Is There Something Wrong With Brandon Roy? (with poll)
by JasonT on Nov 5, 2010 12:46 PM PDT
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I realize we are only 6 games into the season, but something seems wrong with Roy. He can't seem to shake his defender and is regularly getting his shot blocked in the paint. He doesn't appear to have the same explosiveness going to the basket. Is he injured? Is he feeling malingering effects from his knee surgery? Is he going three quarters speed until the end of the season?
Roy has never been a high-flier. But he has not been afraid to use his underrated athletic ability when he needs to. I just do not see the same shake and wiggle, the same devastating first-step, or the same lift in his game.
Could Roy even posterize Cheikh Samb now?
Are other people seeing this as well?
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There's clearly something wrong with him
but whatever it is, I really hope he shakes it before the Toronto game. Look how dangerous we were without him last night. With Roy at full power, we will be an even stronger team. Add in the return of our centers and you’re potentially looking at a 60 win team.
I've been wondering the same thing as well..
I think there are a number of things that could be contributing to Roy shooting more jump shots rather than going to the hole. To me, he doesn’t have enough space to operate sometimes. People sag off of Miller and he doesn’t have the space he had when blake was here to space the floor. I’m not saying blake was better because he’s not. Also, he starts slow every year. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes on strong as the season goes on. I think that the offense is too predictable. Everyone knows that he’s going to iso and try to create. Lastly, he may have lost explosiveness. He’s only 25 so I hope not.
Terrible by Roy's standards
I definitely agree. He used to be able to get pretty much whatever shot he wanted. Now all his shots look contested unless he’s catching and shooting. And he is no Ray Allen, so he needs to able to shake free of his man off the dribble.
His strength seems different
He is playing lighter. I liked him bulked up but maybe the knee didn’t like the extra weight.
He is simply not "The One"
He is a great player but he is not the one and only go-to guy on our team. He needs help to do what he is supposed to do.
He is not our Durant or (shudder) Kobe or Rose. He is just one player on our team expected to get 20 pts. a night.
Blazer Homers (like myself) mistakenly expected him to be the second coming of Clyde the Glide but this is not reality. He is one cog on the Blazer wheel and the sooner everyone realizes that, the better off we will be.
we can still win........
We still could use a Clyde type player but they don't grow on trees
I am hoping OMSW will be at least be a Kersey type player. Several times last night Roy got the ball in transition and never even feinted at going to the rim. Clyde on the same ball would have never raised his eyes off the ball and gone straight at the hoop for a stuff. I love Roy but he does have some limitations. Batum is the logical candidate for the jam-master role but he is still developing his offense. I’m loving the team and don’t expect a championship yet.
I love Roy but he does have some limitations. Batum is the logical candidate for the jam-master role but he is still developing his offense
We’re starting to see Brandon’s limitations, and some of us are openly wondering if he’s ever going to rediscover his former dominance. Time will tell, but not every player peaks in his late 20s. We’ve been wondering about his knees and how long he’ll be effective, and “the end” may not come quickly, it could just as easily be a gradual reduction of athleticism and confidence. No one wants this to happen soon, but excuses shouldn’t be made for Roy if/when it does
Nic needs to be more agressive. Nate said as much in his post game interview. There’s no reason that Batum can’t be drawing fouls like Westbrook or Durant do, it comes down to opportunities and his desire to dominate. On the steal and break out last night, Nic had the chance to use his body and draw a foul rather than get his shot swatted by KD. Maybe Batum is still concerned about his shoulder and is trying to avoid hard contact, who knows? The point is for him to become a difference-maker, and he can’t play soft and cute. The next stage for Frenchy is to mix it up more and draw some fouls. He may only be the 4th option now on offense, but his future is what he decides to make of it in Portland’s system, because as we saw during the first half, the talent is there
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
you're entitled to your opinion, but you can't argue with the facts.
I saw a graphic on ESPN the other day and it showed that besides Kobe and Lebron nobody in the NBA has hit more game winning shots or scored more 4th quarter points for their team than Brandon Roy since he’s been in the league. He also had a higher shooting % on game winning shots than either Lebron or Kobe. Now, I am not saying he’s as good as those guys, but he is a franchise player. You combine those facts with the fact that he’s the only player not named Lebron or Kobe to be a 3-time all-star, All-NBA 2nd and 3rd team and rookie of the year in his first 4 seasons and you have yourself a franchise player. Homer or not, those are all indisputable facts. This franchise went from 21 wins, before he was here to 54 two years ago and 50 last season. I do respect your opinion, but I don’t agree that he’s “not the one”.
