The Roy Wonder is stoking the fires of a hot Trailblazers team.
Portland is on one of the more exciting runs in NBA history, and the man leading the charge is Brandon Roy. As of January 4th, 2008, the Blazers are scorching hot, winning 15 of their last 16 games. They are the new talk of the league.
Roy’s maturity was evident at the University of Washington (and some would say earlier, as he considered entering the NBA Draft out of high school) where he was the conference player of the year and an All-American as a senior.
Taken with the sixth pick in the 2006 Draft, the “Roy Wonder” made an immediate impact. Averaging almost 17 points a game, he ran…no, sprinted away with the Rookie of the Year award. He completely took over in 2007 winning the Western Conference Rookie of the Month award three months in a row, from January to March.
Roy’s unique style is all angles, pace, poise and court IQ. He rarely overpowers or bursts past defenders.
“That’s just the way I have played my whole life. There were times growing up, coaches who would say I play too slow, or I need to speed up, I need to rush. It’s not by choice, it’s just the way I play.” says Roy.
With defenses no longer taking Roy for granted, his second season had the potential for a “sophomore slump”, but this season he is putting down nearly 20 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds a game. And why Roy is so special and valuable to Portland is not just what shows up on the stat sheet, but how he commands the team. Always smart enough to pick out a mismatch, whether it be a smaller player on LaMarcus Aldridge, or a slower player on Jarrett Jack, Roy is the perfect floor marshal who knows where the ball needs to be.
And this Blazers hot streak is all the more amazing considering how young the versatile Roy and the rest of the team is.
“We are having the time of our life right now. We are on a win streak right now, there’s nothing like it. You know, I was talking to Coach Nate, and he said he has never been a part of something like this, and he has been part of the league for 20 years,” says Roy. “So, it’s an incredible win streak and we are just trying to keep it going.'’
The Blazers may cool off sometime this season, but the current play has them neck-and-neck with Denver for first place in the Northwest Division. And for the fans, the thought of Brandon Roy feeding the ball to a healthy Greg Oden is all the more reason to pack the house.
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