When he drives to the hoop, he knows where Blake is for the open 3. He can find Aldridge for that sweet long 2. He can also pass very well, amassing 5.1 assists vs. 1.9 turnovers.

In addition, Roy has a great shot. He can create his own semi-open jumpshot, and he's ankle broken some of the best players of the league (i.e. Ron Ron last April). If you give him a wide open three pointer, he'll drain it straight through. He can shoot a turnaround jumper if he posts up a smaller guard near the point.

(Obviously, his shot isn't as polished as Kobe's. But his shot looks great at this moment- at this moment in time, he can stroke it better than any shooting guard not named after Japanese beef.)

An area Roy needs to work on is off-ball movement. He still looks a little bit lost on plays designed for the post- he stands around awkwardly when the ball is fed inside to Greg or LaMarcus.

However, he more than makes up for this with his lethality taking the ball to the rack. Roy is developed enough in that he works to make his shot instead of trying to just get the foul. In addition, he's very adept at drawing fouls. Throwing his hands up, screaming, grunting, and flying to the floor, Brandon is more and more fouls called his way when he drives to the hoop. He's an All-Star; he deserves it; every single game he's getting more and more respect from refs.

Defense

Not possesing either the size nor length to be a great shot blocker, Roy's defensive highlights consist mostly of getting steals. Averaging 1.2 steals per game, he had a rather long streak of games with at least 1 steal last year.

Defensively, his game is solid, There's a lot of improvement needed before he can be called an defensive superstar, or an amazing, or even a great defender.

But there's one thing you can always count on from Brandon, and that's heart. Put him up against Kobe, and he'll be playing his heart out trying to stop the man. Match him with Wade, and you'll find him running with Wade up and down the floor, into and out of the paint, denying the ball, and making his life miserable. You'll always get 100% from Brandon on both ends of the floor, and that in and of itself more than makes up for his lack of length and strength.

Intangibles

Roy is a great leader. His rookie year, he stood up to sour-mouthed big man Zach Randolph, defending the rest of the team from the vindictive Randolph.

In addition, his work ethic is amazing. He's always one of the first to get in the gym, and stays really late. He sets a good example for the other young Blazers.

His natural skill set definitely is subpar compared to other stars such as Kobe and Dwyane Wade. However, he is a very intuitive and cerebral basketball player. He maximizes his talent by playing a very smart game. And this intuition and intelligence is something that sets him apart from the other All-Stars of the league.

By The Numbers

Last year, in his career year, Brandon took 16.9 shots per game, hitting 48% of them and averaging 22.6 ppg.

In our loss against Utah, Roy took only 13 attempts (making 7 of them). He also turned the ball over three times, and finished with only four assists.

Now when you're on the road, your team is losing by more than 10, and you're the team's All-Star, you've gotta take over the game. You should be taking 20+ shots in this situation, taking over the ball game and building offensive momentum, instead of forcing other players such as Jerryd Bayless to step up and finish with 14 points.

(FREAKING JERRYD BAYLESS HAD TO STEP UP AND TAKE SHOTS BECAUSE ROY WOULDN'T!!!)

Let's be real. Roy's ballhandling has been shaky at times this season. He's turned the ball over. He hasn't taking enough shots.

But let's get this straight:

The Blazers dropped two games because of Greg Oden's emergence. Roy's game hasn't evolved to incorporate Greg Oden's offensive starpower. But it will. Wait a few games. The next batch of games might be tough to stomach.

Our home town team might flounder, struggle, even get blown out. But to drop 5 games now, and in exchange develop a solid low-post game along WITH a high-post and outside and mid-range shooting game, that would be worth it. Better to lose 5 games and get a great offense going in the beginning of the regular season, rather than to lose five games in the offseason because of a lack of offense. The Blazers are going through a rough patch right now. Brandon Roy's going through a rough patch right now. But Brandon Roy is who Brandon Roy is. We can count on 20 points a game and 5 assists a game and an All-Star trip to Dallas for Roy this year. Let our team play. Let them learn. Let them lose.

And then smile and celebrate when all their cylinders are clicking at the end of the season, they are completely healthy, and they make a deep playoff run. Hey world, listen up. This is our time. This is our year. Watch out for Portland.

--Rip City Mike

P.S. Feel free to comment, agree, recommend me, etc.