tlongII
09-30-2008, 01:08 PM
http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122275483865961500
week ago, coach Nate McMillan said he intended to keep Brandon Roy out of all but a couple of the Trail Blazers’ preseason games.
Now, maybe not.
Portland’s all-star shooting guard, recuperating from Aug. 14 arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, says he understands that McMillan wants to ease him back into action, along with giving rookie Rudy Fernandez plenty of time in the preseason.
But Roy wants regular duty in the non-counters, too.
“I think (McMillan’s plan) has changed a little bit,” Roy said Monday during media day at the Rose Garden. “Rudy will get his reps, but I’ll get mine, too. We have a lot of new guys, and we need to get that chemistry as fast as we can. It’s important that I play alongside Greg (Oden), LaMarcus (Aldridge) and Rudy.
“I want to play all the preseason games. I don’t know how many minutes I’ll play in the games, but I definitely want to play in the preseason. I don’t want to use the regular season to get in shape. I want to be in there from the start. It’s important that I get a lot of reps.”
After sitting out a full month following surgery, Roy returned to action last week, taking part in informal five-on-five pickup games at the Blazers’ training facility on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“I felt comfortable after my first couple of times down and back,” Roy says. “Afterward, there was no soreness, no swelling. I’d say (the knee) felt 95 to 100 percent, though the intensity level is not as high as in practice or games. I’ll continue to ice a lot and do the best I can to treat the knee.
“I don’t want to miss anything. I want to be there for the first day of practice. I want to be there for the first preseason game. It’s important that I’m out there and Greg’s out there. We had surgeries, but we’re doing better, and we’re trying to get back on the court as soon as possible.”
Roy says the plan is for him to take part in the morning practices and to sit out evening sessions during the opening week of training camp.
“I’m sure we’ll still have to monitor my minutes,” he says. “I want to do all the live drills, though. I’m just excited the recovery has been pretty fast.”
• Like most Blazer fans, Roy says everything is different with this year’s team.
“Our first two seasons, it was like, ‘They’re young, there’s room to grow,’ " he says. “But it doesn’t feel that way this year. We have the pieces we need to be successful right now. Some people may say that’s a lot of pressure, but this is the NBA. That’s why we play this game.
“You look around our locker room, we have a bunch of talent. I feel like we can play against anybody, anywhere now. The goal is to make the playoffs. Last year, we dreamed that, but we didn’t know how realistic that was. This year, we feel like it’s a realistic goal.”
When it is suggested that the 2008-09 Blazers remain one of the youngest teams in the NBA, Roy nods.
“But we’re not going to use that at all this year,” he says. “We’re young in age, but not in experience anymore. We have some years under our belt now. Our team is much deeper now, too. Expectations are going to be high for us this year. We’re going to approach it that way.
“In the past, we didn’t have the attitude in the locker room we have now. We’re looking forward to playing the Lakers or San Antonio. We have a good team that can give those teams a run. We no longer want to play those teams well. We want to win those games.
“It’s exciting. I love to see the way guys have matured over the past season and how they’re approaching this coming season.”
• Roy has big expectations, too, for Oden, the rookie center who is coming back off microfracture knee surgery that caused him to miss all of last season.
“There’s no question in my mind, he could be one of the best big men in this league soon,” the Blazer captain says. “I’ve seen what big men do to make their teams better. In workouts, he has all that. He’s strong; he just wears on guys with his physical strength. He’s smart. He knows how to play the game. He knows when to clog up the paint. He knows when to run the floor. I’ve never played with a big man like him. It’s exciting for me to be on the floor with him.
“To see him playing now and not having soreness after workouts, is a good sign. He’s going to be down there for us for a long time. He’s going to have to feel his way through the season, and he’ll play some top big men early, but it’s only going to make him better.”
• Roy is impressed, too, with Fernandez, the Spanish whiz who will be his backup at shooting guard and, at times, his partner in the Blazer backcourt.
“Just watching the way Rudy approached the game against the U.S. (in the Olympics), he was tough,” Roy says. “He was going at those guys. There was no fear there, and those were the best players in the league.
“I played with him once last week, and he’s active. He’s bouncing around, trying to dunk, running the floor hard. I’m thinking, ‘Man, if you keep this up 82 games, you’re going to be tough.’ I enjoyed being out there with him. He has a swagger about him. That’s going to be good for our team.”
