Roy entertaining thoughts of a comeback

There was a point when Brandon Roy was one of the top young players in the game. Roy garnered Rookie of the Year honors and was a three time All-Star. Then his knees betrayed him and he wasn’t the same player. There were flashes, like the playoff comeback against Dallas last year, but due to no cartilage in his knees, Roy was robbed of his explosiveness which led him to retire at the young age of 27.

After some time away from the game and working out behind the scenes, Roy is entertaining the thought of making a comeback. Roy told Eurobasket, ‘It’s hard being away from the game. Don’t be surprised if you see Brandon Roy make his way back to the court.’ 


 ‘It burns being away from the game and watching the entire season from the outside.’


   I’m sure Roy will have his detractors, but he believes that he can make it happen. Throw in the fact that sources say that despite his knee problems, his retirement wasn’t “all health related”. That’s something he won’t talk about.

‘There’s something to it, but it’s not the right time for me to get into it right now,’ Roy said. ‘I’ve been doing some treatment and I’m trying to leave the window open to returning to basketball.’   


I think there was some team turmoil behind the scenes and Roy decided it was best for the team if he left town. Just my personal opinion. I also think he still sees himself as the All-Star level player he was before his knees robbed him of his skills. If there is some way to make it back Roy is determined to find it.

“It’s the truth. It’s really hard being so far away from the game. I spend time watching Jamal (Crawford) and following all of his games; Will (Conroy) and Tre (Simmons) are both doing their thing, so it’s driving me to wanna come back out there. If the treatment I’ve been looking into can work, I believe there’s a good chance you will see Brandon Roy back hoopin’.”


I would love to see this happen, but I just don’t see how. Roy’s knees were bone on bone and at points he reminded me of Horace Pinker from the movie “Shocker”. Unless there is some procedure that can get some cartilage in his knees, Roy will stay on the sidelines. I would hate to see him struggle trying to make a comeback.

Aldridge had thoughts of leaving Portland

Since the days of Bill Walton it seems like the Portland Trail Blazers have been cursed by injuries to their stars. Either injuries or bad apples in the locker room. The latest blow to the Blazers has been Greg Oden’s latest setback trying to recover from knee surgery, which will probably end his Blazers career and put his NBA career in serious jeopardy.

There was once a time when the Blazers were thought to be an up and coming force in the NBA. I was one of those believers. They had Brandon Roy, the team leader and All-Star. LaMarcus Aldridge, a big man with tons of potential. Then there was Greg Oden, who was thought to be the next dominant big man in the NBA. With the three young guns on board. Aldridge felt out of place and low in the pecking order behind Roy, Oden, and Andre Miller. So Aldridge was at a point where he thought leaving Portland would be better for his career.

“I was the last of the Big Three,” Aldridge said, referring to his importance. “I even remember Coach telling me that the team is really good, but you are the glue,” referring to a term for a role player who does the little things to keep the team together. “And I was like, ‘Aw man, I’m the glue?’ I mean, that’s not a bad role, but I saw myself being so much more.” 


Aldridge is now the cornerstone of the franchise since the Blazers lost Roy to retirement (bad knees) and Oden to chronic knee problems. But Aldridge had doubts about being in Portland and him being an All-Star if Roy and Oden remained healthy.


“No. No. No. I wouldn’t,” Aldridge said. “I mean, I would go as far to ask would I even still be here?”

“I probably would have ended up signing somewhere else,” Aldridge said. “Think about it. I was the last option out of those guys, so they both would have gotten max deals, and they wouldn’t have given me my deal (five years, $62.5 million). They only signed me because I was the only low post threat left on the team. If they had Greg, they don’t give me the number I wanted, and I’m somewhere else. I think about it all the time. I wouldn’t even be here had Greg not gotten hurt.” 


Now Aldridge holds no grudges and wished the two had stayed healthy to see how things would’ve turned out. But there is no doubt that he might’ve been forced to leave to advance his career to the level it is now. Aldridge is happy in Portland and not because he’s option number one. He just wanted a bigger role on the team, but he happened to get it because the other two stars were felled by injury. I’m sure Aldridge would like to rewrite the script but if the Blazers could get a few pieces to surround Aldridge they could be thought of as a contender once again.  
 

Roy Says He’s Ready To Return

Brandon Roy wants to return to the basketball court. I say he should shut it down. Portland Trailblazers head coach Nate McMillan says he wants to see Roy in practice before he ok’s the decision. I say there is no decision. Roy has to stop trying to br courageous and chalk this season up as a loss. But what do I know, I just watch sports.

Roy was dragging around on one leg like Horace Pinker before he went on the shelf, what makes you think it’ll be any different after a few games. He’s practically bone on bone which is even more reason he should sit out the rest of the season. Remember when he returned against Phoenix in game four of their first round playoff series, which was rushed. Now he wants to make another quick comeback. Take it easy, sit down and take a break young man. This is your career you’re putting at stake.

“I can’t really predict the future, but right now they (the knees) feel good,” Roy said. “The biggest thing is once I start playing I have to keep them at a level where I feel good about going out there and helping this team.”

Those knees are shot and hanging by a thread. The best thing Roy can do is let the season play on without him. The Blazers are 16-10 without Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge has flourished with the offense going through him. Roy has already pouted about Andre Miller, how would he feel not being the focal point of the offense? Roy’s heart, pride, and ego won’t allow him to sit out the rest of the season, maybe his head and McMillan will tell him otherwise.