If you love betting on the Portland Trail Blazers or you are Portland Trail Blazer fan, first off, sorry, and second, you should be right pissed off. As if the season wasn’t tough enough being in the Western Conference and having a really young group of guys on the floor learning as they go, but now from what I’ve seen, management is screwing the team over.
What am I talking about? I’m talking about Brandon Roy. I had picked Brandon Roy to be in MVP contention this year and the TrailBlazers to finish in the top five. None of that is going to happen and that’s a little disappointing in itself, but from what I personally saw in the past week I can’t help but wonder what’s going on with the Portland brass. I watched Brandon Roy Play against the Clippers on April 7, and he didn’t look right, that ankle or something seemed to be really bothering him. Then I watched him play against the Mavericks two days later and he looked even worse, wincing in pain, unable to explode, limping up and down the court, it looked like he had no business playing. And then I watched him against the Lakers last Sunday and he looked like a shell of man, hobbling around, with little to no lift and grimacing every time he moved. No surprise he left that game, I was even less surprised to learn he’d torn his meniscus.
What the hell are they doing in Portland? It’s unimaginable how a franchise could let their franchise player play when he’s that hurt. I don’t care how tough Brandon Roy is, or if he said he wanted to play injured, you just don’t let a guy that is that important to the future of your franchise play hobbled. To think that they allowed him to play when he was that hurt just so they secure a spot in the playoffs is a shameful reality and it’s just plain dumb. What could they gain? Without a healthy Roy what kind of playoff run were they going to make anyway? I’m not a doctor, but I’m willing to bet that he injured that knee because he was playing hurt and favoring that ankle. And if so, that’s on Portland’s training staff, brass, Coach, GM and whoever else. First thing I thought when I saw him rubbing his knee on the bench is please don’t let this be another Grant Hill.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe this is what they do in Portland. Is it a coincidence how bad the injury bug has hit this team? Is it a surprise that Greg Ogden can’t stay on the floor? Who knows if he was really ready to come back in the first place, from what I’ve seen, Portland is now getting my official vote of no confidence.
