The NBA’s 30 best go-to players (#7: Brandon Roy)
(photo. Aaron Hewitt)
Who do you want your offense to run through with everything on the line? Counting down 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…
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#7: BRANDON ROY, Trail Blazers
The best part is that he’s just getting started. The progression of Brandon Roy’s NBA career is hurtling toward H.O.F. status faster than the beaten paths of Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, among other legends. Look it up: Rookie of the Year in ‘07, All-Star in ‘08, All-Star and All-NBA and top-dog status on a 4th-seed playoff team in ‘09, where he dropped 26 points a night in the postseason.
This past season also saw B-Roy jump into the fray as a certified crunch-time killer. His highlight reel included a turnaround 30-footer to beat Houston at the buzzer, a lefty scoop shot to beat the Knicks at the buzzer, and two free throws to beat Indiana with 1.7 on the clock.
But the two best examples of Roy’s crunch time ability didn’t involve game-winning buckets. The first was his 52-point national TV breakout against Phoenix. At separate junctures in the game Roy scored 11 and 14 consecutive points on a night when the entire defense was keying on him. Then in a must-win Game 2 of the Blazers’ first-round series against Houston, Roy stared down Ron Artest and Shane Battier and finished with 42 points — again with the defense keyed solely on him, and like the Suns game, again without turning the ball over once despite having it in his hands pretty much all game long.
In Portland, Roy is the only thing resembling a go-to guy. Period. He doesn’t have a Chauncey Billups or a Tony Parker or an Amar’e Stoudemire by his side. Travis Outlaw will make shots in the fourth quarter, but he’s a safety outlet; more Robert Horry than Kevin Durant. Roy gets as much attention from opposing defenses as any player in the NBA, and yet he’s still close to unstoppable when Portland needs a basket. He finished seventh in the League in “clutch time” scoring last year, putting up 42.0 points per 48 minutes, and was sixth in fourth-quarter scoring at 7.0 points. And since coming into the League, he’s shooting 36 percent on game-winning field goal opportunities, higher than LeBron, Vince, Kobe, Dirk and Pierce.
Roy doesn’t need a point guard to set him up; he is the point guard when situations get critical. Only 10 percent of his clutch time buckets last season were assisted — meaning he’s creating for himself — and Roy averaged 6.2 assists per 48 minutes of clutch; higher than Pierce, Kobe, Parker, Derrick Rose, T-Mac and ‘Melo. (Plus Roy’s 7.9 rebounds per 48 in the clutch was higher than ‘Melo, Pierce, Joe Johnson, Vince and D-Wade.)
With some postseason experience under his belt, Roy goes into his fourth pro season about as polished as anyone his age could be. Roy could improve his three-point shooting, and of course with more crunch-time reps and more big-time games will come an even more focused ability to produce in tight spots, but otherwise he has almost no holes in his game. Whether playing the role of scorer or distributor, he’s one of the most complete players in the game, and one of the most complete who will win you the game.
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8. Carmelo Anthony
9. Chris Paul
10. Deron Williams
11. Vince Carter
12. Joe Johnson
13. Danny Granger
14. Steve Nash
15. Kevin Durant
16. Gilbert Arenas
17. Derrick Rose
18. Chris Bosh
19. Andre Iguodala
20. Tracy McGrady
21. Baron Davis
22. Michael Redd
23. Devin Harris
24. Kevin Martin
25. Al Jefferson
26. O.J. Mayo
27. Stephen Jackson
28. Nate Robinson
29. Boris Diaw
30. Rip Hamilton
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October 20th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Mr. TKO says:
Damn Broy, I thought it was wrong for him to be ahead of Melo, but looking at some of the stats, I could be the one that’s not completely right, and that’s saying something cuz Melo is my 2nd fav player in the L right now until Kobe retires.
October 20th, 2009 at 10:17 am
TJ says:
I’ve been saying it for a while now. This is just hometown love from AB. Roy deserves to be 3-4 spots lower.
October 20th, 2009 at 10:55 am
jeremy says:
blasphemy….
“some would say ‘Melo should be higher on this list. But I can’t ignore the fact that before ‘09, he was routinely knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.”
