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NBA News | March 16, 2010
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Roy searching for his inner ruthlessness
By Marc J. Spears
March 16, 2010
The Portland Trail Blazers had just lost to the Denver Nuggets, and Brandon Roy was blaming himself for the defeat. His 12 points had hardly measured up to Carmelo Anthony’s 30, and with the Blazers clinging to the Western Conference’s last playoff seed, any loss was one they couldn’t afford.
By the time Roy reached the Blazers’ bus on the night of March 7, he had vowed something needed to change. Specifically, himself.
But even those seemed outdated when weighed against the Blazers’ pressing need. Roy looked at the game’s top stars, from Kobe Bryant to LeBron James to Dwyane Wade to Dirk Nowitzki, and they all shared one common trait: They’re relentless scorers.
Roy needed to become the same. Four nights later, he dropped 41 points on the Golden State Warriors.
“I look back at [Michael] Jordan, and Kobe recently. Those guys try to dominate. You look at big men like Shaq, they dominate,” Roy said. “It was an edge. I got to get that edge. Even when I play against Carmelo and those guys, they play with that edge. They want to bury you. I’m thinking, ‘I got to get that edge.’ ”
Roy has averaged 27 points on 57 percent shooting in the four games since the Blazers fell to Denver. The Blazers won all four games. He has no plans to dial back his aggressiveness.
“Every day, I got to prepare and it’s not just a switch,” Roy said. “Kobe was saying that. We were about to play in the All-Star game, and he said, ‘Let’s go hard.’ I said, ‘Why do you want to play so hard in the All-Star game?’ He said, ‘It’s not a switch. You have to do it every day.’ I’m learning that now. It’s not a switch.
“I’ve gone so long in my life not being that way. Now, I got to turn more aggressive, more mean. I’ve never been one to be a [expletive]. But sometimes on the court, you have to be a [expletive].”
Roy, Bryant, James and Wade are the only four players averaging at least 22 points, five assists and 4.5 rebounds this season. But the similarities between Roy and the three superstars end there.
Bryant and Wade have won championships. James has reached the NBA Finals. Roy hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs. And Roy’s per-game average of 22.3 points dims in comparison to that of James, Bryant and Wade, who rank among the league’s top five scorers.
Unlike Bryant, James and Wade, you also won’t see Roy on many national commercials or widely featured in the NBA’s marketing campaigns. Playing in one of the league’s smallest markets doesn’t help Roy’s profile, but then neither does this: Fans love scorers. The more points, the better.
Rarely is Roy noticed outside of the Pacific Northwest. That’s why he was surprised when workers at a McDonald’s in Philadelphia recognized him – at least before they started asking him about Wade.
Roy isn’t worried about enhancing his endorsement potential as much as he is the Blazers’ win total. But in a season where Portland’s roster has been shredded by injuries, he knows he needs to become more selfish.
“I never scored over 40 in high school and college,” Roy said. “Never had the mentality. I always had the mentality that if we’re up eight and I got 30 and I don’t have to score then I won’t score, instead of like, ‘Man, go get 40.’ I never had that mentality of, ‘Oh, go get it.’
“That’s something I think I have to do, and not for my own self-promotion. It’s to help my team win. … I think that’s going to make us a better team.”
Bryant knows as much. He could care less if anyone, even his teammates, thinks he’s shooting too often. Four titles can bring that kind of swagger.
Roy, too, has the versatility to rank among the league’s top scorers. What’s stopping him? Maybe he’s too nice. Bryant remembers a game when Roy apologized to his teammates for shooting too much even though he was hot.
“I can flip the switch and go from scorer to playmaker,” Bryant said. “I’m sure he can flip the switch to go from playmaker to scorer. He has all of the skills to do it.
“He and I were talking over All-Star break, and I told him I don’t know of any player outside of myself that has no weaknesses besides him. If you think about it, he can go left and pull up and shoot. He can go right and pull up and shoot. He can fade left shoulder, he can fade right shoulder. He can shoot the long ball. He can finish at the rim. He can shoot free throws. He has no weaknesses in his offensive game; so if that’s something he wants to do, he can easily do it.
“The thing about scoring is you really don’t have to give a [expletive] because a lot of people will criticize you for doing what you do. That’s when you have to be willing to take that criticism, still play and be aggressive. He’s such a nice, nice kid. I think that’s something that he will have to battle through and struggle with.”
Had the Blazers drafted Kevin Durant instead of Greg Oden in 2007, then maybe Roy could have served as more of a natural facilitator instead of a cold-blooded scorer. Roy, however, sees problems with that thinking. If the Blazers had drafted Durant, then perhaps neither Roy nor Durant would have developed as quickly as they have.
“Can me and Kevin Durant even coexist?” Roy said. “We’re similar. We’re both creators. We are both perimeter players. I don’t know if there is enough room for both of us.
“But that doesn’t say Kevin Durant isn’t a great player. He’s right there for the MVP, so not a knock to him at all. I think he is a great guy off the court. He’s cool. He’s humble. But as far as me having the career I wanted to and him having the career he wanted to, it was the right decision for him to be with Oklahoma City and for us to take Greg Oden.”
