Are the Blazers too Roy-centric?
I was asked that question Monday by someone working for an Eastern Conference team. He said, “I think they are beginning to rely on him way too much. Man, for one thing, I think it’s possible he’s one of those players who is going to be injured every year. And second, in the playoffs it’s hard to be that dependent on one player — the other team is going to take him away from you and you have nothing left.”
I think it’s a great question, whether it’s true or not. It’s a delicate thing for a team to mold itself around its best player, yet allow room for other players to grow and maximize their talent. I do think that LaMarcus Aldridge has not developed as quickly as the Blazers had hoped, and you wonder if that’s partially because he’s deferring to Roy all the time. What about Greg Oden — is he getting the ball enough in the post?
By the way, this is obviously a dilemma that many teams face in their development. The Lakers, after Shaq left, struggled with Kobe Bryant’s role for several seasons and went through stages where he was carrying way too much of the load. The Cavs have had problems with finding just the right balance with Lebron, too.
I’m just askin’ the question, here. What do you think?
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | January 6, 2009
Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers
I think B. Roy is a superstar player and it’s a superstar’s responsibility to shoulder the load. I like the fact that Roy is more agressive this season. There were times last year where I thought he would wait for the game to come to him rather than be aggressive out of the gate. I do think that Aldridge has to take some of the pressure off of Roy though. I think Brandon being out could help Lamarcus learn how to be the man. If Roy is going to last the season, Aldridge has to have games where he is the focal point and he’s the number one option. The Blazers can also take pressure off of Roy by giving Oden 10-15 touches in the post. Oden creates double teams which creates lanes and open shots. You’ve said this before Dwight. Not only will it help Greg’s further development but it helps the offense. Roy doesn’t always have to bail them out with one-on-one plays with the clock running down if this happens. Brandon Roy reminds me of D. Wade because of the way he attacks the defense. Unfortunately, guys like Wade and Roy end up taking a lot of punishment. I think us Blazer fans will have to live with Roy playing 70-75 games per season because of his fearless style.
Yes, but by necessity. What the Blazers hoped would be a big 3 is a long way away. I still believe in Oden, but I’m very concerned by Aldridge’s failure to take any step forward at all this year.
Yes the Blazers are relying on Roy too much. The way they are playing they really have no choice. I do think they need to dump the ball inside more to Oden, have him dunk and get to the line for. He is not a bad foul shooter. I think getting him more involved would help. Also, LaMarcus is going to be okay but I still think we need more offense down deep and believe David Lee would help provide that. I can see both he and LA playing at the same time with Oden in the middle. Now there is some rebounding for you.
Yes. We got lucky in the Celtics game. The team was pumped up, and the shots were falling. Oden needs the ball more. When he gets it the opponents collapse on him leaving our guys open. If I see one more Outlaw isolation / fall away jumper, I will throw my remote through my brand new plasma.
The problem the blazers have, and other teams are picking up on it is that other than Roy, we have NO inside threat at all. Will Oden score everytime down there? No. But I would rather see him try to get to the rack, than Aldridge doing his fall away jumpers. Sure they are great when he is hitting them but he needs to take it to the hole. Also with the exceptions of Blake and Rudy defenders can leave our wing guys. While Travis can hit 3′s, its not like he is automatic or anything.
I personally think Bayless can be this other penetrating threat, but not this year. I think we just have to give him more playing time this year. Portland fans need to face the fact that this is a first round and out team at best this year, let these guys learn and gel, make a move off season and come back next year and make a real run at getting deep in the playoffs. At least thats my opinion…
Yes, I have harping on this since last season. The coaches need to devise some schemes so that Roy isn’t the only good option. Roy needs to realize that he has talented teammates who need touches, too. His shot selection is crappy compared to last year. He is not D Wade or Lebron. The Blazers created this monster and it shows up every single time that we play a talented NBA team. Give the reins to some other studs in the stable. This is not rocket science. Go Blazers and thanks for your fantastic blog, Dwight.
I think Roy is dominating the ball because that gives Portland the best chance to win night in and night out. If and when other guys step up and become more consistent Roy will step back a little. There is nothing I can see in his attitude that would suggest otherwise. Roy wants to win, period.
I agree that Oden needs more touches. Outside of Roy, he is the only player that puts pressure on the opposing defense. LA, for all his talents, rarely gets to the line. I would love to see Oden take 10 to 12 shots a game.
True, but the Blazer offence is most of that problem. How often do we see nore than 2 passes leading to anything other than a 3 point shot? If there is no movement in the set offence then one player will dominate the ball.
Different teams makeups should decide who the focal point of the offense should be. There are some teams that do a great job on perimeter defense and not so much inside. In that case, the Blazers should be making LaMarcus the focal point, not Roy. When it is the other way around, then Roy should be the focal point.