B-roy has been to the playoffs once and was knocked out in the first round so how is he ahead of melo???
October 20th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Rizwan says:
I was looking forward to reading this to find out why B Roy is so highly rated. You have convinced me to an extent. I would have him higher than CP3 but Carmelo should still be higher.
I think the fact that like Lebron, Carmelo had the hopes of a franchise on his shoulders when he was to be drafted. Pressure such as that and still perform on a nightly basis is some feat. Austin, you did an awesome job writing this piece but I would have Carmleo at 7 and B Roy at 8. And thats saying something considering in my list I had Carmelo at 3!!! I did have B Roy at 7 though!
October 20th, 2009 at 11:19 am
pak-yaw says:
the way i understand this is that broys better because hes constantly improving. wont deny it. the stats are there and i do really love his game.
but what about someone whos been doing it year in year out. melo has led his team to the playoffs from year 1 (unlike broy and crab king) and has been clutch throughout his career, not JUST this year. Like i said broy’s career may turn out to be better than melo’s but he still aint a better go-to guy than melo yet…
October 20th, 2009 at 11:32 am
bigdoggchad says:
Why does everyone say this guy is up and coming player? He is two months younger than Melo and older than LeBron.
October 20th, 2009 at 11:34 am
bigdoggchad says:
What I am saying is he isn’t as young as you think he is for a fourth year player.
October 20th, 2009 at 11:35 am
bigdoggchad says:
Melo and LeBron are the same age and are going in to there seventh season.
October 20th, 2009 at 11:36 am
bigdoggchad says:
Melo and LeBron are the same age and are going in to their seventh season.
October 20th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Celts Fan says:
Ok, so we have Pierce, Wade, Kobe, LeBron, Dirk, and Manu/Duncan (Manu hits more clutch shots, but Duncan buried that 3ball last year, so who knows who they go with there) left?
My top 8 would be:
1. Kobe
2. Wade
3. Pierce
4. Bron (if it’s not a drive, he’s got all of 1 key game winning jumper)
5. Roy
6. Melo
7. Manu or Duncan
8. Dirk (being ahead of Melo and Roy like Dime’s ranking him is too high for a guy who shat all over himself the one time he got to the Finals. Hell, I’d put Gil -assuming health – and Wince over him too. I don’t give a fuck what you do in November if you can’t do it in the Playoffs. This is known as the Peyton Theory btw. Note that this is about his missing 3 late game FTs in close games they needed. That’s a choke for someone shooting over 90%. You can lose in the Playoffs, but if you fall waaay short in areas that you excelled in during the season in the process, you choked. Dirk is a choker until he steps up when it really counts.)
October 20th, 2009 at 11:55 am
bigdoggchad says:
My top 5
1. Kobe
2. Melo
3. LeBron
4. D-Wade(#1 if any of the refs from the 06′ finals are doing the game)
5.Pierce
October 20th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Celts Fan says:
To me, the gap between Kobe and Wade (CLEARLY #s 1 and 2 imo) and Pierce/Bron/Melo/Roy/ManuOrDuncan is pretty big(as is the gap between that group and Dirk)
October 20th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Celtsfan's brother says:
Man Celts you still hatin on Dirk? You whine more now than when I used to beat you at Madden.
October 20th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Baby Huey says:
Celts Fan – Peyton Theory? The same Peyton that has a super bowl ring?…..nice theory
October 20th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
The other Aj says:
THIS IS CRAP…
I don’t want B Roy taking clutch shots over Melo!
How is he #8
October 20th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Scott says:
@ 10
What about Dirk’s and one Cram on Timmy and the rest of SA that ended up propelling the Mavs to the finals?
I’d say that was pretty clutch
October 20th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Celts Fan says:
@baby huey – ya, the ring he threw 4 TDs and 7INTs during the Playoffs to get? Ya, that’s right in line with what he does every reg season when he looks Godly. The fact remains he’s done less with more many many many more times than he’s exceeded expectations. That’s not even arguable anymore.