Some Portland fans might argue that, especially with Oden again sidelined with another significant injury. But there’s also no denying Roy has become a worthy leading man for the Blazers. Though a hamstring injury sidelined him for a month leading into the All-Star break, Roy seems to have regained most of his explosiveness. Of late, he’s even looked – and sounded – somewhat ruthless.
“I’m playing with a little more flair,” Roy said. “When I catch the ball, I’m going to see how I can get to the basket and score.
“So, for me, it’s to attack earlier in the games … and constantly put pressure on the defense to stop. I can’t allow one guard to guard me. And when that guy helps, I’ll kill you right there with a pass.”
If the Blazers reach the playoffs for the second straight season, they’ll likely be underdogs against the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets or Dallas Mavericks in the first round. Roy is smart enough to realize that even with teammates such as LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Miller and Marcus Camby, he’ll likely shoulder most of the pressure for the Blazers’ success. He’s looking forward to taking the team’s fortune – and the ball – in his own hands.
“I have to be more aggressive; I have to because my teammates need it,” Roy said. “That’s what we need because that’s what this league is. It’s about your best players being more aggressive and a little selfish.”
Camby reminded Roy of that the other night.
“Who cares if you miss?” Camby told him. “Shoot again.”
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Ginobili gets 22, Spurs hang on to beat Heat 88-76
By Tim Reynolds
March 16, 2010
MIAMI, FL — San Antonio’s huge lead was almost gone, Miami’s building was roaring and the Heat were clicking better than they had at any point all night.
With one shot, Manu Ginobili changed everything.
Ginobili scored 22 points, none bigger than a tide-turning 3-pointer with 7:58 left, and the surging Spurs wasted most of a 25-point, third-quarter lead before beating the Heat 88-76 on Tuesday night, San Antonio’s eighth win in its last nine games.
“He makes everybody better,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Ginobili, who’s shot at least 50 percent in his last seven games. “He is one of the finest competitors we have in the league, one of the finest competitors in the world. He’s a hell of a player. When he’s Manu Ginobili, we’re a significantly better basketball team and he’s been Manu for the last month.”
George Hill scored 16 points, Richard Jefferson added 15 and Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who are 4-1 since point guard Tony Parker broke his right hand. The win ensured San Antonio would end the night no worse than No. 7 in the Western Conference standings.
“It’s as good as it gets,” Ginobili said. “We played a really good defensive game.”
Dwyane Wade scored 28 points for Miami, which lost for the first time in its last seven home games. Jermaine O’Neal added 13 points and Udonis Haslem finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat, who missed a chance to move past Charlotte for the No. 6 spot in the East race. Charlotte lost at Indiana.
“They came out and played very, very well, ideally how you want to play like on the road,” Wade said. “They came out and played as a team. All of them. … They came out and jumped on us early, and we didn’t have it.”
By the time Miami found it, it was just too late.
The Spurs never trailed, and used a 26-6 run in the first half to take what seemed like total control. San Antonio made seven of its first nine shots during the run, and by the time Hill made jumpers on consecutive possessions midway through the second quarter, the Spurs’ lead had ballooned to 46-20.
“That was an example of a team that was very sharp and ready for this moment, first game of their road trip and they seized it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There in the first quarter, they set the tone and it carried through the rest of the game. We got beat in two departments—one, any kind of energy, effort, toughness type play … and simply at the end of the possessions, they were brilliant.”
Miami was stunned, probably for a lot of reasons.
The Heat hadn’t trailed by more than one point in any of their three previous games, and hadn’t faced anything more than a 12-point deficit during the run of six straight wins on their home floor. The Spurs’ 26-point lead matched the sixth-biggest deficit Miami faced in any game this season, including the 34-point hole they dug at San Antonio on Dec. 31.
Unlike that night, the Heat didn’t totally stop in the second half.
Quite the contrary.
San Antonio was still leading 69-44 after Duncan’s 10th point of the third quarter with 2:24 left, when somehow, the Heat mustered up a rally try. Back-to-back layups by Wade got it started, and his 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left in the quarter trimmed San Antonio’s lead to 71-54 entering the fourth.
That 3-pointer started a 14-0 run by Miami, helped by Haslem—who played through stomach flu—getting three baskets within a 1 1/2 -minute stretch, as the Heat got within 71-65 with 8:23 left.
“We gave them too much of a lead, too much of a spot to try to make up,” Heat forward James Jones said. “When you’re playing a good team like that, you don’t get very many chances to put them away. They showed it tonight.”
Ginobili was best at the end.
The long 3-pointer from the left side pushed the lead back to nine, and he added another 3 about a minute later—essentially ending any Miami comeback hopes right there.
“Manu’s been unbelievable,” Duncan said. “Obviously with Tony down, he’s got the ball in his hands a little more and he’s a playmaker. He always has been — at every level he’s played at. You can see it in his eyes. He wants the ball, he wants to make the plays, and he can do it.”
NOTES: Heat F Quentin Richardson went 0 for 3 in both games against San Antonio this season, all but one of the five misses from 3-point range. … It was “Noche Latina” in Miami, meaning the home team wore black “El Heat” uniforms and San Antonio donned white “Los Spurs” jerseys. … After going scoreless against the Knicks four games ago, Jefferson has scored at least 15 points in every outing since. … Heat G Kenny Hasbrouck was inactive, hours after signing a 10-day contract with Miami.
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