Does anyone even REMEMBER how Roy played at the start of the season
last year?
He is fine.
Everyone knows about the iso now. They didn’t know it when he used it 2 yrs ago.
Teams weren’t as prepared as they are now.
The guy is double teamed.
That is huge.
He just needs to pass out of the double team and voila…easy points.
Sometimes he is triple teamed.
He is being careful with his knee. Good for him.
Now he needs to learn to continue to move without the ball.
I’ve seen him do it sometimes.
ALSO REMEMBER….BEGINNING OF THE SEASON.
by Natsthecat on Nov 5, 2010 2:39 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Thats true he is seeing way more double teams
He is seeing more stopers
He doesnt have as clear of a role in the offense too.
seriously
what a chicken little post. Roy is the last person on this team you need to worry about. We didn’t lose that game bc of Roy’s play. We lost bc we didn’t have any reliable offensive rebounds, we didn’t have our usual 3 point threats (Blake, Outlaw, Webster…Rudy(why didn’t he play?) ). If Roy looks slower maybe it’s bc he’s shouldering the responsiblity of having one center, and half the offensive firepower he’s had in the last 3 years (Webster, Outlaw, Blake).
there has to be some white out around here. Printer toner should work- Macgruber
From what I see this season and preseason...
Roy is following a trend (that we began to see last season as well) wherein his “dominance” is either lessening or being seriously diluted (due to team style, injury, addition of Miller, etc.)
I am not saying that Roy is not OUR franchise player (although given their simultaneous careers, I think a substantial argument could be made for LMA). I feel that this is a contributing factor to Roy putting up the 4th quarter numbers you are talking about.
I am not saying “Roy sucks” or anything like that at all. He deserves his all-star, franchise status and I love the kid, but it is clear that he is not just going to take us on his lone shoulders and deliver us to the Ring store.
we can still win........
He is one cog on the Blazer wheel and the sooner everyone realizes that, the better off we will be
Problem is, the people that really need to realize this are Nate and Brandon
I see Roy trying to make more plays this year, and not focusing on his own scoring as much as in the past. If this is the case, it’s a good sign, but sometimes his teammates aren’t prepared to catch the ball and make plays and Brandon’s passes result in a turnover
The most important thing that has not been established is how well Roy and Oden will play together. The Blazer future depends on this relationship. All of the other complaints (pace, not running enough, rotations, system/style) pale in comparison. If Brandon, LMA and Greg click, the team will be in the finals. If they don’t, there gonna be some changes made (as Bob Dylan would say…)
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
by two4larue on Nov 5, 2010 2:03 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Bingo.... Which is why I've been hoping they'd (Broy and Nate) have been split up by now
bq Problem is, the people that really need to realize this are Nate and Brandon
this is it!
"The only 'Advanced Metric' that matters is what you see with your eyes." -Timbo, Nov., 2009.
The injury prior to the last one he suffered (LA game)... after he came back from that one
he couldn’t get to the rim anymore or explode off the floor..
I can’t remember what the injury was (maybe knee or hamstring/quad) but since then he has not been the same player..
A slump would be a temp drop in FG%
It may be a slow start if he followed the Andre Miller summer training program. But the fact is he is not getting as close to the rim. But conditioning would matter more at the end of a game…but I don’t see him taking it even at the beginning.
FG% is the single stat that has any real significant drop during this early season
Roy isn’t considered an explosive athletic type player.. Never was… He gets to the rim by getting defenders off balance. Hes done this well in a few games this year and not so well in a few games. Although I have a hard time with it, I guess we can call three mediocre games a slump but certainly its not as big of a deal as we are making of it.
"At 49, I can say something I never would have said when I was a player, that I'm a better person because of my failures and disgraces." -- Bill Walton
by MischiefPortland on Nov 6, 2010 7:22 AM PDT up reply actions
certainly its not as big of a deal as we are making of it.
I hope you’re right, but I can’t help but worry that Roy has lost a little. I will feel much better once I see him getting to the rim with some regularity.
by Jeremy Wonderly on Nov 6, 2010 11:57 AM PDT up reply actions
I am worried. Very worried that he is not the same player.
