blazers blogs on Foye/Roy

Marc Stein has been here in Vegas for a few days, so he's had more of a chance to watch both Brandon
Roy and Randy Foye this summer than I have. Based on what he has seen, Stein likes Foye's chances at
the Rookie of the Year award:

The Timberwolves are always looking for scorers to put around their unselfish franchise player.
Summer league ain't the real thing, but I feel pretty safe after my first few looks at Foye to state
that they've found one in the draft to assist Kevin Garnett.

He's going to put up in points in the big league someday, perhaps as soon as November. I can see
why the draftniks have made the Chauncey Billups comparison; Foye is relentless, explosive, strong
and already has a veteran's floater in the lane.

One team executive told me Foye is a "can't-miss scorer" at the NBA level, which is probably one
of the nicest things anyone has said about the Wolves for months. You have to believe, given how
much Minnesota is featuring him here, that Foye will get the minutes to make an immediate ROY push.

I'd like to tell you more about Foye's jumper, but he hasn't really needed it. No one in Vegas can
keep him out of the lane.

What I liked about Roy's game yesterday was it was patient and calm, and it was getting everyone
involved. Roy also has a tremendous ability to get to the rim and either finish or draw the foul.
Foye might be a more explosive scorer than Roy, but based on their matchup yesterday, I believe Roy
is a more complete player.


--
Laurel T
"A good point guard and scorer should go
hand in hand, but not in the locker room."
Frank Layden

The other one...

http://www.oregonlive.com/weblogs/blazersoregonian/index.ssf?/mtlogs/o...e_blaze
Foye vs. Roy, round 1
Even Brandon Roy knew the subplot before the Blazers played the Timberwolves. Here was the unusual
circumstance of two players -- and Roy and Randy Foye -- who were traded for each other, and they
were about to be matched up in summer league.

"I think a lot of people wanted to watch that closely," Roy said. "A lot of people ask me who got
the better of the trade."

The Blazers traded the rights to Foye, who was the No. 7 pick, and cash to Minnesota to get the
draft rights to the No. 6 pick, Roy. But this was a good matchup, with Foye getting 24 points and no
assists to Roy's 17 points and four assists. A lot of Foye's points, however, came when the game was
out of reach, and Roy's leadership at point guard was key to Portland winning 78-65.

"I think he's a really good player, gonna be a good rivalry in the future," Roy said. "Hopefully
we'll be going at it for a while. I think he'll keep improving, and I will, too."

When it was point out that they will meet often as Portland and Minnesota play in the Northwest
Division, Roy said, "Yeah, that's right. So I'm sure we'll see each other a lot. It's fun. It's all
in the competition."

The bigger picture for the Blazers is their experiment of using Roy at point guard. Dean Demopoulos,
Blazers assistant coach who coached the team Sunday, is like his boss Nate McMillan in that he does
not lavish praise easily. So when asked to assess Roy's progress at point, he gave what should be
considered high praise:

"I think for the venue he was in, he's done quite well with the ball," Demopoulos said. "I thought
we ran good sets for him, but he's got a real knack for using his body and using his skill. Looks
like to me - and this is just summer - but I thought he did quite well against a guy who they
consider one of the better point guards in the draft, maybe the best, Foye. I was very pleased with
him."

Asked to rate his progress, Roy said this:

"I think it's going well. I'm getting more and more comfortable every day. I'm learning the offense,
I'm looking at the coach and he can just point it out to me, and I'll know it quicker. So I think
it's going good. It's something I'm going to continue to work on all summer long, and hopefully I
can continue to have success at it."