Roy Anesti! The Second Coming Of Brandon Roy

I received the phone call this morning greeted with the words Roy Anesti! Today is Easter in the Greek Orthodox tradition and although occurring a day early, Brandon Roy Has Risen! I am sure there are a lot of fans around the globe who watch the NBA but few probably have the opportunity to watch the Portland Trailblazers as much of the media coverage is dominated by the juggernauts that are the L*kers, Celtics, Bulls, and now the Heat. Yesterday held one of the greatest playoff basketball comebacks of all time. Fans hollering, Brandon Roy fighting off multiple knee surgeries on both knees, holding back tears of joy, willing his team to victory, evening the best of seven series at two a piece against the higher seeded Dallas Mavericks, and all the while his teammates encouraging him on. Watching the above video gives me goose bumps knowing what the man, known as "The Natural," has gone through in his career, with much of the season him being told he was now a throw away player, replaceable. I want to share with y'all some of the splendor that is Portland Trail Blazers Basketball, the likes of which are not seen often. Watch and enjoy the unbridled enthusiasm that is shared throughout sports.


Gerald Wallace,``When people ask me what did I do in the 4th quarter, I'll tell them `I stood in the corner and watched The Brandon Roy Show'"


Thanks To MaxaMillion711 for the great video montage
Click through for a summary of the day's events:
The celebration from a fans perspective at the Rose Garden:

Coach Nate McMillan: “As I said before, there is nobody including Brandon Roy that wants to see him on the floor as much as I do. We all here in Portland know what he is capable of doing and tonight was Brandon Roy of old. I mean, he took the game on his shoulders and just carried the team, will the team to a win. There were possessions where I thought he was doing a good job of setting guys up and kicking it out, but in the fourth quarter, I saw Brandon of old in the sense that he wasn’t passing the ball, he was going to take the shot and he was going to live with the result whether he made it or missed.”

“It’s been a process going down the stretch as far as his role, this is something that our doctors, Brandon, and the organization, basically said we’re going to play this role going down the stretch bringing him off the bench, slowly working him back, and seeing what we can do this season with Brandon as far as coming off the bench and limiting his minutes and trying to fit this role for this year. After this, we will look at next season. So it was pretty much a wait-and-see. We’ve tried to do that. I felt that in this role, and Brandon and I talked about, we would have some matchups that we could get to and we would want to take advantage of. I think it does put pressure on teams to have to find a way to matchup with him. Tonight, they had a number of guys trying to guard him, as far as Stevenson, Marion – someone bigger, Terry, Barea. A number of guys was guarding him tonight, but I felt in this role that he would play for the rest of the season, we would have a matchup.”

Rich Carlisle: “We’ve been saying all series that we’ve been game planning for him like he’s an All-Star. He’s had two of those nights now, so we’ll continue to do that. He got on a roll in the fourth and made some things happen. I’m going to take the blame for a lot of that. There are different things defensively that we could have done. We should have done some different things, so I’m going to take the blame for that."

LaMarcus Aldridge: “I’m real happy for him. I think he can tell you that I always try to be confident with him. When he was coming back, I always told him to shoot it. I always told him to play his game. I never tried to put him in no shell or anything, I just tell him to go out and play. He misses a shot, I’ll be like, ‘Shoot it again.’ I never say anything negative towards him, so to see him getting his confidence back and to see him get back to rare form tonight, that was pretty big. I wish I had more energy to celebrate with him, but I was about to pass out.”

Patty Mills: "He's the man. He's the man. Everyone knows that he has it in him. I didn't believe for a second that's he had lost what he had because of injuries or what people are saying. That's what he does."

"I'm sitting there going 'Whoa, am I in the NBA and am I really witnessing this right now?' That was unbelievable."

"It couldn't happen to a better person, first of all. In a way it's not surprising. It's Brandon. That's what he does. That's what he's always done his whole career. People write him off or not, it should be no surprise whatever adversity he handles, he handles it well. He's still coming out and just being himself, and that's what he does."

Gerald Wallace: "That was a great performance. It's like the commercial says; The NBA, Where Amazing Happens. That was an amazing game, especially the fourth quarter performance by Brandon Roy."

"It was amazing. He got into a zone. He went to feeling like he couldn't miss. He put us on his back and carried us. Amazing performance he put on in the fourth quarter. I think he kind of took some of the life out of Dallas with that performance."

Nicolas Batum: "B.Roy, he play like Brandon Roy. That's it."

(On what he said to Roy in the huddle after the game)

"Just 'You still the man. You still Brandon Roy. We trust you, we believe in you. You're still the player that is the franchise, one of the best player in NBA. We going to give the ball to you and you the man.' That's it."

Andre Miller: "Brandon Roy woke up. It's a big game, big fourth quarter, by him, by everybody. Found a way to play a little bit of defense, didn't get our heads too down. We got down for a little bit. I don't know how it happened but we worked through it."