I hope he’s just starting slow, like every season, but to me he looks like a different player.
#20
See above and Roy always starts the season off slowly.
He is moving better and doing more things this year than he did at the beginning of the season last year.
He is actually playing defense. Assisting. Stealing.
He will be fine.
true.
And I see that as positive. Maybe the team has not yet realized that there is a natural transition happening from Broy and Co. to BRoy, LaMarcus, Nic, Andre and Co. This can be a good thing. It doesn’t matter if the fans still gobble up the superstar/allstar business, what matters is that the team, and Brandon, do not fall for it.
"The only 'Advanced Metric' that matters is what you see with your eyes." -Timbo, Nov., 2009.
I'm hoping you're right.
I voted that Roy is healthy, but is going 3/4 speed.
But he does seem a LITTLE different.
But me being the patient guy, I’ll wait and see how things go.
This is kinda funny cus
If you actually look at the past 4 years, Roy gets off to REALLY slow starts in the season and picks it up. I’m not panicking at all. Give it time. If he’s still playing like this in December then you can panic.
I don't know what a slow start has to do with the fact that he cant get the rim anymore
or break guys down off the dribble as effectively… He had this same issue at the end of last season after battling the injuries.
by Rudy4three on Nov 5, 2010 2:47 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
He probably just needs some more time to trust his knee.
When he gets past that mental block, all will be fine.
Hmm...
…Roy definently hasn’t played up to the standards he himself has created for him. BUT…at this point, if he isn’t admitting to any problems then all we are doing is creating rumors…
Only Roy really knows how he feels….
Put together a string of Brandon Roy like performances and a few drives to the hoop and all this put to rest.
Or have Brandon make a statement that he doesn’t feel the same?
But less than 10 games into the season, I’m not ready to say anything other than let’s keep an eye on this….
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
I think he's trying to fit in...Isn't that what all the Roy basher's wanted?
I think this is a little bit of a transition for him. He is not going to be able to just waltz down the lane as much as in the past when Oden gets back. At least I can’t see that. Oden will need the block. Isn’t that what everyone wanted anyway? Getting others involved and having BRoy be more of a old-school shooting-off-the-catch 2 guard? This guy can’t win here!
Roy’s shot will start falling in time. It did last year. When it does, noone will complain. Mean time, the team is playing pretty well this early in the season without Oden or Joel. With either one of those guys last night, they would likely have beaten Okc handily.
Like I’ve always said, we are in the preseason now. Teams that will be playoff factors will not begin to click until January/February. Let’s see where the team and BRoy are then. My guess is they both will be doing just fine.
What I am seeing is separate from him changing his game up a bit
What I am seeing is a lack of explosiveness, quick first step, ability to shake his defender. Those are the things I am worried about.
I think kobe "phil-jacksoned" Brandon's brain
with all that talk about Roy being the toughest to guard.
Roy's fine
except for the plays that are being ran for him. I agree with John Lund (sp?) on 95.5 fm who said that opposing defenses are used to seeing Roy during crunch time at the top of the key sending up jump shots. They just send out their defender with the longest wingspan and force up a contested shot. Example was last night in OT.
The ball is in McMillan’s court as far as that goes.
"He's the one Natural One makes it easy, he can take it inside"
As usual, it's many things...
1) Roy always starts slow.
2) But, he usually still shows up some athleticism early, which he hasn’t as much this year. Either he has less athleticism after the injuries and surgeries, or he is still worried about the knee and isn’t willing to test it. In either case, he isn’t the rookie BRoy physically right now.
3) He burst on the scene and dominated for a terrible team, and created a god-like reputation and expectations that are nearly impossible to sustain.
4) The offense has seemed to have changed a bit, except for iso time, and he is obviously struggling adjusting to being a cog, from being the wheel his whole career.
5) The offense also is trying to establish a low post presence with LMA, which is clogging the lane more than BRoy experienced in the past. (Tough. Get used to it. Oden will hopefully be the man in the paint the rest of Roy’s career.)
6) Defenses have caught up with the BRoy end of game iso. I’d like to see his effectiveness at end of games before vs after the Rockets series. That signaled the end of his ability to dominate with the iso, IMO. I expect Nate’s tenure with the Blazers will end before he begins to realize this.
good point about LMA clogging the lane. I remember Roy not liking this..
or seemingly not liking this last year when Greg was playing.
