T Mac has had some bad luck, even I can admit. His team blew it against Dallas, he didn't play well at the end of some of those games, but he had a great series, and so did Yao but Yao was limited by foul trouble. Utah was just a bad match up for Yao in 07, and the team just wasn't tough enough in 08. He was lucky to be up on Detroit in the playoff series when he was in Orlando. Even Kobe didn't get out the first round by himself till his team became stacked. Tracy can be a head case, but he's played well in the playoffs.
LeBron, Kobe, and Wade all have established themselves as superstars and they get the refs respect. Roy has not. But in a year or two, he will. He is not there yet, but I am quite sure that he is on his way. He has shown a lot of maturity as a young year player. He is not the athletic freak like the other three. But he is more like Deron Williams. Very calm, very poise, very smart. Yeah, can you imagine having him playing alongside the healthy Yao and T-Mac.
Great post. I was in the group that wondered how much better Roy would get after joining the NBA. After his rookie year, I threw that out the window. Anybody who still held that notion after his rookie season and ESPECIALLY after last season has no excuse.
I'm not sure how much better he can get individually. I say this because he really doesn't have much else to improve. He may very well be the most complete 2 guard in the league even more so than dare I say Kobe in terms of overall completeness. Maybe he can improve his defense a little more and improve his passing. Also I'd like to see more of a killer instinct and I think that trend will continue (just not the rest of this series I pray) he's already taken a lot of games over in the 4th quarter this year. Everything else would be nitpicking. The only way he can get better is by making his teammates better and he's already shown a great improvement in that department this year. The Blazers success is 90% due to ROY and his teammates success and Nates success will all be credited to him.
I think Roy's mid-range jumper can become more deadly. It's improved every year and can get better. He also needs to run off picks more and get open without the ball. They told him to work on this over the summer, he did, and the first month or two of the season it was beautiful to watch. Then as the season progressed, Roy went back to playing point again when he wanted to score.
Roy is good but lets not get crazy. Wade kills on the road as well, our bigs just aren't that great defensively to provide help on D to assist battier or artest on help D.
Nice obersvation. However the parts I bolded are due to the play and emergence of Rudy Fernandez. Roy was good at running off picks and getting open without the ball and it was indeed beautiful to watch but that's not his greatest strength and Rudy does it better anyways. His pick n roll with Aldridge and ISO at the top of the key for an in your eye 3 or drive to the bucket is virtually impossible to stop.
The difference between Wade and Roy is at the moment substantial; while Roy may indeed be a more complete 2 guard than Wade, he simply isn't as dominant. Both have their strengths with Roy definitely having the edge in terms of floor generalship, strength, length, range and durability, while Wade is a better midrange shooter, finisher/slasher and playmaker. The difference is that Wade is the BEST or near best at the areas he has the edge in, while Roy is just very good. For instance, while roy is good at using the pick to attack defense or good at finishing around the basket, Wade is one of the BEST if NOT THE BEST in those two areas. Kobe bryant and JVG have each commented on how Wade is probably the best at using the pick to attack the defense, (along with CP3). Wade's ability to finish at the basket is rivaled only by Lebron (& maybe kobe), along with his ability to take over a game with his scoring. Recall as early as 2005 Wade only in his 2nd year would routinely run off 14 straight points in the 4th quarter against teams or dominate the then top defense of detroit or how he would simply taking over games with his aggression. It happened even in his rookie year when he finished off baron davis and the hornets and challenged Jermain Oneal and the Pacers. Wades ability to score at will, get to the line and take over a ball game has been second to none and was never more evident than in 2006 against the Mavericks, where he did the closest thing to a Jordan impersonation since the original. Brandon roy is a very very good player, but he has not exhibited the ability to dominate his opponent and games, much less series that Wade has. If Wade were to have had those wide open lanes to attack Yao all series as Roy has had, we wouldnt be talking about why Yao isnt getting any shots, but rather why he cant stay out of foul trouble. The only player i've seen Yao looked more hopeless defending after a pick and roll is Kobe bryant and 05-06 ginobli, ginobli due to his crafty crazy finishes and kobe because hes kobe bryant.
That's a pretty ridiculous statement. Roy would be better off as a 3rd scorer on a championship team than the best player on the team. I don't think he (even if teamed up with another star) can carry a team to a championship. He's only averaging 2.6 assists a game, implying he's a true shooting guard. A very good role player, who's role is to score. He can't facilitate the way the top 3 or even T-Mac can. It's a shame he couldn't be our 3rd scorer. Tough luck.
Wade is the better overall player. His defense alone makes him better than Roy...one reason Roy is killing us in the series is because we arent making him work on defense.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=166408 Seems like most people here think the Heat will. I think Roy has the potential to be a better player than Wade simply because he has a more well rounded game, he's a better shooter. And BTW Wade is a turnover machine so I think Brandon is already a better passer.
I gotta back tigermission1 on this one. Seriously, lets even assume that Roy can one day dream of having a higher PER or offensive efficiency than Wade (won't happen but lets hypothetically say it will). Wade would still be in a whole other class as far as defense is concerned. And you guys wonder why the NBA is trying to tilt the game ever more towards offense? It is because fans like yourself judge players entirely based on what they do on just one end of the court, and disregard the impact defense has on a game. This is also precisely why Roy is nowhere near the player Lebron is, or Kobe is, because both guys put some effort on defense. Personally, I think his game greatly resembles that of Deron Williams' of the Jazz, especially in the way they change their pace/speed and direction and because they are both deceptively quick, big guards who have a nice shooting touch and can take it in on occasion. I really think their games are very similar. Conclusion: Roy is at best half the player Wade, Lebron and Kobe are.
Wade is just sick. You can't say that about Roy. Roy is pick in roll all day while Wade is run cross you up, run by you then dunk on your head or unbelievable finish. Roy and Wade are both equal as shooters. I've seen countless times Roy had a wide open look and clank it. You really can't say one is a better shooter than the other.
God, it is painful to think about it. I hate "ifs", but imaging if the lineup we having now is: Yao Scola Ron/Shane Roy Billups that is team can walk away with rings for sure.
