Brandon Roy to miss three games…again
It’s the December edition of “Brandon Roy will miss three games due to a sore left knee.”
The Blazers announced Friday that the guard, who has been plagued by knee issues all season, will sit out the next three contests to rest his ailing joint. He will be re-evaluated later next week. Nicolas Batum will start in his place.
“It’s nothing new, same swelling, same soreness. It’s just really stiff right now,” Roy said during shootaround. “I felt like it was getting worse, I felt like my play was getting worse because I couldn’t really elevate.”
Roy said the decision stemmed from discussions with Portland coach Nate McMillan and general manager Rich Cho, the three agreeing that rest would benefit him. Roy missed a three-game stretch last month after tweaking the knee in New Orleans.
Is this going to be a pattern?
“I haven’t really thought about that,” Roy said.
Is he sure to return after the three games?
“Well, we’re not saying it’s only going to be a week,” he added.
The Blazers played nine games in 15 days heading into tonight and had two back-to-backs over that stretch — hardly ideal conditions for a someone trying to recover.
Roy didn’t want to jump to conclusions about how this will affect the rest of the season. Last week he said he no longer sought restrictions on his minutes despite pushing for less court-time at the beginning of the year, but now he isn’t so sure. He added that resting on the tail end of back-to-back games might be an option, and that he wasn’t helping the team in Dallas.
Nate McMillan didn’t speculate too far into the future either, saying “we’re dealing in the moment.”
He did, however feel for Roy.
“It’s tough. He’s dealing with trying to be productive and having a sore knee,” McMillan said. “It’s a mental thing a lot of times. You want to be productive and your body is not allowing you to.”
Asked of his own emotional state regarding Roy’s injury, McMillan added “You’re numb to situations like this now.”
Roy, however, isn’t so numb.
It’s been an emotional year for the three-time all-star who seems to have leapfrogged right over his prime and into his declining years. He said McMillan shared stories of some of the injuries he dealt with during his playing days, which was of some comfort, but it hardly placated the situation.
“Individually, I just want to get out there and play and be confident in myself. I’m human, as positive as a person as I am, even I get a little frustrated,” Roy said. “I keep telling myself, ‘be patient. Brandon be patient. I don’t think I’ve ever been patient with an injury and a lot of that is because I feel guilty. I want to be out there helping my team.”
Matt Calkins can be contacted at matt.calkins@columbian.com
