The Official Site of Brandon Roy

Tue, Oct 14th 2008, 09:30

Looking for a commitment? Try these Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are about to put one of the world’s oldest quandaries into play: should you value looks or personality?

Uncommitted basketball fans who fell in love with the dazzling Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors are single again. Those squads aren’t the way they used to be. The Suns are now Shaquille O’Neal in the low post, not Mike D’Antoni on the sideline, frantically waving them down court. Steve Nash is another year older and gone are the days when they averaged 111 points per game.

olden State lost Baron Davis, is missing Monta Ellis and added Corey Maggette, whose weapon of choice is the free throw.

And there are the Blazers, sitting alone at the bar, inviting your attention. They’re young and don’t have any baggage. They flirted with you last year, when they won 13 consecutive games in December and looked like playoff material before fading in the second half of the season. Now they have a little more experience and a lot more talent with Greg Oden and Rudy Fernandez — their two main acquisitions from the summer of 2007 — finally in uniform.

But they won’t be running nonstop into your heart. They’d rather take it a little more slowly.

Their best player and leader, Brandon Roy, admits that he plays an old man game and their coach says he wants the emphasis this season to be on defense. They’re not trying to give the scoreboard operators carpal tunnel syndrome. They won’t do anything wild and crazy to get attention. This isn’t “Flavor of Love” or “I Love New York.”

“We’re not going to really woo you,” Roy says. “But we’re going to be a little bit more exciting this year. We’re young, and people kind of want to cheer for the young team.”

Not just the young team, the nice team. People crave good guys, athletes you can root for without explanation or apology. After too many headlines dominated by Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Pacman Jones, isn’t it time for a squad like the Trail Blazers?

Continue reading at ESPN.com….