Don’t recall if Roy said something about it…or if it was something I observed…the fact that no one except Miller seemed to feed Oden the ball…
Anyway, you are right…Roy needs to just get used to it.
are you
serious? All he’s been doing is moving without the ball so far this season. In my opinion thats a mistake and he should go back to attacking the defense with the ball and being a playmaker like he used to instead of recieving the ball with his back to the hoop. Of course this wont happen with andre miller on the team which is why he shouled be moved for mo williams or kirk heinrich. The excuse that teams have figured him out would make sense if he was in his 2nd year. This is his 5th season its not hard to see whats changed.
by BBG on Nov 5, 2010 7:29 PM PDT up reply actions
It is game 6 of an 82 game season
this kind of thinking amazes me. No wonder the crowd sucked at the end of that game last night, everyone there is pissed about something going on on this team. Be a fan support your team would ya. These guys will figure it out.
They made the playoffs last season with 311 games missed during the regular season, they will get it going. For teams that make runs at titles the season is a developmental process…if you are doing the same things in April that you are doing in November that is a huge problem. Roy probably wants to get other players comfortable in their roles and has adjusted his game accordingly, he will find his opportunities as the season progresses and the team will find their way into a position where Roy can be Roy and the other players can fill their roles. If they have it figured out in game 6 and change nothing the rest of the year they will be in trouble…
"Oh Yeah!" ~ Kool Aid Man
He had multiple opportunities to attack with the ball and be the playmaker Thursday
Not any other teammates’ fault but his. And I have confidence he’ll start warming up soon.
Not really, he just doesn't get the big numbers when he doesn't dominate the ball
Mostly because he doesn’t move without the ball
The Leeroy Rule: being insistent >>>> being correct
He's slow and can't seem to jump compared to
2 years ago. Highlights from years ago remind me of Brandon Roy, not now. Ok Nate and Roy, if you’re going to have Brandon be a one on one man, then let’s see him go through a few picks and go against someone more preferable. Maybe at that point it will be a double team and he might pass out of it.
I just feel like he's not as aggressive as he used to be.
Brandon used to be one of my favorite players to watch (i mean he still is…) because he could finish at the rim with either hand, right up there with the best in the league.
and it seems brandon just does not explode to the rim as often anymore.
now, i don’t know if thats because of LA’s low post game, or if brandons knee has slowed him down…or maybe teams have just figured out a way to guard him. I don’t really know…
But I do know his strengths are finishing at the rim, drawing contact and drawing double teams…
maybe its coaching? i don’t know…but they aren’t utilizing his best skills.
but i have noticed he does settle for jump shots…and it bothers me…because if he drives he could draw the foul every time.
Other (please explain)
Mistakenly believes self to be superstar. Figures only needs to play 4th Quarter in ISOs that were designed for him when the rest of the team was a crap fiesta… Stalls offense. League shuts him down. The end.
Nothing WRONG with him, other than the fact that he’s not Kobe Bryant and thinks he is…
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
by timbo on Nov 6, 2010 6:01 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs
He doesn't think he is Kobe Bryant
He is aspiring to be a Kobe Bryant. Trying to better yourself isn’t a bad thing, so long as he makes sure that it doesn’t take away from the team, and since playing off-ball and learning to run the offence are things he is focusing on I would say it won’t hurt the team long term. Just need to get through the growing pains.
by Jeremy Wonderly on Nov 6, 2010 12:20 PM PDT up reply actions
Weak!..
There is nothing to back up what you say and only your L@ker love makes you say such foolishness…
GO BLAZERS!!!… BEAT LA!!!
We should just trade him for Chris Paul
Yes I am talking about Roy. He clearly will never be a Wade type of player for us, he does a decent impersonation at times but that isn’t enough to have success in the Playoffs. He is also usually limping by the time the Playoffs come around that he can’t go all out. His knee problems will not be getting better as the years roll on and his game has plateaued to a respectable 20/5/5. I wish he was, I really do but the evidence is against him. He is still one of the top 5 best clutch players in the NBA, just not a very consistent performer. His lack of athletism is a huge knock against him, it means that he does not have the ability to consistently get to the basket and finish strong.
