Oct 13, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Brandon Roy (3) against the Chicago Bulls at the Target Center. The Timberwolves defeated the Bulls 82-75. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Blazer great, Brandon Roy was released by the Minnesota Timberwolves today. The sadness of eventually always swells in the relinquish of prior glory. Before his surgically hampered stint in Minnesota, Roy was the heart and soul of Rip City. Watching him walk away a second time is only softened by the notion that he will be physically able to do so. Brandon Roy defines ‘giving your all’.

Brandon played 5 games in Minnesota before his 7^th knee surgery since high school put him on the sideline with a long, uphill road to recovery. That road proved to be too long for the T-Wolves, as the asphalt continued to crack beneath Brandon’s slipping feet. With no team, no time machine, and no cartilage in his knees, this looks like the end for Brandon’s basketball career. At least, on the court.

After another setback in late January, Brandon sat down with Chris Haynes of CSNNW to discuss his future, revealing that if forced to retire he would seek a coaching position:

“Now, I think there’s something in me that I can offer to basketball. There’s a message that I can bring to basketball. I wasn’t the fastest, the highest jumper, but my knowledge of the game helped me be an effective player at a high level,” Roy said. “Coaching at the NBA level is where I see myself. If this season is it for me, I’m not staying away from basketball. I would want to get in as soon as possible.”

While I’ll miss his game-winners, relentless spirit, and seemingly impossible feats, the next chapter of Roy’s life will spell out an extended legacy. We may still get to enjoy the greatest aspect of Roy’s game for decades to come; his leadership. Are there any heads more level than Brandon’s? His soft-spoken demeanor off the court and raw passion on it would combine well with his knowledge of the game to raise him from the ashes in a suit and tie.

No matter where he ends up in life, I will never forget what he gave to the Portland Trail Blazers. He cashed in his physical prime for the respect of the city, the love of the fans, and a hope for Portland’s future. He was exactly what the Blazers needed to heal the hurt of the ‘Jail Blazers’ era. Despite his short-lived splendor, Roy was the most transcendent guard to don the red and black since Clyde ‘the glide’ Drexler, and his time in Portland brought back the same love and excitement that had been missing in between.

Now that the day has come for Roy to move on, we must let him. That sadness of eventuality has become the pain of the present, but Brandon’s unshakeable outlook will have to stem the swelling one more time. Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened, and dog-ear the next chapter of Brandon’s story.

@davidmackaypdx | @ripcityproject | davidmackaypdx@gmail.com

March 2, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Eric Maynor (6) dribbles the ball upcourt against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) in the first half at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

There was certainly a basketball game at the Rose Garden in Portland on Saturday. But that wasn’t why anybody was in the building.

The Blazers are four games under .500 and need a miracle to make the playoffs, a miracle they won’t get because now is the time to start working on the second level of their roster in preparation for the seasons to come in which they likely won’t be on the outside of the post season picture.

The Minnesota Timberwolves came into 2012-13 as one of the young up and coming teams to watch. Fifty-six games later, and the Wolves have been taken down piece by piece through multiple injuries that left them with only nine healthy players for Saturday night. Two of those players (one of them a starter) came to Minny on ten-day contracts in January.

All that is to say, Saturday’s game featured two bottom half teams, had nothing on the line, and the score itself (109-94 in favor of the Blazers) functioned only as a way to ensure that a couple thousand free Chalupas found their way into the hands and bellies of the Portland faithful.

But like I said, Saturday’s game wasn’t about the score, it wasn’t about who won, it wasn’t even about the game. It was about Brandon Roy.

Saturday started with a press conference in the press entry/loading dock area in the bowels of the Rose Garden. It was the first time Brandon addressed the local media since his retirement before the start of the 2010-11 season. Brandon, dressed in Husky purple and looking more fit than he did when he appeared out of nowhere to help Jamal Crawford celebrate his birthday in Portland last season, took questions from a horde of journalists.

“I’m not really big on doing press conferences or talking to the media, I’m kind of private and I think as least I can say is better. That’s why I lay back and not say much sometimes,” Brandon told the gathering while expounding on his personal feelings about his career (“If I never play another game, I’ll still be completely happy with my career,”), on when he finally came to terms with how things have gone for him over the last few seasons (“When I was at training camp, sitting at the training table, talking about how I’m back in the mix of things with the team again. It just felt good, it just felt right,”), and on Damian Lillard (“He’s a good player. He’s just tough on the court and he makes big shots, timely shots. He’s going to be a special player in this league.”).

