tlongII
07-28-2008, 09:00 AM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/07/part_v_the_stories_this_bike_c.html
The specially designed bike Brandon Roy has been training with has a growing history with the Trail Blazers, having traveled approximately 8,770 miles to be of service to Blazers Joel Przybilla, Greg Oden and now Roy.
The bike is owned by Przybilla, a 7-foot center, who two summers ago while coming off knee surgery, had a Lake Oswego company specially build a bike that could accommodate his frame. A large bike frame available to the general public is 22 inches; the one on Przybilla's bike is 29 inches.
Przybilla had the bike flown from Portland to his summer home in Milwaukee, where he cycled _ many times with his son Anthony in tow _ until October's training camp. The Blazers this season had Przybilla's father-in-law pack and fly the bike to Portland in order to assist with Oden's rehabilitation from microfracture surgery. All told, the bike flew approximately 3,420 miles round trip.
Shortly after this season, the bike made another long-distance flight, this time to Hawaii, where Oden trained for two weeks while owner Paul Allen treated athletic trainer Jay Jensen, coach Nate McMillan and assistants Maurice Lucas and Monty Williams. Oden, by the way, would ride about 15 miles on the same wind-blown course used in the Ironman Triathlons. Round trip: 5200 miles.
Then, earlier this month, Jensen saddled the bike in a rack atop his Ford Explorer and drove to Roy's home in Renton, Wa. Later this week, Roy will bring the bike back to Portland, where he will bike with Oden and Jensen. I'm betting Oden gets shotgun on Przybilla's bike.
The bike, after all, is nearly too big for the 6-foot-6 Roy. When Roy rides the bike, the seat is as low as it will go. He will most likely switch to Jensen's bike, which was seen in the video being used by Cole Allen.
At any rate, Roy says he has found a new hobby.
"It's addictive,'' he said. "I remember being the type who would say 'Get out of the road you bike rider', but now every time I do something, it's like 'I'll ride my bike over there.' It's definitely something I know I'm going to do for the rest of my life.''
tlongII
07-28-2008, 12:29 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/121721372983840.xml&coll=7
Ride & seek
Brandon Roy's physically demanding bike rides give him a chance to envision his evolving role as the Blazers' team leaderMonday, July 28, 2008 JASON QUICKThe Oregonian Staff
RENTON, Wash. -- The morning after his 24th birthday, Brandon Roy is bright-eyed and fresh, knowing the best part of his day -- an hour bike ride -- is about to happen.
The 14-mile journey through undulating trails alongside the Cedar River and multiple golf courses was originally designed as a low-impact workout to keep the Trail Blazers' franchise player in shape during the offseason. But Roy has found that the rides have become much more than exercise.
They have become mental escapes, during which he drifts into visions of the upcoming Blazers season and his continued ascension in the NBA, while breaking from an increasingly hectic home life -- which now includes a fiancee and a second child on the way.
"It's the most fun part of my day," Roy says shortly before loading his bike in the back of his black truck. "It's the time I can get away from everything . . . and just think about basketball."
On the trails, he says he thinks about Greg Oden, wondering how the rookie center will perform after last fall's microfracture knee surgery. Later, he imagines playing with rookie Jerryd Bayless, who thoroughly impressed him in the three summer league games Roy watched on television this month. And, at times, he stews about how the prognosticators call the Blazers a team of the future; Roy thinks they are a team of the present.
He also thinks about his role, which figures to include more point guard duties than last season, and makes him wonder what type of point guard coach Nate McMillan wants him to become. That leads to Roy thinking of how he wants to change his playing style this season. A player lauded for his "pace" -- knowing when to be aggressive -- Roy wants to become more relentless, attacking for stretches of games rather than certain plays.
So early in his rides, when his mind wants to pace himself for the 14-mile trek, Roy instead pushes himself to pump the pedals harder, to pick up the pace -- a practice made easier thanks to the constant pressure applied by riding partner and childhood friend Cole Allen.
