The Official Site of Brandon Roy

Thu, Oct 23rd 2008, 12:35

Brandon interviewed on NBA Live 09

ESPN the Mag sat down with Brandon Roy to discuss his thoughts on the new game and how his player in NBA Live mimics the real B Roy.

Mag.com: Your video game character is going to get updated every day, good games and bad. What are the ups and downs you go through on a day-to-day basis that the average fan doesn’t realize?

Brandon Roy: The rigors of traveling on the road. Some nights you feel good, some nights you don’t. The good thing about the game is it will show if a player is hot or if a player is cold, so you never know, you might be on the road and not shooting well. When you’re a fan and you’re playing the game, you don’t want that. You don’t expect that. You expect your players to be 100% every night. With this new DNA, you’re going to need to adjust, because one night your favorite player might be in a slump, but you’re still going to need to find a way to win. I think that’s one of the coolest things about the game.

Mag.com: What don’t you like about traveling?

BR: Sometimes you’re just tired. You might play five games in seven nights and that’s a lot of basketball. The constant schedule can get tiring. It’s not too bad, but it’s definitely something you need to adjust to as a player.

Mag.com: For everyone out there who wants to play as you in Live, what are some of your tendencies we should be aware of to utilize your character to his fullest potential?

BR: I make a lot of shots on the left side of the court. When I go left, I’m almost automatic. I think my set shot is pretty sweet, and pick and rolls work pretty well for me. I think if you look at my DNA, my pick and roll scoring is like 49%. Another strength of mine is isolation from the top of the key.

Mag.com: Did you learn anything about yourself by playing the game?

BR: Actually, a couple of coaches have looked at my tendencies and told me how successful I am from the left side of the court. So when I saw that in the game, I thought that was pretty neat that that dynamic made it into Live. I was watching myself in the game—the way he dribbles, the way he shoots—it looks just like me. Knowing how accurately they got me in the game, I might want to use this if I’m playing against someone so I can scout them. You never know what you’ll learn. They’re letting out a lot of secrets.

Mag.com: How accurate were your ratings in previous games?

BR: There are always a lot of complaints like “I’m faster than that” or “I can jump higher than that,” but back then, it was just some guy’s opinion who worked at EA. Now they are using the real scouting. They are getting a lot closer to fact. Numbers don’t lie.

Mag.com: So if I’m playing as Portland in Live 09, give me some pointers on how to win with your team.

BR: A lot of pick and rolls. Go inside to Greg [Oden] and LaMarcus [Aldridge]. That’s a big strength of ours, posting up, and we play as a team. If you watch us play, we have a lot of ball movement, a lot of drive and kick. We play fast, but we play together, and that’s winning basketball right there.

See the entire interview….