Roy wasn’t on the court or on the bench prior to tip off, but he sauntered out of the visitor’s tunnel early in the first quarter, taking the final seat on Minnesota’s bench. A few fans noticed Brandon come out, but he would get more. The local game ops team put Brandon up on the JumboTron during the game’s first timeout, and for a solid minute, the entire Rose Garden was on its feet saluting one of the greatest Blazers of all time.

The Oregonian‘s Jason Quick pointed out that the ovation for Brandon was more polite than raucous, writing that very likely Portlanders still appreciate who Brandon was and what he did but are no longer losing sleep over the decimation of his career, thanks in no small part to the rapid and unexpected super-star like emergence of Damian Lillard.

It’s certainly a very neat way to wrap up the story of Brandon Roy, by pegging its end to Damian Lillard’s beginning, the only story coming out of Portland at the moment that has any kind of national attention behind it. I don’t disagree that Blazer fans are very appreciative of Damian Lillard, and that there are elements of his game and his off-court demeanor that are Brandon Roy-esque, and that the combination of those things have helped to erase the pain that lingers from how Brandon left Portland and the NBA.

I do think, though, that saying the Rose Garden didn’t explode for Brandon Roy on a random Saturday night because it’s too busy exploding every other night for Damian Lillard is a bit of an over simplification. There is a place in the heart of every Blazer fan specifically for Brandon Roy. He did so many amazing things in such a short period of time that it’s hard to imagine any one player being more important to this franchise in at least the last 10 years.

But there’s the issue of time. I think Brandon Roy simply waited too long to come back. If he wanted to get the kind of ovation that would bring the house down, the kind of ovation he’ll get at some date in the distant future when the number seven is lifted into the rafters of the RG, he should have been in the seats on opening night of the 2010-11 season.

But that wasn’t what Brandon wanted. For the day he retired, there is no doubt in my mind he was thinking about how to get back into the NBA. Because of that, he didn’t want to be put on display as an ex professional basketball player. Because of that he decided to make a comeback that has gone and will go nowhere. And because of that the fans here, regardless of how much the love him, have just kind of forgotten about him. Or if not forgotten about him (they did all come out just to see him after all) are ready to appreciate him for what he did, but not ready to deify him for who he was.

That elevation to the Blazers’ pantheon (both literally and figuratively) comes later.

Of course, if Brandon had been healthy and playing well, he’s reception would have been much different. I imagine that a starting line-up announcement that featured Brandon Roy would have come with a 30-minute standing ovation. Or if Brandon had been coming off the bench, the game would have had to been stopped the first time he checked in. Those are things Blazer fans would have liked to see, because they liked nothing more (not Damian Lillard, not a crash dunk-and-flex from Meyers Leonard, not a triple-double from Nicolas Batum) than watching Brandon Roy play basketball to the best of his incredible abilities.

We didn’t get that chance Saturday, and we won’t get that chance every again. It’s a sad way to end the Brandon Roy story, but in a way it fits. We loved him for who he was and what he did, and we appreciate him for trying when we all know he probably shouldn’t. We just wish the circumstances could have been different.

Portland closes out their mini home stand on Monday against the Bobcats.

Couple things:

• Eric Maynor set a career high on Saturday night with 12 assists, tying him with Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard for a Blazer season high in the process. Maynor logged an impressive 31 minutes, by far his longest stretch as Blazer. I believe that Maynor is going to be a pretty nice piece.
• Meyers Leonard had a nice night too. Leonard scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Leonard played 21 minutes. His first night with more than 20 minutes of playing time since November.

Box Score

Standings

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

March 2, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) defends Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) in the second half at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

Feb 4, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) dribbles against Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Derrick Williams (7) in the second quarter at Target Center. Trail Blazers won 100-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Smith-USA TODAY Sports

February is over. It’s the shortest month of the year, but it was long enough to dash any Playoff hopes more delusional Blazer fans may have had. There’s still the whole month of March, though, and then three weeks in April that this team has to slog through before we can all start looking forward to off-season free agency and the draft and all the goes with those things.