Near the end of his rides -- when his lungs burn, forearms quiver and legs throb -- is when the essence of Roy's summer comes into focus. Like he has during training sessions throughout his life, he overcomes the pain by thinking of the fourth quarter, and how he needs to push through to victory.
But this summer, during these workouts, Roy's motivation has sharpened. It's not just the fourth quarter he is thinking about. Four names keep popping to mind as his body nears its breaking point: Magic. Michael. Kobe. LeBron.
"It's like, 'I can't quit now. I can't quit now,' " Roy says. "Because I know Kobe is going harder. I know LeBron is going harder. So I keep going, keep thinking, 'Can't lose a step. Can't lose a step.' "
He says he thinks back to what he has read about the training of Jordan and Johnson, and how they "willed" themselves through the pain.
"So I'm here on this bike, thinking I could slow down. Thinking I don't have to go as fast as Cole, because at the end of the day, I'm going to be in the NBA," Roy says. "But, I really want to be great. So I'm thinking, 'No. I'm gonna push it.' "
The major factor behind that drive, that push, is that Roy has tired of talking, and hearing the talk, about what could become of the Blazers and his career.
The time to quit talking and start doing, Roy says, is now. This season.
"It's time for me to be on that level with those guys," Roy says, referring to All-Stars such as Bryant, James, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. "I'm shooting to be better than where I'm at."
"Be a little more selfish"
After his ride, Roy plops down in his favorite black leather chair, which sits under a painting of himself in a Blazers uniform holding a ball behind his back.
Across the room is a series of framed pictures from his first triple double, accomplished Feb. 1 at the Rose Garden against New York, and another framed collage from his 2008 All-Star Game experience -- neither of which have been hung.
The pictures, which rest on the floor against a wall, reflect how Roy handles his stardom -- he has arrived, but he doesn't see the need to display it for all to see.
It is a refreshing trait in today's "look-at-me" world of professional athletics, but in a way, the Blazers hope that this season he focuses more on himself and worries less about the team.
Roy says McMillan was very clear about this during a summer conversation. He told Roy to stop worrying about shooting too often, and to stop fretting about whether all his teammates touch the ball.
The thought of playing that way makes Roy uneasy, because it goes against much of what has defined him -- teamwork, unselfishness and control. But at the same time, he knows if he is to carry his team like Bryant, James, Paul and Williams, he will have to assume a more assertive role.
"That will be something I have to work on, because I've always been more of a coach's player, and now he is telling me to be a little more selfish," Roy says. "But he also said, 'Just be aggressive to win,' and I think when he said it like that, it helped me understand better what he wants."
Roy still has some uncertainty about whether he will play shooting guard or point guard. Much of his success last season came when he played point guard, which usually included the entire fourth quarter and other stretches when McMillan wanted offensive stability. But Roy said he doesn't want to bring the ball up court, or defend the opposing point guard.
"I do want to play point guard, but I always ask coach Nate, 'How do you want me to play the point guard spot?' " Roy says. "Is it an aggressive point guard? Is it a come-down-and-look-for-my-shot point guard? Or is it a let-me-get-guys-going point guard?' . . . And I think he kind of goes back and forth because he is so used to me being the go-to guy that it's hard for him to say, 'OK, be a distributor and look for your shot second.' "
Roy says he doesn't care which guard position he plays because he sees himself as a blend of both.
"I think there are times, because of my size (6-foot-6) that if I'm at the point, that means guys like Kobe and Dwyane Wade have to defend pick-and-rolls, which they don't usually like," Roy says. "I think that gives me an advantage. But I don't think my game is strictly point guard; it's a big part though, because I have the ball in my hands to make plays."
Roy happy with Blake
More and more, Roy is settling into his niche as the leader and a powerful voice for the Blazers.
