Brandon Roy made a rare appearance at the Jamal Crawford Summer Pro-Am League on Saturday afternoon. This marked Roy's first public appearance playing competitive basketball since he announced his comeback to the NBA and signed a contract with the Minnesota Timberwovles.
Read analysis and observations on Roy's game after the jump.
While he was clearly not playing at full effort like mostly everyone else on the court, here are some observations on his performance:
- Roy looked a step or two slower than the other NBA players on the floor; Isaiah Thomas and Martell Webster. He is still picking up the speed of the game, but even though he's a little slower right now, he was still effective on offense.
- This does not show up in the video, but in the first half, Roy made a classic drive off a screen from Mike Jensen and then whipped a one-handed pass to a rolling Jensen. Without a doubt, he still has superior vision and a high basketball IQ even if he does not regain his explosiveness.
- Roy made a concentrated effort to have the ball in his hands on every offensive possession. He was his team's point guard and the offense went through him in more than 90% of his team's possessions.
- Roy needs some work on his jumper. While getting into the lane has been his strength throughout his career, he will have to be deadly from outside to keep his defenders honest. Thomas and Webster were the better shooters in the game.
For more news and analysis on Roy, head over to Canis Hoopus.