Pistons Game/Random Thoughts

Didn’t see the game last night cause I was at the Mayer Hawthorne show. If you don’t know about him, learn about him. Good music. Great show. Party.

Here are some random Blazer thoughts/box score assumptions.

-Has Aldridge ever played better then he is right now? He is easily our best player right now. Yes 2 years ago he caught fire after the all star break, but even then he wasn’t playing D like he is this year. His defensive rotations/help D have gone to a completely different level. The light bulb that everyone was waiting for finally went on. I hope this is a sign of things to come.

-How depressing is it, that before we are all said and done Aldridge might be the best/most consistent player in our “Big 3”?

-Bad news about Roy this AM, but it does explain a lot. Knee drained twice already in 3 weeks? Gotta be making Portland’s front office nervous….

-Jerryd Bayless had a nice game last night with 15 and 9 dimes in only 19 minutes. I hope he does well, just not against us.

-Sounds like Rudy played pretty good last night, who would have thought he would revert back to rookie year Rudy after this summer? He’s definitely showing me something so far this year.

-Still no return date for Oden, I’m ok with that until about January. Then I start getting nervous.

-At what point do you have to start questioning Portland’s training staff/medical staff? I’d buy it if it wasn’t the same injuries over and over again. Fractured/dislocated patellas on Oden, Pryz, and Pendergraph with one calendar year? Webster and Outlaw both fractured their feet? Even if we think they are doing a good job (which is seriously a question) wouldn’t it be worth cleaning house and trying something new? Isn’t that worth it when you have $75 million/annually invested into these players? And you are hesitant to let the medical/training staff, who probably makes a combined $1-2 mil a year TOPS, go? Seems like a no brainer to me.

-With all this news out of the gate, do you guys still think a trip to the second round is viable? Let me know what you think.

Lakers/Roy Thoughts

Blazers never even stood a chance in a game versus the Lakers. It was a not so gentle reminder of how far we truly are from competing for a title. The Lakers basically did anything they wanted, and dictated every aspect of the game. Yes, we just played our 5^th game is 7 days, but you’d like to at least see a little something out of our guys. If you can’t get pumped up to player the Lakers, then I’m not really sure what to tell you.

A bigger topic right now has to be Brandon Roy. I can remember the days when losing by less then 20 in LA would be a victory, and Brandon Roy has brought us a long way from there. So I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s played some amazing basketball for us. Saying that, it’s hard to accept him not trying. He is a max player for a reason. He is required to bring it every night, not just when he’s feeling especially good. He needs to be the guy that pulls us out of a slump. That’s what comes with the territory of a max deal. Just like in real life, your manager gets paid more cause he has more responsibility. No way you get a huge raise and the expectations don’t rise as well. Life just doesn’t work like that.

Jason Quick had an interesting article in today’s Oregonian about Roy. He seems to be frustrated by what the fans are asking of him. Fans that asked him to play more off the ball. Fans that asked him to do this and do that, and he feels that he is trying to do that, but then fans change their mind and want the old Roy back. My reply to that? Fans don’t know crap! Why the hell would you listen to what the everyday caller on 95.5 has to say!?! You have forgotten more about basketball then they have ever known! Just play your game.

However at some point I do have to question Roy. You notice how the top guys always add stuff to their game? A counter move to their favorite move, a post game, etc…Has Roy truly added anything in the last 2-3 years? His 3pt % and FT % actually went down last year from the year prior. What is Roy doing to counter the defenses that are geared to stop him? I’m not sure its much of anything…

Roy preaches team and says all the right things, but I am truly beginning to question his true intentions. If he is going to pout because Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw were traded, or because Miller doesn’t defer to him, then how selfish is that? How little does that say “team player”? And does he honestly expect everyone below him to buy into that?

I keep waiting for the light to go on for Roy the same way it did Kobe, Lebron, Garnett, etc…I just hope it does before those knees go out.