“B Roy retires and now Oden out for another year but basketball is back for the rest of the NBA.” The previous sentence was from a text message I received from my dad on the afternoon of December 9, 2011. At this point, I was just sitting around minding my own business, still just glad that the lockout was over and all of a sudden, my Blazers’ season came crashing down. Or so I thought. I was convinced that there was no point to even competing this season. I figured without Brandon Roy, we had no chance. I admit that that reaction came mostly from the shock of a day I’ve heard referred to as the “Worst day in Blazers’ history.” Now looking back, I’m able to say that the ninth wasn’t that bad for Blazers basketball.
Brandon Roy was a great player and as far as I can tell, he’s a great guy. Losing a player who is both of those things is never fun for a team but in this case, there are some advantages. First, we have to look at the matchup between player and system. Roy was outstanding in the half court offense and not spectacularly suited to the Blazers’ new offense which looks to run more. Now I’m not saying Roy wouldn’t have found a way to adapt to the new offense and be a contributor. I think he would have been able to. The problem is that Roy would have been nothing more than a contributor in this new offense and when he was on the court, the team leaned on him. The Blazers with Roy lacked urgency. They believed that if they were close at the end of the game they could hand the ball to Brandon and he would pull their fat out of the fire. The Blazers looked to Brandon to create the offense a high percentage of the time and now without him, the team is spreading the ball around. They’re running the offense through LaMarcus and Gerald Wallace, and there is a greater sense of urgency to the offense. I’m personally going to miss Brandon Roy but there is an argument to be made that the Blazers are better off without him.
I still believe Greg Oden has a chance to be a solid player in this league. When he is actually on the court, and not fouling, he’s done some stuff that really has impressed me. He was especially impressive on the defensive end. In the new offensive system, we need our big men to be impressive on defense. We need them to create fast break opportunities with blocks and rebounds. Oden could have done that. The problem is that Oden’s injuries have stolen from him his chance to be effective. Even if he had been healthy at the beginning of the season, he wouldn’t have been able to stay on the court for long periods of time. Now I know it doesn’t seem like a bad thing to have another big man taking some minutes and keeping the other big men fresh. The problem comes from taking the other big men out of their rhythms. Coming out of the game for just a couple minutes before going back in is deadly to a player’s rhythm. In a normal season, I would have no problem letting a player play themselves back into shape but in this shortened season, every win counts a little extra and we need every player playing at full speed to get those wins.
Less than a month after “Black Friday” the blazers are 5-1, having beaten both the Thunder and Lakers. The team has played with a sense of urgency. The team has been fun to watch and the players have shared the ball. Aldridge and Gerald Wallace have been impressive. December 9th was a scary day for Blazer fans but in hindsight, the Blazers may be better off without Roy and Oden this year.
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