As a rookie, he stifled a halftime rant by Zach Randolph, telling the veteran forward that no one was going to point fingers in the Blazers' locker room. Humbled and stunned, Randolph sat down, and then the Blazers went out and rallied to beat the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Last season, with Roy and the Blazers struggling through the first month, he called a meeting with McMillan and told the coach he needed the ball in his hands more. McMillan granted the request, and the Blazers went on a 13-game winning streak.
And now, Roy might be making his biggest statement to date: When the Blazers enter the free agent market next summer with loads of spending money, he says they should not pursue an All-Star caliber point guard. That type of player, Roy says, would diminish his strengths.
"We don't need a Chris Paul or Deron Williams or the All-Star point guard. We just need a solid point guard, a veteran guy who makes great decisions and hits big shots," Roy says. "And then we just need me to play to my ability, Greg to his and LaMarcus (Aldridge) to his. Once we get to that level, the point guard spot won't look so much like, 'We need this great point guard.' "
That became clear to him during the 2008 All-Star Game, when he played alongside Paul, the star of the New Orleans Hornets. When the West team grabbed a rebound, Roy found himself running to take the ball, only to have Paul cut him off.
"People asked me how it was to play with Chris Paul, and I said it was great, but at the end of the day, I don't know if we could play a full season together," Roy says. "It takes away from what I do."
That's probably less of a potential problem after Paul and Williams recently signed long-term extensions, taking them out of the 2009 free agent pool. For the moment, the Blazers appear content to stick with Steve Blake as their starting point guard.
Roy says he is happy with Blake, with whom he developed good chemistry, and thinks Blake should start again this season. But he also sees himself playing alongside Bayless, the talented and relentless lottery pick. Roy is clearly enamored with Bayless, whose attacking style and steely demeanor remind him of himself.
"I see it eventually as me and Blake, and me and Bayless together a lot," Roy says. "The reason why I see it with Bayless is because he can guard points. He may not be a one (guard), but he can guard a one, so then it fits into exactly what we want to do. That's why I tell people who say (Bayless) isn't a point: 'If he was a point, it would take away from what I do, so it's almost fine that he's not a point.' "
A contented family man
It is no surprise that Roy was ready and eager for his daily workout the morning after his birthday.
Much like he is on the court, Roy on his birthday was understated and in control, keeping the pace of the day just how he likes it -- slow and steady, yet able to change speed at his discretion.
There was no partying -- he doesn't drink alcohol, except for the occasional glass of wine at a wedding, or the one Mike's Hard Lemonade he sipped at a Fourth of July barbecue this summer. And he is not much for going out, even under the pressuring of friend, fellow Renton resident and New York Knicks guard Jamal Crawford. (Who also doesn't drink, Roy says).
Roy worked out in the morning, came home and napped, then played with his 16-month-old son, Brandon Jr., whom he calls B.J. Later, he went to Crawford's nearby house to shoot pool for two hours, then came home, ate dinner with family and channel-surfed late into the night, stopping to watch "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" with his father, who had come over.
He is a family man, Roy says, and that means a lot of time at home, which is where he wants to be. The house figures to get busier in the coming year. Last month, he asked Tiana Bardwell -- his longtime girlfriend and the mother of his son -- to marry him. They will be married next August, Roy says. Bardwell is pregnant with their second child, and is due in January, smack dab in the middle of the NBA season.
If Roy is stressed about the wedding and another child on the way, he doesn't show it. Perhaps it's because he knows his next bike ride is just around the corner, offering his latest escape into thoughts of next season.
"People say we are coming, but I almost think it's to the point where we are here," he said. "I think it's no longer coming. We are here now."
mrspurs
07-29-2008, 07:24 AM
heck if for one think the blazers have done a great job.....taking a team with nothing but potheads and pine shiners and exchanging them for great young talent in very little time...and unlike most teams i dont see how the blazers got lucky with any of their picks, like some teams do.......the blazers havnt done anything yet, but if they dont win a championship with the talent they have.....all for nada
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