Monday, April 23, 2012

Brandon Roy One Year Ago

It seems strange to be talking about game 4 of a playoff series right now, but the NBA lockout has caused the 2012 regular season to bleed into what would normally be the middle of round 1. But that doesn't matter, what matters is today April 23, 2012 is the one year anniversary of the last great Trail Blazer moment and what would turn out to be the last great performance of one of Portland's all time greats.

After a January knee surgery, Brandon Roy was regulated to minimal minuets and a bench role. The one time savior of the franchise was held scoreless in a game two defeat and was not shy about expressing his displeasure over his role. While game three showed us SOME vintage Roy the forth quarter of game four showed us what we all missed.

Thanks to Pinwheel Empire for the video.



I listened to excerpts of Brian Wheelers call today and couldn't help but get chills. This happens sometimes to sports fans, whether it's a timely Kirk Gibson homerun or a Miracle on Ice. After that euphoric feeling I thought "Wait, that was only a year ago?" That seemed strange to me. Think about what has happened since then. Roy only played in two more games for the Blazers then retired another proposed pillar of the franchise, Greg Oden, had his umpteenth knee surgery and was cut from the team to find room for trade-away castoffs. And the Nate McMillan was fire mid season.

Not only has the team changed dramatically in one year more upheaval is on the way. It may be a long time before Blazer fans have something like Brandon Roy and and his fourth quarter again. Thanks Brandon.

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