But on the other hand, look at the Lakers. It does not matter what the other teams strengths are, Kobe will get his. That’s the difference between a Superstar and someone, Roy, who may grow into that.
LaMarcus needs to be more aggressive going to the hole. He does not put enough pressure on the defense and does not get to the line near enough. He should be getting 10 foul shots every game. That would also take a lot of pressure off of Oden.
absolutely. it’s hard not to rely on him when he’s significantly better than all of his teammates. KP needs to get to work.
I think this is just mor eevidence that the Blazers need an upgrade at PG. Right now Roy is the only one who can really create offense, both for himself and others.
When the shots are falling of course it works fine, just move the ball and eventually th eopne guy hits, but when they get into cold spells like the 3rd quarter of the Hornets game is where Roy has to take over, a good PG could create offense for other players in those situations.
In response to: “The coaches need to devise some schemes so that Roy isn’t the only good option”
I agree with this. In the summer league two years ago, Oden and Aldridge experimented with a high-low post offense, where LaMarcus “fed” Greg from the top of the key. I’m not sure why that idea disappeared, in the last 18 months?
It’s been observed that Nate McMillian’s offense (in both Seattle and now in Portland) ultimately produces open corner jumpers. Could Portland do better, perhaps hire an offensive coordinator who would be more innovative? (hint: there is no salary cap for assistant coaches…)
I think the bigger “Royness” problem for the Blazers is the pace forced on the team by Brandon. Looking back to the beginning of the season, we were hearing about the young Blazers ready to become a running team and take advantage of their youth and potential depth. However, we now see the team continue last years trend as one of the slowest paced squads in the NBA. I know the experts tell us they are extremely efficient on offense, but one has to wonder what could be if we turned the horses loose a bit. In pre-season drills we are told that Aldridge tests as one of the fastest Blazers and one just has to watch Batum for a few minutes to see the untapped potential of his athleticism.
But here’s the catch, Brandon likes to take his time and examine the defense, then attempt to exploit it. This allows the other team’s defense to become fully entrenched and prepared. Because of his own natural athletic ability it doesn’t present a problem for Brandon in most cases. However the rest of the team is left to go against a defense that has had time to think through their defensive assignments and focus on their mans tendencies, as opposed to scrambling around trying to make sure every one at least has a man to guard. This snail pace leads to fall away jumpers by Aldridge, Outlaw, Rudy and Frye on a regular basis. Most would say that the other players should adjust, but I would argue that they can tell when the opposition is ready and waiting for that drive across the paint. In the moment, the fade away jumper “seems” like the right move.
Instead, I’d like to see a few more quick passes to the box for one of our bigs and a quick move to the hoop before the defense has had time to get comfortable. That just might cause more foul problems for the opposing team and a little more rhythm and room for the jump shooters. I’m not suggesting we adopt D’Antoni’s six seconds or less philosophy, but a 10-12 second push when things tend to slow down in the late part of quarters would be a welcome sight.
I love Brandon Roy, but I see a day when he becomes more of a taller Chauncey Billups glue type of player to Aldridge’s impression of a more athletic Rasheed Wallace. Just a thought…
Running teams dont usually win in the NBA. Nate coachs with what he has and what he has is a bunch of one dimensional players who cant create their own shot. To the person that said Roy is not a Wade or Lebron thats a sad comment to make about a guy thats carrying your team. Its amazing that he has this team of rookies above 500. This is a lottery team without Roy
Roy’s shot selection is crappy? His pace is the problem? Do you fools even watch basketball, let alone Blazer games?
Dwight hit it right on the head when he compared us to the Lakers of a few years ago. Creating a balance between a superstar dominating the ball and a everyone else still playing team ball is very difficult. Roy is carring us right now, he won’t have to do that (as much) when the other 20-year olds start to grow up, which won’t happen overnight, regardless of how loud you cry.
Dwight, your site is the best Blazers analysis I’ve found – though perhaps I say that since I agree with you on virtually all points, including your choice of topics….
I’ve been troubled by the issue with Roy, but not in the way that most of your commenters address. They have focused on it as a game-by-game issue, and in that sense I used to grumble about Nate putting on the “prevent offense” late in games. The team would have good momentum, only to grind to a sudden halt with the Roy isolation.
I think the matter merits more analysis in a longer term, big picture manner. What sort of team will this be? Who will develop, and who will fit with that team? THIS is where the over-reliance on Roy troubles me: it wears Roy down while stunting the development of the rest of the team.
It’s tempting, with a player like Roy, to make him the “man” and subordinate everyone else. I think this team is talented enough to be something much better than that, and I don’t think that will limit Roy at all.
It’s worth a small sacrifice now to have a team in the playoffs, and in years to come, full of confident, developed players who can step up at crunch time.