Fast forward to three in the morning and I can't fucking sleep. It needs to be said. I need to get something off my chest. I must warn you, it's heavy.
Brandon Roy, my favorite basketball player (neigh, my favorite athlete), is being a giant vag and is really starting to piss me off.
That was really hard for me. Lets take a second and regroup...Alright, I'm ready to continue.
Lets break down my frustration. First things first, my Portland Trailblazers are playing terrible basketball. Lately, they have been round house kicked three consecutive games, including two at home. Two of these three loses have been absolute ass beatings. They have now lost four games in the Rose Garden this season (they lost seven ALL SEASON last year).
We are struggling offensively. Our bench severely misses Travis Outlaw (out with a broken foot for 3 to 5 months). Travis came in off the bench and gave our second unit it's juice. Now our second unit comes in and just shits on the tempo. The last three nights these guys couldn't score on a team of autistic midgets. If the juice Travis provided was Tropicana Orange Juice, then the juice the bench is bringing now is like some generic artificial Orange flavoring. And let me tell you, that tastes like ass.
The other problem, and the one that is becoming the most frustrating is with my homeboy, and one of the possible namesake of my unborn son, Brandon Roy ( the other being Shawn Michaels). Brandon, a two time all star and the unchallenged king of Portland is struggling this season to get his shit going. Despite having a 42 point game earlier in the season Brandon needed 25 points in tonight's latest loss, just to even out his average at 20 ppg.
The team and Brandon don't seem to be on the same page, and it's uncomfortably noticeable.
Recent reports have Brandon mentioning his frustrations and highlighting Portlands need for a offensive "pecking order" which would seemingly involve less involvement from Portland's free agent acquisition Andre Miller and prospective franchise center Greg Oden.
The Miller thing I can understand. No one thought these two were going to play well together. They both require the ball in their hands at all times and they both need to drive to the hoop to get their points. This was not a relationship destined to work. However, the Oden thing is a little troubling. Oden, who scored 13 points tonight and grabbed 20 rebounds tonight ( 11 of which offensive boards) gets most of his points from clean up work, is not what you would call the crucial part of the offense. Nor does he appear to be trying to be that guy right now.
Oden isn't demanding the ball right now. So if Roy is having a problem with Odens point totals maybe he needs to watch some game tape. Alot of the big mans touches are coming from the little mans mistakes. Case and point, Roy drove the lane tonight, threw up some twisty, 'I'm trying to draw a foul' lay up (didn't get the call) and missed the layup. Only instead of the ball falling into the other teams possession, Mr. Oden deposited it for 2 of his 13 in highlight fashion. Translation: Roy missed a poor lay up attempt, and Oden dunked the mistake home. Saving everyones face.
So what the hell is the deal?!
This whole thing becomes even more of a stomach punch when you start adding in the fact that for the first time since Zach Randolph's huge contract (and ass) took off, this team doesn't seem to be clicking.
Roy wants a pecking order. Ok, I can dig that. A young team needs order. Roy is tired of the 'sacrafices' he is making for this team, while none of his other teammates seem to be following suite (check out Dwight Jaynes blog here: http://www.dwightjaynes.com/brandon-roy-and-his-sacrifices). If we read beneath the surface he is clearly worried about the point totals and amount of shots (points= all star appearances). The only thing I'm having a hard time figuring out is why he isn't getting the shots or the points he thinks he is being robbed out of. HE TOUCHES THE BALL EVERYTIME DOWN THE COURT. He can shoot whenever he wants to.
There has been many games this season where the Blazers have practically begged Roy to step up, earn his paycheck and take over the scoring load. Games where we have come out and laid an egg offensively as a team, and could really use that All-Star push that we got last year from him (think the Suns game where he dropped 52 in a come from behind win against the Suns). There have been a many games where we could've used him flipping into 'eff you mode' and take it over. We could've used offensive explosions out of him, like for example in games like the last three losses. It seems like the only one thinking that he needs to be this un-selfish playmaker is himself.
Brandon Roy is the leader of the offense. The pecking order is set. No one is going to question it. No one will question him if he shoots the ball (as long as he is making them at an acceptable pace). Who has told him to not be selfish? That doesn't make sense. We pay him to be our All Star! (again, points=all stars)
Brandon, we are BEGGING you to be more selfish. Not Iverson-like, but definitely someone deserving of a max-contract. Be the leader. Make the pecking order how you see fit. You're the highest paid player, you're the only All-Star, you're coach McMillians on-court assistant, and you're the freaking King of Portland. Stop bitching and get aggressive. If you don't want to swing the ball then don't. No one will kill you for that. Drive that ball. Just make sure if you don't knock it down that you're getting to the line. Because I'm sick of seeing these 9-25 with only 5 FTA box scores.
If you want to be king dick you better start playing like it.
And if playing with Andre Miller is bugging you that much just pretend his is Pryzbilla and forget he is on the court. ( and if that doesn't work you could always have him killed, I mean you did sign a max deal).
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