• Oden says Roy doesn’t seem to have skipped a beat following his surgery.
“His first day back, he made two game-winners out of the four games I played,” Oden says. “He wasn’t on my team. That kind of sucked. He’s looking really good.”
Told Roy predicts he will soon be one of the NBA’s top centers, Oden rolled his eyes.
“I’m just trying to keep my focus on what I can do out there,” he says. “I’m not trying to listen to anything coming from outside. I’m just trying to work hard, and things will happen because I worked hard.”
• Free agent signee Shav Randolph, on his first look at Portland’s collection of talent: “It’s like a mini all-star team.”
• Travis Outlaw makes no effort to contain his enthusiasm about the Blazers’ potential.
“The depth on this team is unbelievable,” says Portland’s projected sixth man. “We have a lot of great players. We still are going to make some young mistakes, but they’re mistakes we can deal with.
“With Greg coming back, then we draft (Jerryd) Bayless and get Rudy, expectations are through the roof right now. I don’t want people to already crown us (as champions), but we have a great team that can accomplish a lot this year.”
Outlaw was more conservative, however, when asked what kind of a record he foresees for the Blazers this season.
“I want to be above .500,” he says.
• Outlaw says he welcomes a competition between himself and Martell Webster – whom he says is the most improved Blazer this fall – for the starting small forward spot.
“I’m going to go at him,” Outlaw says, smiling. “I want the spot; he wants the spot. But I’m not going to try to kill him on a fastbreak. I may trip him, but I’m not going to kill him.
“We’ll try to make each other better. I’m willing to do what’s best for the team. If that’s coming off the bench, trust me, I’ll come off the bench.”
• Aldridge says he considers the Blazers “Brandon’s and Greg’s team.”
When it is pointed out that Oden has yet to play an NBA game, Aldridge replies, “But he was a No. 1 pick.”
But LaMarcus, you were a No. 2 pick.
“But people didn’t think that was a good pick by Portland,” Aldridge says. “When Greg came out it was like, ‘They got the right guy.’ "
week ago, coach Nate McMillan said he intended to keep Brandon Roy out of all but a couple of the Trail Blazers’ preseason games.
Now, maybe not.
Portland’s all-star shooting guard, recuperating from Aug. 14 arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, says he understands that McMillan wants to ease him back into action, along with giving rookie Rudy Fernandez plenty of time in the preseason.
But Roy wants regular duty in the non-counters, too.
“I think (McMillan’s plan) has changed a little bit,” Roy said Monday during media day at the Rose Garden. “Rudy will get his reps, but I’ll get mine, too. We have a lot of new guys, and we need to get that chemistry as fast as we can. It’s important that I play alongside Greg (Oden), LaMarcus (Aldridge) and Rudy.
“I want to play all the preseason games. I don’t know how many minutes I’ll play in the games, but I definitely want to play in the preseason. I don’t want to use the regular season to get in shape. I want to be in there from the start. It’s important that I get a lot of reps.”
After sitting out a full month following surgery, Roy returned to action last week, taking part in informal five-on-five pickup games at the Blazers’ training facility on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“I felt comfortable after my first couple of times down and back,” Roy says. “Afterward, there was no soreness, no swelling. I’d say (the knee) felt 95 to 100 percent, though the intensity level is not as high as in practice or games. I’ll continue to ice a lot and do the best I can to treat the knee.
“I don’t want to miss anything. I want to be there for the first day of practice. I want to be there for the first preseason game. It’s important that I’m out there and Greg’s out there. We had surgeries, but we’re doing better, and we’re trying to get back on the court as soon as possible.”
Roy says the plan is for him to take part in the morning practices and to sit out evening sessions during the opening week of training camp.
“I’m sure we’ll still have to monitor my minutes,” he says. “I want to do all the live drills, though. I’m just excited the recovery has been pretty fast.”
• Like most Blazer fans, Roy says everything is different with this year’s team.
“Our first two seasons, it was like, ‘They’re young, there’s room to grow,’ " he says. “But it doesn’t feel that way this year. We have the pieces we need to be successful right now. Some people may say that’s a lot of pressure, but this is the NBA. That’s why we play this game.
