Brandon Roy walked out onto the TD Banknorth Garden floor last Wednesday morning and took in the sights. Later that night, he would play his first game on the parquet floor, as a Portland Trail Blazer, having missed last year's contest because of a heel injury. He's been with Portland for 1 1/2 years, but it might well have gone differently for him on the night of the 2006 draft. He could have been a Celtic.
"I remember Danny Ainge worked me out in Los Angeles, and I thought he really liked me and I knew I was probably going to go in that area," Roy said. "When they made the trade, I never gave it another thought. It would have been an honor to play for one of the greatest organizations in the league, but I'm happy where I am and what we're doing."
No kidding.
Roy was taken with the sixth pick by the Timberwolves; the Celtics, picking seventh, never thought Roy would get to them. Minnesota quickly dealt him to Portland, which had acquired the No. 7 pick from Boston in the Sebastian Telfair-Raef LaFrentz deal. You think Kevin McHale, who already had taken Mark Blount and Ricky Davis off the Celtics' hands, and later gave them legitimate title hopes by shipping them Kevin Garnett, wouldn't have done the same had the Celtics taken Randy Foye at No. 7?
But before you go crazy, remember that the players acquired in the Telfair trade, in particular Theo Ratliff, were keys in getting Garnett, as was the dispatching of the amiable LaFrentz and his cumbersome contract. Roy, frankly, would look good in any uniform and he looks especially comfortable in the Trail Blazers' red and black.
"Everything starts with Brandon," LaFrentz said of Roy, who deserves a spot on the Western Conference All-Star team for leading the Blazers to their surprising start. "So much of our offense goes through him, and is created by him, and he's a very responsible player. Our unselfish play stems from him. Everyone follows suit."
Roy is Mr. Indispensable for the Blazers, who have become one of the best stories of the season. He put up 22 points and 6 assists against the Celtics, and had Ray Allen not gone 2002 on them, the Blazers might well have won. Roy is Portland's leading scorer and assist man and, along with LaMarcus Aldridge and the (presumably) healthy Greg Oden, gives the Blazers hope for several years.
"We're having a good time," Roy said. "I know we're young, but we've been playing well and it's good to finally get some attention. People are starting to recognize us now."
Hey, that can happen when you win 13 straight and 18 of 20.
It was Roy's request for more ball control in early December that is viewed as one of the reasons for the team's surge.
"I'd been playing a lot of [shooting guard] and went to the coach [Nate McMillan] and asked him to move me to the point, which would allow me to handle the ball more often," Roy said. "I'd be more involved in late-game situations. It really helped me because I had been struggling."
Once he took over more point guard duties, Roy quickly rung up consecutive Player of the Week honors. He and Aldridge, though each two years removed from college, have become the de facto leaders of the team, the youngest in the NBA. And now a big burden has been lifted off the shoulders of Oden.
"This can allow him to be just another guy, as much as that's possible," Roy said. "Just a part of the team. There was so much pressure on him to be the savior of the franchise, to carry the franchise on his shoulders, that now he can relax and have a lot more fun without worrying about trying to save the organization."
LaFrentz, who mostly watches the young tykes go out there and do their jobs, said he sees some similarities in Roy's game to a former teammate in Boston: Paul Pierce.
"The pace of his game is so relaxed. He's not nonchalant. He's a killer. But he doesn't rush," LaFrentz said. "I liken his pace to Paul's. Paul is never in a hurry. Paul lets the game come to him. Yet Paul also has that explosiveness to take it to you at any given time. So does Brandon."
Doc Rivers agrees.
"He's a throwback guard who is never in a hurry," the Celtics coach said. "And he's looking to score, every time, but it doesn't have to be him. If he gets 2 points by shooting or passing, he's happy either way.
"He also competes on defense and you don't see that very often with young guys. And I think it's rare when a young team turns to a young guy to be their leader, which he clearly is. I love him."
Credit extends to Brown
Cleveland coach Mike Brown finally got his overdue contract extension last week. He is now on board through 2011, and the announcement coincides with the Cavaliers' best basketball of the season. Spurs coach (and friend) Gregg Popovich left Brown a congratulatory bottle of wine ("somewhere between Petrus and Boone's Farm" as Popovich put it). And Brown, who has taken some heat for his conservative offensive approach, can now relax."I knew there was a lot of speculation out there," he said of the fact that the Cavs waited to extend him after successive 50-win seasons and a trip to the Finals.
"This can squash that and give you some staying power, while making a statement to the people involved. But mainly I feel lucky and blessed. [Owner] Dan Gilbert took a chance on me being a no-name coach with not a lot of head coaching experience. And one thing won't change, and that's the approach we take and the bottom line, which is winning. I want to bring a championship to the city of Cleveland, sooner or later."
One reason the Cavaliers waited is that Brown voluntarily stepped back and let the team deal with restricted free agents Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao. Once they were back on board, he soon re-upped. And the 90-88 victory in San Antonio Thursday night was the Cavaliers' eighth in 10 games, putting them in a tie for the fourth spot in the ever-changing Eastern Conference.
"We hadn't even had last year's lineup until the Miami game [on Christmas]," Brown said. "Now, we're playing more like a group that has been together."
