Roy and Drexler
I was asked last night about how Brandon Roy compares to Clyde Drexler. And you could make a case that in his third season in the league, Roy compares quite favorably to Drexler in his third season.
I can buy that. And I think Roy has a chance to be as good or better than Drexler before he’s done. But to say he’s as good at this time is foolhardy. Crazy, really. There’s just such a long way to go. For one thing, check out Drexler’s games played for his first NINE seasons in the league: 82, 80, 75, 82, 81, 78, 73, 82 and 76. Man, the guy played EVERY night. And toward the end, he was carrying his team on his back through a long playoff run, too.
So give Roy all the credit in the world. But don’t short Drexler, either. Being as good as he was, and staying as healthy and strong as he did, made for an extraordinary career.
It’s going to be fun to watch Roy take a run at that kind of greatness.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | December 19, 2008
Maybe too early to tell, but I will look forward to the comparison. I do believe Brandon is a better leader than Clyde. Like you have said before those past teams had Clyde as the face but Terry and Buck were the vocal leaders.
Comparing players is one of the most fun things about being a fan (take a look at baseball fans and comparisons of players in the HOF vs. not in the HOF), but its waaaay to early for this comparison. Roy’s body of work is not large enough yet.
I think it’s great that the blazers have a great young player that we can compare to Drexler. Roy is so fun to watch. I remember thinking that Roy was going to be a “good” player after his rookie year. I thought maybe he’d be a guy who would be just solid. I never dreamed that he’d be a superstar. I think he is. I know that term gets thrown around pretty easily in sports and I am biased but I believe he is a superstar. What does Roy not do that a superstar does do? I think he does it all. Clyde has always been my all time favorite but, to me, Roy is more clutch than Clyde was. Clyde never got enough credit (in my opinion) for his late game heroics. I still think Brandon is more clutch though. I heard a stat last week that the Blazers are 26-10 in games decided 3 pts or less since Brandon has been a Blazer. That is amazing to me.
I have lived through the two great Blazer teams, and much hoping I get a third. Clyde sure did not emerge as great early on. He developed. He went through good better than other poster described. I think he was in 5th year before I figured he was going to be great. Maybe it was when Buck came along. Then I am slow learner.
Brandon needs for Greg to develop, and to count on LaMarcus.
I enjoyed that Suns game but worry if Blazers count too much on Brandon as they did in that game.
And Dwight makes good point Clyde was durable.
They are going to retire his #7 jersey in the Blazer rafters!
The difference between Clyde and Roy is an apple or orange debate… but I don’t think I am going out on a limb here or am being delusional when I say this.
Before it’s all said and done, I fully expect Roy to bring the Blazers home a trophy, and maybe more than 1, like at least 2 or maybe 3. Anybody want to bet against him? At that point there won’t be any debate. For now there is a debate.
And the fact that Clyde won a ring with the Rockets, is good for Clyde but does nothing for me as a Blazer fan, if anything it made me more bitter.
Also, I am one of those fans that wanted KP and the Blazers to draft Roy out of UW, and yelled when we drafted Foye, but was hysterical when a trade was announced for Roy. Where are all the geniuses that wanted to draft the stache? Remember some stache fans even paraded outside of the Blazers facility before the draft.
Terry Porter was a great leader, and he was clutch in big moments.
Clyde was the love of the town, and had the all around game that made him a HoF player.
If you add both these guys together, you get the description of Brandon Roy. An MVP in the making.