Can't watch the Rockets; so I watch the Vipers. They have a great announcer. Becoming a fan, but mostly watching Royce. Royce is behaving and getting in shape which allows him to do more. He has cut down a lot on some of the showy flashy stuff and stupid mistakes, but I just can't seem to form an opinion on whether he could ever contribute much to the Rockets or an NBA team. Great court vision and awareness, good passing, very strong in the paint, but short, and is pretty unselfish. To be a rotational or better player he might need to develop a better shot, though his form looks pretty good, . Needs lots of work and conditioning. Overall just a unique player, very different from the D-Leaguers, but am puzzled by his prospects, assuming (big assumption) his mental stability.
He has no motor and would have a hard time covering anyone at the NBA level. Way too slow to guard a 3, and too passive to cover 4 and play help D.
First of all, the announcer for the Vipers is just awful. Probably the worst announcer for any pro sport I've ever heard. I've only seen 3 or 4 games, but he constantly gets players' names mixed up or just doesn't know how to pronounce them. For me, that's big. I'd rather them be able to correctly identify the players on the court and correctly pronounce their names than be able to tell me a little bit about their previous D-League stints. As for Royce, he is clearly more talented than most/all others in the D-League, but he needs a J and needs to stop being fat. After losing the fat, he could play some defense.
He looks like he could be a backup 5. Looks strong enough to guard most backup centers. He would give the Rockets a very unique weapon on offense as a backup.
His play is well suited for D-League or maybe even Euro-League play. In the NBA I just dont see a semi-competitive team allowing him to facilitate as much as he needs to do to be effective. He's going to need to fill a roll first to earn PT at the NBA level. As a roll player, I just dont see anything he can really excell at to earn PT.
He is garbage and will be living in a rundown apartment in South Houston within 18 months after blowing through his money.
He just doesn't look like he wants to play basketball out there because he looks slow as heck. He looks...defeated...
My sentiments exactly. Wasted talent wishing he could do something else for a living. He will probably get his wish in another year.
The guy has entitlement issues, and his ego is getting in his own way, probably had people telling him how great he is his whole life. Needs a good dose of "Well you suck now" syndrome to grow up. Don't want him in Houston. DD
He might be able to play something but basketball at an NBA level is certainly not one of those things.
he needs to bust his ass and get his body/conditioning to an elite level. from what ive seen he needs for drive/fire.
I haven't watched him a whole lot. The other day I watched maybe one half of a Viper's game. I wasn't at all impressed. I think his ceiling would be a Boris Diaw, but he has a long way to go in terms of his defense and ability to shoot the ball.
This is basically my problem with the guy. With all his media attention I've never heard the guy express a desire to be a world class basketball player. The one thing that is within his control to get him out of the D-League and actually get him attention because of his play rather than his off-court antics is practice and commitment. It's hard enough to make it in this league for the guys that are actually trying. Why does he think he can half-ass his way into playing time?
I sure he get to toss plenty of salads during 18 months and impregnate 2-3 more women. Hey, to each it own.
Fat out of shape bum. Can't defend or shoot. Misses freethrows at high rate. Can't run the floor.etc etc
His success depends on these three things (in order of importance): 1. Motivation 2. Ability to play defense on the NBA level 3. Ability to shoot a jumpshot
Not to mention conditioning. Boris Diaw IS the best on-court comparison, but Diaw is an inch taller. Unfortunately, Royce doesn't have Diaw's head on his shoulders. It seems he wants the money, but doesn't want to work for it. Appears to have no passion for the game whatsoever apart from the guaranteed money of a professional contract.