"There was so much energy in the building, I caught myself jumping around a little bit. Definitely a team effort until Brandon Roy, he woke up. Hit some tough shots, hit some big shots and just rode him and our defense home in the fourth."

"He was big. I was trying to help keep the crowd involved, just keep pushing. They hit a couple shots and we hit a couple shots, we hit a three, they come down and make a play. I think the energy of the building kind of took over."

Marcus Camby: "Fourth quarter was Brandon Roy. Everyone has been writing him off. He helped us out in Game 3. I know people where doubting whether he could do it again, so hopefully he proved a lot of people wrong. He's big and he still has a lot of game left in him. Very, very happy for him, the way he performed tonight."

"As players and teammates, we never really lost faith in him. We see him more than you guys probably see him. We see him in practice working on his game, working on his craft. All he has been saying is he wants the opportunity to prove himself, which he shouldn't have to because he's been great for this organization ever since Day 1 in this league. To see the flack he got for what he said the other day, I don't think was warranted because you look back, he's won a lot of ballgames. Not just buzzer-beaters, but just his overall play, him being the face of the franchise. As a friend and as a teammates, definitely ecstatic and happy the way he's been playing of late. We never lost faith in him and he's proven why he's one of the better players we have in this league."

Rudy Fernandez: "It's unbelievable. It's amazing see one guy, has four injuries in the knees, both knees, play like that. I think it's impressive. It's unbelievable. It's amazing."

Wesley Matthews: ":Brandon's game can be summed up as "Seven." Tweet that. He was "Seven" tonight. I don't know who Brandon is. That was "Seven" out there."

"It's amazing. It's good to see. Beyond being a teammate, just as a friend, it's good to see someone who sacrificed so much, has been through so much in a short period of time, to step up on the biggest stage and come out for his team like he did."

"He works and he wants it. He's confident. He knows he can do it, and he just went out there and did it."

Brandon Roy: “I don’t know to say it was old times, but it was just a moment where I just kept telling the guys, ‘Look we’re down 20 points, let’s play loose and let’s try to give ourselves a chance.’ When we were making that comeback, I never thought we were going to win the game, but I was like, let’s push and try to put some pressure on them, and keep putting pressure on them to see if we can give ourselves a chance. We just kept getting stops and balls were going our way. It was just an incredible game to be a part of.”

“Honestly, I envisioned a game like this when I first came back from the surgery. I was like, ‘yeah I think I’m going to do something special.’ But as things progressed, I thought game 2 was a down moment. I didn’t think anything good was going to come, I was pretty down on myself. But like I said, the next day – so much support, I just wanted to go out there and give myself a chance. I didn’t think that this would happen, but it was a great day for me and for our team. We evened out the series, it’s 2-2 and I think we’ve got some pressure on them now.” link

Portland Trail Blazers' Marcus Camby, left, embraces teammate Brandon Roy who led their team to a comeback in of Game 4 of their NBA basketball first-round playoff series over the Dallas Mavericks, Saturday, April 23, 2011, at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/The Oregonian, Bruce Ely)

Ben Golliver CBSSports.com 


PORTLAND, Ore. -- "It still just doesn't feel real yet."


Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy had every reason to believe he was dreaming after 12 minutes of the most improbable basketball game the NBA has seen this postseason. His head was spinning after saving his team from the brink of elimination. His mind was struggling to wrap itself around the fact that his performance Saturday afternoon was forcing Portland's fans and Blazers brass alike to recalibrate their expectations for his future.
Before they got ahead of themselves, though, they first thought of the past.
"Tonight was the Brandon Roy of old," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said following his team's 84-82 comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4, a victory that knotted their first-round playoff series at two games apiece. "He took the game on his shoulders and just carried the team, willed the team to a win. In the fourth quarter, I saw the Brandon of old in the sense that he wasn't passing the ball. He was going to take the shot and he was going to live with the result whether he made it or missed it."
There weren't many misses down the stretch.
McMillan's Blazers erased a 23-point Dallas lead in the final 14 minutes, becoming just the third team in the shot-clock era to win a playoff game after entering the fourth quarter trailing by 18 or more points.
Blazers GM Rich Cho, known for his analytical approach to the game, isn't usually prone to hyperbole.
"That was the best comeback I've ever seen," Cho said.
The run started with a Roy 3-pointer in the final minute of the third-quarter, his first basket of the game. From there, he hit eight of his 10 fourth-quarter shots, scoring 18 points, including nine in the final 1:36. Roy's four-point play with just over a minute left pulled Portland even with the Mavs, and a banked-in jumper with 39 seconds left gave the Blazers their winning margin.
Roy finished with 24 points, his biggest scoring night since Dec. 10. He singlehandedly outscored Dallas in the fourth quarter, 18-15, and accounted for more points than Portland scored as a team in the first and third quarters. "I've been in some pretty good zones before, but none like tonight," Roy said.
He was mobbed by his teammates after a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Jason Terry rimmed off at the final buzzer. "They were grabbing me. I just needed to embrace someone," Roy said. "With everything I've been through this season ... the guys were grabbing me and cheering me on, it was special."
Blazers forward Nicolas Batum said he was having flashbacks.
"You're an All-Star, a three-time All-Star," Batum said, describing his thought process down the stretch. "Take the ball. They can't stop you. You just have to believe in yourself."
Confidence has been a bugaboo for Roy in recent weeks, but not in Game 4. The Mavericks had no answer for him defensively, and Roy took advantage. Dallas elected to single-cover him with Shawn Marion, whom Roy made look like he was on a yo-yo string. Roy's dribble fakes had Marion back on his heels and he created space for his jumpers at will.
"He got on a roll in the fourth and made some things happen," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "I'm going to take the blame for a lot of that. There are different things defensively that we could have done. We should have done some different things."
Remarkably, Roy's explosion was only just enough to bring the Blazers back, as they dug themselves a gigantic hole due to some horrific offense. Portland scored 11 points in the first quarter and went more than 10 minutes of the third without making a field goal. Portland trailed 67-44 with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter.
"I thought we were feeling sorry for ourselves and we had to play the game and get aggressive, get stops and at least get a rhythm," McMillan said. "So was it over? No, we had 12 minutes. You knew that it was going to be tough to come back, but as you can see, anything is possible."
The implications of Portland's win -- both short-term and long-term -- are significant. Most immediately, the Blazers avoid returning to Dallas down 3-1. Given their play in Texas in Games 1 and 2 and the fact that they lost both games to the Mavericks in Dallas during the regular season, the win represents a reprieve on what would have been a death sentence.
"It's huge," Blazers guard Wesley Matthews said. "We took care of business. We feel like the pressure is off of us right now. They won their two at home, we won our two at home. Our confidence is high. Now we've got to go steal one on the road."
"You look at it in sum, it's a game you shouldn't lose," Carlisle said. "At this point it's not about talk. At this point we have to get ourselves ready to play Game 5, which is now a very pivotal game in our arena. We need our fans to be like these fans were out here."
Bigger than what the win means for this series is what it means for Roy's future prospects. With four years remaining on what was a maximum contract, some segments of Portland's fan base had begun to view Roy -- and his contract -- as a hindrance rather than an asset. While Roy has maintained recently that his struggles are mental, his recent play often suggested there was a physical element as well.
One game can't alter the course of a career. Or can it? A return to All-Star form never seemed more possible than it did Saturday, when Roy's lift looked good, his balance was on-point and his self-confidence reached a high-water mark. His heroics had the Rose Garden at its loudest in years, and cheering in the concourses could be heard throughout the duration of the post-game media availability.
"Sometimes we can't hear each other on defense," Batum said. "We're like, 'I called a screen.' Then, 'I didn't hear you.' It's too loud. This crowd is just unbelievable. That was crazy."
Portland's locker room was nearly as jubilant as the concourse, and Cho emerged with a wide smile, shaking his head and saying Roy's play left him speechless.
"He's shown flashes. He had a great game against Denver earlier this year. But it's great to see the Brandon of old."
Batum put it more bluntly, speaking as much about the future as about the past or present. "We believe in him. We believe in B-Roy." Link


Sekou Smith Article at NBA.COM Link
Trail Blazers Roster
2010-11 Roster

NUM PLAYER POS HT WT DOB FROM YRS

12 LaMarcus Aldridge - C F 6-11 240 07/19/1985 Texas 4

11 Luke Babbitt F 6-9 225 06/20/1989 Nevada-Reno R

40 Earl Barron C-F 7-0 250 08/14/1981 Memphis 4

88 Nicolas Batum F 6-8 200 12/14/1988 Lisieux, France 2

23 Marcus Camby C 6-11 235 03/22/1974 Massachusetts 14

5 Rudy Fernandez G 6-6 185 04/04/1985 Palma de Mallorca, Spain 2

1 Armon Johnson G 6-3 195 02/23/1989 Nevada-Reno R

17 Chris Johnson C 6-11 210 07/15/1985 Louisiana State R

2 Wesley Matthews G 6-5 220 10/14/1986 Marquette 1

24 Andre Miller G 6-2 200 03/19/1976 Utah 11

8 Patrick Mills G 6-0 185 08/11/1988 St. Mary's (CA) 1 (From Australia)

52 Greg Oden C 7-0 285 01/22/1988 Ohio State 2

7 Brandon Roy - C G 6-6 211 07/23/1984 Washington 4

3 Gerald Wallace F 6-7 220 07/23/1982 Alabama 9

9 Elliot Williams G 6-5 180 06/20/1989 Memphis R