NY Times: Too Soon for Roy's Return?

[Shooter]

Portland's three-time All-Star had arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees just three weeks ago.

He was averaging 16.6 points in 23 games before he was sidelined indefinitely by the team. Roy says now he is nearly pain free, but still needs to practice at full speed.

His announcement has sparked debate over whether it is too soon to return.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/02/08/sports/basketball/AP-BKN-Roys-Return.html?_r=1&hp

 

[hasoos]

What Roy return too soon? What kind of history do draw that conclusion from?

 

[Shooter]

What Roy return too soon? What kind of history do draw that conclusion from?

It's ridiculous that management is even considering letting him come back this weekend. Haven't we learned our lesson?

 

[Mediocre Man]

They need to rush him back, this team is only has a .615 winning% since he went out December 15th.

For those of you playing at home, or not able to access a calculator, Orlando has a .615 winning% for the year, and they are 32-20

 

[Shooter]

They need to rush him back, this team is only has a .615 winning% since he went out December 15th.

Yeah, I like the way we're playing, and I'm afraid we're going to revert back to the old walk-it-up, isolation-style of basketball that Roy likes. I'd rather he stay out awhile longer and let us keep rolling. The fact that we've beaten the Spurs and the Bulls without him tells me that Roy is not as crucial to our success as we've thought.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Roy has been sitting on the sidelines watching what LA has been doing. He knows what is going on with this team. He said he expects to come off the bench. Roy coming back is a good thing.

As far as if it is too early . . . I'm guessing the Drs are on hyper conservative mode with teh Blazers, so if the docs now say it's up to Roy and his pain tolerance level, I'm guessing Roy is as good to go as he can be.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

If.... *IF*.... Roy embraces the bench role, and provides an offensive spark for the 2nd unit, his return could be the catalyst for a deep playoff run.

That's a huge if.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Roy has been sitting on the sidelines watching what LA has been doing. He knows what is going on with this team. He said he expects to come off the bench. Roy coming back is a good thing.

As far as if it is too early . . . I'm guessing the Drs are on hyper conservative mode with teh Blazers, so if the docs now say it's up to Roy and his pain tolerance level, I'm guessing Roy is as good to go as he can be.

IF, and that's a BIG IF, Roy can really come back and be happy with a secondary role off the bench, then this is a good thing. If Roy comes back and does what I expect him to do, which is say the right things for a while and then start bitching like he has done many times before, then this is not a good thing

 

[BBert]

That's an amazing stat, mm. I agree with T_of_B. At least I hope it is so. Brandon needs to fit in off the bench, and he should be smart enough to realize that by now. If he can, that improvement in bench play will help this team all the way down the line, and allow for more rest for our starters.

 

[BBert]

It's funny. T_of_B posted my hopes. Mediocre Man posted my fears.

 

[HailBlazers]

I too am very weary of him coming back too soon, but in reality it doesn't matter when he comes back the damage to his knees is already done. Hopefully the latest surgery has truly relieved some pain.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I too am very weary of him coming back too soon, but in reality it doesn't matter when he comes back the damage to his knees is already done. Hopefully the latest surgery has truly relieved some pain.

Oh ya, him coming back now or next season won't make a bit of difference to his knees. They can't be repaired, and it's up to him to just deal with the pain. I guess if nothing else, coming back too soon might lead to an earlier medical retirement from Roy?

 

[hasoos]

All kidding aside, all we can really do is let Roy listen to his body and make decisions. The best thing that could happen is that he comes back and is BRoy. The worst that can happen, is the situation we are already in.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Ruining the chemistry of this team is a concern? Coming back healthy is the one and only concern. Everything else can be fixed in time, except bad knees.

 

[hasoos]

Ruining the chemistry of this team is a concern? Coming back healthy is the one and only concern. Everything else can be fixed in time, except bad knees.

How much is that chemistry worth if we are merely above .500?

I think the thing I am worried the most is Lamarcus will start to defer again. That is my biggest fear.

 

[RoyToy]

Yeah, I like the way we're playing, and I'm afraid we're going to revert back to the old walk-it-up, isolation-style of basketball that Roy likes. I'd rather he stay out awhile longer and let us keep rolling. The fact that we've beaten the Spurs and the Bulls without him tells me that Roy is not as crucial to our success as we've thought.

They still do this now

 

[Pinwheel1]

How much is that chemistry worth if we are merely above .500?

I think the thing I am worried the most is Lamarcus will start to defer again. That is my biggest fear.

Exactly.

I don't think the problem was LMA defering. The problem was that everyone else defered. Roy is/was not a PG. I said last year LMA would be a allstar with cp3. He is close with Miller. If Miller runs the offense, LMA will be fine. I am guessing Roy sees that now.

 

[blazerboy30]

How much is that chemistry worth if we are merely above .500?

I think the thing I am worried the most is Lamarcus will start to defer again. That is my biggest fear.

As MM posted, since Roy went down, we are playing at 0.615%. That is quite a bit above 0.500.

 

[e_blazer]

Perhaps if we get Roy and Camby back we can play at 65 to 70%. For certain, I don't see how a team playing basically a 7 player or so rotation keeps winning at a 62% clip.