Riley tries face-to-face approach,
but Heat can’t buck their losing trend
Pat Riley never lacks for motivational pitches, and his latest might be one of his best, if not his most successful. As recounted by Dave Hyde of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Riley assembled his stumbling Heat at a recent practice and asked the players to name the face on a $1 bill. Everyone knew. Everyone also knew the face on a $10 bill, a $20 bill, and most knew a $50 and, of course, the $100 (Benjamin Franklin).No one knew whose face is on a $10,000 bill, not even Shaquille O'Neal, who lights his cigars with them. (It's Salmon Chase, a former Ohio senator, governor, and US Supreme Court Chief Justice.) Riley then returned to the real question - whose face is on a $5 bill? All the players knew: Abraham Lincoln.
Why was that pertinent? Because, Riley told the players, "Lincoln had numerous failings before he was elected president. If he had stopped working, we wouldn't have one of the greatest documents in our country."
In other words, guys, don't give up! This is the East! We're still only nine games out of the eighth spot!
Well, the Heat may have listened and they may now know Salmon Chase, but they haven't stopped losing in what has been an astonishing plunge. Their loss to Portland Friday night was their 12th straight and dropped them to an unthinkable 8-30, the same record the Heat had after 38 games in their second season.
After a recent loss, Riley said, "We have no excuses. I have none. The players have none. If one player in that locker room says something about shots, he should be crucified."
Etc.
Stepping forward at the lineAfter shooting 80 percent or better from the free throw line for four straight seasons, Paul Pierce dipped to 77 percent in 2005-06 and was also under 80 percent last year, a year he really doesn't count because of so much time missed with injuries (35 games). But that drop was enough to convince him to change his shooting style, which now has him lining up with his right foot in front of his left foot instead of side-by-side. "I was just practicing and trying to find something to make me feel more comfortable," he said. "I feel comfortable out there now, more relaxed out there, and it's working out. I've been shooting it pretty good. My goal this year was to improve my free throw percentage. I had one bad game so far [6 for 11 against Portland], but that was an aberration, a fluke." After Friday's game against the Sixers, Pierce is shooting 81.7 percent.
Stars may be aligned for Rivers
It sure looks as if Doc Rivers is going to be the Eastern Conference coach in the All-Star Game, although a lot can happen between now and Feb. 3, the selection date. The coach whose team has the best record gets the nod, unless he coached the year before. It's between Rivers and Detroit's Flip Saunders. The Western Conference job is really up for grabs, with only Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni out of the picture because he went last year. Heading into the weekend, five Western Conference teams had 12 losses: the Spurs, Hornets, Mavericks, Suns, and Lakers. It stands to reason that one of those teams (other than Phoenix) will have its coach in New Orleans. How ironic would it be if the Hornets' Byron Scott emerges from the pack to take the job? If Phil Jackson does, it will be his fourth time as an All-Star coach.
Suddenly, they're defensive wizards
After they held the Celtics to 78 and 83 points in successive games - and held them to one hoop in the final six-plus minutes last Monday while erasing a 14-point deficit - do the Wizards finally have the defensive mind-set needed to succeed? You could make a case that no team this side of the Celtics has made such a dramatic defensive improvement, and the Wizards are doing it with the same bunch. Last year, Washington ranked 28th in points allowed and defensive field goal percentage. If the Wizards won, it was because they outscored you. This year, Washington is eighth in defensive field goal percentage and 11th in points allowed. "That has been our focus since the start of the year," said coach Eddie Jordan. Added Caron Butler, "We know if we're going to have any kind of success, it has to start at the defensive end." This year, they're talking the talk.
A professional Patriots fan
The Bobcats' Gerald Wallace is an unabashed Patriots fan, even though he grew up in Alabama. Or, more to the point, he is a huge Tom Brady fan and said he sees some similarities between his career and Brady's. (Emphasis on "some.") "He's a reflection of myself, a guy who was pretty good coming out of high school, going to a college where he didn't play that much, then being drafted late," Wallace told the Charlotte Observer. "Then, once he had the opportunity to play, he proved he's one of the best players in the league." You can make a case for Wallace making the Eastern Conference All-Star team, but it's a long shot. Still, he is going to get there one day if he continues to play as well as he has been. In the meantime, he'll be ready for today's AFC Championship game; a spare bedroom at his house has been decorated in a Patriots motif. And he's planning on being at the Super Bowl, because the Bobcats play the Suns in Phoenix the Monday after the big game.
Jeering one of their own
Doug Collins was Kwame Brown's first NBA head coach. "I thought his upside was tremendous," Collins said of the former No. 1 overall pick (2001) out of high school. "Offensively, Kwame has always been in a hurry and he does not have great hands. When you magnify being in a hurry and not having great hands, he misses a lot of shots around the basket." Those comments came Thursday night, with Collins in the TNT broadcast booth for the Lakers-Suns game. In 25 minutes, Brown had 8 points, 6 rebounds, and a ghastly 7 turnovers as the Lakers lost. So those great Lakers fans booed Brown every time he touched the ball. Yes, the game was in Los Angeles. That did not go over well with a lot of Brown's teammates. "I thought it was terrible," Kobe Bryant said. "If they want to do that, they can stay home." The sensitive Brown left without speaking to reporters. Jackson said he had never seen a situation where a hometown crowd turned on one of its own.
Peter May can be reached at p_may@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