This is just on offense, his defense is pretty scary bad. The lack of effort for me is unforgivable, his athletism or lack there of has a part to play but the effort needs to be there for 48mins every game, Playoff game or just a regular season game. He tends to go through spells where he really tries to make an impact of defense but then lets his man have carrer nights on him, unacceptable.
The reality is that he isn’t that bad a player, the best that we currently have but not one that is good enough to win us the Championship. I don’t have to mention the whole business about the ISOs now do I? We all expected him to eventually me a top 5 player in the NBA but thats still not happened yet, don’t think that it will do you?
Do I need to explain why Paul would be the ideal player for us? Sure we might be able to keep Roy and trade for Paul but if they won’t accept just Miller, Rudy, Pryzbilla etc ? I know that I’d be willing to give up Roy to get CP3, would you?
by VinnyB on Nov 6, 2010 6:55 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Chris Paul is probably very happy staying in New Orleans right now....
But you are right. Way better player.
We sure do like to panic here
A week ago everyone was pumped about Roy’s first 3 games… 3 more games… the apocalypse is upon us.. We should prolly trade him now for a bag of skittles and head back to the lottery where we feel safe…
"At 49, I can say something I never would have said when I was a player, that I'm a better person because of my failures and disgraces." -- Bill Walton
by MischiefPortland on Nov 6, 2010 7:01 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I don't remember
anyone being pumped about Roy for any game this year. That said I’m sure he will come back to being the Roy we are now missing. I think the question is wether he can grow to be a real team player. I know he can have quite a few assists some nights, but I don’t see him running and cutting etc when the rest of the team gets rolling. It seems like a pretty good team with a very good player plopped on top. If he isn’t initiating (when his assists also come) he’s standing out at the arc watching. He doesn’t look like the leader he proposes to be.
by JeffePortland on Nov 6, 2010 5:48 PM PDT up reply actions
Other
Teams have simply figured out how to play him, and Roy hasn’t figured out any new moves to counter this fact.
Earlier in the summer Roy made a statement that he was going to work on off-the-ball stuff, like coming off screens for catch-and-shoot plays and the like. Give him some time to figure out the way teams are D-ing him and he’ll eventually do what’s best for the team. We’ll just have to suffer through it until then…
i love
how brandon has been under attack since andre miller arrived. Its in a way hilarious.
Dre has elevated the quality of his teammate's play, Brandon has elevated Brandon's play
The Miller fans are fans or team basketball, the Roy fans are fans of Roy. Pretty simple, and it’s completely unreasonable to assume that Roy and Dre cannot coexist, December 2009-January 2010 is all I have to say about that.
I don't get it
can’t you like both players and root for them both? We are better with both of them aren’t we?
by Jeremy Wonderly on Nov 6, 2010 12:49 PM PDT reply actions
this was supposed to be a reply to BBG
by Jeremy Wonderly on Nov 6, 2010 12:49 PM PDT up reply actions
Was at the game last night.
I’ve suspected it’ but Roy was clearly favoring his left leg when I saw him play in person. While Roy uses deception and skill to get to the rim, he also had an extra gear that allows him to beat guys when the defender is off balance. Clearly that gear was missing since he had hard time beating guys off the bounce, and under no instances that he looked like he can beat guys off the dribble at any time like the old Roy. I thought his 26—0-2 line was very reflective of his play, as he couldn’t move around well so he was out of position a lot nor could he jump.
While Roy stated that him becoming more perimeter-oriented is by design, it’s clearly not the whole truth as he is limping around out there.
I will run naked through the streets if Oden wins the MVP this season...happily.
I was at the Thunder game and saw nothing of the sort...
I also saw Brandon get 10 rebounds against the Bucks… and get up to block DeRozan last night… and he also took the ball to the basket very effectively last night and has had some ol’ school and one opportunities too.
For cryin’ outdoors!!!… It’s 7 games! Roy’s a slow starter (see last year)… Let’s not take him out back and shoot him quite yet.
Brandon will be fine. A dozen games from now… or even sooner… he’ll be at his best and the same people who are predicting his failure will be on to someone else… just like they made the switch from LMA to Roy a week or so ago.
GO BLAZERS!!!… BEAT LA!!!…
Still feel that way after last night game?
If you really think BRoy is fine health-wise after what we saw in the last two games, then I really have nothing else to say except we are in serious trouble if this is healthy Roy.
I will run naked through the streets if Oden wins the MVP this season...happily.
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