 

[illmatic99]

We had 6 players play yesterday. They played: 46, 44, 42, 38, 34, and 23 mins each.

All well above their season averages. Any help that comes from BRoy should be seen as a relief, not as a detriment to our team. Roy is a smart player and there should not be any doubt that his primary goal is to help the team win, and he will do what is required of him and nothing more.

It's Nate I'm worried about, and hope he won't rush Brandon back into the iso-fest.

 

[PapaG]

I don't see how getting Roy back, if his right knee is pain-free, as he says, could at all be considered a negative. If he is a better player than he was before he went out, then he will be starting again, which is the was it should be. Having two primary scorers (so long as Roy really does feel better) only makes the team more dynamic and more difficult to defend.

Then again, the Portland fanbase has never been known for being completely rational or conventional.

 

[blazerboy30]

I don't see how getting Roy back, if his right knee is pain-free, as he says, could at all be considered a negative. If he is a better player than he was before he went out, then he will be starting again, which is the was it should be. Having two primary scorers (so long as Roy really does feel better) only makes the team more dynamic and more difficult to defend.

Then again, the Portland fanbase has never been known for being completely rational or conventional.

It depends how much better than before he went out. He was a complete liability on defense.

 

[PapaG]

It depends how much better than before he went out. He was a complete liability on defense.

I'm assuming he'll be able to move better. If not, then I agree with him coming off of the bench, potentially for the rest of his career. He was hurting the team more on defense than offense before he got shut down for a while.

 

[BrianFromWA]

From the other thread, but maybe belongs better here:
has no one else noticed that Roy's going to have 5 games before the trade deadline, last one being against the L*kers? Maybe that's why he's coming back quickly?

 

[hasoos]

As MM posted, since Roy went down, we are playing at 0.615%. That is quite a bit above 0.500.

Ok if you want to believe the team is that much better with Roy off the court have at it. But it seems to me if they were winning at such a great clip, they would be more than 4 games above .500. They were near .500 when Roy went out, and they are barely above it now. There have been several stretches in there, where they lost enough games that they were teetering on going on under .500. The team is following pattern, and the last road trip verifies that pattern. The team plays well at home and stinks on the road. They jump a few games above .500, and then they drop it on the next road trip. They come home, rest, refocus, and get a few more wins. They hit the road, stink it up, maybe eek out a win, and head home.

 

[jlprk]

From the other thread, but maybe belongs better here:
has no one else noticed that Roy's going to have 5 games before the trade deadline, last one being against the L*kers? Maybe that's why he's coming back quickly?

Maybe that's why Przybilla has been playing so much, and Marks has been sitting. Can't get anything for Marks.

Also, when it was announced that Camby would come back sooner that we thought, someone posted that the reason might be the trade deadline, to show other GMs that he's healthy.

 

[oldguy]

I'm hoping we get 3-4 years of Sixth Man OTY level play out of Brandon. Even if he's still better than Wesley on O, Brandon should be doing what he can to contribute as long as possible. Limiting his minutes seems the best way to make that happen.

I'm pretty excited about having Brandon and Marcus back. The team beat SA and CHI without them. They are middle of the pack team, at worst, with these two back.

Screw sending the vets away for mid-20's picks, I want to roll with the team we've got.

Go Blazers

 

[KingSpeed]

Yeah, I like the way we're playing, and I'm afraid we're going to revert back to the old walk-it-up, isolation-style of basketball that Roy likes. I'd rather he stay out awhile longer and let us keep rolling. The fact that we've beaten the Spurs and the Bulls without him tells me that Roy is not as crucial to our success as we've thought.

Please. Rolling? We're 28-24. Not exactly rolling. We just lost to the fucking Pacers a few days ago. We've been great teams with Roy too. In fact, Roy has NEVER lost to the Lakers at home in his entire career. The last time we ran the offense through Roy for a whole season, we were 54-28 and the 4th seed in the West. We only lost because everyone but Blake and Joel had never been in the playoffs and Outlaw laid a big egg, especially in the critical game 6. Our best game of the series was Game 2 in which Roy scored over 40 and Artest called him the best player he's ever played against. Last year, Roy was hurt for the playoffs.

Aldridge would probably be scoring a few more points than he is now if Roy was playing but the improvement to his overall game has nothing to do with the absence of Roy and everything to do with his offseason regimen and a decision to take to the hoop more. He can still do that when Roy comes back. Save for a couple games, we have been horrible in close games, something we were TERRIFIC at a couple seasons ago when we slowed the game down at the end and put the ball in Roy's hands.

Stop the Roy bashing. It's ridiculous.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Do we or do we not have a better record this season when Roy doesn't play?

 

[Nate Dogg]

I have to say, I'm giving ROY props. His heart wants to play and even if hes weaker on the defensive/offensive end he at least can give a few minutes to rest our bench of guards such as Rudy, Miller, Mills, etc. Nate likes to mix it up a lot with Cunningham or Batum as SF so this can be also extra minutes for them to rest when ROY is in. ROY is going with his heart and wants to compete, regardless if he makes an impact right away, but merely hes giving our bench extra minutes rest.