Sports Radio Interviews

Brandon Roy: “If I feel good enough to go Thursday night against San Antonio then I’ll definitely try and give it a try but I think a more realistic goal is Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers.”

Brandon Roy may not get the kinds of headlines that Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, or some of the other top guards in the Western Conference do, but Roy is one of the best the West has to offer. After being drafted by the Blazers in 2006, Roy immediately made an impact in the league, has continued to get better every season and has been selected to the All Star team three times in his young career. This season he was averaging his highest point total in his four-year career, was shooting better than he had in the three previous seasons and was hitting big shots at big moments for his team. Despite the Blazers dealing with a multitude of injuries, Roy’s All Star caliber play had Portland off to a good start. At the time he was injured, Portland was 24-16. Since that time though, the Blazers are just 4-5 in the nine games that Roy has missed and they have slipped to the sixth spot in the West. Right now, there is a logjam at the backend of the Western Conference standings as there are a number of teams fighting for their playoff lives. If the Blazers don’t get their three-time All Star back in the lineup soon, they could find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture.

Brandon Roy joined KJR in Seattle with Dave Softy Mahler to talk about his injury, when he expects to be back, and what it means to once again be names an NBA All Star this season.

On the frustration of dealing with the injury to his hamstring:

“Yeah, I had the injury in late December. I think it was against Golden State. I played a few games on it and it just continued to get worse. I think we were playing Milwaukee at home and it was the last straw. I sat out for about six or seven days and then tried to play against Philadelphia and I actually made it flare back up. In hindsight, looking back at it, I wish I didn’t play in that game but knowing myself I try to get out there as soon as possible. Yes it has been nagging, it has been something that I’ve been extremely frustrated with but again its part of the game and the doctors are just trying to be as cautious as possible. I wanna be out there. My teammates are doing an unbelievable job of playing and just keeping us in this race. I just wanna get back out there to help us out there with it.”

On when he expect to be back in the lineup:

“I talked to coach today and he said he would like for me to get a practice in before I actually play in a game. They come back Thursday and if I feel good enough to go Thursday night against San Antonio then I’ll definitely try and give it a try but I think a more realistic goal is Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers.”

On what goes into him having so much success lately:

“A lot of it is just continuing to get comfortable but I feel like I’m improving. Last year there were a lot of situations where teams thought I was really good going left so they tried to force me right. It’s something that I really improved on…going right. Now I feel like no matter which way you push me I feel really comfortable going that way. I’m getting older and more mature and really understanding the game. Just having confidence going out there feeling like nobody can stop me. I think as long as I have that confidence in my game that I’m gonna continue to take that next step. It’s been a great year for me and I really was frustrated because the game that I was injured against Milwaukee I felt like I was really taking steps to really improve my game and helping this team. It’s just a setback and I really look forward to getting back out there and hopefully taking this team to the next step.”

On being selected to the All Star team again this year:

“I have a lot to be thankful for but I always look back to what led me to accomplish a lot of these great things and that’s hard work and not looking back. From the moment that I stepped to the NBA I had dreams of being an All Star but honestly I can’t say I thought it would come so fast. Again it’s just been a reflection of how my team has improved, the great teammates that I have, all the great work that Coach Nate (McMillan) has put into it and his great staff. Even go to the owner with surrounding me with great players and guys that I’m happy being around. It’s been an entire organization effort. On my side I try and go out there and improve every year. I try to put that pressure on myself to go out and play at a high level. To be an All Star for the third year it’s just as exciting as it was when (Blazers General Manager) Kevin Pritchard called me for the first time.”

Listen to Brandon Roy on KJR in Seattle here

Tags: Brandon Roy, Brandon Roy hamstring injury, KJR Seattle, NBA, Portland Trail Blazers, Western Conference