And because there is still basketball left to be played in 2012-13, there’s no reason to stop talking about it. Saturday will be one of the more highly anticipated Blazer games of the season, even if by now we’re basically over the meta narrative surrounding it that has run itself into the ground and neither team playing is in contention for anything meaningful.

Still, there are going to be things to watch when the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Blazers face off at the Rose Garden Saturday night. First, has head coach Terry Stotts succumb to the obvious fact that his team is not making the Playoffs and thus will play Meyers Leonard for 20 minutes or until he picks up six fouls (whichever comes first). Second, can Portland for the first time this season get a first round knock out of an OBVIOUSLY inferior opponent? And third, will the sight of Brandon Roy in the flesh make 20,000 Portlanders weep all at the same time?

Blazers Starting 5: PG Damian Lillard, SG Wesley Matthews, SF Nicolas Batum, PF LaMarcus Aldridge, C J.J. Hickson

Timberwolves Starting 5: PG Ricky Rubio, SG Luke Ridnour, SF Derrick Williams, PF Dante Cunningham, C Nikola Pekovic

From a pure match-up stand-point, Portland has a fair to decent advantage over Minnesota. Damian Lillard versus Ricky Rubio is going to be fun to watch; they’re both fast and smart young point guards on the rise. The advantage Damian has as a scorer is mitigated by what Ricky can do as a passer and a play-maker. I’ll take Dame over Rubio, to be sure, but if you’re being totally honest, for Portland this head-to-head is basically a push.

Shooting guard is a different issue though. Wesley Matthews is a traditional NBA shooting guard. He’s athletic, he can attack the rim and shoot, and he can defend his position. Luke Ridnour is a point guard, moved over a spot because Ricky Rubio is better at the one and there isn’t anybody on Minny’s roster to beat out for starting minutes at the two. Ridnour has an advantage over Matthews in terms of pace, but if Wesley takes Luke into the low block, no amount of speed with the ball can make up for the advantage Portland will get on offense.

The three and four positions are interesting too, but for my money trend in favor of the Blazers. Derrick Williams has benefited a lot from guys who were once ahead of him on the depth chart getting hurt. He’s proved to be a serviceable player. He’ll have trouble staying with Nicolas Batum, though, if Portland runs Nic off of screens. The other D-Will might also end up getting stretched out of the middle if Batum decides to spend the evening shooting threes. Keeping Williams out of the middle, and away from strong double teams, is going to be important for Portland.

Which leads right into the point at which the Blazers have their biggest advantage. LaMarcus Aldridge should be able to eat up Dante Cunningham. DC is a good player and a true NBA success story. He just isn’t in LA’s league. The way LaMarcus has been stroking the jumper, look for Cunningham to try and close out hard in and around the key/elbow area. The problem with doing that, though, is that Aldridge can very easily out muscle a hard closing Cunningham and get to the rim or even better to the free throw line. Portland needs to feed LA all night, that is where they are going to have their biggest advantage.

The center position is Minnesota’s best right now what with Kevin Love giving up professional basketball for the Entourage movie. Nikola Pekovic is the kind of center Portland fans which they had in J.J. Hickson. He’s a beast in the paint, he’s a smart defender, and he plays within his capabilities. Minnesota should, and will, go to Pekovic early and often. Sadly, he probably won’t be able to win this game all by himself. Due to an abdominal strain he suffered against the Lakers, Pekovic might not even play at all. If that’s the case, Minnesota is in real trouble.

What to Watch For

• Who plays and how much. This is always an important question. Minnesota is this season’s version of the Blazers circa 09-10 or 10-11. Everybody on their roster, basically, has missed time with injuries. Nikola Pekovic is the most recent Wolf to be sidelined in-game. As I just said, his status is key. For Portland, it’s not about injuries but about how minutes are allotted. It’s getting to the point where Stotts has to start playing his bench just to see who gets to stay for next season and who should be looking for new work. Eric Maynor, Meyers Leonard, Victor Claver, and Joel Freeland are the guys to watch on Saturday. In the 10 to 20 minute range for Maynor, Leonard, and Claver. Anything at all for Freeland.
• Brandon Roy. It’s happening, so pay attention to it. It upsets me some that he won’t be playing. But he won’t be playing ever again, so at some point we should all be allowed to show him how much he’s meant to us as a Blazer.
• Can Portland win. The question really should be, do the Blazers have it within themselves to continue winning even if winning and losing are now totally irrelevant.

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com