“You look around our locker room, we have a bunch of talent. I feel like we can play against anybody, anywhere now. The goal is to make the playoffs. Last year, we dreamed that, but we didn’t know how realistic that was. This year, we feel like it’s a realistic goal.”
When it is suggested that the 2008-09 Blazers remain one of the youngest teams in the NBA, Roy nods.
“But we’re not going to use that at all this year,” he says. “We’re young in age, but not in experience anymore. We have some years under our belt now. Our team is much deeper now, too. Expectations are going to be high for us this year. We’re going to approach it that way.
“In the past, we didn’t have the attitude in the locker room we have now. We’re looking forward to playing the Lakers or San Antonio. We have a good team that can give those teams a run. We no longer want to play those teams well. We want to win those games.
“It’s exciting. I love to see the way guys have matured over the past season and how they’re approaching this coming season.”
• Roy has big expectations, too, for Oden, the rookie center who is coming back off microfracture knee surgery that caused him to miss all of last season.
“There’s no question in my mind, he could be one of the best big men in this league soon,” the Blazer captain says. “I’ve seen what big men do to make their teams better. In workouts, he has all that. He’s strong; he just wears on guys with his physical strength. He’s smart. He knows how to play the game. He knows when to clog up the paint. He knows when to run the floor. I’ve never played with a big man like him. It’s exciting for me to be on the floor with him.
“To see him playing now and not having soreness after workouts, is a good sign. He’s going to be down there for us for a long time. He’s going to have to feel his way through the season, and he’ll play some top big men early, but it’s only going to make him better.”
• Roy is impressed, too, with Fernandez, the Spanish whiz who will be his backup at shooting guard and, at times, his partner in the Blazer backcourt.
“Just watching the way Rudy approached the game against the U.S. (in the Olympics), he was tough,” Roy says. “He was going at those guys. There was no fear there, and those were the best players in the league.
“I played with him once last week, and he’s active. He’s bouncing around, trying to dunk, running the floor hard. I’m thinking, ‘Man, if you keep this up 82 games, you’re going to be tough.’ I enjoyed being out there with him. He has a swagger about him. That’s going to be good for our team.”
• Oden says Roy doesn’t seem to have skipped a beat following his surgery.
“His first day back, he made two game-winners out of the four games I played,” Oden says. “He wasn’t on my team. That kind of sucked. He’s looking really good.”
Told Roy predicts he will soon be one of the NBA’s top centers, Oden rolled his eyes.
“I’m just trying to keep my focus on what I can do out there,” he says. “I’m not trying to listen to anything coming from outside. I’m just trying to work hard, and things will happen because I worked hard.”
• Free agent signee Shav Randolph, on his first look at Portland’s collection of talent: “It’s like a mini all-star team.”
• Travis Outlaw makes no effort to contain his enthusiasm about the Blazers’ potential.
“The depth on this team is unbelievable,” says Portland’s projected sixth man. “We have a lot of great players. We still are going to make some young mistakes, but they’re mistakes we can deal with.
“With Greg coming back, then we draft (Jerryd) Bayless and get Rudy, expectations are through the roof right now. I don’t want people to already crown us (as champions), but we have a great team that can accomplish a lot this year.”
Outlaw was more conservative, however, when asked what kind of a record he foresees for the Blazers this season.
“I want to be above .500,” he says.
• Outlaw says he welcomes a competition between himself and Martell Webster – whom he says is the most improved Blazer this fall – for the starting small forward spot.
“I’m going to go at him,” Outlaw says, smiling. “I want the spot; he wants the spot. But I’m not going to try to kill him on a fastbreak. I may trip him, but I’m not going to kill him.
“We’ll try to make each other better. I’m willing to do what’s best for the team. If that’s coming off the bench, trust me, I’ll come off the bench.”
• Aldridge says he considers the Blazers “Brandon’s and Greg’s team.”
When it is pointed out that Oden has yet to play an NBA game, Aldridge replies, “But he was a No. 1 pick.”
But LaMarcus, you were a No. 2 pick.
“But people didn’t think that was a good pick by Portland,” Aldridge says. “When Greg came out it was like, ‘They got the right guy.’ "