Back to basketball…
@Scott – he did have that play, yes, but had Manu not committed a retarded, late-swipe foul, they still woulda been down at that point. But yes, great play – best of his career, but that was outweighed by the shitshow in the Finals. I’m not trying to hate on Dirk too much here, just saying that if I need a last-second shot, he’s no where near my top 5. Guy’s a great player, but just like KG, in the biggest moment, I’d rather have someone else take the shot.
October 20th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Rob says:
Did you people that wanted Melo ahead of Roy even read the pieces on each of the players and compare crunch time stats? or are you just Nugget homers? Also, this wasn’t an entire career analysis- it was just in reference to last year.
October 20th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
ruballin says:
As a Celtics fan as well, I can’t even argue with Celts fan about how KG disappears in clutch situations. But frankly, I’d take Ray over Pierce in the clutch… Ray just doesn’t miss when the game is on the line. It’s close between Ray and Pierce though.
October 20th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Celts Fan says:
@ruballin – I just feel like Paul does more in those situations and takes games over late in the 4th more, but if you need just 1 shot. I just keep coming back to Paul’s game 7 heroics vs. LeBron and late game play vs the Lakers in the games they weren’t going away. Ray’d be top 10 if we could have multiple players from a team. How many times have we gotten to hear Mike say, “Ray Allen for the gaaaame… GOT IT!!!” over the past 2 years. Good times…
October 20th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Blazermark says:
I would take Roy over melo every day of the week! If anything, I think he should be in the top four behind Wade, Kobe, and LeBron. Roy is as clutch as it gets.
October 20th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
JBaller says:
B-Roy’s stats are sicker than I realized. I mean the guy’s great, but his crunch time line is off the charts. I think Portland and Denver will meet this post season and it’ll be up for grabs – then when it’s over we’ll get to see who shoulda got the higher rank. It’s pretty close, and I like both guys, but I think I’d rather have Melo’s size and swagger in the end.
Go Nuggs!
October 20th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
gilford22 says:
They say that Roy is underrated, but right now he’s WAY TOO OVERRATED in this list. Common, Ahead of Chris Paul, Carmelo and Deron??? He’s been on the playoffs once and has not prove anything right now unlike Deron(who went to Conference finals in his 2nd season), Paul(who lead the Hornets to 2nd best record in the east a year ago) and Carmelo(who’s been in the playoffs in all of his career).
October 20th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Ehis Murphy says:
If AI is not on the list. Dime magazine should fire who ever came up with this list
October 20th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
big mo says:
guys that are hating on b roy……PLIZ READ THE ARTICLE BEFORE HATING…its clear that from a statistical stand point, Brandon Roy has better “clutch stats” than any one below him…including Melo….
October 20th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
pak-yaw says:
its funny that 1 good year from broy in a “statistical standpoint” can propel him to be better than guys such as melo, paul, and deron. Those 3 have been clutch and have been go-to guys for their teams since thir rookie years…
like i said. broy’s good but not yet better than those 3.
October 20th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
pak-yaw says:
btw, when was it said that the basis for the go-to guys was last seasons stats? cause if it was based on last seasons stats a couple of guys on the list wouldnt have made it…
October 20th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
pak-yaw says:
btw, when was it said that the basis for this list was last seasons stats? cause if it was based on last seasons stats a couple of guys on the list wouldnt have made it…
October 20th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Celts Fan says:
@pak yaw – read the damn article man. It’s about clutch, not who’s better overal’ and yes, Roy is better than CP3 and Deron in the clutch. Clown…
October 20th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
pak-yaw says:
@celts fan -ive read the article fool. never talked about those 3 being better overall than broy. im saying those 3 have been clutch and are better than roy in the clutch. try to understand what ive wrote clown…
anyways just not yet convinced that roy’s more clutch than those 3. just not yet. 1 season of him being clutch aint enough. he needs to do it year in year out to convince me. fool…
October 21st, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Ivy says:
Reasons of B-Roy being where he is cause he doesnt have any major star player next to him he puts his team where it is and when you got a guy who takes his team to the playoffs in his 4th season your looking at someone who hungers for improving. Melo is superb but remember he’s had key players beside him throughout his whole career eg CB, A.I.,K-Mart and Camby.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Blazermark says:
Roy is just better than Melo. What has Melo ever done?? Roy is a star, Melo has been over rated since coming to the NBA.